A Tale of Two Cities

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Charles Dickens

Mike Walker

Robert Lindsay

Jonathan Coy

Alison Steadman

Lydia Wilson

Karl Johnson

Andrew Scott

James Lailey

Tracy Wiles

Simon Bubb

Carl Prekopp

Rikki Lawton

Adam Billington

Christopher Webster

Jessica Dromgoole

Jeremy Mortimer

Lennert Busch

Charles Dickens - A Tale of Two Cities: 1. Recalled to Life

1. Recalled to Life

Charles Dickens - A Tale of Two Cities

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Charles Dickens - A Tale of Two Cities, 1. Recalled to Life

Classic story of love and loss in the French Revolution. Stars Robert Lindsay.

London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. An encounter on the Dover Road, and a message. Stars Robert Lindsay.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times".

This novel by Charles Dickens, tells the story of the redemptive powers of love in the face of cruelty, violence and neglect.

Written and published in weekly instalments in 1859, it's set in London and Paris before and during the violence of the French Revolution. 

The story follows several characters through these events, notably Charles Darnay, a French former aristocrat who falls victim to the indiscriminate wrath of the revolution, and Sydney Carton, a dissipated English barrister who tries to redeem his ill-spent life out of love for Darnay's wife, Lucie Manette.

Although the events in the novel span eight years, the plot develops and builds powerfully from the moment the story opens, with the coded rumours of Dr Manette being 'restored to life' and Dickens orchestrates the wider political picture behind the story of Lucie, Darnay and Carton, with his customary brilliance.

Starring Robert Lindsay, Jonathan Coy and Alison Steadman.

Dramatised in five parts by Mike Walker

Charles Dickens    ......    Robert Lindsay
Jarvis Lorry    ......    Jonathan Coy
Miss Pross    ......    Alison Steadman
Lucie Manette    ......    Lydia Wilson
Dr Alexandre Manette    ......    Karl Johnson
Charles Darnay    ......    Andrew Scott
Ernest Defarge    ......    James Lailey 
Therese Defarge    ......    Tracy Wiles 
Gaspard    ......    Simon Bubb 
Jerry Cruncher    ......    Carl Prekopp 
Joe    ......    Rikki Lawton 

With:  

Adam Billington
Christopher Webster 

Music by Lennert Busch.

Directors: Jessica Dromgoole & Jeremy Mortimer

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2011.

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Drama: Classic & Period

Dickens's classic story, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution

By Charles Dickens, dramatised by Mike Walker. Classic story set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution

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