R4 Drama 2025
I'm typing these entries out, summarising them from RT, removing spoilers and editing / adding notes where necessary. Typos are gradually being removed. The page is generally updated at the end of each month.
To locate a play, use Control-F which will bring up a search box. The page lists afternoon dramas. .........ND
The Saturday and Sunday plays are labelled as such in the lists.
Plays made by independent production companies are indicated by 'Indie'.
THE PLAYS:
1 Jan 2025: Solomon Browne
By Callum Mitchell; his first work for radio. 40 years on, this is the story of the Penlee lifeboat disaster. The setting is Mousehole, 19th December 1981. The famous Christmas harbour lights illuminate the fishing village in a quiet corner of Cornwall. But a storm is coming and the events of this night will leave an indelible mark on the community. The programme is a poetic drama-documentary, weaving together monologue, recorded testimonies and the genuine radio communications from the disaster. It is written by Newlyn resident Callum Mitchell, and the programme was made in Cornwall, with the help of some of the family members of the men lost. The result is a celebration and a memorial to the men of the lifeboat Solomon Browne: Trevelyan Richards, Stephen Madron, Nigel Brockman, John Blewett, Charles Greenhaugh, Kevin Smith, Barrie Torrie and Gary Wallis.
Helping tell their story are:
Neil Brockman, son of Nigel Brockman. Neil was 17 at the time and a member the lifeboat crew, alongside his dad. Jane Torrie is the sister of Barrie Torrie. The night of the disaster she was busy babysitting her brother’s two children, as he set out into the storm. Jo Payne, is the daughter of Charlie Greenhaugh, member of the lifeboat crew and also landlord of the Ship Inn that overlooks Mousehole’s harbour. And Baden Madron, brother of Stephen Madron.
The Penlee lifeboat disaster was a tragedy that tore the village of Mousehole apart, days before Christmas, but through the darkness of the storm, shines the light of a coastal community intent on remembering the bravery of its lost neighbours.
The Voices: Jo Payne, Baden Madron, Jane Torrie and Neil Brockman. The Narrator: Callum Mitchell. Music by Edward Norris. Sound design by Nigel Lewis. 'Calm is the Sea' performed by Mousehole Male Voice Choir. BBC Wales.
2 Jan 2025: The Bolt
By Tim Price. Tensions flare in the North Wales climbing community when a steel bolt appears on a sea cliff in Anglesey. Rhodri, a passionate adventure climber is totally against using bolts, but he's desperate to get the first ascent on a new climbing route, one that could really change his fortunes, and the future of his marriage is dependent on raising enough money to qualify for a spouse visa.
Rhodri - Sion Eifion,
Matilde - Norah Lopez Holden,
Gwion - Dion Lloyd,
Aubrey - Ian Dunnett Jnr,
Emily - Lauren Morais,
Dan - Nuhazet Diaz Cano,
Josepa - Zoila Garman.
Production Co-ordinators - Eleri McAuliffe and Lindsay Rees.
Sound Design - Catherine Robinson
Directed by John Norton.
BBC Wales.
3 Jan 2025: Don't Listen to This, 2
By Anthony Del Col. 30m. E-sports psychologist, Cressida Yang is pulled back into the competitive gaming world. In the last couple of days, two esports players made contact with her just before they died. Cressida is unnerved. She visits the hotel where Khaan, one of the deceased players, was staying.
Cressida Yang...... Sophie Wu,
Blu_Devil ..... Thaddea Graham,
Park ..... Nikesh Patel,
Rooftop ..... Jonny Weldon,
Oliver/Officer Patel ..... Jaz Singh Deol,
Beckett Knox/Lars Persson ...... Samuel James,
Ziggy..... Andi Bickers
Teammate ..... Dan 'Foxdrop' Wyatt
Warstrm ..... Ian Dunnett Jnr.
Production co-ordinator- Pippa Day.
Technical Producer and Sound Designer- Sharon Hughes.
Assistant Technical Producer- Mike Etherden.
Director- Jessica Mitic.
