Charles Dickens began the year 1836 as a rising young journalist of 23. He ended it, with his Pickwick serial less than half written, the darling of the nation. A year later, with Pickwick completed and Oliver Twist also well under way, he was world famous.

Professor Philip Collins has compiled, and narrates, the story of these extraordinary years during which a hack-job emerged as the most enduringly popular comic novel in English.

(Repeated: Tues 3.5 pm)
(A 12-part dramatisation of Pickwick Papers begins next Sunday)