Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights

A full-cast BBC radio dramatisation

Summary

Chloe Pirrie and Ben Batt star in this stunning dramatisation of Emily Brontë's classic, adapted by bestselling author Rachel Joyce

When homeless orphan Heathcliff is brought to the isolated, storm-swept farmhouse of Wuthering Heights, he sparks very different emotions in the children of the house, Hindley and Cathy. While Hindley instantly hates him and makes his life miserable, Heathcliff finds a soulmate in Cathy and the two spend days playing together on the wild Yorkshire moors.

Inseparable as children, passionately in love as adolescents, they are everything to each other – until Cathy meets the wealthy, handsome Edgar Linton and agrees to marry him. Consumed by jealousy and resentment, Heathcliff flees, returning three years later rich and seeking revenge.

Bitter and cruel, he vows to destroy everyone who has hurt him – and his hatred and vengeance will ruin the lives of two generations before it runs its course…

First published in 1847, Wuthering Heights scandalized Victorian readers with its shocking portrayal of obsession and doomed love. This radio production, dramatised by Rachel Joyce, retains all the force and intensity of Emily Brontë’s masterpiece.


Cast
Nelly……………………Emma Fielding
Young Cathy……………………Rosie Boore
Young Heathcliff……………………Reuben Bainbridge
Hindley……………………Luke Bailey
Mr Earnshaw……………………Clive Hayward
Joseph……………………Philip Bretherton
Frances/Mary (Servant girl)……………………Lauren Cornelius
Edgar/Linton (adult)……………………Ryan Whittle
Servant 1/Priest……………………Ryan Early
Servant 2……………………Philip Bretherton
Adult Cathy……………………Chloe Pirrie
Adult Heathcliff……………………Ben Batt
Isabella……………………Kerry Gooderson
Hareton……………………Ruben Cryer/Tom Glynn-Carney
Dr Kenneth……………………Clive Hayward
Linton (Young child)……………………Charlie Brand
Zillah (Servant)……………………Georgie Glen
Catherine (adult)……………………Bryony Hannah
Linton (Older child)……………………Oliver Zetterstrom

Produced and Directed by Tracey Neale
Production Coordinator: Joanne Hopper
Studio Managers: Cal Knightley, Anne Bunting and Jenni Burnett

About the authors

Emily Bronte

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Rachel Joyce

Rachel Joyce is the author of the Sunday Times and international bestsellers The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Perfect, The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy, The Music Shop, Miss Benson's Beetle and a collection of interlinked short stories, A Snow Garden & Other Stories. Her new novel, Maureen Fry & the Angel of the North is out now. The film of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry will be released on 28 April 2023.

Rachel's books have been translated into thirty-six languages. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Book prize and longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Rachel was awarded the Specsavers National Book Awards 'New Writer of the Year' in December 2012 and shortlisted for the 'UK Author of the Year' 2014.

Rachel has also written over twenty original afternoon plays and adaptations of the classics for BBC Radio 4, including all the Bronte novels. She moved to writing after a long career as an actor, performing leading roles for the RSC, the National Theatre and Cheek by Jowl.

She lives with her family in Gloucestershire.
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