A BBC Radio Drama Collection

Gothic Imagination: Dracula, Frankenstein & more

A chilling collection of classic gothic horror and ghost stories adapted or written by women 
 
In this breathtaking collection of gothic horror and eerie tales, draw the curtains and pull the blankets close for two classic Victorian horror tales in new adaptations, Dracula starring Nicky Henson, Charles Edwards, Don Gilet and Ellie Kendrick and Frankenstein, with Jamie Parker (Harry Potter) as Frankenstein and Shaun Dooley (Gentleman Jack, Broadchurch) as the Monster. Next is a thrilling drama about the scandalous Mary Shelley and Lord Byron in Bloody Poetry. In the sensational psycho-sexual thriller The Mysteries of Udolpho with Robert Glenister (Suspicion, Spooks), a young woman is trapped in a castle of nightmares and villains. But who can she trust? 
 
Four spine-chilling dramatised tales follow: The Cold Embrace, where a handsome artist makes a terrible mistake, Man-size in Marble, in which newly-weds must face a horrifying truth, Afterward sees a couple paying the price for an unexpected windfall, and The Demon Lover, featuring Jenny Howe (Silent Witness, Eastenders) about a woman struggling home through the Blitz. 
 
Finally, two of Mary Shelley's finest short stories, 'The Mortal Immortal '- when a young apprentice drinks a potion to cure his heartbreak but discovers a feeling far worse - and 'Rodger Dodworth: The Reanimated Englishman' - where a man is woken after 170 years encased in ice. 
 
Cast and credits 
 
Dracula 
Written by Rebecca Lenkiewicz 
Story written by Bram Stoker 
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 14 October 2012 
 
Frankenstein 
Dramatised by Lucy Catherine 
Written by Mary Shelley 
Directed by Marc Beeby 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 28 October - 4 November 2012 
 
Bloody Poetry 
Written by Howard Brenton 
Adapted by Alison Hindell 
Directed by Alison Hindell 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 20 October 2012 
 
The Mysteries of Udolpho 
Written by Ann Radcliffe 
Dramatised by Catherine Czerkawska 
Directed by David Blount 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 13 October - 24 October 1996 
 
The Cold Embrace 
Written by Mary Braddon 
Produced by Marion Nancarrow 
Directed by Christopher Hawes 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 26 July 1997 
 
Man-size in Marble 
Written by Edith Nesbit 
Produced by Marion Nancarrow 
Dramatised by Christopher Hawes 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 17 November 1997 
 
Afterward 
Written by Edith Wharton 
Produced by Marion Nancarrow 
Directed by Christopher Hawes 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 24 November 1997 
 
The Demon Lover 
Written by Elizabeth Bowen 
Produced by Marion Nancarrow 
Directed by Christopher Hawes 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 17 July 1997 
 
'The Mortal Immortal' 
Written by Mary Shelley 
Produced by Gemma Jenkins 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 3 December 2005 
 
'Rodger Dodworth: The Reanimated Englishman' 
Written by Mary Shelley 
Produced by John Cardy 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 24 May 1982 
 
©2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

A BBC Radio full-cast fantasy adventure

Mabinogi: Lost Legends and Dark Magic

Beyond the forests, beyond the valleys, beyond the mountains... there's another world. 
 
From the Red Book of Hergest, these are the tales of the Mabinogi. Tales of of romance, tragedy, comedy and fantasy, of a mythical pre-Saxon era of Medieval Wales: a land of magic, of dragons, fairies and giants. 
 
Pryderi, Prince of Dyfed, heads to Harlech in North Wales to impress King Bran the Blessed of Gwynedd and win the hand of Princess Branwen. But what starts out as a straightforward journey with his companion, Brigid, quickly becomes upturned by strange magic and the threat of war with the Irish. Can they survive? And what mysteries yearn to be unravelled in the Otherworld? 
 
The world we see, the world of the mountains and the valleys, the villages and the farms, is nothing more than a veneer. Our world is no more than a painted shroud, masking what lies beneath. For most of the living, the barrier between the worlds is impossible to breach. For very few, it is as easy to pierce as the still black waters of a mountain lake. Step into the Otherworld. 
 
Starring Darragh Mortell (The Bill) and Aimee Ffion Edwards (Peaky Blinders, The Detectorists). 
 
