Drama of the Week

David Almond reimagines The Little Mermaid.
Set on Holy Island in Northumberland, the story is written and read by the author.
When Joseph was a boy, fishermen on the island found a mermaid in their net. But no one believes those old stories, do they? Except his grandfather, who keeps a mysterious jar of jewels in a glass case on the wall.
This magical, evocative story encompasses the degradation of the seas; the small attention spans of modern lives; the pressure on young people to leave the place they call home; the beauty and history of the island. It is also a love story.
David Almond is 'A writer of visionary Blakean intensity.' The Times. He is also winner of the Hans Christian Andersen Award, The Carnegie Medal, the Michael L Printz Award, the Nonino International Prize.
This series of modern fairy tales reimagined by leading writers has been specially commissioned to celebrate a major new exhibition at The British Library dedicated to fairy tales, as well as the National Year of Reading.
Producer, Mary Ward-Lowery

An original short story specially commissioned by BBC Radio 4 from the writer Bernie McGill. Read by Amy Molloy.
The Author.
Bernie McGill is the winner of the 2023 Edge Hill Short Story Prize for her collection ‘This Train is For’. She is the author of the novels ‘The Butterfly Cabinet’, ‘The Watch House’ and one previous short story collection ‘Sleepwalkers’. She has written audio scripts for heritage projects and stage scripts for theatre. She is a Writing for Life Fellow with the Royal Literary Fund and an honorary member of The Linen Hall Library in which building her writing archive is held.
Writer: Bernie McGill
Reader: Amy Molloy
Producer: Michael Shannon
A BBC Audio Northern Ireland Production for BBC Radio 4.

James Fritz's award-winning drama about the UK prison system returns with two contrasting stories of release, told from the perspective of prisoners and staff alike.
In this first episode, a prisoner (who listeners met in Series 1) leaves with his paperwork signed and a discharge grant in his pocket, convinced his prayers have been answered. What he doesn't know is that a single clerical error, buried for years in a box of court paperwork, means he should never have been let out at all. As an overstretched prison scrambles to find him, the press whips up a manhunt and ministers demand a name, one question echoes from the courtroom to Whitehall: how could something like this happen?
Written by James Fritz
Lee ..... Carl Prekopp
Yas ..... Yasmin Mwanza
Clare ..... Maddy Lenny
Jenny ..... Emma Handy
Carly ..... Laura Dos Santos
Rihanna ..... Rebekah Murrell
Prison Director ..... Ben Crowe
The Box Officer ..... Harry Myers
Toby/Reverend ..... Joe Jameson
Minister ..... Ian Dunnett Jnr
Production Team:
Producer and Director, Tracey Neale
Sound Design, Keith Graham, Sam Dickinson and Andrew Garrett
Production Co-Ordinator, Ben Hollands
A BBC Studios production.
James Fritz has won the Imison and Tinniswood Awards, Best Single and Best Series at the Audio Drama Awards, and Gold and Bronze at the ARIAs. For his theatre work he has won the Critics' Circle Award and the Bruntwood Prize, and was nominated for an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre. He is under commission to the RSC, on attachment to the National Theatre, and is currently writing a TV drama and adapting his play The Flea into a feature film.

James Fritz's award-winning drama about the UK prison system returns with two contrasting stories of release, told from the perspective of prisoners and staff alike.
In this first episode, a prisoner (who listeners met in Series 1) leaves with his paperwork signed and a discharge grant in his pocket, convinced his prayers have been answered. What he doesn't know is that a single clerical error, buried for years in a box of court paperwork, means he should never have been let out at all. As an overstretched prison scrambles to find him, the press whips up a manhunt and ministers demand a name, one question echoes from the courtroom to Whitehall: how could something like this happen?
Written by James Fritz
Lee ..... Carl Prekopp
Yas ..... Yasmin Mwanza
Clare ..... Maddy Lenny
Jenny ..... Emma Handy
Carly ..... Laura Dos Santos
Rihanna ..... Rebekah Murrell
Prison Director ..... Ben Crowe
The Box Officer ..... Harry Myers
Toby/Reverend ..... Joe Jameson
Minister ..... Ian Dunnett Jnr
Producer and Director, Tracey Neale
Sound Design, Keith Graham, Sam Dickinson and Andrew Garrett
Production Co-Ordinator, Ben Hollands
A BBC Studios production.
James Fritz has won the Imison and Tinniswood Awards, Best Single and Best Series at the Audio Drama Awards, and Gold and Bronze at the ARIAs. For his theatre work he has won the Critics' Circle Award and the Bruntwood Prize, and was nominated for an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre. He is under commission to the RSC, on attachment to the National Theatre, and is currently writing a TV drama and adapting his play The Flea into a feature film.

Returning to Swansea after the blitz, Dylan Thomas is overwhelmed by memories of his childhood and adolescence.
From summers at Fern Hill, to failed camping trips on the beach; from plagiarised poetry to drunken first love, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog is a story of what it is to grow up.
Comic, nostalgic, with a host of vivid characters, Dylan Thomas’s masterpiece is adapted by Joe Dunthorne (Submarine, Children of Radium) and stars Gerran Howell (The Pitt) as Dylan Thomas.
Based on the short stories by Dylan Thomas
Adapted by Joe Dunthorne
Dylan Thomas… Gerran Howell
Aunt Annie/Gwyneth/ Mrs Evans/ Mother… Carys Eleri
Uncle Jim/ Mr Thomas/ Mr Matthews/ Mr O’Brien… Ben Addis
Mrs Williams/ Mrs Thomas/ Mrs Franklin/ Female Stranger… Melanie Walters
Dan Evans… Iwan Davies
Lou/Jean/Nancy… Mia Khan
Brazell/ Gwilym/ Older Sidney… Jacob Ifan
George Hooping/ Barman… Gwïon Morris Jones
Skully/ Chauffeur/ Male Stranger… Shaheen Jafargholi
Young Dylan… Leon Raphael Mullins
Young Sidney…. Toby Founds
Production Co-Ordinator… Eleri McAuliffe
Sound Design by Rhys Morris
Produced and directed by Fay Lomas, BBC Audio Drama Wales