The BBC Radio 4 Fantasy Drama Series

Pilgrim: Belle Meadow Fayre

Pilgrim walks again between the worlds of magick and of men… 
 
A two-part special from the fantastical drama series set in a world almost, but not quite, like our own. 
 
Each year at Belle Meadow Fayre, the Greyfolk meet to celebrate the burial of John Barleycorn, a ritual to mark autumn's end. But this year there’s a problem: Old Johnny John John has gone missing. Autumn shows no sign of abating and without the sacred ceremony at Belle Meadow, winter will not come. The Greyfolk are angry. It's down to Pilgrim to find Old Johnny John John and face down his kidnapper, the rogue faerie Kara. 
 
Paul Hilton stars as Pilgrim, cursed with immortality by the King of the Greyfolk and forever forced to walk between the human world and the world of Faerie in a never-ending quest to preserve the uneasy balance between the two. 
 
Thrilling, dark and contemporary, this award-winning drama weaves together ancient myths, magic and a contemporary realism that is haunted by the folktales of the British Isles. 
 
Cast and credits 
Pilgrim – Paul Hilton 
Vass – Toby Jones 
Kara – Holli Dempsey 
Clemira – Sirine Saba 
Rana – Shreya Lallu 
Keith – David Hounslow 
Mr Summerskill – Carl Prekopp 
Benji – Nuhazet Diaz Cano 
Young Johnny John John – Ian Dunnett Junior 
The Girl – Agnes Dromgoole 
 
Production co-ordinator: Maggie Olgiati 
Foley artist: Alison Craig 
Sound design: Peter Ringrose 
Director: Sasha Yevtushenko 
A BBC Studios Audio production for Radio 4 
 
©2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Pilgrim walks again between the worlds of magick and of men… 
 
A two-part special from the fantastical drama series set in a world almost, but not quite, like our own. 
 
Each year at Belle Meadow Fayre, the Greyfolk meet to celebrate the burial of John Barleycorn, a ritual to mark autumn's end. But this year there’s a problem: Old Johnny John John has gone missing. Autumn shows no sign of abating and without the sacred ceremony at Belle Meadow, winter will not come. The Greyfolk are angry. It's down to Pilgrim to find Old Johnny John John and face down his kidnapper, the rogue faerie Kara. 
 
Paul Hilton stars Pilgrim, cursed with immortality by the King of the Greyfolk and forever forced to walk between the human world and the world of Faerie in a never-ending quest to preserve the uneasy balance between the two. 
 
Thrilling, dark and contemporary, this award-winning drama weaves together ancient myths, magic and a contemporary realism that is haunted by the folktales of the British Isles. 
 
Cast and credits 
Pilgrim – Paul Hilton 
Vass – Toby Jones 
Kara – Holli Dempsey 
Clemira – Sirine Saba 
Rana – Shreya Lallu 
Keith – David Hounslow 
Mr Summerskill – Carl Prekopp 
Benji – Nuhazet Diaz Cano 
Young Johnny John John – Ian Dunnett Junior 
The Girl – Agnes Dromgoole 
 
Production co-ordinator: Maggie Olgiati 
Foley artist: Alison Craig 
Sound design: Peter Ringrose 
Director: Sasha Yevtushenko 
A BBC Studios Audio production for Radio 4 
 
©2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Five BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramas

Kings

Five dazzling plays showcasing characters from the reign of biblical King David 
 
In these fascinating, moving and insightful plays, a different light is shone on the famous biblical King. From the original mission of King Saul to find the shepherd boy after Samuel's prophecy, to David's final days of sickness and neglect, and taking in his days of war raids and spying as well as his loves and losses as his wives battle for status and attention, the tales bring to life a man who all too often is a figure of myth rather than a flawed and passionate human. 
 