Co-Producers- Nadia Molinari, Jessica Mitic, Lorna Newman.
BBC.
4 Jan: Saturday - No drama
5 Jan: Sunday afternoon - Behind the Scenes at the Museum, 1
By Kate Atkinson. Part 1 of 3. Dram. Katie Hims. Ruby Lennox’s family is ostensibly ordinary. In 1951 Ruby Lennox is conceived to the chimes of midnight; chimes from the clock on the mantlepiece which once belonged to her great grandmother, Alice. The Lennoxes live above the shop in York. We go back to 1919, and meet Ruby’s grandmother Nell, a young woman, falling in love at the brink of war.
Ruby ..... Rosie Cavaliero,
Bunty ..... Kate O’Flynn,
George ..... Samuel James,
Nell ..... Jessica Turner,
Jack ..... Nuhazet Diaz Cano,
Frank .....Paul Adeyefa,
Albert ..... Ian Dunnett Jnr,
Young Nell ..... Shreya Lallu,
Young Lilian .... Andi Bickers,
Alice/Babs ..... Ruth Everett,
Jean-Paul ..... Charlie Anson,
Young Patricia ..... Paige Brearley,
Young Gillian ..... Olive Connolly.
Producer ..... Anne Isger.
Production Co-ordinators ..... Jenny Mendez and Maggie Olgiati.
Sound ..... Keith Graham, Ali Craig, Andy Garratt.
6 Jan: Hennikay, 2-4
30m comedy slot with Bill Bailey. New series. By David Spicer.
7 Jan: The Concierge, 1
Thriller by Simon Scardifield and Andrew Day.
Joe is the perfect right hand man, working hard to create a positive image of his rich Russian employer and helping him to avoid UK sanctions. But now Demidov's Ukrainian daughter-in-law is asking for Joe's help. .
Joe.....Sean Delaney,
Alex.....Steffan Cennydd,
Oksana... Anastasiya Ador,
Piotr.....Juris Zagars,
Kim.....Suzanne Packer,
Stef.....Rhys Parry Jones
Phil.....Sion Pritchard.
Production co-ordinators.....Eleri Sydney, McAuliffe and Lindsay Rees.
Sound designers....Jonathan Thomas, Nigel Lewis and Catherine Robinson.
Assistant Producer.....Fay Lomas.
Producer.....Emma Harding.
BBC Wales.
8 Jan: The Concierge, 2
Continued from yesterday. Yesterday, Joe was the perfect right-hand man to his rich Russian employer, Mr Demidov. Today, he’s on the hunt for a missing person.
Joe.....Sean Delaney,
Ales.....Steffan Cennydd,
Piotr.....Juris Zagars,
Stef.....Rhys Parry Jones,
Kim ....Suzanne Packer,
Beautician/Receptionist… Andi Bickers,
Clerk… Artur Zai Barrera,
Cashier,Maksym… Sion Pritchard.
Production co-ordinators.....Eleri Sydney McAuliffe and Lindsay Rees.
Sound designers....Jonathan Thomas, Nigel Lewis and Catherine Robinson.
Producer.....Fay Lomas.
BBC Wales.
9 Jan: The Concierge, 3
By Simon Scardifield and Andrew Day, continued from yesterday; final episode. Whilst working for his rich Russian employer, Joe’s always looked the other way when necessary. But now he finds himself in danger.
Joe…Sean Delaney,
Poitr… Juris Zagars,
Oksana…Anastasiya Ador
Stef…Rhys Parry Jones
Kim…Suzanne Packer
Alex…Steffan Cennydd,
Ilya…Artur Zai Barrera,
Air Steward… Andi Bickers.
Production co-ordinators.....Eleri Sydney McAuliffe and Lindsay Rees.
Sound designers....Jonathan Thomas, Nigel Lewis and Catherine Robinson.
Ukrainian translations... Irena Taranyuk.
Producers..... Emma Harding and Fay Lomas.
BBC Wales.
