Programme Index

Discover 11,128,835 listings and 275,011 playable programmes from the BBC

15 Minute Drama

On Kosovo Field

Episode 3: The Wheel

Duration: 15 minutes

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

Available for years

Fin Kennedy's drama inspired by PJ Harvey's notebooks, poetry and songs from her travels in Kosovo, with her unreleased song demos of 'The Wheel' and 'The Red Road' woven through.

Kosovan born siblings Dardan and Rebeka have returned to Kosovo to find out the truth of what happened to their parents during the Kosovo conflict of 1999. They carry a set of keys, given to them by a neighbour before they left, offering the chance to unlock their home and, with it, their memories.

Songs and music composed and performed by PJ Harvey

Sound design by Steve Brooke

Directed by Nadia Molinari

PJ Harvey album 'The Hope Six Demolition Project' and her book of poetry 'The Hollow of the Hand' draw from several journeys undertaken by Harvey from 2011-2014; one of those journeys was to Kosovo. The inspiration for the drama came from Harvey's Kosovan notebooks, her poems and her Kosovan song demos. Writer Fin Kennedy's research also included travelling to Kosovo with producer Nadia Molinari where they talked to journalists, politicians and human rights activists working on conflict resolution and reconciliation, including Kushtrim Koliqi who was the cultural consultant on the script. 'On Kosovo Field' is the search for an identity via a road trip back through a lost heritage for young, Kosovan born siblings. The story is told in five episodes. The 'play cycle' as an idea takes its inspiration from the traditional song cycles of the Albania/Kosovo region. By the end of the cycle we understand that the siblings are a metaphor for Kosovo itself, the newest country in Europe, poignantly searching for an identity after centuries of conflict. Show less

About this data

This data is drawn from the data stream that informs BBC's iPlayer and Sounds. The information shows what was scheduled to be broadcast, meaning it was/is subject to change and may not be accurate. More