Award-winning writer Lucy Catherine (The Master and Margherita, Being Human, Vanity Fair) gives these stories a modern flavour while remaining true to the vivid magic of Celtic mythology. 
 
Cast and credits: 
 
Brigid - Aimee Ffion Edwards 
Pryderi - Darragh Mortell 
Arawn - John Cording 
Roisin - Fiona O'Shaughnessy 
Bran the Blessed/Pwyll - Robert Pugh 
Manawydan/Dewi - Matthew Gravelle 
Branwen - Rhian Blythe 
Matholwch - Stephen Hogan 
Efnysien - Richard Elfyn 
Nysien - Rhodri Meilir 
Pwca/Wyn - Sion Pritchard 
Deryn - Saran Morgan 
Mam/Rhiannon - Eiry Thomas 
 
Adapted by Lucy Catherine. 
Sound design by Nigel Lewis. 
Directed by James Robinson and John Norton. 
A BBC Wales and BBC Radio 3 Commission. 
 
© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
(p) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Beyond the forests, beyond the valleys, beyond the mountains... there's another world. 
 
From the Red Book of Hergest, these are the tales of the Mabinogi. Tales of of romance, tragedy, comedy and fantasy, of a mythical pre-Saxon era of Medieval Wales: a land of magic, of dragons, fairies and giants. 
 
Pryderi, Prince of Dyfed, heads to Harlech in North Wales to impress King Bran the Blessed of Gwynedd and win the hand of Princess Branwen. But what starts out as a straightforward journey with his companion, Brigid, quickly becomes upturned by strange magic and the threat of war with the Irish. Can they survive? And what mysteries yearn to be unravelled in the Otherworld? 
 
The world we see, the world of the mountains and the valleys, the villages and the farms, is nothing more than a veneer. Our world is no more than a painted shroud, masking what lies beneath. For most of the living, the barrier between the worlds is impossible to breach. For very few, it is as easy to pierce as the still black waters of a mountain lake. Step into the Otherworld. 
 
Starring Darragh Mortell (The Bill) and Aimee Ffion Edwards (Peaky Blinders, The Detectorists). 
 
 Award-winning writer Lucy Catherine (The Master and Margherita, Being Human, Vanity Fair) gives these stories a modern flavour while remaining true to the vivid magic of Celtic mythology. 
 
Cast and credits: 
 
Brigid - Aimee Ffion Edwards 
 Pryderi - Darragh Mortell 
 Arawn - John Cording 
 Roisin - Fiona O'Shaughnessy 
 Bran the Blessed/Pwyll - Robert Pugh 
 Manawydan/Dewi - Matthew Gravelle 
 Branwen - Rhian Blythe 
 Matholwch - Stephen Hogan 
 Efnysien - Richard Elfyn 
 Nysien - Rhodri Meilir 
 Pwca/Wyn - Sion Pritchard 
 Deryn - Saran Morgan 
 Mam/Rhiannon - Eiry Thomas 
 
Adapted by Lucy Catherine. 
 Sound design by Nigel Lewis. 
 Directed by James Robinson and John Norton. 
 A BBC Wales and BBC Radio 3 Commission. 
 
© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
(p) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

A Viking Epic inspired by the Icelandic Sagas

Gudrun: Series 5-7

Series 5-7 of the Viking epic of love, revenge and faith set in 11th-century Iceland

Series 5-7 of the Viking epic of love, revenge and faith set in 11th-century Iceland 
 
Born into a world of otherworldly beauty yet unforgiving harshness, Icelandic heroine Gudrun must fight to forge an independent path and live according to her own rules. A tenacious survivor, she has endured much pain in her young life, from widowhood to the death of her lover, the burning of her family home, separation from her beloved daughter, Sigrid, and being cut adrift from her homeland. 
 
Now, after many years away, Gudrun sails once more into Icelandic waters, with a plan to rescue her daughter who is being brought up in the new Christian faith. But her return to the Sacred Land is not the homecoming she had hoped for, and she soon finds herself exiled again and heading for the New World, with all its new possibilities and new dangers. 
 
Meanwhile, Sigrid arrives in England to marry a man she has never met. Struggling to understand this strange new land of Saxons and Danes, she must keep her darkest secret well-hidden if she is to survive... 
 
Written by Lucy Catherine and inspired by the famous Icelandic Laxdæla saga, this epic tale of love, revenge and faith stars Kate Phillips (Peaky Blinders, War and Peace) as Gudrun, with Rosie Boore and Hollie Burgess as Sigrid. 
 
