by HOWARD SPRING freely adapted for radio in eight episodes by KEN WHITMORE with Ian McKellen as Hamer Shawcross
1: Born in Captivity
This is the story of John Hamer Shawcross , his boyhood rise from the streets of Ancoats,
Man Chester , and his pursuit of power and fame. Through the lives of Hamer and his wife Ann there flows the wider current of England's life; the challenge to the power of the landed aristocracy in the late 1880s; the birth of the Labour Party; the Suffragette Movement in which Ann plays a heroic part, and the aftermath of the 1914-18 War.
Lizzie Lightowler , Ann's aunt ROSALIECRUTCHLEY
Other children played hy JIMMY BRADDOCK , PHILLIPPA CONNELL and RUTH WILLIAMS Theme music composed by JOHNNY PEARSON
Directed by TREVOR BILL BBC Manchester
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