The Letters of Ada Lovelace

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Georgina Ferry

Sally Hawkins

Olivia Williams

Anthony Head

George Watkins

Anna Buckley

The Letters of Ada Lovelace: The Poetry of Mathematics

The Poetry of Mathematics

BBC Radio 4 Extra - The Letters of Ada Lovelace, The Poetry of Mathematics

Georgina Ferry presents the dramatised correspondence of Ada Lovelace.

Dramatisation of the correspondence of Ada Lovelace, the young Victorian who predicted our digital age. Stars Sally Hawkins. From 2015.

All-star dramatisation of the correspondence of Ada Lovelace, revealing the intense inner world of a young Victorian Lady who anticipated our digital age.    

Ada was the abandoned daughter of the romantic poet Lord Byron. Concerned that  Ada might inherit her father’s feckless and ‘dangerous’ poetic tendencies, her single mother Lady Byron made sure she was tutored thoroughly in mathematics, and regularly prescribed ‘more maths’ to improve her mental health. 

When she came out in London society, Ada met the man who would change her life, but not in the way most debutantes would have imagined. The distinguished mathematician, Charles Babbage became her life-long friend and mentor: Ada was fascinated by his steam-powered calculating machines. 

Supported by her husband William, she defied society’s expectations, studying mathematics with extraordinary passion and determination when she was married with three small children; and later suggesting boldly to Babbage that he might like to work with her on his innovative thinking machines.

Ada Lovelace ...... Sally Hawkins
Lady Byron ...... Olivia Williams
Charles Babbage ...... Anthony Head
William ...... George Watkins

With Georgina Ferry

Producer:  Anna Buckley

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2015.

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Drama: Biographical

Georgina Ferry presents the correspondence of Ada Lovelace, who predicted our digital age.

Georgina Ferry presents the correspondence of Ada Lovelace, the young Victorian who predicted our digital age.

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