Original version

BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

BBC Radio 4

Radio 4

Radio 4 (FM)

Classic Serial

Drama: Classic & Period

Adaptations of works which have achieved classic status

BBC Radio 4 Extra

BBC Radio 4 LW

Classic Serial: Alan Le May - The Searchers

Simon Lee Phillips

William Hope

Kezrena James

Kerry Shale

Marilyn Le Conte

Ronan Summers

PJ Brennan

John Cording

Alun Raglan

Adrian Bean

Alan LeMay

James Robinson

Classic Serial: Alan Le May - The Searchers: Episode 1

The Searchers

Episode 1

Alan Le May - The Searchers

BBC Radio 4 - Classic Serial, Alan Le May - The Searchers, Episode 1

When Native Americans kidnap two girls, a team of men set out to find them.

4 Extra Debut. When Native Americans kidnap two girls from a Texas settlement, a team of men set out to find them. Classic western starring Simon Lee Philips and William Hope.

By Alan Le May
Dramatised for radio by Adrian Bean

Episode one of a new adaptation of the classic western novel, upon which the famous film was based.

Texas, 1848. When Comanches attack the Edwards family's settlement on the Texas plains, they kidnap two girls - seventeen year-old Lucy and ten year-old Debbie. So Amos Edwards sets out on the dangerous mission to recover his two nieces, with the help of his nephew Mart and a rag-tag bunch of searchers. Their epic mission will last six years. 

Alan Le May's 1954 novel is a timeless work of western fiction and a no-holds-barred portrait of the real American frontier. It explores the fear and the hatred that underpinned the lives of both the white settlers and the Native Americans. And what emerges is a violent account of a creeping genocide, as one culture inevitably triumphs over the other.

John Ford's 1956 film, based on the novel, starred John Wayne as Ethan Edwards (called Amos in the book and radio adaptation). Ford's film was named the Greatest Western Movie of all time by the American Film Institute in 2008.

Directed by James Robinson
A BBC Cymru/Wales Production.

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Adaptation of the classic western novel by Alan Le May. Dramatised by Adrian Bean.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Classic Serial

Alan Le May - The Searchers

Episode 1

Contributors

Genres

Brand

Series

BBC Radio 4 FM

About BBC Radio 4