by Elizabeth Gaskell
dramatised by Lin Coghlan

Margaret ..... Patsy Ferran
Mr Hale ..... Paul Chahidi
Mrs Hale ..... Ruth Everett
Dixon ..... Felicity Montagu
John Thornton ..... James Cartwright
Mrs Thornton ..... Pooky Quesnel
Higgins ..... Sean Gilder
Bessy ..... Olivia Barrowclough
Aunt Shaw ..... Joanna Monro
Henry Lennox ..... Jonathan Forbes
Henderson ..... David Hounslow
Boucher ..... Lloyd Thomas
Youth ..... Colin Ryan
Cabbie ..... Roger Ringrose

Directed by Sally Avens
Sound by Peter Ringrose and Keith Graham

Margaret Hale and her family are forced to move north to the industrial mill town of Milton, an upheaval that brings the awakening of her social conscience. When a strike threatens the town, Margaret finds herself pitted in passionate opposition to the values of local mill owner John Thornton, one of her family's few acquaintances in their new home. Gaskell's great Condition of England novel still resonates today in its portrayal of the north-south divide and its themes of class, gender and social responsibility.

It stars award-winning actress Pasty Ferran as Margaret, Paul Chahidi (This Country, Good Omens) as Hale, James Cartwright (The Archers, History Boys, Johnny Shakespeare) as John Thornton and Felicity Montagu (Alan Partridge, Landscapers) as Dixon. Show less