Written by Lucy Catherine 
Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko and Jessica Dromgoole 
 
Cast 
Gudrun - Kate Phillips 
Freija - Samantha Dakin 
Dag - Cameron Percival/Joseph Ayres 
Sylvia - Carolyn Pickles/Susan Jameson 
Volva - Carolyn Pickles 
Aoife - Lucy Doyle 
Hakon/Guard 2/Priest/King Sweyn - Michael Bertenshaw 
Bolli/Guard 1 - Lewis Bray 
Aslak - Tony Turner 
Sigrid - Rosie Boore/Hollie Burgess 
Leif - Don Gilet/Chris Pavlo 
Warrior - Don Gilet 
Frederick - Simon Scardifield 
Heidr - Jeannette Percival/Helen Clapp 
Kjartan - Luke MacGregor/Ian Dunnett Jnr 
The Virgin - Marilyn Nnadebe 
Sailors - Chris Harper and Joseph Ayre 
Gorm - David Hounslow 
Canute - Aaron Gelkoff 
Gunnar - Chris Pavlo 
Panuk - Kenny Blyth 
Saxon - Joseph Ayre 
Vali/Dane - Chris Harper 
Tofa - Debbie Korley 
Jesus - Paul Hilton 
Truda - Charlotte East 
Monk/Servant - Ian Dunnett Jnr 
Tobias - Hasan Dixon 
Abbot Bettega/John Crescentius/Pope - Roger Ringrose 
Nun - Emma Handy 
Woman/Garvinicus - Jane Whittenshaw 
Soldiers - Ian Dunnett Jnr and Hasan Dixon 
Jesson at 7 - Harry Clarke 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4: 3-14 December 2018 (Series 5), 20-31 May 2019 (Series 6), 1-12 March 2021 (Series 7)

Series 5-7 of the Viking epic of love, revenge and faith set in 11th-century Iceland 
 
Born into a world of otherworldly beauty yet unforgiving harshness, Icelandic heroine Gudrun must fight to forge an independent path and live according to her own rules. A tenacious survivor, she has endured much pain in her young life, from widowhood to the death of her lover, the burning of her family home, separation from her beloved daughter, Sigrid, and being cut adrift from her homeland. 
 
Now, after many years away, Gudrun sails once more into Icelandic waters, with a plan to rescue her daughter who is being brought up in the new Christian faith. But her return to the Sacred Land is not the homecoming she had hoped for, and she soon finds herself exiled again and heading for the New World, with all its new possibilities and new dangers. 
 
Meanwhile, Sigrid arrives in England to marry a man she has never met. Struggling to understand this strange new land of Saxons and Danes, she must keep her darkest secret well-hidden if she is to survive... 
 
Written by Lucy Catherine and inspired by the famous Icelandic Laxdæla saga, this epic tale of love, revenge and faith stars Kate Phillips (Peaky Blinders, War and Peace) as Gudrun, with Rosie Boore and Hollie Burgess as Sigrid. 
 
Written by Lucy Catherine 
Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko and Jessica Dromgoole 
 
Cast 
Gudrun - Kate Phillips 
Freija - Samantha Dakin 
Dag - Cameron Percival/Joseph Ayres 
Sylvia - Carolyn Pickles/Susan Jameson 
Volva - Carolyn Pickles 
Aoife - Lucy Doyle 
Hakon/Guard 2/Priest/King Sweyn - Michael Bertenshaw 
Bolli/Guard 1 - Lewis Bray 
Aslak - Tony Turner 
Sigrid - Rosie Boore/Hollie Burgess 
Leif - Don Gilet/Chris Pavlo 
Warrior - Don Gilet 
Frederick - Simon Scardifield 
Heidr - Jeannette Percival/Helen Clapp 
Kjartan - Luke MacGregor/Ian Dunnett Jnr 
The Virgin - Marilyn Nnadebe 
Sailors - Chris Harper and Joseph Ayre 
Gorm - David Hounslow 
Canute - Aaron Gelkoff 
Gunnar - Chris Pavlo 
Panuk - Kenny Blyth 
Saxon - Joseph Ayre 
Vali/Dane - Chris Harper 
Tofa - Debbie Korley 
Jesus - Paul Hilton 
Truda - Charlotte East 
Monk/Servant - Ian Dunnett Jnr 
Tobias - Hasan Dixon 
Abbot Bettega/John Crescentius/Pope - Roger Ringrose 
Nun - Emma Handy 
Woman/Garvinicus - Jane Whittenshaw 
Soldiers - Ian Dunnett Jnr and Hasan Dixon 
Jesson at 7 - Harry Clarke 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4: 3-14 December 2018 (Series 5), 20-31 May 2019 (Series 6), 1-12 March 2021 (Series 7)