Featuring a rich cast including Sheridan Smith (The Royale Family, Cilla, Gavin & Stacey), Linda Bassett (Call the Midwife, Lark Rise to Candleford), David Calder (The Lovecraft Investigations, Conclave), Claire Rushbrook (Whitechapel, Secrets & Lies), Adam Levy (Industry, The Witcher) and Christopher Godwin (The Dig, The Miniaturist). 
 
True Anointed 
Eleazar - David Calder 
David - Adam Levy 
Goliath - Ewan Bailey 
Saul - Gerard Murphy 
Samuel - John Bennett 
Jesse - David Timson 
Agag - Christopher Godwin 
Michal - Claire Rushbrook 
Other parts were played by Sarah Paul and Carl Prekopp 
Music by Sylvia Hallett 
Musicians - Dirk Campbell, Paul Clarvis, Sylvia Hallett 
Written by Sebastian Baczkiewicz 
Directed by Jeremy Mortimer 
 
Hazar's Chicken 
Bone - Tony Marshall 
David - Adam Levy 
Abner - David Timson 
Hazar - Ewan Bailey 
Abigail - Helen Longworth 
Saul - Gerard Murphy 
Jonathan - Carl Prekopp 
Head Man - Christopher Godwin 
Music by Sylvia Hallett 
Musicians - Dirk Campbell, Paul Clarvis, Sylvia Hallett 
Written by Sebastian Baczkiewicz 
Directed by Jeremy Mortimer 
 
The Loved One 
Anat - Ann Mitchell 
Young Anat - Gemma Saunders 
Saul - Gerard Murphy 
Abaiathar - Ewan Bailey 
Sweet - David Timson 
Samuel - John Bennett 
Eleazar - David Calder 
Music by Sylvia Hallett 
Musicians - Dirk Campbell, Paul Clarvis, Sylvia Hallett 
Written by Sebastian Baczkiewicz 
Directed by David Hunter 
 
Michal, Saul's Daughter 
Eglah - Sheridan Smith 
Michal - Claire Rushbrook 
Abigail - Caroline Langrishe 
Servant - Ewan Bailey 
Music by Sylvia Hallett 
Musicians - Dirk Campbell, Paul Clarvis, Sylvia Hallett 
Written by Kate Clanchy 
Directed by Jeremy Mortimer 
 
 
Abishag the Virgin 
Bathsheba - Linda Bassett 
Abishag - Alison Pettitt 
Nathan - Christopher Godwin 
David - David Timson 
Music by Sylvia Hallett 
Musicians - Dirk Campbell, Paul Clarvis, Sylvia Hallett 
Written by Kate Clanchy 
Directed by David Hunter 
 
Originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4: 
15 January - 12 February 2002 
 
©2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Hamlet. Claudius. The Beginning. The Truth.

Elsinore: The Complete Series 1 and 2

Hamlet. Claudius. The Beginning. The Truth. 
 
How did Claudius become the man he is in Shakespeare's Hamlet? What were the real reasons behind the murder of his brother? How does he really feel about his nephew? These questions will be answered in this drama spiced with ghosts, pirates, magic and political skulduggery. 
 
Set in an alternative Europe in the 1930-50s, Elsinore is a prequel to Shakespeare's Hamlet. This compelling drama imagines the turbulence of the Danish court in a world where Denmark is a powerful, militarised country with a small empire around the Baltic that it is fighting hard to maintain. There is more than a hint of totalitarianism in the air. 
 
In this uneasy setting, Elsinore delves into the troubled, not to say murderous relationship between King Hamlet and his brother, Claudius: one of the most interesting characters in the Shakespearean canon. Realism meets with moments of otherworldliness as the story unravels, taking in pirates and magic, rebellion and betrayal. 
 
A dark, exciting drama that touches on the events and people in Shakespeare's play and brings us to the moment where Hamlet begins. 
 
From the extraordinary imagination of Sebastian Baczkiewicz, writer of the successful Pilgrim series. 
Directed by Marc Beeby and Sasha Yevtushenko. 
 
