Opening Lines

Afleveringen

• Anna Christie - Episode 1 05.07.2026 13min

  In the first of two episodes, John Yorke looks at “Anna Christie” by Eugene O’Neill - one of American theatre’s founding fathers, and the only American dramatist to have been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. The play is about a young woman who goes in search of her estranged father, a sea captain, and falls in love with a sailor.Debuting in 1921, “Anna Christie” is one of O’Neill’s early works – less well known and less successful than his later plays, like Long Day’s Journey into Night or The Iceman Cometh – but, as John Yorke explains, “Anna Christie” is significant both for what it tells us about one of American theatres key figures, and as a story that captures a nation at a moment of transition.John Yorke has worked in television and radio for over 30 years and shares his experience as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories dramatised in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Drama series. As former Head of Channel Four Drama and Controller of BBC Drama Production he has worked on some of the most popular shows in Britain; from EastEnders to The Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless. He created the BBC Writers Academy and trained a generation of screenwriters, now with thousands of hours of television to their names. His acclaimed books Into the Woods and Trip to the Moon explore the structure and power of narrative, and he writes, teaches and consults on all forms of storytelling, including many podcasts for Radio 4.Contributors:Robert M. Dowling, professor of English at Central Connecticut State University, author of the biography Eugene O’Neill: A Life in Four Acts.Thomas Kail, director of a 2026 production of “Anna Christie” at St Ann’s Warehouse, New York, speaking on the WNYC podcast All Of It with Alison Stewart.From the BBC archives:Jude Law, The Radio 2 Arts Show, 5 August 2011 Ruth Wilson, Front Row, 5 August 2011. Writer and critic Sarah Churchwell, Front Row 10 August 2011.Credits:Readings by Eric Stroud.Excerpts from “Anna Christie” by Eugene O’Neill, 1921, including Natasha Richardson in the 1990 Young Vic production and Ruth Wilson and Jude Law in the 2011 Donmar Warehouse production.Researcher: Henry Tydeman Sound: Sean Kerwin Producer: Jack Soper Executive Producer: Sara Davies Production Hub Coordinator: Dawn Williams A Pier Production for BBC Radio 4 & BBC Sounds
• Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog 07.06.2026 14min

  John Yorke examines Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog, ten semi-autobiographical short stories in which Dylan Thomas looks back and observes himself growing into the artist – the writer – that he became in adult life. The stories highlight Thomas’s contradictory nature. At school he failed every other subject apart from English, in which he came top. He’s a town boy who loves the countryside. He’s a bookish child who devours his father’s library of 6,000 books ‘with his eyes out on stalks’ by day, and a bit of a lad who roams Swansea by night, observing the goings-on of the city. Dylan Thomas was called a wastrel and an alcoholic, yet was incredibly productive, writing 300 pages of poems, 500 pages of radio scripts, 600 pages of film scripts and 1000 pages of letters. He began the short stories in 1938, a year after he had married Caitlin MacNamara and they’d settled with their first child in Laugharne, a small town on the coat of Carmarthenshire. Ten years later he would move into the famous Boathouse where he would live for the remainder of his life. John Yorke has worked in television and radio for over 30 years and shares his experience as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories dramatised in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Drama series. As former Head of Channel Four Drama and Controller of BBC Drama Production he has worked on some of the most popular shows in Britain - from EastEnders to The Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless. He created the BBC Writers Academy and trained a generation of screenwriters - now with thousands of hours of television to their names. His acclaimed books Into the Woods and Trip to the Moon explore the structure and power of narrative, and he writes, teaches and consults on all forms of storytelling, including many podcasts for R4.Contributors: John Goodby, Professor of Arts and Culture at Sheffield Hallam University, author of Critical Lives: Dylan Thomas. Joe Dunthorne, novelist, poet and journalist. Researcher: Henry Tydeman Production Hub Co-ordinator: Dawn Williams Sound: Iain Hunter Producer: Kate McAll Executive Producer: Sara DaviesA Pier production for BBC Radio 4
• Moon Tiger 31.05.2026 14min

