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John Yorke unpacks the themes behind the stories in Radio 4's weekend afternoon dramas.

Producer and writer John Yorke unpacks the themes and impact behind the books, plays and stories that are being dramatised in Radio 4's weekend afternoon dramas.

Producer and writer John Yorke has worked in television and radio for 30 years, and he shares his experience with Radio 4 listeners as he unpacks the themes and impact behind the books, plays and stories that are being dramatised in Radio 4's weekend afternoon dramas.

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Opening Lines: Borstal Boy

Borstal Boy

BBC Radio 4 - Opening Lines, Borstal Boy

John Yorke looks at Borstal Boy by Brendan Behan.

John Yorke examines Borstal Boy by Brendan Behan, hearing from Colm Tóibín, in the series that looks at books, plays and stories and how they work.

Somewhere between autobiography, memoir and novel, the Irish writer and poet Brendan Behan’s Borstal Boy was published in 1958. It’s the story of the teenaged Behan’s three years in an English Borstal – the youth detention centres of their day. 

As an Irish Republican, Behan’s views of the English are challenged, relationships are formed, and his journey to becoming one of the most celebrated writers of his generation begins. 

Hearing from the bestselling Irish novelist Colm Tóibín, John Yorke explains the delight of this tender, funny, sometimes sad, sometimes violent book, and unpicks Behan’s ability to capture detail and dialogue in rich, yet somehow sparse descriptions of life in Borstal. 

John shares a lifetime of experience with Radio 4 listeners as he unpacks the secrets behind the books, plays and stories that are being dramatized in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Drama series. He has been working in television and radio for nearly 30 years.

From East Enders to the Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless, he has been obsessed with telling big popular stories. He has spent years analysing not just how stories work but why they resonate with audiences around the globe and has brought together his experience in his bestselling book ‘Into the Woods’. As former Head of Channel Four Drama, Controller of BBC Drama Production and MD of Company Pictures, John has tested his theories during an extensive production career working on some of the world’s most lucrative, widely viewed and critically acclaimed TV drama. As founder of the hugely successful BBC Writers Academy John has trained a generation of screenwriters.


Contributors:
Colm Tóibín, bestselling writer of novels such as Nora Webster and The Blackwater Lightship. His book Brooklyn was adapted into an Oscar-nominated film starring Saoirse Ronan, and his writing has been translated into over 30 languages. 

Credits:
Borstal Boy by Brendan Behan, 1958. 

Excerpts from a 1971 BBC Television adaption of Borstal Boy, featuring Donal Neligan as Brendan Behan, Sheila Fay as the landlady, Wilfred Carter as the sergeant, Gavin Morrrison as Vereker. Omnibus, 1971. 

Brendan Behan interviewed by Derek Hart, Tonight, BBC Television, 1959.

CA Joyce, governor of the Borstal, interviewed for BBC Television in 1971. 


Researcher: Nina Semple
Sound: Sean Kerwin
Producer: Jack Soper
Executive Producer: Sara Davies
Production Manager: Sarah Wright

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4

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