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Growing Pains

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BBC Radio 4 Extra - Growing Pains

Grace Dent goes back to her awkward teenage years with help from the BBC archives. 

Grace Dent locks herself in her teenage bedroom and rifles through the BBC Radio archives to celebrate the awkward, emotional, and unfortunately inevitable adolescent experience.

Grace Dent slams the door and locks herself in her teenage bedroom.

Where better to rifle through the BBC Radio archives to celebrate the awkward, emotional, and unfortunately inevitable adolescent experience? 

Grace reminisces about the daily heartbreak and arguments of her own teenage years growing up in 1970s Carlisle.

She investigates what it was really like for the teenage boys she thought had it so easy.  BBC Radio 5 Live presenter Nihal Arthanayake paints a portrait of his own formative years. 

Young Adult author Steven Camden goes back to the park to conjure up memories of adolescent boredom and longing.

We visit Ambridge over the decades to see how teenagers have been portrayed in The Archers on BBC Radio 4.   

And Grace persuades some real life teenagers to explain their lives, lingo and of course mobile phones to her.


Along the way - with a few teenage stroppy tantrums - Grace dips into archives:  

*    Too Old To Rock and Roll, Too Young To Die

Documentary made by Sara Conkey in 1995, featuring the  reminiscences of people who were teenagers during the Blitz
(Clips from 'Casablanca' and 'Gone With The Wind' Courtesy of Turner International)

*    I Capture The Castle

Part 1 of Jane Rodgers adaptation of Dodie Smith's classic novel, starring Holliday Grainger as Cassandra Mortmain

*    My Teenage Diary

Richard Herring opens up his teenage diary for Rufus Hound

*    Summer with Monika

Dramatisation of Roger McGough's iconic poem about young love in the 1960's.  Starring Mark McGann and Katy Carmichael.


Producer: Jessica Treen

Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra and first broadcast in October 2017.

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