  Writer Penelope Lively’s enduring themes are the connections and interplay between memory, history and time. Nowhere is this more compelling than in Moon Tiger, published in 1987 and widely regarded as one of her best novels. It won the Booker Prize that same year and went on to gain The Golden Booker in 2018 as the stand-out winner of the 1980s.The novel’s protagonist Claudia Hampton is an historian and war correspondent, ambitious and independent and a 20th Century woman who has defied the conventions of domesticity and motherhood. In the opening lines of the novel she is reflecting back on her life as she lies on her death-bed. It will be ‘a history of the world and in the process my own,’ she promises. Through a series of scenes presented as a kaleidoscopic mosaic of memories Lively pieces together who and what has shaped Claudia during her life, such as the deeply competitive bond she had with her brother Gordon, her lacklustre approach to motherhood with her daughter Lisa and, central to her life, an early love affair with tank commander Tom Southern who she met in Egypt during WW2.In this episode of Opening Lines John Yorke explores the dazzling technique Penelope Lively employs to draw Claudia’s life together and asks what makes this classic such an extraordinarily compelling novel.The programme features writer, editor and critic Lucy Scholes and, from the Radio 4 archives, we hear from Penelope Lively herself in Bookclub recorded in 2001.John Yorke has worked in television and radio for over 30 years and shares his experience as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories dramatised in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Drama series. As former Head of Channel Four Drama and Controller of BBC Drama Production he has worked on some of the most popular shows in Britain - from EastEnders to The Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless. He created the BBC Writers Academy and trained a generation of screenwriters - now with thousands of hours of television to their names. His acclaimed books Into the Woods and Trip to the Moon explore the structure and power of narrative, and he writes, teaches and consults on all forms of storytelling, including many podcasts for R4.Producer: Julian Wilkinson Executive Producer: Caroline Raphael Production Hub Coordinator: Dawn Williams Sound: Iain HunterA Pier production for BBC Radio 4
• Don Quixote - Episode Two 10.05.2026 14min

  John Yorke explores why Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes has had such a profound influence on storytelling in the 400 years since it was published in 1605.‘Like Shakespeare, Cervantes is inescapable for all writers who have come after him,’ according to literary critic Harold Bloom. He creates a blueprint for the modern novel by shifting from static, infallible archetypes to dynamic, evolving characters who are fundamentally changed by their relationship with each other. Cervantes’ work is full of innovative literary ideas that still inspire writers today, including the double-act (Quixote and his portly sidekick, Sancho Panza), a multi-voiced narrative structure and the first example of metafiction, in which the line between fiction and reality is blurred.The programme includes an interview with film director, cartoonist and Monty Python member Terry Gilliam, who spent nearly 30 years attempting to make a film about Don Quixote. He says, “You can never kill Quixote. There is no way. Quixote will be eternal. And I certainly hope that people will keep rediscovering him, because I think you can read it many times and discover new things every time. It's spectacular. I just want to get a fireplace and start reading it to my grandchildren of a cold evening. One chapter a night.”Also including contributions from Isabel Torres, Professor of Spanish Golden Age Literature at Queen’s University, Belfast. Quotations from Penguin Classics 2003 edition, translation by John Rutherford.John Yorke has worked in television and radio for over 30 years and shares his experience as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories dramatised in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Drama series. As former Head of Channel Four Drama and Controller of BBC Drama Production he has worked on some of the most popular shows in Britain; from EastEnders to The Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless. He created the BBC Writers Academy and trained a generation of screenwriters, now with thousands of hours of television to their names. His acclaimed books Into the Woods and Trip to the Moon explore the structure and power of narrative, and he writes, teaches and consults on all forms of storytelling, including many podcasts for Radio 4.Producer: Mary Ward-Lowery Reader: Ewan Bailey Executive Producer: Sara Davies and Caroline Raphael Production Hub Coordinator: Dawn Williams and Nina Semple Researcher: Henry Tydeman Sound: Iain HunterA Pier production for BBC Radio 4
• Don Quixote - Episode One 03.05.2026 14min

