Twelve dramatisations and readings including A Passage to India, A Room with a View and Howards End

E. M. Forster: A BBC Radio Collection

A beautiful collection of BBC Radio dramas and readings based on the work of EM Forster.

Dramatisations and readings of EM Forster’s finest works, plus Stephen Wakelam’s radio play A Dose of Fame and the documentary feature Forster in India: Sex, Books and Empire 
 
One of the greatest English novelists of the 20th century, EM Forster was also an accomplished short story writer. This collection includes stunning adaptations of his classic novels A Passage to India, Where Angels Fear to Tread, A Room with a View and Howards End. Among the star casts are Penelope Wilton, Ellie Kendrick, Sian Thomas, Emilia Fox, Sheila Hancock and John Hurt. 
 
Also featured are four of his short tales – ‘The Story of the Siren’ (read by Dan Stevens), ‘The Road from Colonus’ (read by Andrew Sachs), ‘The Obelisk’ (read by Ruth Wilson) and ‘Ansell’ (read by Peter Kenny). 
 
Forster’s posthumous novel, Maurice, is dramatised with a full cast and stars Alex Wyndham and Bertie Carvel, while Stephen Wakelam’s drama A Dose of Fame, starring Stephen Campbell Moore as Forster, sees the author grappling with a mysterious death, his own sexuality and an idea for his next novel. 
 
In addition, Zareer Masani presents a revealing Radio 3 profile exploring Forster’s literature, love life and personal passage to India.

A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation

A Passage to India

Based on the classic novel by E M Forster, this epic full-cast drama is set against the backdrop of the British Raj and the Indian Independence movement during the 1920s.

Edward Morgan Forster was born in London in 1879. He wrote six novels, four of which appeared before the First World War, Where Angels Fear to Tread (1905), The Longest Journey (1907), A Room with a View (1908), and Howard’s End (1910). An interval of fourteen years elapsed before he published A Passage to India. Maurice, his novel on a homosexual theme, finished in 1914, was published posthumously in 1971. Malcolm Bradbury was a novelist, critic, television dramatist and Emeritus Professor of American Studies at the University of East Anglia. He is author of the novels Eating People is Wrong (1959); Stepping Westward (1965); The History Man (1975); Rates of Exchange (1983) which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize; Cuts: A Very Short Novel (1987); and Doctor Criminale (1992). His critical works include The Modern American Novel (1984; revised edition, 1992); No, Not Bloomsbury (essays, 1987); The Modern world: Ten Great Writers (1988); From Puritanism to Post-modernism: A History of American Literature (with Richard Ruland, 1991).

Based on the classic novel by E M Forster, this epic full-cast drama is set against the backdrop of the British Raj and the Indian Independence movement during the 1920s. 
 
When Adela Quested and her companion Mrs Moore arrive in the Indian town of Chandrapore, they quickly feel trapped by its insular and prejudiced 'Anglo-Indian' community. Determined to escape the parochial English enclave and explore the 'real India', they seek the guidance of the charming and mercurial Dr Aziz, a cultivated Indian Muslim. Through them, Aziz becomes friends with Cyril Fielding. 
 
But a mysterious incident occurs when Aziz accompanies the women to explore the Marabar Caves, and the well-respected doctor soon finds himself at the centre of a scandal that rouses violent passions among both the British and their Indian subjects. The consequences affect everyone, and threaten Aziz and Fielding's friendship. 
 
Exploring issues of colonialism, faith and the limits of comprehension, the story begins and ends by posing a question: in this context, is it possible for an Englishman and an Indian to be friends?

A BBC Radio 4 full cast dramatisation

Howards End

A BBC dramatisation of E M Forster’s classic novel, starring John Hurt as the Narrator

Spring 1905, England. 
 
When Helen Schlegel goes to stay at Howards End - the country home of the Wilcox family, her own life, along with that of her sister Margaret, is changed forever. This is the tale of three families at the beginning of the twentieth century: the rich Wilcoxes, the gentle, idealistic Schlegels and the lower-middle class Basts. 
 
Frequently cited as E. M. Forster's finest work, Howards End brilliantly explores class warfare, conflict and the English character. This BBC dramatisation skilfully brings the classic novel to life. 
 
Starring John Hurt as the Narrator, Lisa Dillon as Margaret Schlegel, Jill Cardo as Helen Schlegel, Tom Ferguson as Tibby Schlegel, Alexandra Mathie as Aunt Juley, Malcolm Raeburn as Henry Wilcox, Ann Rye as Ruth Wilcox and Joseph Kloska as Charles Wilcox.

E.M. Forster

Full Cast

A BBC Radio Full-Cast Dramatisation

A sparkling BBC Radio dramatisation of E M Forster's classic comedy of manners, set in Edwardian England and Italy 
 
Young, naive Lucy Honeychurch is visiting Italy for the first time, accompanied by her older cousin and chaperone, Charlotte Bartlett. On arrival at the Pension Bertolini, a mix-up over rooms leads to a meeting with the eccentric Mr Emerson and his brooding son, George. 
 
Frank, free-spirited and lower-class, the duo are not respectable companions for a lady - but as Lucy tentatively explores Florence and the beautiful Tuscan countryside, she discovers a land of freedom and sensuality, where rigid social barriers are meaningless. Constantly thrown together with George, she finds herself increasingly attracted to him: much to her confusion and Charlotte's dismay. 
 
Back in England, she becomes engaged to the dull, domineering Cecil Vyse, but is haunted by memories of George - and when he reappears unexpectedly in her life, Lucy must choose between propriety and passion. Will she follow convention, or follow her heart? 
 
© 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

E.M. Forster

A Room with a View

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