Alexander McCall Smith creates a fictional response to this weeks' news.

Drama of the Week (feat. POD PLAYS)

Sleaze

It's 1936, and as political unrest sweeps across Europe, the spectre of fascism is looming over the East End. One Irish family, living in Whitechapel, finds itself divided as Oswald Mosley and his fascist followers prepare to march through the heart of East London. When the march descends on Cable Street, an area highly populated by the Jewish and Irish working class, loyalties are tested as two brothers fight to make their mark in a historic battle. Written by Martin McNamara. CAST Liam McEnroe ..... Stephen Hogan Maureen McEnroe ..... Maggie Cronin Jim McEnroe ..... Joseph Ayre Dessie McEnroe ..... Shaun Mason Bernard Duffy ..... Lloyd Hutchinson Esther Cohen ..... Grace Cooper Milton Leon Saltzman ..... Justice Ritchie Directed by Anne Isger Originally broadcast on Radio 4

Mosley Must Fall

A gripping drama which asks the question: are all victims good and all offenders evil?

This Thing of Darkness - Part 1

Ralph is a wannabe musician trying to come to terms with fatherhood. Can he bear the responsibility and the restrictions to his freedom? In other words, can he be a good dad? Ralph...........................Testament Nola............................Grace Savage Daughter...................Elise Brooks Director/Producer Gary Brown Testament is a beatboxer, rapper and theatre maker. He has worked with Leeds Playhouse and The Royal Exchange Manchester. He recently had an acclaimed solo show broadcast on BBC 4 "Orpheus in the Record Shop" . This is his second radio drama. Grace Savage is a beatboxer, actress, singer and songwriter. Grace is a 4 x UK Beatbox Champion and a Radio 1 played musician. Grace's performance in HOME at The National Theatre was picked as one of the top 10 standout theatrical performances of the year by Susannah Clapp in The Guardian.

Daughter

Lucy Catherine's supernatural thriller set in the new town of Harland, built on the site of a village abandoned 900 years earlier. DI Sarah Ward returns to work to investigate the disappearance of a child. Sarah ..... Ayesha Antoine Dan ..... Tyger Drew-Honey Sadie ..... Melissa Advani Lori ..... Grace Cooper Milton Pete ..... Michael Begley Jess ..... Lizzie Mounter Counsellor ..... Christine Kavanagh Jerry ..... Joseph Ayre Aldo ..... Sam Dale DJ ..... Justice Ritchie Police Control ..... Chris Jack Sound design by Caleb Knightley Directed by Toby Swift The complete series of Harland is available now on BBC Sounds.

Harland - Episode 1: Tuesday

Two plays recorded live at HighTide Festival in Aldeburgh, set on the edge of the world, weaving myth and archaeology, telling stories of humanity and sacrifice. Created in tandem and with a playful rapport, the plays were presented with live foley. Silver Darlings Rita ..... Cassie Layton Reggie ..... Simon Ludders Sam ..... Joel MacCormack Val ..... Anastasia Hille Writer: Tallulah Brown The Shores Mammoth ..... Clare Perkins Kenny, Shul ..... Joel MacCormack Erin, Dena ..... Cassie Layton Oxir, Carrotson ..... Simon Ludders Thorpe ..... Anastasia Hille Writer: Vinay Patel Sound: Anne Bunting, Peter Ringrose Director: Jessica Dromgoole Tallulah Brown is a published playwright and screenwriter from Suffolk. Her plays have included Songlines, Sea Fret and When the Birds Come. Vinay Patel is best known for writing BAFTA-winning single play 'Murdered by my Father', and Demons of the Punjab for Doctor Who. His stage plays included True Brits, and An Adventure.

Radio 3 at HighTide

Exercise your imagination with some of the best writers and actors on radio.

House Rules

Presented by Paul French Drama written by Sarah Wooley Whatever anyone declared categorically about Shura Giraldi, someone else insisted on the exact opposite. Shura was handsome and beautiful; Shura was kind and good, Shura was exploitative and evil. Shura was just another struggling White Russian refugee trying to get by in 1930s China; Shura was the heart and brains of a gang that ran clubs, sex workers, illicit booze and drugs, when not robbing banks and stealing gems to fence in Shanghai. Shura loved ballet and cabaret, creating the Shura Giraldi Dance Troupe that topped the bill at all the best Peking nightclubs. Shura sometimes presented as male and sometimes as female. When passing as a man Shura bound his breasts tightly and wore a sharp tailored suit; when she was a woman she wore startlingly coloured robes, both Chinese-style cheongsam and Western dresses, letting her raven hair flow loose, said witnesses. Shura had added an incredibly massive layer of confusion and obfuscation to anyone looking by changing gender. Switching for anonymity, for commercial gain or criminal advantage, for love, for a whim. Paul French is a historian and writer who focuses on China in the first half of the 20th century. He's been on Shura’s trail for 15 years, digging through the paper records and archives in half a dozen countries in an attempt to get to grips with the enigma that was Shura. This story, a product of that tireless research, is full of truths, but like an old jigsaw brought down from the attic after decades, there are many pieces missing. So we're using drama, written by Sarah Wooley, to conjure and join the dots of Shura’s story, and go in search of a lost life and a forgotten world. The search will take us from a Russian far east in violent revolution, to the chaos of the mass emigration of the White Russians, to the crowded hutongs of Peking; from that city’s nightclubs and cabarets, to the casinos of Shanghai; from a China wracked by rampaging warlordism, invaded by Japan, and then fighting its own civil war that culminated in its own revolution. Shura saw it all; Shura lived through it all; Shura, in part, explains it all. Shura . . . . . Maggie Bain Zaichek . . . . . Leo Wan Roy . . . . . Daniel York Loh Leopard . . . . . Chris Lew Kum Hoi Tatiana . . . . . Charlotte East Anton . . . . . Luke Nunn Marie . . . . . Cecilia Appiah Saxsen . . . . . Ian Dunnett Jnr The MC . . . . . Roger Ringrose Anna . . . . . Jane Whittenshaw Editing and sound design by Peter Ringrose. Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko.

Episode 6 - Peking Noir

Episode 5 - Peking Noir

Episode 4 - Peking Noir

Episode 3 - Peking Noir

Episode 2 - Peking Noir

Episode 1 - Peking Noir

Dame Edith - Glenda Jackson Miss Edith - Bella Ramsey Lady Ida - Julia Davis Sir George - Jonathan Keeble Moat - Roger Ringrose Written by Mary Cooper from an idea by Lavinia Murray Produced and directed by Pauline Harris

Edith Sitwell in Scarborough

What price a new body? A dystopian thriller set in 2050 when London can cater for all your transplant needs. But can a new body ever fulfil the life-changing expectations of lowly mortician Caroline McAleese? Starring Jill Halfpenny and developed through the Wellcome Trust Experimental stories scheme. Listen in full on BBC Sounds.

Body Horror | Drama of the Week Special

Every Friday we bring you a new drama from BBC Radio 4 or Radio 3. Exercise your imagination with some of the best writers and actors on radio. Storytelling at its very best.

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Drama of the Week (feat. POD PLAYS)

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