  John Yorke explores why Don Quixote has had such a profound influence on storytelling in the four hundred years since it was published. The first European novel, it’s an epic work of comic - and tragic - genius. Quixote embodies an ideal of heroic resilience in the face of a broken reality. And it’s a novel that’s in our bones: familiar even if we haven’t read any of its nearly a thousand pages.The programme includes an interview with film director, cartoonist and Monty Python member Terry Gilliam, who spent nearly thirty years attempting to make a film about Don Quixote. He says:“What I love about Cervantes - he's been through it all. This is the guy who's really had rough and tumble life. And he's learned to laugh at it: because he'd been through so much. And he survived with a sense of humour and a brilliant pen. [Quixote] wouldn’t have been like that if Cervantes hadn't experienced this. It's about the falling, and the dignity with which he manages to pull himself up from the mess that he finds himself in. It's just wonderful.”Also including contributions from Isabel Torres, Professor of Spanish Golden Age Literature at Queen’s University, Belfast.John Yorke has worked in television and radio for over 30 years and shares his experience as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories dramatised in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Drama series. As former Head of Channel Four Drama and Controller of BBC Drama Production he has worked on some of the most popular shows in Britain; from EastEnders to The Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless. He created the BBC Writers Academy and trained a generation of screenwriters, now with thousands of hours of television to their names. His acclaimed books Into the Woods and Trip to the Moon explore the structure and power of narrative, and he writes, teaches and consults on all forms of storytelling, including many podcasts for Radio 4.Producer: Mary Ward-Lowery Reader: Ewan Bailey Executive Producer: Sara Davies and Caroline Raphael Production Hub Coordinator: Dawn Williams and Nina Semple Researcher: Henry Tydeman Sound: Iain HunterA Pier production for BBC Radio 4
• Transcription 16.04.2026 14min

  John Yorke takes a look at Transcription by Kate Atkinson.First published in 2018, Transcription tells the story of three different time periods in the life of our protagonist, Juliet Armstrong. The interweaving timelines take us from 1940 to 1981, telling of her experiences working in wartime for MI5, working in peacetime for BBC Radio, up to the end of her life in the moments between life and death.Transcription is a spy novel but it’s the work’s thematic depth that raises it above standard fare. There is gripping action but it’s a trojan horse for wider, darker themes. Each chapter is an item on a ledger, leading to a final adding up of the full cost of guilt and betrayal.There’s one other element that adds to the book’s power - It’s based on a true story. So while the events in Transcription are very much rooted in real life, reality doesn’t lend itself to Atkinson’s thematic concerns. It's in the way that she takes the raw material and manipulates it that the real strength of the book lies.In the author’s notes at the end of the book, Atkinson says that she became ‘obsessed’ with the nature of historical fiction while researching the story in the National Archives. She says that “roughly speaking, for everything that could be considered an historical fact in this book, I made something up.” Transcription is a real moment from history, taken on an extraordinary flight of imagination.John Yorke has worked in television and radio for over 30 years and shares his experience as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories dramatised in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Drama series. As former Head of Channel Four Drama and Controller of BBC Drama Production he has worked on some of the most popular shows in Britain - from EastEnders to The Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless. He created the BBC Writers Academy and trained a generation of screenwriters - now with thousands of hours of television to their names. His acclaimed books Into the Woods and Trip to the Moon explore the structure and power of narrative, and he writes, teaches and consults on all forms of storytelling, including many podcasts for R4.Archive Kate Atkinson discusses Transcription on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour on Monday 10th September 2018. Kate Atkinson discusses Transcription at a Politics and Prose event at St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Washington D.C. on Wednesday 26th September 2018.Written and presented by John Yorke Produced by Laura GrimshawExecutive Producer: Caroline Raphael Reader: Emily Pithon Sound: Sean Kerwin Researcher: Henry Tydeman Programme Hub Co-ordinator: Dawn Williams A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
• Celebrating Stoppard 04.04.2026 14min

  Tom Stoppard was of course best known for his work writing for stage and screen - but the dramas he created for radio were also an extremely important part of his career and his development as a writer. Across five decades he continued to return to a medium that suited him so well; without the constraints of visuals, his deft structural turns, linguistic pyrotechnics and imaginative leaps could flourish. In this special episode of Opening Lines for Radio 4’s Celebrating Stoppard season, John Yorke examines how Stoppard benefitted from and contributed to a golden age in BBC Radio drama.The programme features extracts from ‘The Dissolution of Dominic Boot’, ‘Albert’s Bridge’ and ‘The Dog It Was That Died’, as well as contributions from Stoppard’s biographer Professor Hermione Lee and archive of Stoppard himself.John Yorke has worked in television and radio for over 30 years and shares his experience as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories dramatised in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Drama series. As former Head of Channel Four Drama and Controller of BBC Drama Production he has worked on some of the most popular shows in Britain - from EastEnders to The Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless. He created the BBC Writers Academy and trained a generation of screenwriters - now with thousands of hours of television to their names. His acclaimed books Into the Woods and Trip to the Moon explore the structure and power of narrative, and he writes, teaches and consults on all forms of storytelling, including many podcasts for R4.Producer: Geoff Bird Contributor: Professor Hermione Lee Sound: Sean Kerwin Researcher: Henry Tydeman Production Hub Coordinator: Dawn Williams Reader: Daniel Weyman Executive Producer: Caroline RaphaelA Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
• Flight - Episode Two 02.04.2026 13min