 
Cast: 
Claudius - John Light 
Hamlet - John Heffernan 
Dauphin - Ed Gaughan 
Captain True - Chetna Pandya 
Polonius - Clive Hayward 
Gertrude - Lyndsey Marshal 
Anders/Dr Swiss/Schroeder - Neil McCaul 
Olsson - Rupert Holliday-Evans 
Yorick/Guard/Defence/Captain - Tayla Kovacevic-Ebong 
Katya - Isabella Inchbald 
Beatrix - Abbie Andrews 
Archimedes/Prosecutor - David Reakes 
Horatio/ Schroeder/Judge - Philip Bretherton 
Laszlo/Voice/Ulrik Krabbe - Adam Fitzgerald 
Uncle - Ben Crowe 
Helena - Clare Corbett 
Helgeland - Sudha Bhuchar 
Catalina - Laura Christy 
Kabanova - Jessica Turner 
Lindstrom - Pip Torrens 
Fortinbras/Marcellus - Will Kirk 
Martin - Ikky Elyas 
Lieutenant/Horatio - Greg Jones

Hamlet. Claudius. The Beginning. The Truth. 
 
How did Claudius become the man he is in Shakespeare's Hamlet? What were the real reasons behind the murder of his brother? How does he really feel about his nephew? These questions will be answered in this drama spiced with ghosts, pirates, magic and political skulduggery. 
 
Set in an alternative Europe in the 1930-50s, Elsinore is a prequel to Shakespeare's Hamlet. This compelling drama imagines the turbulence of the Danish court in a world where Denmark is a powerful, militarised country with a small empire around the Baltic that it is fighting hard to maintain. There is more than a hint of totalitarianism in the air. 
 
In this uneasy setting, Elsinore delves into the troubled, not to say murderous relationship between King Hamlet and his brother, Claudius: one of the most interesting characters in the Shakespearean canon. Realism meets with moments of otherworldliness as the story unravels, taking in pirates and magic, rebellion and betrayal. 
 
A dark, exciting drama that touches on the events and people in Shakespeare's play and brings us to the moment where Hamlet begins. 
 
From the extraordinary imagination of Sebastian Baczkiewicz, writer of the successful Pilgrim series. 
Directed by Marc Beeby and Sasha Yevtushenko. 
 
 
Cast: 
Claudius - John Light 
 Hamlet - John Heffernan 
 Dauphin - Ed Gaughan 
 Captain True - Chetna Pandya 
 Polonius - Clive Hayward 
 Gertrude - Lyndsey Marshal 
 Anders/Dr Swiss/Schroeder - Neil McCaul 
 Olsson - Rupert Holliday-Evans 
 Yorick/Guard/Defence/Captain - Tayla Kovacevic-Ebong 
 Katya - Isabella Inchbald 
 Beatrix - Abbie Andrews 
 Archimedes/Prosecutor - David Reakes 
 Horatio/ Schroeder/Judge - Philip Bretherton 
 Laszlo/Voice/Ulrik Krabbe - Adam Fitzgerald 
 Uncle - Ben Crowe 
 Helena - Clare Corbett 
 Helgeland - Sudha Bhuchar 
Catalina - Laura Christy 
Kabanova - Jessica Turner 
Lindstrom - Pip Torrens 
Fortinbras/Marcellus - Will Kirk 
Martin - Ikky Elyas 
Lieutenant/Horatio - Greg Jones 
 
 
 
© 2020 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
(p) 2020 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

The BBC Radio 4 fantasy drama series

Pilgrim: The Timbermoor Imp

Pilgrim walks again between the worlds of magick and of men in this eerie supernatural adventure 
 
Fated to eternally walk the line between the worlds of faerie and men, reluctant hero Pilgrim finds himself facing an old adversary in this superbly uncanny two-parter. 
 
