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Eoin O'Callaghan

Drama on 4: Promises

Promises

06/12/2016

BBC Radio 4 - Drama on 4, Promises

A fundraiser to save a sick child turns sour when the proceeds go missing.

An auction of promises to save the life of a sick child turns sour when good intentions give way to a clash of egos, and a considerable chunk of the proceeds go missing.

Sarah, a business woman, and George a composer, live in a middle-class suburb with their eight-year-old son, Harry. A schoolmate of Luke's, from a less well-off family, is diagnosed with a rare and lethal brain tumour. Sarah and Georges throw themselves into a local campaign to raise money for a life-saving operation in Australia. They help to organise a very lucrative auction of promises. George, normally known as something of a curmudgeon, even agrees to offer a course of piano lessons to the highest bidder. Their shared enthusiasm for doing the Right Thing means that for the first time in ages they are distracted from the deep-seated problems in their marriage.

But it's the calm before the storm. Following the auction, Sarah makes an unwelcome discovery - the sick boy's parents have dipped in to the charity fund and spent a significant amount on a holiday - without even taking their ill son with them. Sarah faces a horrible dilemma - should she expose the parents, thereby possibly denying him the operation? Or should she stay silent and be complicit in their criminal and immoral act? 

Writer ..... Hugh Costello
Producer ..... Eoin O'Callaghan
Director ..... Eoin O'Callaghan.

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