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Jonathan Swift - Gulliver's Travels

2 The Voyage to Brobdingnag

Duration: 1 hour

First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FMLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 Extra

Gulliver's adventures continue when he finds himself in Brobdingnag - a land where the inhabitants are enormous!

Here, as a miniature man, Gulliver must fight for survival against rats the size of dogs, a dwarf who is 40 foot high, and the ridicule and humiliation of a scornful court.

Jonathan Swift's classic satire starring Arthur Darvill as Gulliver.

Gulliver …. Arthur Darvill
King …. Sam Dale
Richard Sympson …. Matthew Gravelle
Mary …. Bethan Walker
Dwarf …. Gareth Pierce
Farmer's Wife …. Claire Cage
The Queen …. Lynne Seymour

With his uniquely close-up view, Gulliver sees the people (even the great beauties) as if under a microscope - and they are dirty, stinking and disgusting. He becomes increasingly horrified by humankind, stranded in a frightening land where his only ally is an innocent child. Once again, escape is imperative - if he doesn't, he won't survive...

As an exploration of of man's vanity and complacency, Gulliver's second voyage is an acute satire - as relevant today as ever. Beyond that, it is also a rattling good adventure story - a man lost, swashbuckling his way through manifold giant-sized dangers, desperate to find a way back home.

Adapted by Matthew Broughton.

A BBC Cymru/Wales production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in February 2012. Show less

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