When he donates a priceless portrait to the struggling Timbermoor Museum to ensure it stays open, there's one particular shabby exhibit Pilgrim hopes to keep safe. So he's disconcerted to hear that the item in question, Cochrane's Boot, has got lost in transit. 
 
But someone has found it - and unleashed the spirit within it. Troubled teen Rabbit Owen has been shunned by the townsfolk since he unwittingly caused the death of his friend, but now, with the help of his 'auntie', it's payback time... 
 
Meanwhile, guilt-ridden museum curator John Wayne pays a visit to the exclusive, elusive Grey Lodge Chalets, situated in an ancient grove deep in the heart of the woods. He needs to speak to one of the residents, but first he must deliver a tithe to the sinister supervisor, Mr Buttoner. John is willing to pay - but he has no idea how high the price will be. 
 
With the Timbermoor Imp, Sally Mop, liberated from her prison, Rabbit is riding high - and as Hallowe'en arrives and the locals prepare to gather around the Sun Stone for their annual celebrations, the stage is set for a much darker ritual. Can Pilgrim save John from a dance with death, turn Rabbit away from revenge, and prevent a terrible sacrifice? 
 
Cast: 
William Palmer ..... Paul Hilton 
John ..... Stefan Adegbola 
Rabbit ..... Louis Jay Jordan 
Amy ..... Charlotte East 
Piper ..... Katie Redford 
Vaughan ..... Luke Nunn 
Eddie/Mr Buttoner ..... Roger Ringrose 
Sally ..... Jane Whittenshaw 
Janice ..... Ellie Piercy 
Ginger ..... Emma Handy 
Produced by Marc Beeby and directed by Jessica Dromgoole 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 23-30 October 2020

Pilgrim walks again between the worlds of magick and of men in this eerie supernatural adventure 
 
Fated to eternally walk the line between the worlds of faerie and men, reluctant hero Pilgrim finds himself facing an old adversary in this superbly uncanny two-parter. 
 
When he donates a priceless portrait to the struggling Timbermoor Museum to ensure it stays open, there's one particular shabby exhibit Pilgrim hopes to keep safe. So he's disconcerted to hear that the item in question, Cochrane's Boot, has got lost in transit. 
 
But someone has found it - and unleashed the spirit within it. Troubled teen Rabbit Owen has been shunned by the townsfolk since he unwittingly caused the death of his friend, but now, with the help of his 'auntie', it's payback time... 
 
Meanwhile, guilt-ridden museum curator John Wayne pays a visit to the exclusive, elusive Grey Lodge Chalets, situated in an ancient grove deep in the heart of the woods. He needs to speak to one of the residents, but first he must deliver a tithe to the sinister supervisor, Mr Buttoner. John is willing to pay - but he has no idea how high the price will be. 
 
With the Timbermoor Imp, Sally Mop, liberated from her prison, Rabbit is riding high - and as Hallowe'en arrives and the locals prepare to gather around the Sun Stone for their annual celebrations, the stage is set for a much darker ritual. Can Pilgrim save John from a dance with death, turn Rabbit away from revenge, and prevent a terrible sacrifice? 
 
Cast: 
William Palmer ..... Paul Hilton 
 John ..... Stefan Adegbola 
 Rabbit ..... Louis Jay Jordan 
 Amy ..... Charlotte East 
 Piper ..... Katie Redford 
 Vaughan ..... Luke Nunn 
 Eddie/Mr Buttoner ..... Roger Ringrose 
 Sally ..... Jane Whittenshaw 
 Janice ..... Ellie Piercy 
 Ginger ..... Emma Handy 
Produced by Marc Beeby and directed by Jessica Dromgoole 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 23-30 October 2020

Pilgrim: The Winter Queen

A two-part Pilgrim adventure that takes place at the Winter Solstice

Sebastian Baczkiewicz is an English writer. Bacziewicz trained as an actor at The Drama Centre in London. He was the BBC's first writer in residence in 2000. [Wikipedia]

Every year, on the winter solstice, the small town of Melcombe observes an annual custom, the roots and meaning of which are lost in the mists of time. A torch-lit procession to the ancient tomb of Cairndale Knapp, overlooking the town, puts the old sun to bed, and greets the new sun in the morning, restoring balance to the year. 
 
