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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: The Greatest Gift

The Greatest Gift

BBC Radio 4 - Opening Lines, The Greatest Gift

John Yorke takes a look at Philip Van Doren Stern’s short story, The Greatest Gift.

The series that looks at books, plays and stories and how they work. John Yorke explores the extraordinary legacy of Philip Van Doren Stern’s short story, The Greatest Gift.

John Yorke looks at the short story The Greatest Gift by Philip Van Doren Stern.  It’s Christmas Eve and George Pratt is contemplating suicide when a stranger appears almost by magic, and grants George a wish, that he’d never been born.  

When Stern wrote the story in 1943, he could find no one who wanted to publish it so he sent it out to friends as a Christmas card. One of those cards found its way to Frank Capra, one of the great film directors of the 1940s, and became a film that now defines Christmas for many people. 

John shares a lifetime of experience with Radio 4 listeners as he unpacks the secrets behind the books, plays and stories that are being dramatised in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Drama series. He has been working in television and radio for nearly 30 years.  From EastEnders 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:
Award winning writer Lucy Caldwell, former winner of the BBC Short Story Award, and winner of the 2023 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction for her novel, These Days.  
Readings by Eric Stroud

Credits:
The Greatest Gift by Philip Van Doren Stern, published by Transworld Digital. 
The Name Above the Title, An Autobiography by Frank Capra, published by Da Capo Press.
It’s A Wonderful Life Started as the By-Product of A Shave by Philip Van Doren Stern, New York Herald Tribune, December 15th, 1946. 
Marguerite Stern Robinson:  YouTube

Produced by Caroline Raphael
Executive Producer:  Sara Davies
Production Manager:   Sarah Wright
Researcher:   Nina Semple
Sound by Shane O'Byrne 

A Pier production for 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.

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