A gripping BBC Radio drama

Halfway Here

A gripping full-cast drama about a family in meltdown, starring Tyger Drew-Honey 
 
Luke and Nettie are 15-year-old twins in a normally dysfunctional family. But when something bad happens to Nettie, it becomes clear that no-one knew much about her. As the family wait by her hospital bedside, they gradually discover more about what was going on in her life. 
 
This gripping full-cast drama stars Tyger Drew-Honey (Outnumbered) and Sharon Small (The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, Mistresses, Cutting It). 
 
Directed by Mary Peate

A gripping full-cast drama about a family in meltdown, starring Tyger Drew-Honey 
 
Luke and Nettie are 15-year-old twins in a normally dysfunctional family. But when something bad happens to Nettie, it becomes clear that no-one knew much about her. As the family wait by her hospital bedside, they gradually discover more about what was going on in her life. 
 
This gripping full-cast drama stars Tyger Drew-Honey (Outnumbered) and Sharon Small (The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, Mistresses, Cutting It). 
 
Directed by Mary Peate

A BBC Radio dystopian thriller

Body Horror

London, 2049. 
 
Full body transplants on sale here: the more you pay, the better the body. But can an expensive upgrade really fulfil the life-changing expectations of demoralised mortician Caroline McAleese? 
 
Caroline is desperate to be promoted to the sales team - but she's overweight and over 40, and in a world where attractiveness is prioritised ahead of intelligence, her prospects are slim. Then she hits the jackpot in the Citizens' Lottery, and gets the chance to trade up to the perfect new body: one that's young, lithe and beautiful. 
 
It's a dream come true for Caroline - until she starts to experience teething problems. Her behaviours begin to change, and she is haunted by violent dreams. She's not alone in her new body, and no longer in control. What shadows have been left by her body's former inhabitant? And whose voice is it she hears in her head? 
 
Developed through the Wellcome Trust Experimental Stories scheme, this dark, futuristic series was written by award-winning dramatist Lucy Catherine, whose credits include Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology, Gudrun and The Master and Margarita. It stars Jill Halfpenny as Caroline, with Shelley Conn, Samantha Dakin and Chetna Pandya. 
 
Cast 
Caroline - Jill Halfpenny 
Gloria - Shelley Conn 
Rowan/Benefits Office Computer - Adam Courting 
Anastasia - Samantha Dakin 
Tom/Car Salesman - Ian Conningham 
Waiter/Security Guard - Greg Jones 
Bar Guy/Che - Ikky Elyas 
Virtual James - Will Kirk 
Government Computer/Stan - Neil McCaul 
Work Computer/Library Computer - Sinead MacInnes 
Lift Voice/Young Mum - Lucy Reynolds 
Paulina - Chetna Pandya 
Mel - Liza Sadovy 
Trevor - Clive Hayward 
Karina - Heather Craney 
BodyEx Computer - Scarlett Courtney 
Hotel Computer - Laura Christy 
 
Directed by Toby Swift 
Developed through the Wellcome Trust Experimental Stories scheme 
 First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 11-13 March 2020

Two BBC Radio 4 full-cast thrillers

Tracks: Series 3 and 4

Dr Helen Ash returns in two more series of the award-winning conspiracy thriller

One of the best dramas – on television or radio – currently on offer

'One of the best dramas - on television or radio - currently on offer' Radio Times 
'The most brilliant drama' and 'really, really well produced' Dolly Alderton 
 
Tracks: Chimera 
 
A tower block collapses in London. Hundreds are killed. 
Except a man standing alone on the roof, who walks out of the rubble unscathed. 
 
And things are about to get stranger, because Dr Helen Ash is pregnant. But she hasn't had sex since her husband died 18 months ago. 
 
What connects her unexplained pregnancy, a mysterious phone message from a woman who died in the building collapse, and the man on the roof of the high-rise? 
 
