Programme Index

Discover 11,128,835 listings and 279,741 playable programmes from the BBC

The Life and Death of 'The Mayor of Casterbridge': 8: The Fall of the Hammer

on BBC Home Service Basic

View in Radio Times

A story of a man of character by Thomas Hardy.
Dramatised for broadcasting by Desmond Hawkins

Produced by Owen Reed in the BBC's West of England studios.

When Elizabeth-Jane left High Place Hall she may well have reflected on the calamitous change in the fortunes of Michael Henchard since she had met him first as the prosperous Mayor, with a thriving business that promised to expand yet further under the management of the capable young Scot, Donald Farfrae. By dismissing Farfrae Henchard started a dangerous trade rivalry, which deepened when Lucetta - €”whom Henchard expected to marry - began to fall in love with Farfrae. In the contest between the two men Henchard fought recklessly and without much scruple, and the passing of his term of office as Mayor saw him heading for financial and moral bankruptcy. In the effort to conquer Farfrae he gambled on the harvest prices as wildly as he gambled on Lucetta's fear that he might divulge the scandal of her past life. For a precarious moment he had the mastery, and then the reappearance of the furmity woman shattered his reputation. Further blows to his self-esteem followed in quick succession: Lucetta secretly married Farfrae, and business creditors began to threaten. The whole fabric of Michael Henchard's power was swiftly crumbling.

(Nigel Stock is appearing in "Seagulls Over Sorrento" at the Apollo Theatre, London)
(To be repeated on Thursday at 3.10)

Contributors

Author:
Thomas Hardy
Dramatist:
Desmond Hawkins
Composer:
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Producer:
Owen Reed
Elizabeth-Jane:
Barbara Jefford
Michael Henchard:
Hedley Goodall
Coney:
Douglas Horner
Longways:
Lewis Gedge
Lucetta Templeman:
Pauline Letts
Donald Farfrae:
Nigel Stock
Jopp:
Roger Snowdon
Nance Mockridge:
Ethel Coleridge
[Actor]:
Charles E. Stidwill
[Actor]:
Bernard Fishwick
[Actor]:
Ian Packer
[Actor]:
Roy Berry
[Actor]:
Norman Kendall
[Actor]:
Victor Fawkes
[Actor]:
Harry Carter
[Actor]:
Francis Lunt
[Actor]:
Winifred Oughton
[Actor]:
Bob Arnold
[Actor]:
David Habgood
[Actor]:
Arnold Tottle

BBC Home Service Basic

About BBC Home Service

BBC Home Service is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 1st September 1939 and ended on the 29th September 1967.

Appears in

Suggest an Edit

We are trying to reflect the information printed in the Radio Times magazine.

  • Press the 'Suggest an Edit' button
  • Type in any changes to the title, synopsis or contributor information using the Radio Times Style Guide for reference.
  • Click the Submit Edits button.
    Your changes will be sent for verification and if accepted, will appear in due course More