10 Jan: Don't Listen to This, 3
By Anthony Del Col. Psychological thriller, set in the world of competitive gaming (e-sports). Cressida Yang and her former nemesis, Blu_Devil are trying to find out what happened to two e-sports players who died in mysterious circumstances. After attending the funeral of Lars Persson, they find another lead. 30m.
Cressida Yang ..... Sophie Wu,
Blu_Devil ..... Thaddea Graham,
Park ..... Nikesh Patel,
Rooftop ..... Jonny Weldon,
Gerald Lee ...... David K. S. Tse,
Officer Patel ....... Jaz Singh Deol,
Beckett Knox ....... Samuel James,
Teammate ...... Dan Foxdrop Wyatt,
Warstrm ..... Ian Dunnett Jnr.
Production co-ordinator- Pippa Day.
Assistant Technical Producer- Mike Etherden.
Technical Producer and Sound Designer- Sharon Hughes.
Director- Lorna Newman.
Co-Producers- Nadia Molinari, Jessica Mitic, Lorna Newman.
Thanks to Nimitt Mankad, Anthony Wastella and Geoff Moore.
BBC Studio.
11 Jan: Saturday Play - Return to Vegas
Musical drama by Roland Gift, soul singer; rpt. from 2020.
Johnny Holloway, an ex-pop star wrongly convicted of drug dealing, gets out of prison. Johnny asks to be taken to the wake of his colleague Frank to pay his respects. When he gets there, he finds he has inherited his nightclub - the Las Vegas. Recorded on location in Gerry’s Club in Soho, London, with music written by Roland and Barson and performed by Roland along with members of the cast.
Johnny………….. Roland Gift,
Sean……………. Ian Puleston-Davies,
Ezra…………. Miles Richardson,
Ricky...... Carl Prekopp,
Pearl...... Sophie Melville,
Carol….. Katy Cavanagh-Jupe,
Barry…………… Bill Fellows,
Frank........Robert Glenister,
Eloise…………Claudia Jolly.
Mourners and punters: Poppy Allen-Quarmby, Tallulah Bond, Zooey Gleaves, Tom Glenister, Ellis Howard, Jonny Lavelle, Declan Mason.Producer: Celia de Wolff,
Sound Design: David Chilton.
Indie (Pier productions).
12 Jan: Sunday afternoon- Behind the Scenes at the Museum, 2
By Kate Atkinson. Continued from last Sunday. Bunty’s disappeared, so Ruby, Gillian and Patricia spend a week on holiday in Whitby with George’s friend Doreen. But the fun can’t last forever..
Ruby ..... Rosie Cavaliero,
Bunty ..... Kate O’Flynn,
George/Edmund ..... Samuel James,
Doreen ..... Laura Dos Santos,
Young Ruby ..... Matilda Kent,
Young Gillian ..... Ava Talbot,
Young Patricia ..... Frankie-Jae Simmonds,
Lilian ..... Andi Bickers,
Nell ..... Shreya Lallu,
Paddy ..... Nuhazet Diaz Cano,
Mac ..... Ian Dunnett Jnr.
Producer ..... Anne Isger.
Production Co-ordinators ..... Jenny Mendez and Maggie Olgiati.
Sound ..... Keith Graham, Ali Craig, Andy Garratt.
13 Jan: Hennikay, 2-5
By David Spicer; 30m comedy series with Bill Bailey.
14 Jan: The Gift: Switched, 1
Series 2. By Jenny Kleeman. An at-home DNA test, taken by chance when a game of golf is rained off, gives some surprising information. A man and three women have reassess everything they thought they knew about their families. A DNA test can have unforeseen consequences. Revealing your genetic past could disrupt your future. It may be better not to know.
Presenter: Jenny Kleeman,
Producer: Conor Garrett,
Production Coordinator: Gill Huggett,
Editor: Philip Sellars.
Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams.
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke.
BBC Studio.
15 Jan: The Elder Son, 1 of 2
By Alexander Vampilov, translated from the Russian by Jan Butler.
Adapted for radio by Tom Wainwright. Set in (and making fun of) Brezhnev's Russia. On a cold winter night, two young men miss their last train home and find themselves stranded. To keep warm until morning, they talk themselves into the home of some strangers. But the young men have arrived at a bad time; - the daughter is on the verge of marrying a dreadful bore and the son is in the midst of a self-esteem crisis. The visitors become badly entangled in the family's drama.
Volodya . . . . . . Stewart Campbell,
Silva . . . . . Ian Dunnett Jnr,
Sarafanov . . . . . Tony Turner,
Nina . . . . . Elinor Coleman,
Vasya . . . . . Aaron Gelkoff,
Natasha . . . . . Lauren Cornelius,
Kudimov . . . . . Hasan Dixon
Neighbour . . . . . Nicholas Murchie.
Music arranged and performed by Ian Dunnett Jnr.
Producer: Sasha Yevtushenko.
16 Jan: The Elder Son, 2
By Alexander Vampilov; conclusion, continued from yesterday.
Silva . . . . . Ian Dunnett Jnr,
Sarafanov . . . . . Tony Turner,
Nina . . . . . Elinor Coleman,
Vasya . . . . . Aaron Gelkoff,
Natasha . . . . . Lauren Cornelius,
Kudimov . . . . . Hasan Dixon.
Music arranged and performed by Ian Dunnett Jnr.
Produced by Sasha Yevtushenko.
17 Jan: Don't Listen to This, 4
By Anthony Del Col. Continued from last Friday. 30m.
Cressida is forced into hiding when she is blamed for a string of murders which has sent shockwaves through the e-sports community. She is determined to locate the Poka Yoke server and shut down the killer cutscene forever and embarks on a dangerous journey.
Cressida Yang ..... Sophie Wu,
Blu_Devil ..... Thaddea Graham,
Park ..... Nikesh Patel,
Rooftop ..... Jonny Weldon,
Soji Sanada.....Togo Igawa,
Gerald Lee ...... David K. S. Tse,
Beckett Knox ....... Samuel James,
Warstrm ..... Ian Dunnett Jnr.
Production co-ordinator- Pippa Day.
Assistant Technical Producer- Mike Etherden.
Technical Producer and Sound Designer- Sharon Hughes.
Director- Nadia Molinari.
Co-Producers- Nadia Molinari, Jessica Mitic, Lorna Newman
Thanks to Nimitt Mankad, Anthony Wastella and Geoff Moore.
BBC Studio.
18 Jan: Saturday Play - On a Lost Highway
By Ed Thomas. Remi wakes on a road with no memory of who she is or how she got there. She must try to piece together the fragments of her mind, work out who she is, and what went wrong. This is the first audio drama recorded in BBC Wales’ brand new headquarters in Central Square, Cardiff, in the 'Dylan Thomas Audio Drama Studio'.
Remi.... Rakie Ayola,
The Lover.... Richard Harrington,
Mother.... Sian Phillips,
The Stranger.... Valene Kane,
Johnny Grecco.... Ronan Summers;
produced by James Robinson
for BBC Wales.
19 Jan: Sunday afternoon - Behind the Scenes at the Museum, 3
By Kate Atkinson; final episode. Ruby’s growing up, and in doing so, she must unearth the ghosts of her past which have lain buried for a lifetime. Dram. Katie Hims.
Ruby ..... Rosie Cavaliero,
Bunty ..... Kate O’Flynn,
George ..... Samuel James,
Young Ruby ..... Maddie Evans
Young Patricia ..... Lauren Patel
Clive ..... Ian Dunnett Jnr,
Nell ..... Jessica Turner,
Older Patricia ..... Jane Slavin,
Alice ..... Ruth Everett,
Jean-Paul ..... Charlie Anson
Bernard ..... David Hounslow,
Daisy ..... Shreya Lallu.
Producer ..... Anne Isger.
Production Co-ordinators ..... Jenny Mendez and Maggie Olgiati.
Sound ..... Keith Graham, Ali Craig, Andy Garratt.
BBC Studio.
20 Jan: Hennikay, 2-6
Comedy series; Bill Bailey as Guy; Max Lester as his imaginary friend. Guest Monica Dolan. Producer: Liz Anstee. 30m.
21 Jan: This Thing of Darkness, 3-2: The Elephant in the Room
By Frances Poet, with monologues by Eileen Horne.
Dr Alex Bridges is a forensic psychiatrist and psychotherapist, assessing and treating perpetrators of serious crime.
This drama explores the psychological impact of murder on teenage perpetrators and follows the fortunes of participants in a Long Sentence therapy group. How much do childhood experiences affect the mind of a murderer?
Dr Alex Bridges ….. Lolita Chakrabarti,
Anthony ….. Lorn Macdonald,
Finn ….. Reuben Joseph,
Twitch …. Brian Ferguson
Simon ….. Shaun Mason,
Donna/The Governor….. Karen Bartke,
Dani ….. Elysia Welch,
Dead Elvis….Andy Clark.
Sound Design: Fraser Jackson.
Series Consultant: Dr Gwen Adshead.
Series format created by Lucia Haynes, Audrey Gillan, Eileen Horne, Gaynor Macfarlane, Anita Vettesse and Kirsty Williams.
Thanks to Victoria Byrne, Barlinnie Prison, Vox Liminis Distant Voices Project and Prof. Fergus McNeill.
Produced by Gaynor Macfarlane and Kirsty Williams.
Directed by Gaynor; BBC Scotland.
22 Jan: Endless Second
By Theo Toksvig-Stewart. Drama about consent. Two students fall in love, but a drunken evening changes everything.
M ..... Sam Otto,
W ..... Louisa Harland.
Technical Producers ..... Martha Littlehailes, Alison Craig, Anne Bunting, Mike Etherden.
Production Co-ordinator ..... Gaelan Connolly.
Producer ..... Abigail le Fleming.
This play was originally produced by Cut the Cord Theatre. Then it opened at Theatre503, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2019, the Park Theatre and the Pleasance, Islington. Theo is a dyslexic writer and actor based in London and the proud son of lesbian parents. He is developing a number of television projects including a show based on his 'unconventional' uprbinging. [I'm fairly sure this is his second play on radio 4 - Ed.]
23 Jan: Safe Space
By Caitlin Magnall-Kearns. A comedy drama about a woman’s fight for love - and the ability to step outside her own front door.
Agoraphobia and panic disorder have left Paula housebound. She's just about coping, until she meets cool and fearless Niamh. Suddenly Paula wants more, including love, laughs and adventures. Can it happen for her?
Paula … Thaddea Graham,
Niamh … Vanessa Ifediora,
Dad … Jonjo O’Neill,
Liam … Matty Loane,
Gerard ... Conor MacNeill,
Ellen … Kate Perry,
Andy … Sean Kearns.
Other voices played by the cast.
Sound Designer: David Thomas.
Producer: Anna Hinds.
Director: Celia de Wolff.
Indie (Fabel Radio productions)
24 Jan: Don't Listen to This, 5
By Anthony Del Col. Cressida is shocked to discover the truth about Soji Sanada but together they must race to stop the killer and delete the remaining lethal cutscenes. 30m.
Cressida Yang ..... Sophie Wu,
Blu_Devil ..... Thaddea Graham,
Park ..... Nikesh Patel,
Rooftop ..... Jonny Weldon,
Soji Sanada.....Togo Igawa,
Officer Patel ....... Jaz Singh Deol,
Beckett Knox ....... Samuel James
Teammate ...... Dan Foxdrop Wyatt
Warstrm ..... Ian Dunnett Jnr.
Production co-ordinator- Pippa Day.
Assistant Technical Producer- Mike Etherden.
Technical Producer and Sound Designer- Sharon Hughes.
Director- Nadia Molinari.
Co-Producers- Nadia Molinari, Jessica Mitic, Lorna Newman.
Thanks to Nimitt Mankad, Anthony Wastella and Geoff Moore.
BBC.
Compiled by Nigel Deacon / Diversity website