The gripping conspiracy thriller and winner of Best Sound (BBC Audio Drama Awards) and Best Fiction (British Podcast Awards) returns for a third series. 
 
 
Tracks: Indigo 
 
Dr Helen Ash is involved in a road accident. But where was she going in such a hurry? And why can't she remember? 
 
The answer lies in the riddle of Helen's daughter, Frances, who's older than she should be. And a mysterious 'child-mother', who's younger than she should be... 
 
Romola Garai returns as Helen Ash in the compelling fourth series of Tracks. 
 
 
Cast of Tracks: Chimera 
Helen.... Hattie Morahan 
Freddy..... Jonathan Forbes 
Rachel.... Fiona O'Shaughnessy 
Other parts played by Rhodri Meilir, Eiry Thomas, Zahra Ahmadi, Clare Cage, Marc Danbury, Stewart Wright, Richard Elfyn, Kerry Shale, Elina Alminas, Carys Eleri, Morgan Watkins, Jeanette Percival, Matthew Gravelle, Richard Nichols, Amerah Saleh, Adam Deacon, Bijan Daneshmand, Emma Handy, Lea Mornar, Francois Pandolfo, Simon Armstrong, Saffron Coomber and Sean Murray 
 
Lead writer.... Matthew Broughton 
Episodes written by Matthew Broughton, Matt Hartley, Lucy Catherine, Caroline Horton and Timothy X Atack 
Directed by James Robinson, Rebecca Lloyd-Evans and Carl Prekopp 
Produced by James Robinson 
A BBC Cymru Wales Production 
 
Cast of Tracks: Indigo 
Helen.... Romola Garai 
Freddy.... Jonathan Forbes 
Other parts played by Andrew Gower, Georgia Henshaw, Sally Orrock, Carys Eleri, Sion Pritchard, Joanna van Kampen, Scarlett Courtney, Adam Courting, Lucy Reynolds, Ashleigh Hadadd, David Hounslow, Sinead MacInnes, Juliet Cowan and Marc Danbury 
 
Written by Matthew Broughton 
Produced and Directed by James Robinson 
A BBC Cymru Wales Production

Lucy Catherine

Anjana Vasan

Sam Troughton

Luke Nunn

Carl Prekopp

Full Cast

A BBC Radio 4 Drama

An original drama spotlighting The Three Musketeers' iconic antagonist, Milady de Winter 
 
Young, beautiful and courageous, Milady de Winter is a cunning spy, talented thief, and ruthless killer. She glides with ease through the streets and gilded halls of 17th-century France and England, turning heads or, with a click of her fingers, disappearing anonymously into a crowd. Driven by intellect and fierce desire, she is willing to go to any lengths to achieve her ambitions - and outwit the powerful men who try to crush her. 
 
We first meet her as a young novice, forced by her father to enter a convent against her will. Exploiting her natural charms, she escapes back into the world, where she gains wealth and privilege. But a terrible ordeal at the hands of Athos leaves her penniless and alone. Fleeing to Paris, she is recruited into the service of the French crown, and schooled in the dark arts of espionage. There, her path crosses that of the Musketeers once more - and, deceived and betrayed by D'Artagnan, she begins a relentless and obsessive quest to destroy them. 
 
Scarred by violence and forged in the fire, Milady undergoes a metamorphosis from wayward teenager to cold-hearted avenger - but as she ventures down the darkest of roads, she risks losing everything for the chance to satiate her lust for revenge... 
 
A fascinating retelling of a classic tale, this tense, thrilling drama puts one of literature's greatest villains centre stage, reimagining Cardinal Richelieu's seductive, deadly fixer as a sharp-witted survivor with a compelling story to tell. 
 
Production credits 
Written by Lucy Catherine 
Produced by Sasha Yevtushenko 
 
Cast 
Milady - Anjana Vasan 
Father Laurent - Luke Nunn 
De La Fere/Athos - Sam Troughton 
Richelieu - Carl Prekopp 
Comtesse/Madame Canard - Elizabeth Counsell 
Marie Therese - Rhiannon Neads 
Rochefort/Executioner - Don Gilet 
Father/Jailer - Shaun Mason 
Sheffield/Executioner/Innkeeper - Gerard McDermott 
De Winter - Joe Kloska 
Felton - Gavin Singh Chera 
D'Artagnan - Ian Dunnett Jnr 
Buckingham - Ryan Whittle 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 4-11 September 2023 
 
© 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

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