This year, however, Mr Sam Notice has bought the Knapp, and has set about landscaping it. And, with the felling of an ancient yew tree, the roots and meaning of the old custom spring malevolently to life, as the Winter Queen is finally released from her prison, and bent on revenge. 
 
Told over the two days of the winter solstice - Pilgrim walks again between the worlds of magick and of men.

Home Front: The Complete BBC Radio Collection Volume 1

Series 1-5 of the groundbreaking BBC Radio 4 drama charting life on the home front during World War One

Katie Hims (Author) 
 Katie Hims is a British writer who works extensively in radio drama. A graduate of the National Film and Television School, she began her career by writing theatre plays were were produced in Manchester, Bristol, and London. She was the BBC writer in residence from 2001-2002 and has also written several episodes of the TV series Casualty. Her first radio play The Earthquake Girl won the Richard Imison Memorial Award in 1998. The Gunshot Wedding won the Writers Guild Award for Best Radio Drama in 2009, and The Year My Mother Went Missing won a BBC Audio Drama Award in 2012 for Best Audio Drama. 
 
Sebastian Baczkiewicz (Author) 
 Sebastian Baczkiewicz is an English writer. Bacziewicz trained as an actor at The Drama Centre in London. He was the BBC's first writer in residence in 2000. [Wikipedia] 
 
Lucy Catherine (Author) 
 Lucy Catherine has written extensively for BBC Radio Drama, including her adaptation of THE MASTER AND MARGARITA by Mikhail Bulgakov (2015), which won the BBC 'Best Audio Drama (Adapted)' Award; her adaptation of Mary Shelley's FRANKENSTEIN (2012); and her half hour 'Gothic Horror' original LOOTED.

Series 1-5 of the groundbreaking BBC Radio 4 drama charting life on the home front during World War One 
 
First heard on radio between 4 August 2014 and 9 November 2018, each episode of Home Front is set exactly one hundred years before the broadcast date, and each follows one character’s day. Together they create a mosaic of experience from a wide cross-section of society, mixing historical fact with enthralling fiction to explore how ordinary people coped with daily life in wartime Britain. 
 
The story begins in Folkestone, as the first troops march off to the front lines. Soon, families such as the Grahams and the Wilsons begins to feel the impact of war, as the wounded return and first Belgian refugees, then Canadian troops, arrive in the seaside resort. In addition, the White Feather and suffragette movements grow in popularity, and a tide of grief increasingly leads people to thoughts of the hereafter. 
 
Industrial Tynemouth, meanwhile, is experiencing a quite different war. The factories and shipyards are at peak production, and more women are joining the workforce. At the munitions factory, owner Geoffrey Marshall and his family must adapt to the changing times – as must workers like Fraser and Edie Chadwick. 
 
Tackling themes including the outbreak of war, recruitment, industry, profiteering and spiritualism are some of radio’s foremost dramatists including Katie Hims, Sebastian Baczkiewicz and Shaun McKenna. Among the extensive cast are Michael Bertenshaw, Keely Beresford, Freddie Fox, Ami Metcalf, Edmund Wiseman, Barbara Flynn, Mark Stobbart and Toby Jones, with Dame Harriet Walter making a cameo appearance as Emmeline Pankhurst.