  Flight by Walter White, published in 1926, asks questions about race and identity when its central character chooses to ‘pass’ as a white woman. In this second episode about the book, John Yorke asks if this is why the book has largely been forgotten even though it was written by one of the most influential figures in 20th century America.John Yorke has worked in television and radio for over 30 years and shares his experience as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories dramatised in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Drama series. As former Head of Channel Four Drama and Controller of BBC Drama Production he has worked on some of the most popular shows in Britain - from EastEnders to The Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless. He created the BBC Writers Academy and trained a generation of screenwriters - now with thousands of hours of television to their names. His acclaimed books Into the Woods and Trip to the Moon explore the structure and power of narrative, and he writes, teaches and consults on all forms of storytelling, including many podcasts for R4.Written and presented by John Yorke.Contributors: Kenneth Janken, Professsor of African American history at the University of North Carolina and author of White: The Biography of Walter White, Mr. Naacp. Gayle Wald, Professor of English and American studies at George Washington University and author of Crossing the Line; Racial Passing in TwentiethCentury U.S Literature and Culture. . Reading by Eric Stroud Producer: Alison Vernon-Smith Production Coordinator: Dawn Williams Researcher: Henry Tydeman Executive Producer: Caroline RaphaelA Pier production for BBC Radio 4
• Flight - Episode One 22.03.2026 14min

  Flight was the second novel by one of twentieth century’s America’s most influential figures, Walter White. Published in 1926, it asks questions about race and identity when its central character chooses to ‘pass’ as a white woman. A prime mover in the Harlem Renaissance, White was a celebrated writer and activist but his book has largely been forgotten. John Yorke looks at the man and his work.John Yorke has worked in television and radio for over 30 years and shares his experience as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories dramatised in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Drama series. As former Head of Channel Four Drama and Controller of BBC Drama Production he has worked on some of the most popular shows in Britain - from EastEnders to The Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless. He created the BBC Writers Academy and trained a generation of screenwriters - now with thousands of hours of television to their names. His acclaimed books Into the Woods and Trip to the Moon explore the structure and power of narrative, and he writes, teaches and consults on all forms of storytelling, including many podcasts for R4. Written and presented by John Yorke.Contributors: Kenneth Janken, Professsor of African American history at the University of North Carolina and author of White: The Biography of Walter White, Mr. Naacp. Gayle Wald, Professor of English and American studies at George Washington University and author of Crossing the Line; Racial Passing in TwentiethCentury U.S Literature and Culture. . Reading by Eric Stroud Producer: Alison Vernon-Smith Production Coordinator: Dawn Williams Researcher: Henry Tydeman Executive Producer: Caroline Raphael A Pier Production for BBC Radio 4
• My Antonia 15.03.2026 14min

  John Yorke explores themes of loss, longing and the founding of America, in Willa Cather’s innovative novel, My Ántonia. A milestone in American literature, the novel’s heroine is - unusually for the time - a Czech immigrant, Ántonia Shimerda, seen through the eyes of her childhood friend, lawyer Jim Burden. Ántonia survives poverty, tragedy and betrayal through her hard work, energy and optimism. The novel shows ‘the other side of the rug, the pattern that is not supposed to count in a story. There is no love affair, no courtship, no marriage, no broken heart, no struggle for success’. Deceptively easy to read, Cather communicates feeling in a strikingly modern, cinematic way, with a mastery of visual storytelling, using language to capture the soul of a nation.With contributions from Melissa Homestead, Professor of English and Director of the Cather Project at the University of Lincoln-Nebraska.John Yorke has worked in television and radio for over 30 years and shares his experience as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories dramatised in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Drama series. As former Head of Channel Four Drama and Controller of BBC Drama Production he has worked on some of the most popular shows in Britain, from EastEnders to The Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless. He created the BBC Writers Academy and trained a generation of screenwriters, now with thousands of hours of television to their names. His acclaimed books Into the Woods and Trip to the Moon explore the structure and power of narrative, and he writes, teaches and consults on all forms of storytelling, including many podcasts for Radio 4.Producer: Mary Ward-Lowery Reader: Riley Neldam Executive Producer: Sara Davies Production Hub Coordinator: Dawn Williams Sound: Iain Hunter A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
• The Virginian 01.03.2026 14min

