Sybil, or The Two Nations

Benjamin Disraeli’s powerful, polemical story of love across the class divide

Chosen by The Guardian as one of the best 100 novels of all time, Disraeli’s classic 1845 ‘condition-of-England’ novel exposes the inequality and exploitation endemic in 19^th century Britain, and the vast gulf between the haves and the have-nots.

It centres on Charles Egremont, a member of the landed gentry and newly elected MP. With a glittering future ahead of him, he is in need of a suitable wife, and his brother, the Earl of Marney, is keen that he should marry Lady Joan Fitz-Warene. The heiress to Mowbray Castle, she brings with her a considerable fortune: but from the moment Charles sets eyes on Sybil Gerard in the ruins of Marney Abbey, he can think of no-one else.

Sybil is beautiful, graceful and ethereal – and the daughter of a Yorkshire millworker. When her father, a militant Chartist, shares with Charles his theory of the ‘two nations’ of rich and poor, Charles’ eyes are opened, and he disguises himself as a reporter to investigate the plight of the working classes. As he falls deeper in love with Sybil, and discovers what life is really like for the less fortunate, he determines to use his position to effect change. But those in power are not easily swayed, nor is Sybil’s heart easily won...

Starring Richard Derrington as Charles, with Sorcha Cusack as Sybil, this absorbing historical drama vividly evokes both the luxurious life of the aristocracy and the grinding poverty of the farm labourers, miners and factory workers struggling for existence on the other side of the social divide.

Production credits

Written by Benjamin Disraeli

Dramatised by Frederick Bradnum

Directed by Vanessa Whitburn

Episode List:
1: Marney Town and Marney Abbey
2: Mowbray Town and Mowbray Castle
3: Mowedale and Hellhouse
4: The Chartists and the Aristocracy
5: Love and Conspiracy
6: Of Destruction and Reconciliation

Cast

Charles Egremont – Richard Derrington

Walter Gerard – Alan Doble

Lord Marney – Michael N Harbour

Stephen Morley – Terry Molloy

Benjamin Disraeli – Richard Pasco

Lady Marney/Lady Deloraine – Patricia Gallimore

Arabella Marney – Kathryn Hurlbutt

Sir Vavasour Firebrace – Robert Dorning

Mother Superior – Penelope Lee

Taper/Bingley/Sinister man – David Vann

Tadpole – David Peart

Mr Pugh – Bill Bellamy

Lord Milford/Brewer – Kim Durham

Captain Grouse/Lawyer – Scott Cherry

Mountchesney/Constable/Tanner/Field – Peter Harlowe

Berneers/Peer/Youth – Jonathan Owen

Lord Mowbray/Juggins – Stephen Hancock

Lady Joan/Caroline – Elizabeth Proud

Lady Maud/Harriet – Hedli Niklaus

Lady Mowbray – Eileen Barry

Aubrey St Lys – Clive Marlowe

Dandy Mick/Youth – Paul Copley

Devilsdust – Alan Devereux

Chaffing Jack/Police Inspector – William Eedle

Widow Carey – Mary Wimbush

Mrs Warner – Pauline Siddle

Maria/Dame – Carole Boyd

Bishop Hatton – Roger Hume

Mrs Hatton – Joyce Latham

Nixon/Jermyn/Diggs – James Kerry

Mr Trafford/Waghorne/Sergeant – Michael Bilton

Mrs Trafford – Shirley Stelfox

Scrubbynose – David Conner

Baptist Hatton – Peter Tuddenham

Julia – Anna Lindup

Girls and boys of Mowedale and Hellhouse – Members of the Forest Youth Theatre, Walsall

First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 13 November-18 December 1983

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