Home Front: The Complete BBC Radio Collection Volume 2

Series 6-10 of the epic BBC Radio 4 drama charting life on the home front during the First World War – plus special episode Home Front: A Lightening

Katie Hims (Author) Katie Hims is a British writer who works extensively in radio drama. A graduate of the National Film and Television School, she began her career by writing theatre plays were were produced in Manchester, Bristol, and London. She was the BBC writer in residence from 2001-2002 and has also written several episodes of the TV series Casualty. Her first radio play The Earthquake Girl won the Richard Imison Memorial Award in 1998. The Gunshot Wedding won the Writers Guild Award for Best Radio Drama in 2009, and The Year My Mother Went Missing won a BBC Audio Drama Award in 2012 for Best Audio Drama. Sebastian Baczkiewicz (Author) Sebastian Baczkiewicz is an English writer. Bacziewicz trained as an actor at The Drama Centre in London. He was the BBC's first writer in residence in 2000. [Wikipedia] Lucy Catherine (Author) Lucy Catherine has written extensively for BBC Radio Drama, including her adaptation of THE MASTER AND MARGARITA by Mikhail Bulgakov (2015), which won the BBC 'Best Audio Drama (Adapted)' Award; her adaptation of Mary Shelley's FRANKENSTEIN (2012); and her half hour 'Gothic Horror' original LOOTED. Anton Lesser (Reader) Anton Lesser is an Associate of the RSC and has appeared in many productions at the National Theatre including Private Lives and Wild Oats. Recent television credits include Charles Dickens, Perfect Strangers and The Project. Film credits include Charlotte Gray and Imagining Argentina.

Series 6-10 of the epic BBC Radio 4 drama charting life on the home front during the First World War – plus special episode Home Front: A Lightening 
 
First heard on radio between 4 August 2014 and 9 November 2018, each episode of Home Front is set exactly one hundred years before the broadcast date, and each follows one character’s day. Together they create a mosaic of experience from a wide cross-section of society, mixing historical fact with enthralling fiction to explore how ordinary people coped with daily life in wartime Britain. 
 
We resume the story in Folkestone, where hospital staff face pressure to return wounded men to duty as conscription is introduced. Zeppelin bombs leave residents jumpy, and ‘spy fever’ is at a pitch as the Secret Service comes to town. Food shortages begin to bite – and the town is rocked by Britain’s first ever air raid, causing the greatest number of civilian casualties of the war to date. 
 
We also meet the residents of Ashburton, Devon, where the future of Isaac Cox's family hangs in the balance as old feuds are reignited at Halecot Farm. 
 
In Tynemouth, paranoia is rife and emotions run high for those at Marshall’s factory. The repercussions of a devastating explosion ripple through people's lives, but they face the future with fortitude, taking small but courageous steps forward. 
 
Tackling themes including nursing and casualties, conscription and objection, espionage and propaganda, xenophobia and suspicion and the church and class are some of radio’s foremost dramatists including Richard Monks, Mike Walker and Sarah Daniels. Among the extensive cast are Martine McCutcheon, Anton Lesser, Maggie Steed and Gunnar Cauthery. Also included is Home Front: A Lightening, a special 45-minute episode marking the centenary of Britain’s first Gotha Air Raid, which devastated Folkestone on 25 May 1917.

Home Front: The Complete BBC Radio Collection Volume 3

Series 11-15 of the major BBC Radio 4 drama charting life on the home front during the First World War – plus special extended episode Home Front: A Fragile Peace

Katie Hims (Author) Katie Hims is a British writer who works extensively in radio drama. A graduate of the National Film and Television School, she began her career by writing theatre plays were were produced in Manchester, Bristol, and London. She was the BBC writer in residence from 2001-2002 and has also written several episodes of the TV series Casualty. Her first radio play The Earthquake Girl won the Richard Imison Memorial Award in 1998. The Gunshot Wedding won the Writers Guild Award for Best Radio Drama in 2009, and The Year My Mother Went Missing won a BBC Audio Drama Award in 2012 for Best Audio Drama. Sebastian Baczkiewicz (Author) Sebastian Baczkiewicz is an English writer. Bacziewicz trained as an actor at The Drama Centre in London. He was the BBC's first writer in residence in 2000. [Wikipedia] Lucy Catherine (Author) Lucy Catherine has written extensively for BBC Radio Drama, including her adaptation of THE MASTER AND MARGARITA by Mikhail Bulgakov (2015), which won the BBC 'Best Audio Drama (Adapted)' Award; her adaptation of Mary Shelley's FRANKENSTEIN (2012); and her half hour 'Gothic Horror' original LOOTED.