  Owen Wister’s 1902 novel The Virginian did more than any other single piece of art in establishing the parameters of the Western as a genre. Telling the tale of a charismatic tight-lipped cowboy whose actions always speak louder than his words, it was wildly popular with readers and viewers of its many screen adaptations. The book is a celebration of rugged individualism and frontier spirit that spoke profoundly to its audience at the beginning of the twentieth-century - but does it offer any insights into the state of America today?The programme features James Annesley, Professor of American literature at Newcastle University. John Yorke has worked in television and radio for 30 years, and shares his experience with Radio 4 listeners as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories that are being dramatised in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Drama series. As former Head of Channel Four Drama and Controller of BBC Drama Production he has worked on some of the most popular shows in Britain - from EastEnders to The Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless. As creator of the BBC Writers Academy he's trained a generation of screenwriters - now with over 70 green lights and thousands of hours of television to their names. He is the author of Into the Woods, the bestselling book on narrative, and he writes, teaches and consults on all forms of narrative, including many podcasts for Radio 4. Contributors: James Annesley, Professor of American literature at Newcastle University. Sound: Sean Kerwin Researcher: Henry Tydeman Production Hub Coordinator: Dawn Williams Producer: Geoff Bird Reader: Eric Stroud Executive Producer: Sara Davies A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
• Gone with the Wind - Episode 3 25.02.2026 14min

  In the series that takes a look at books, plays and stories and how they work, John Yorke concludes his exploration of Margaret Mitchell’s epic Civil War romance, Gone with the Wind.In the 90 years since it was published it has sold more than 30 million copies – it was the bestselling American novel of the 20th century - but the book has become increasingly problematic for modern readers.In this third and final episode, John considers the themes of nostalgia and survival that made Gone with the Wind such a phenomenal hit when it was published at the height of the Great Depression in 1936. And he explores the complexity of the book’s legacy today. John is joined by Sarah Churchwell, Professor of American Literature at the University of London and the author of The Wrath to Come: Gone with the Wind and the Lies America Tells; Dr Nicole King, Associate Professor of American Literature and Fellow of Exeter College Oxford; and Rachel Joyce, who has adapted Gone with the Wind for BBC Radio 4. Together they explore what the book offers readers today. Is it a classic of American fiction or an extremely uncomfortable, racist period piece? And they ask if we should even read it at all. John Yorke has worked in television and radio for 30 years and shares his experience as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories that are being dramatised in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Drama series. As former Head of Channel Four Drama and Controller of BBC Drama Production he has worked on some of the most popular shows in Britain - from EastEnders to The Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless. As creator of the BBC Writers Academy, he's trained a generation of screenwriters - now with over 70 green lights and thousands of hours of television to their names. He is the author of Into the Woods, the bestselling book on narrative, and he writes, teaches and consults on all forms of narrative - including many podcasts for Radio 4. Contributors: Sarah Churchwell, Professor of American Literature at the University of London Rachel Joyce, adapter of Gone with the Wind for BBC Radio 4 Dr Nicole King, Associate Professor of American Literature and Fellow of Exeter College Oxford Reading by Samantha DakinCredits: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, published by Vintage BooksProduced by Jane Greenwood Executive Producer Sara Davies Sound by Sean Kerwin Researcher Henry Tydeman Production hub coordinator Dawn Williams A Pier production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds
• Gone with the Wind - Episode 2 15.02.2026 14min

