A BBC Radio full-cast dystopian thriller

First World Problems

What would happen if the UK broke apart? One family faces Britain's next civil war.

Martin Jameson is a director, producer and writer for TV, radio and theatre. His television credits include Holby City, Casualty and Emmerdale, while his radio plays include Ice, Radio Daze, The First Day of the Rest of My Life and The One About The Social Worker.

It started with a bit of politics in the news. Nothing out of the ordinary. 
 
But then the Scottish border closed. 
 
Manchester was besieged by rival forces. 
 
The bombs started to fall. 
 
The Fletcher family doesn't have time for politics; they are just trying to love and look after each other. But as the UK dissolves into conflict, they find themselves in danger. Not just from dodgy neighbours with brand new machine guns, but from inside their own family. 
 
What would happen if the UK broke apart? One family faces Britain's next civil war. 
 
Produced and directed by Jonquil Panting.

The First Day Of The Rest Of My Life

A contemporary BBC Radio 3 drama about the events that occur to a man after he snaps one day at work. 'The First Day of the Rest of My Life' stars Jonathan Keeble as the protagonist, and was originally broadcast as part of 'The Wire' collection of dramas on 10 October 2009, and repeated on 2 October 2010.  Toby has a bad day at work on the phones for Careless, the household cover people. When an angry customer pushes him too far, he snaps and tells him to have a heart attack and die. The next morning he wakes up as Dr Richard Jugg. And the next day as a homeless person called Deke. How are these events connected? And where will this nightmarish journey end?  'The Wire' is BBC Radio 3's showcase for works that push the boundaries of drama and narrative. 'The First Day of the Rest of My Life' features Jonathan Keeble as Toby, Richard, Deke and Clive; Andonis James Anthony as Craig and Scott; and Armand Beasley as Tariq and Naz. Also included in the cast are Sue Jenkins, Melissa Jane Sinden and Catherine Kinsella. Directed by Gary Brown.

A BBC Radio 4 dramatisation

Can You Tell Me The Name Of The Prime Minister?

A BBC Radio 4 science-fiction mystery by Martin Jameson, originally broadcast as the ‘Afternoon Play’ on 14 May 2010.

A BBC Radio 4 science-fiction mystery by Martin Jameson, originally broadcast as the ‘Afternoon Play’ on 14 May 2010.   A week after the election, Liz de Souza, a psychiatrist, examines a patient at a secure government research facility who's convinced that Tony Blair is still Prime Minister.   Starring Amita Dhiri as Liz de Souza and Suzanna Hamilton as Sarah de Souza. Also included in the cast are Jude Akuwudike, Tony Bell, David Seddon and Christine Kavanagh. Directed by Jeremy Mortimer.

Night They Tried To Kidnap The Prime Minister, The (BBC R4)

This full-cast dramatisation by Martin Jameson for BBC Radio 4 is a fictionalised account of the incident in 1964 when a group of students attempted to kidnap the then-Prime Minister, Sir Alec Douglas-Home, in Scotland.  Originally broadcast as the Afternoon Play on 15 July 2009, this dramatisation stars Tim McInnerny as Sir Alec, Chris Starkie as Robbie, Benjamin Askew as Eric, Michelle Duncan as Sheila and Grainne Dromgoole as the girl. With Annabelle Dowler and David Hargreaves. Directed by Jeremy Mortimer.

Edith Nesbit

Rosamund E. Nesbit Bland

Martin Jameson

Penelope Keith

Timothy Spall

Patricia Hodge

Prunella Scales

Jenny Agutter

Julia McKenzie

Frances Jeater

Victoria Carling

Paul Copley

Full Cast

The Railway Children, Five Children and It, The Phoenix and the Carpet & more

A BBC Radio collection of dramatisations of E. Nesbit's finest children's books with extra magical readings plus an original drama by Martin Jameson 
 
 E Nesbit is widely regarded as the first modern children's writer. Her ground-breaking novels have influenced authors from Oscar Wilde to Jacqueline Wilson, and over 100 years after their first publication, they remain perennially popular. 
 
 This wide-ranging collection comprises some of her very best children's fiction, commencing with her timeless tale The Railway Children. Starring Victoria Carling, Daniel Eyssen and Kate McEnery, Frances Jeater this enchanting dramatisation tells the story of three suburban children forced to move to the countryside after their father is mysteriously taken away. 
 