Series 11-15 of the major BBC Radio 4 drama charting life on the home front during the First World War – plus special extended episode Home Front: A Fragile Peace 
 
First heard on radio between 4 August 2014 and 9 November 2018, each episode of Home Front is set exactly one hundred years before the broadcast date, and each follows one character’s day. Together they create a mosaic of experience from a wide cross-section of society, mixing historical fact with enthralling fiction to explore how ordinary people coped with daily life in wartime Britain. 
 
Back in Folkestone, the residents are dealing with the after-effects of a devastating air raid. Howard Argent is kept busy at the Bevan, while Ulysses Pilchard experiments with electro-shock therapy. Meanwhile, women’s suffrage, prostitution and unmarried mothers are hot topics, and Kitty Lumley experiences the sharp end of intolerance. 
 
In Tyneside, ripples from the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution lead to a rise in union activity, and the factory faces the threat of strike action from the munitionettes. 
 
And in Devon, women, children and prisoners of war are being put to work on the land. With Britain on the brink of starvation, summer 1918’s harvest is crucial – but conscientious objectors, unwilling or unable to help, arouse fury. 
 
As the Great War moves towards its end, can the wounded communities back home find some sort of peace, however fragile? 
 
Tackling themes including trauma and madness, industrial unrest, morality and sexuality, surrogate labour and the outbreak of peace are some of radio’s foremost dramatists including Katie Hims, Shaun McKenna and Sarah Daniels. Among the extensive cast are Helen Schlesinger, Kathryn Beaumont, Roy Hudd and Billy Kennedy, with guest appearances from Geoffrey Palmer and Mark Heap. Also included is Home Front: A Fragile Peace, a special 75-minute episode which flashes forward to explore the lives of the characters on 10 November 1919.

A BBC Radio 4 Drama

Elsinore: Hamlet. Claudius. The Beginning. The Truth.

The making of Claudius, Uncle to Shakespeare's Hamlet – by Sebastian Baczkiewicz, writer of the successful Pilgrim series.

How did Claudius become the man he is in Shakespeare's Hamlet? What were the real reasons behind the murder of his brother? How does he really feel about his nephew? These questions will be answered in this drama spiced with ghosts, pirates, magic and political skulduggery. 
 
Set in an alternative Europe in the 1930s, Elsinore is a prequel to Shakespeare’s Hamlet. This compelling new drama imagines the turbulence of the Danish court, in a world where Denmark is a powerful, militarised country with a small empire around the Baltic that it is fighting hard to maintain. There is more than a hint of totalitarianism in the air. 
 
In this uneasy setting, Elsinore delves into the troubled, not to say murderous relationship between King Hamlet and his brother Claudius: one of the most interesting characters in the Shakespearean canon. Realism meets with moments of otherworldliness as the story unravels, taking in pirates and magic, rebellion and betrayal. 
 
A dark, exciting drama that touches on the events and people in Shakespeare's play, and brings us to the moment where Hamlet begins. 
 
From the extraordinary imagination of Sebastian Baczkiewicz, writer of the successful Pilgrim series. 
 
Duration: 3 hours approx.

BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramas

Pilgrim Series 5-7

The final three series of the original BBC Radio 4 fantastical drama series set in a world almost, but not quite, like our own.

Paul Hilton stars as Pilgrim in the final three series of the award-winning BBC Radio 4 supernatural drama by Sebastian Baczkiewicz. 
 