  In the series that takes a look at books, plays and stories and how they work, John Yorke continues his exploration of Margaret Mitchell’s epic Civil War romance, Gone with the Wind.In the 90 years since it was published it has sold more than 30 million copies – it was the bestselling American novel of the 20th century - but the book has become increasingly problematic for modern readers.In this second episode, John considers how the history of the American Civil War and its aftermath inform the way the story is told. And he asks how we should address Margaret Mitchell’s shockingly complacent attitude to slaveholding and the racist language in the book.John is joined by Sarah Churchwell, Professor of American Literature at the University of London and the author of The Wrath to Come: Gone with the Wind and the Lies America Tells; Dr Nicole King, Associate Professor of American Literature and Fellow of Exeter College Oxford; and Rachel Joyce, who has adapted Gone with the Wind for BBC Radio 4. Together they explore the racism that underlies the story and the difficulties of navigating Mitchell’s attitude to her black characters.John Yorke has worked in television and radio for 30 years and shares his experience as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories that are being dramatised in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Drama series. As former Head of Channel Four Drama and Controller of BBC Drama Production he has worked on some of the most popular shows in Britain - from EastEnders to The Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless. As creator of the BBC Writers Academy, he's trained a generation of screenwriters - now with over 70 green lights and thousands of hours of television to their names. He is the author of Into the Woods, the bestselling book on narrative, and he writes, teaches and consults on all forms of narrative - including many podcasts for Radio 4. Contributors: Sarah Churchwell, Professor of American Literature at the University of London Rachel Joyce, adapter of Gone with the Wind for BBC Radio 4 Dr Nicole King, Associate Professor of American Literature and Fellow of Exeter College Oxford Reading by Samantha DakinCredits: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, published by Vintage BooksProduced by Jane Greenwood Executive Producer: Sara Davies Sound by Sean Kerwin Researcher: Henry Tydeman Production hub coordinator: Dawn Williams A Pier production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds
• Gone with the Wind - Episode 1 08.02.2026 14min

  In the series that takes a look at books, plays and stories and how they work, John Yorke explores Margaret Mitchell’s epic Civil War romance, Gone with the Wind.It was the bestselling American novel of the 20th century, it has sold 30 million copies and counting, it won the Pulitzer Prize, and the 1939 film of the book remains among the highest grossing of all time. Gone with the Wind is a coming-of-age story, a love triangle, and an epic wartime romance. And it is a rollicking read, a hugely entertaining book, but one with considerable problems for today’s readers – problems that John Yorke explores and analyses over three episodes.In this first episode John considers how Margaret Mitchell tells this huge sweeping story and asks what made it such a phenomenal hit. John is joined by the writer Rachel Joyce who has adapted Gone with the Wind for BBC Radio 4, and Sarah Churchwell, Professor of American Literature at the University of London and the author of The Wrath to Come: Gone with the Wind and the Lies America Tells. Together they explore what makes the book such a captivating read and how it is driven by the central character, Scarlett O’Hara, one of the most compelling and infuriating heroines ever written.John Yorke has worked in television and radio for 30 years and shares his experience as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories that are being dramatised in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Drama series. As former Head of Channel Four Drama and Controller of BBC Drama Production he has worked on some of the most popular shows in Britain - from EastEnders to The Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless. As creator of the BBC Writers Academy, he's trained a generation of screenwriters - now with over 70 green lights and thousands of hours of television to their names. He is the author of Into the Woods, the bestselling book on narrative, and he writes, teaches and consults on all forms of narrative - including many podcasts for Radio 4. Contributors: Sarah Churchwell, Professor of American Literature at the University of London Rachel Joyce, adapter of Gone with the Wind for BBC Radio 4 Readings by Samantha DakinCredits: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, published by Vintage BooksProduced by Jane Greenwood Executive Producer Sara Davies Sound by Sean Kerwin Researcher Henry Tydeman Production hub coordinator Dawn Williams A Pier production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds
• Walden 01.02.2026 14min

  During the mid-19th century America was undergoing unprecedented change. New railroads and canals allowed people and goods to criss-cross the country, as the old agrarian economy was replaced by a fast-paced industrialised one. This rapid market expansion was driven by profit and underpinned by slavery. As the lives of Americans began to speed up, Henry David Thoreau took time out to ask himself a question - is this the best way to live? In 1845, when he was 27 years old, he built a one-roomed cabin next to Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts, and began an experiment in what he called ‘living deliberately’.During the two years he spent at Walden Pond, Thoreau lived simply. He studied, read widely, went for long walks, and often just sat and contemplated the natural world around him. The journal he kept during the two years he lived in his microhouse would become Walden, a genre-defying mix of memoir, essay, nature diary, philosophical treatise and self-help guide. The book was not an immediate success but steadily grew in popularity after Thoreau’s early death at the age of 44. Walden is now regarded as a foundational work of both American literature and Transcendentalist philosophy. It has been continuously in print since 1862.John Yorke has worked in television and radio for over 30 years and shares his experience as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories dramatised in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Drama series. As former Head of Channel Four Drama and Controller of BBC Drama Production he has worked on some of the most popular shows in Britain - from EastEnders to The Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless. He created the BBC Writers Academy and trained a generation of screenwriters - now with thousands of hours of television to their names. His acclaimed books Into the Woods and Trip to the Moon explore the structure and power of narrative, and he writes, teaches and consults on all forms of storytelling, including many podcasts for R4.Contributors: Laura Dassow Walls, author of Henry David Thoreau: A Life. Professor Emerita of English at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana. Kristen Case, poet and Thoreau scholar. Editor of the Oxford Handbook of Henry David Thoreau. Editor of essays on Thoreau and author of Thoreau’s Kalendar – Charts and Observation of Natural Phenomena. Tracy Fullerton, game designer, educator and writer, best known for Walden, a game. Professor in the USC Interactive Media & Games Division of the USC School of Cinematic Arts and Director of the Game Innovation Lab at USC. Reader: Eric Stroud Production Hub Coordinator: Dawn Williams Researcher: Henry Tydeman Sound: Iain Hunter Producer: Kate McAll Executive Producer: Caroline RaphaelA Pier production for BBC Radio 4
• The Legend of Sleepy Hollow 25.01.2026 14min