 Martin Jameson's sequel Roberta, Peter and Phyllis revisits them 13 years later, in 1919, to reveal how their lives have changed. Fiona Clarke, James Alper and Emma Hughes-Jones star as the titular siblings. 
 
 Also included is Nesbit's classic 'Psammead' trilogy. In Five Children and It, Five children are granted a series of wishes by a sand fairy - but inevitably, things do not go to plan... 
 Cast includes Julia McKenzie, Simon Carter, James Richard, Justyn Towler. 
 
 Patricia Hodge reads the second book in the series, The Phoenix and the Carpet, in which the discovery of a mysterious egg in an old carpet heralds the start of a magical adventure. And in The Story of the Amulet, a full-cast dramatisation the children voyage through history on a quest for an ancient lucky charm. Featuring the same cast as Five Children and It 
 
 Penelope Keith stars as E Nesbit in The House of Arden, a time-travelling fantasy tale about the hunt for a lost family treasure; Other cast includes Timothy Spall and Kelly Bright. 
 
 Prunella Scales reads five stories from Nesbit's delightful compendium The Book of Dragons: 'Last of the Dragons', 'Kind Little Edmond', 'The Deliverers of their Country', 'The Book of Beasts' and 'The Dragon Tamers'. Concluding this anthology are two fantastic feline fables from Cat Tales, co-written by Nesbit and her adopted daughter Rosamund E Bland: 'The White Cat', read by Jenny Agutter, and 'Too Clever by Half', read by Helen Clapp. 
 
 Cast and credits 
 Written by E Nesbit 
 Cat Tales written by E Nesbit and Rosamund E Bland 
 Roberta, Peter and Phyllis written by Martin Jameson 
 First published 1901 (The Book of Dragons), 1902 (Five Children and It), 1904 (The Phoenix and the Carpet, Cat Tales), 1906 (The Story of the Amulet, The Railway Children), 1908 (The House of Arden) 
 
 The Railway Children 
 Dramatised by Marcy Kahan. Produced by John Taylor 
 First broadcast BBC Radio 5, 3-24 January 1991 
 
 Roberta, Peter and Phyllis 
 Produced and directed by Gary Brown 
 First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 4 January 2005 
 
 Five Children and It 
 Dramatised by Malcolm McKee. Directed by Rosemary Watts 
 First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 31 August 1998 
 
 The Phoenix and the Carpet 
 Abridged by Penny Leicester. Produced by Marion Nancarrow 
 First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 28 March-1 April 1994 
 
 The Story of the Amulet 
 Dramatised by Malcolm McKee. Directed by Rosemary Watts 
 First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 30 August 1999 
 
 The House of Arden 
 Dramatised by Chris Curry. Produced by Mary Kalemkarian 
 First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 23 April-25 June 1989 
 
 The Book of Dragons 
 First broadcast BBC Radio 5, 7-11 December 1992 
 
 Cat Tales 
 The White Cat 
 First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 3 January 2000 
 
 Too Clever by Half 
 First broadcast BBC Sounds, 23 July 2019 
 
 © 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

E. Nesbit: A BBC Radio Collection

About us

About Us (Header 4)

Best-Jane-Austen-quotes_Online-Desktop_Penguin

James-Baldwin

Marian-Keyes

haruki-murakami-320×320-1

Richard-Osman

Malorie Blackman

Lisa-Jewell

Charlie-Mackesy

Authors (Header 3)

Children&#039;s

Company

Discover

Fiction

Non-fiction

Penguin Classics

Penguin Shop (Header 5)

Useful links

Work with us

sectionTitle

isEnabled

anchor

anchorLabel

prhuk/featured-book

prhuk/praise-section

maxBooks

showViewMore

prhuk/books-section

hideAuthorAlert

formName

iterableDivision

iterableBrand

buttonText

description

heading

legalText

successHeading

successText

image

alignment

variation

prhuk/email-section

prhuk/series-section

prhuk/biography-section

prhuk/articles-section

prhuk-authors

The perfect gift? A Penguin Shop gift card

East of Eden

Wuthering Heights

White Nights

Fyodor Dostoyevsky Boxed Set: Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, The Brothers Karamazov

Martin Jameson

Books by Martin Jameson

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter