An exploration of how a theatrical performance changed the course of life for Charles Dickens.

Claire Tomalin's acclaimed biography of Britain's great novelist paints a portrait of an extraordinarily complex man.

Tomalin portrays Dickens as a complex man, a writer who created characters who continue to endure in the popular imagination from the The Artful Dodger, Mr Pickwick, Pip and David Copperfield.

He was also a ferociously hard-working writer, a philanthropist, a supporter of liberal social causes, and father of ten, and yet his genius also had a dark side.

Abridged by Richard Hamilton.

Read by Penelope Wilton.

Producer: Elizabeth Allard

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2011. Show less