  The headless horseman who haunts Sleepy Hollow in Washington Irving’s ghost story has become an iconic figure in American popular culture, thanks to many film and TV adaptations, ranging from a 1922 silent movie to an episode of Scooby Doo. John Yorke looks at how this deceptively simple tale made Irving an overnight literary superstar when it was published in an 1820 collection of short stories that also included Rip van Winkle, and why it was so influential on the work of the next generation of American writers including Herman Melville and Mark Twain. John Yorke has worked in television and radio for over 30 years and shares his experience as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories dramatised in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Drama series. As former Head of Channel Four Drama and Controller of BBC Drama Production he has worked on some of the most popular shows in Britain - from EastEnders to The Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless. He created the BBC Writers Academy and trained a generation of screenwriters - now with thousands of hours of television to their names. His acclaimed books Into the Woods and Trip to the Moon explore the structure and power of narrative, and he writes, teaches and consults on all forms of storytelling, including many podcasts for R4.Elizabeth Bradley has edited two Penguin Classic editions of Washington Irving's work and is Vice President of Programs and Engagement at Historic Hudson Valley.Brian Jay Jones is the author of Washington Irving: An American Original and several other best-selling biographies.Reader: Riley Neldam Music: Torquil MacLeod Researcher: Henry Tydeman Production Hub Coordinator: Dawn Williams Sound: Sean Kerwin Producer: Torquil MacLeod Executive Producer: Caroline Raphael A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
• The Last of the Mohicans - Episode Two 04.01.2026 14min

  In this second episode, John Yorke assesses the criticism levelled against James Fenimore Cooper’s 1826 novel The Last of the Mohicans - primarily that it is responsible for the widely held, inaccurate, view that indigenous Americans were inevitably disappearing during the period the novel is set, and that that false narrative was used to justify colonisation. Also, John delves deeper into the author’s background to understand his influences, and asks what we should make of The Last of the Mohicans today. John Yorke has worked in television and radio for 30 years and shares his experience as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories that are being dramatised in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Drama series. As former Head of Channel Four Drama and Controller of BBC Drama Production he has worked on some of the most popular shows in Britain - from EastEnders to The Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless. As creator of the BBC Writers Academy, he's trained a generation of screenwriters - now with over 70 green lights and thousands of hours of television to their names. He is the author of Into the Woods, the bestselling book on narrative, and he writes, teaches and consults on all forms of narrative - including many podcasts for Radio 4. Contributors: Jordan Abel, Nisga’a writer and academic. Richard Slotkin, American Cultural Historian. Credits: Readings by Eric Stroud Excerpts from The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper, 1826. Excerpt from Fenimore Cooper’s Literary Offenses, by Mark Tawain, 1895. Film clip from The Last of the Mohicans, 1992 Morgan Creek Entertainment / Twentieth Century Fox. Excerpt from Empty Spaces by Jordan Abel, 2023, read by the author.Researcher: Henry Tydeman Sound: Sean Kerwin Producer: Jack Soper Executive Producer: Caroline Raphael Production Hub Coordinator: Dawn WilliamsA Pier production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds
• The Last of the Mohicans - Episode 1 28.12.2025 14min

