Episode 2

Available for over a year

A new two-part adaptation by Ian Billings, celebrating the 300th anniversary of Jonathan Swift’s satire. Rescued from the sea by the inhabitants of the island Laputa, floating above the troubled land of Balnibarbi below, Gulliver encounters visionary thinkers and eccentric inventors whose pursuit of knowledge has led them to unexpected extremes. Onwards, his voyage carries him to the remarkable land of the Houyhnhnms, a race of intelligent horses. There, Gulliver encounters a radically different vision of civilisation and humanity itself. As Gulliver’s journey unfolds, he discovers that the greatest challenge is not surviving strange new worlds, but understanding what they reveal about his own. Published in 1726, Swift's book has spent three centuries being read both as a children's adventure and as one of the sharpest satires on human vanity in English. Swift was writing about the politicians and courtiers of Georgian England. Three hundred years later, the joke still lands. Lemuel Gulliver.....Graham Dickson Flapper 37/ Chair.....Joanna Neary Lord Munodi/ Pedro De Mendez.....Jack Nuttall Dapple.....David Holt King of Laputa.....Sunil Patel Queen of Laputa.....Lucie Shorthouse Laputian Woman/ Wife.....Debbie Korley Laputian Madam/ Professor.....Sumaiya Chaudhary Inventor 2.....Ian Billings Written by Jonathan Swift Adapted by Ian Billings Directed by Sally Avens Produced by Lorna Newman Sound design by Sharon Hughes Production Coordinator: Sara Benaim Studio Production Coordinator: Jonathan Powell Technical Producers: Andy Garratt, Neva Missirian and Kira Golightly A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4.