Curtain Down at Her Majesty's - A play in five acts

Original version

BBC Radio 4 Extra

Your digital radio entertainment station showcasing the best in comedy and drama

Your digital radio entertainment station showcasing the best in comedy and drama. With recent favourites from BBC Radio 4.

BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 LW

Curtain Down at Her Majesty's - A Play in Five Acts: Act I: Another Year Begun

Curtain Down at Her Majesty's - A Play in Five Acts

Act I: Another Year Begun

BBC Radio 4 - Curtain Down at Her Majesty's - A Play in Five Acts, Act I: Another Year Begun

Michael Chaplin’s eyewitness drama about the death of Queen Victoria.

4 Extra Debut. On the eve of Elizabeth II’s coronation, the BBC interviews Queen Victoria’s dresser. Stars Brigit Forsyth and Carl Prekopp.

Michael Chaplin’s five-part drama about the death of Queen Victoria.

For two weeks the nation stopped in its tracks, mesmerised by the mortality of a little old lady who had sat on the throne for over 60 years. Her children squabbled, her doctors quarrelled, her army bickered and the public were misled and kept in the dark. 

This is the remarkable story of Queen Victoria's final days and the chaos and confusion surrounding her funeral, told by those who were there. 

Not many get this close to history.

It's 1953 and, on the eve of Elizabeth II’s coronation, the BBC interviews Queen Victoria’s dresser, Winnie Powell, who takes us on a journey into the past.

Based on the book Curtain Down at Her Majesty’s, an eyewitness history by Stewart Richards. 

Queen Victoria …... Brigit Forsyth
Old Winnie Powell …... Marcia Warren
Interviewer .….. Carl Prekopp
Mary Tuck …... Wendy Nottingham
Young Winnie Powell …... Lauren Cornelius
Sir James Reid …... Ross F Sutherland
Sir Frederick ‘Fritz’ Ponsonby …... Tom Turner
Kaiser Wilhelm …... Hywel Morgan
Prince of Wales …... Gerard McDermott

Other parts played by members of the cast.

Director: Carl Prekopp

Producers: Lucinda Mason Brown & Stewart Richards

A Stewart Richards / Goldhawk Essential co-production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in December 2018.

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.

Drama

Michael Chaplin's eyewitness drama about the death of Queen Victoria.

Michael Chaplin's new eyewitness drama about the death of Queen Victoria.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Curtain Down at Her Majesty's - A Play in Five Acts

Act I: Another Year Begun

Genres

Series

BBC Radio 4 Extra

About BBC Radio 4 Extra