The Pied Piper of Hamelin

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The Pied Piper of Hamelin by Robert Browning

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BBC Radio 4 Extra - The Pied Piper of Hamelin by Robert Browning

David Tennant stars in Robert Browning's legendary poem.

4 Extra Debut. When a town fails to pay the rat-catcher they hire to lure rats away, there are terrible consequences. Stars David Tennant.

David Tennant stars in Robert Browning's poem The Pied Piper of Hamelin.

The Pied Piper of Hamelin is the subject of a legend concerning the departure of a great many children from the town of Hamelin, Lower Saxony, Germany, in the Middle Ages. 

The earliest references describe a piper, dressed in pied (multi-coloured) clothing, leading the children away from the town never to return. In the 16th century the story was expanded into a full story - that of the poem, in which the piper is a rat-catcher hired by the town to lure rats away with his magic pipe. 

When the citizens refuse to pay for this service, the piper retaliates, turning his magic on the children, leading them away to the mountains. Only one boy remains behind....

With music and songs written and performed by John Harle, lyrics by Joyce Harle, sung by Thomas Platts, head chorister at Canterbury Cathedral with the choir of Wingham School Kent. 

Narrator .... David Tennant 
The boy .... Bertie Gilbert

Sound producer: Steve Brooke  

Director: Susan Roberts

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2011.

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