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Afternoon Drama: Enid Bagnold - National Velvet

Sophie Rundle

John Sessions

Alison Steadman

Jonathan Keeble

Dylan Issberner

Tamsin Topolski

Charity Wakefield

Sam Lupton

Melanie Harris

Peter Flannery

Enid Bagnold

Drama on 4: Enid Bagnold - National Velvet: Episode 1

National Velvet

Episode 1

Enid Bagnold - National Velvet

BBC Radio 4 - Drama on 4, Enid Bagnold - National Velvet, Episode 1

Young Velvet wins a horse for a shilling and decides to ride him in the Grand National.

4 Extra Debut. Young Velvet wins a horse for a shilling, but could she ride him in the Grand National? Stars John Sessions and Alison Steadman.

Fourteen year old Velvet is mad about horses. She knows 'there are pleasures earlier than love. Earlier than love, nearer heaven' in the form of horses. 

When she wins a piebald horse in a raffle, she recognises he's something special. He can easily clear five-foot fences, and he'll do anything for her. Soon, she and butcher's assistant Mi have their sights set on the biggest race in England. But how can a girl in 1930s England get near Aintree?

Peter Flannery rescues National Velvet from Hollywood, returning 14 year old Velvet to her Sussex butcher's family in the 1930s. A welcome return for Enid Bagnold's strange, inventive fairytale about a young amateur girl rider who takes an untrained horse over the stiffest course in the world and wins.

Sound design: Eloise Whitmore

Author: Enid Bagnold

Dramatised by Peter Flannery
Director/Producer: Melanie Harris
Executive Producer: Polly Thomas

A Sparklab production for BBC Radio 4.

Drama on 4: Enid Bagnold - National Velvet

BBC Radio 4

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

Enid Bagnold's classic tale about a young amateur girl rider. Dramatised by Peter Flannery

Enid Bagnold's classic tale about a young amateur girl rider who takes an untrained horse over the toughest course in the world, dramatised by Peter Flannery

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