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Drama on 4: Homestead

Homestead

12/04/2010

BBC Radio 4 - Drama on 4, Homestead

By Francis Turnly. A family downsize to a small farm and suffer a campaign of intimidation

By Francis Turnly. Daniel Brennan and his family downsize to a small farm in the country. Struggling to fit in, their hopes of a new start are dashed by a campaign of intimidation.

Our Afternoon play follows one family whose dream of a new life in the country becomes a nightmare. When Daniel Brennan is forced to sell up his city home and move to a small holding in the country he hopes it will be a new start and a chance to create a new home for his family. However their reception from the local village is far from warm and, as a campaign of intimidation is directed at the family, they begin to wonder whether they have made the right decision. How can they fit in to their new community and who among their neighbours can they trust?

Join us this afternoon at two fifteen for our afternoon play, 'Homestead' by Francis Turnly.



Homestead
By Francis Turnly

Daniel Brennan and his family downsize to a small farm holding in the country. Struggling to fit in, their hopes of a new start are dashed when a campaign of intimidation is directed at them. Who can they trust?

Daniel ... Stuart Graham
Kate...Zara Turner
Cassie...Hannah R. Gordon
Sean.....Des McAleer
Eamon.....Ian Beattie
Declan....Shaun Blaney
Auctioneer / PSNI officer....Patrick Fitzsymons
Conor....Kieran Lagan
Dermot....Robert Taylor

Producer/Director - Heather Larmour



When Daniel Brennan's business collapses owing to the current economic climate he realises he will no longer be able to afford his house in Belfast and that he and his family will have to downsize to a more modest property. Attending a property-auction in the hope of finding a suitable house in the city; Daniel recklessly bids for a small farm holding in the country. Maybe this will be the change his family needs: a chance for a new start. 

His wife Kate and daughter Cassie are less than enthusiastic, especially when they discover their new home is in the middle of nowhere and in need of substantial repair. But that soon becomes the least of their worries, as their reception in the local village is, at best, frosty.
Then unsettling things begin to happen around the farm: graffiti appears on the walls in the dead of night; supplies are stolen; a dead fox is left on the porch. Who is doing this and why? Despite their best efforts to fit in, the campaign of intimidation continues. Is there anyone in the village they can trust, and can they stop it before things really get out of hand?

A chilling story of how one family's rural dream becomes a living nightmare.


Francis Turnly's work for R4 includes the Saturday Play 'Pressing the Flesh' (shortlisted for the Richard Imison Award) and an episode of the acclaimed detective series 'Baldi'. He has written 'Lullaby,' a 30 minute supernatural drama for BBC7 and most recently for R4 the Saturday Play 'Point of Departure'. Francis's theatre plays include 'Breathing', 'Descent', 'Hiding' and 'Bogpeople'.

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