In 1185, William Palmer was making pilgrimage to Canterbury. Unbeknown to him, his fellow pilgrim was the King of the Greyfolk. When William claimed that the Church would eradicate belief in the Faerie world, he was cursed by the Faerie King and condemned to walk forever between the worlds of magic and of men. 
 
In these three series, Pilgrim continues on his mission to preserve the uneasy balance between the two worlds and protect mankind from an enemy they resist believing in. His quests include searching for the 'Radiant Boy', a sinister harbinger of impending death; acquiring copper, silver and gold to rescue a group of people trapped in a mine by a malevolent spirit; and tracking down and punishing a former friend who has betrayed him. After so many centuries, will his curse be lifted and his wanderings finally come to an end? 
 
Starring Paul Hilton as the immortal, reluctant and unthanked hero, this award-winning series weaves together ancient myths, magic and contemporary realism to create a dark, thrilling and enchanting fantasy epic that will stay with you long after Pilgrim's story ends. Duration: 9 hours approx.

Sebastian Baczkiewicz

Steve May

Ben Whishaw

Pam Ferris

Philip Glenister

Ian McDiarmid

Eve Best

Jane Lapotaire

Shaun Dooley

Damian Lynch

Full Cast

A Full-Cast BBC Radio Drama Series

Ben Whishaw and Philip Glenister star in these six plays telling the story of the fabled 5th Century king. 
 
Britain, 493 AD. When 17-year-old stable boy Arran is visited by Merlin, he is forced to confront his true origins and seize his destiny. Pulling the sword from the stone, he is proclaimed King Arthur – but the tribal leaders refuse to acknowledge him, and the country is plunged into civil war. With Merlin’s help, Arthur travels to the Sacred Grove, where the Lady of the Lake presents him with the magical sword Excalibur. 
 
Seven years later, Arthur holds court at Camelot, ruling as King with his Queen, Gwenfar, by his side. The kingdom is at peace – but this fragile stability cannot last, and Arthur’s attempts to usher in a new golden age are thwarted by rebellion, betrayal, treason and his own fatal human weakness… 
 
Written by Sebastian Baczkiewicz and Steve May, these gripping plays take in all the famous Arthurian legends, from Lanslot’s tryst with Gwenfar to the quest for the Holy Grail. Ben Whishaw and Philip Glenister star as Arthur, with Ian McDiarmid as Merlin, Jane Lapotaire as Morgan, Eve Myles as Gwenfar and Andrew Scarborough as Lanslot. 
 
Production credits 
Written by Sebastian Baczkiewicz and Steve May 
Directed by Gordon House 
Produced by Gordon House and Jeremy Mortimer 
Music by Zbigniew Preisner, with additional music by Lucinda Mason Brown 
 
Cast 
Morgan – Jane Lapotaire 
Arthur – Ben Whishaw/Philip Glenister 
Merlin – Ian McDiarmid 
Young Morgan – Eve Best 
Gaura – Pam Ferris 
Ector – James Laurenson 
Keir – Nicholas Boulton 
Bryce – Christian Rodska 
Kerwyn/Vespan – Stephen Hogan 
Soldiers – Damian Lynch, Robert Hastie & Jason Chan 
Bedvere – Shaun Dooley 
Lot – Clive Russell 
Rhyannon – Emily Wachter 
Aidan – Phillip Fox 
Young Gwenfar – Alice Ford 
Gwenfar – Eve Myles 
Leodegrance – Phillip Joseph 
Bors/Servant – Robert Hastie 
Maura – Alex Tregear 
Lanslot – Andrew Scarborough 
Elaine – Kaye Wragg 
King Pellyn – Gerard McDermott 
Mordred – Stuart McLoughlin 
Galhot – Liam Garrlgan 
Ossa – Damian Lynch 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 22 October-26 November 2004 
 
© 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Sebastian Baczkiewicz

Books by Sebastian Baczkiewicz

Series by Sebastian Baczkiewicz

Pilgrim Series

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter