Drama of the Week (feat. POD PLAYS)

by Sarah Wooley 1963. Sir Laurence Olivier becomes the first Artistic Director of the National Theatre. But there are many political battles ahead, not least with his lieutenant, the critic Kenneth Tynan Sir Laurence Olivier . . . Robert Glenister Kenneth Tynan . . . John Heffernan Lord Chandos . . . Michael Pennington Cecil Tennant . . . Neil McCaul Diana Boddington . . . Scarlett Courtney Stephen Arlen . . . Will Kirk Harry . . . Rick Warden Neville . . . Greg Jones Peter O'Toole . . . Jonny Holden Reporter . . . Clive Hayward Directed by Marc Beeby The first of three dramas about the birth of the National Theatre. Funded at huge cost to the taxpayer, the “theatre to end all theatres” was front page news in its early years. Running it was a high stakes political business as much as it was an artistic one. Never before had one theatre been the focus for such relentless national debate about the relationship between the arts, government, press and the public. From its inception at the Old Vic to the opening of the Olivier Theatre in the National’s eventual home at the South Bank, from the fall of Macmillan to the rise of Thatcher, the series follows the legendary players in a fast-moving, entertaining saga. Big personalities clash and ambition, greed and power fight with artistic integrity and wider cultural responsibilities. Writer Sarah Wooley has an impressive record of dynamic, character-driven factual drama including 'A Nice Little Holiday' about John Osborne, 'Victim', about Dirk Bogarde and the making of the film of the same name, and 'Fifteen' about Andy Warhol.

Based on The Palliser novels by Anthony Trollope. Dramatised by Mike Harris. Episode 1 A pacy, radical reworking of the Palliser novels about high life and low politics in Victorian England. Vivacious 19-year-old Lady Glencora Palliser is married to the older, conscientious politician Plantagenet Palliser. Life should be good, but she is in love with someone else - the wastrel Burgo Fitzgerald. Starring Jessica Raine as Lady Glencora Palliser. Cora .... Jessica Raine; Plantagenet ..... Tim McMullan; Phineas Finn ..... Edward MacLiam; Burgo ..... Blake Ritson; Violet ..... Scarlett Courtney; Marie Goesler ..... Melody Grove; Kennedy/Slide ..... Neil McCau;l Bonce/Grimes ..... Greg Jones; Commons Speaker ..... Hamilton Berstock. Director/Producer Gary Brown This was originally aired on R4. You can find the next episode on BBC Sounds.

The first omnibus of Season 15, Onward, set in Folkestone, in the week, in 1918, when the Allies launched their final, and decisive campaign on the Western Front. Adam, meanwhile, is on a mission to the harbour.

Let us transport you to a world where flies talk and party-goers escape down drain-pipes. Fly…Sandy Grierson Woman…Karen Bartke Writer…Ben Lewis Director…Kirsty Williams Sound Design…Catherine Robinson

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is more MFI than MI5 in the hands of two incompetent and not-so-secret-agents. By Lee Mattinson. Cast AGENT D….. Krissi Bohn AGENT J….. Toby Hadoke Director Sharon Sephton Sound Design …. Catherine Robinson