  Published in 1826, the American writer James Fenimore Cooper’s novel The Last of the Mohicans is set during the French and Indian War, in 1750s North America. The story follows a group of British colonists trying to cross frontier land – and examines the complexity of the relationship that existed between the colonialists and the land they were - in essence stealing – the native American’s.The book, which has been adapted widely for film and TV, mixes fiction with real historical events and has received both huge praise, as one of the foundation stones of American literature, and substantial criticism, for perpetrating a false narrative about the fate of indigenous American people. In the first of two episodes, John Yorke asks how Cooper came to write The Last of the Mohicans, why was it successful and what we should we make of it today. John Yorke has worked in television and radio for 30 years and shares his experience as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories that are being dramatised in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Drama series. As former Head of Channel Four Drama and Controller of BBC Drama Production he has worked on some of the most popular shows in Britain - from EastEnders to The Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless. As creator of the BBC Writers Academy, he's trained a generation of screenwriters - now with over 70 green lights and thousands of hours of television to their names. He is the author of Into the Woods, the bestselling book on narrative, and he writes, teaches and consults on all forms of narrative - including many podcasts for Radio 4. Contributors: Jordan Abel, Nisga’a writer and academic. Richard Slotkin, American Cultural Historian. Credits: Readings by Eric Stroud Excerpts from The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper, 1826.Researcher: Henry Tydeman Sound: Sean Kerwin Producer: Jack Soper Executive Producer: Caroline Raphael Production Hub Coordinator: Dawn WilliamsA Pier Production for BBC Radio 4 & BBC Sounds
• Joy in the Morning 23.12.2025 14min

  Ian Sansom, sitting in for John Yorke, takes a look at Joy In the Morning, the 44th Jeeves and Wooster novel by PG Wodehouse. Published in 1946, it revolves around Bertie Wooster’s attempts to avoid a series of social and romantic calamities. The omniscient Jeeves, of course, remains the great calm at the centre of the novel’s storm, devising ingenious solutions just when disaster seems inevitable. Readings from the book are by Stephen Fry, who also describes why he’s such an enthusiast for Wodehouse so much, and what it is he loves about this adventure in the Jeeves and Wooster canon.Ian Sansom is a novelist, journalist and broadcaster. He is the author of more than 20 books, including the Mobile Library and the County Guides series of detective novels and his work has been translated into more than a dozen languages. He has worked as a columnist for The Guardian and The Spectator and currently writes for the TLS, The Irish Times and The Dublin Review. He is a regular broadcaster on BBC Radio 4 and Radio 3. He was formerly the Director of the Oscar Wilde Centre at Trinity College Dublin and a Professor and Head of English at Queen’s University Belfast.With readings and contributions from Sir Stephen FryArchive: Archive 1961 BBC Interview – Alistair Cooke speaks to P.G. Wodehouse Archive 1972 BBC Interview – Keith Dewhurst speaks to P.G. WodehouseReader: Sir Stephen Fry Producer: Laura Grimshaw Executive Producer: Sara Davies Programme Hub Co-ordinator: Nina Semple Researcher: Henry Tydeman Sound: Sean KerwinA Pier production for BBC Radio 4
• Sense and Sensibility - Episode Two 20.12.2025 14min

  John Yorke explores the revolutionary techniques developed by Jane Austen in Sense and Sensibility and uncovers why her work is so endlessly adaptable to modern tastes. Austen innovated ‘free indirect style’, which blends third person narration with a character’s internal thoughts and feelings. Novelists have been using her creation ever since. She also had a gift for dialogue which allows her to reveal character through idiosyncratic speech habits. The novel is shot through with darkness, but it is also extremely funny. Joh discovers that the main characters, Elinor and Marianne, have ‘comedy double act energy’.With contributions from Professor John Mullan and poet and dramatist Claudine Toutoungi.John Yorke has worked in television and radio for thirty years and shares his experience as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories that are being dramatised in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Drama series. As former Head of Channel Four Drama and Controller of BBC Drama Production he has worked on some of the most popular shows in Britain - from EastEnders to The Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless. As creator of the BBC Writers Academy, he’s trained a generation of screenwriters - now with over 70 green lights and thousands of hours of television to their names. He is the author of Into the Woods, the bestselling book on narrative, and he writes, teaches and consults on all forms of narrative - including many podcasts for R4.Producer: Mary Ward-Lowery Reader: Rhiannon Neads Executive Producer: Sara Davies Production Hub Coordinator: Dawn Williams Sound: Iain HunterA Pier production for BBC Radio 4