The BBC Radio epic full-cast saga

Tumanbay: The Complete Series 1-4

An engrossing, expansive historical fantasy drama, inspired by the Mamluk slave dynasty of Egypt 
 
Tumanbay: the wealthiest city on earth. The beating heart of a vast empire. A city of dreams, where those who once arrived as slaves now hold power, and merchants, artists and warriors live side-by-side in peace. But this magnificent city is under threat. A rebellion in a far-off province, led by 'Queen' Maya, is gathering strength - and a mysterious force is devouring the empire from within. 
 
Gregor, a merciless spymaster and Master of the Palace Guard, is charged by Sultan Al-Ghuri to crush the insurgence, as his brother General Qulan is dispatched to quell the provincial insurrection. But as well as rooting out traitors, Gregor must contend with his arch-rival, the cunning Grand Vizier, Cadali. Meanwhile, Heaven, the 14-year-old daughter of slave merchant Ibn, is adrift at sea, captive to an escaped slave on whom she depends for her survival. Madu, the Sultan's spoilt nephew, also has to grow up quickly as he swaps palace life for the army... 
 
As the wheel of fate turns, Tumanbay's fortunes suffer a terrible reversal. Beset by plague, assassins, invasion, occupation and revolution, the once-great city is riven by political intrigue and power struggles. As rulers are toppled and tyrants fall, who will survive and thrive - and who will die? 
 
A Game of Thrones-style epic with the sweep of The Arabian Nights, this compelling story of love, revenge, betrayal and deception won the Best Audio Serial Gold Award at the New York Radio Festival. Among the impressive ensemble cast are Rufus Wright, Olivia Popica, Matthew Marsh, Alexander Siddig, John Sessions, Hiran Abeysekera, Aiysha Hart, Anton Lesser, Tara Fitzgerald, Enzo Cilenti and Rob Jarvis. 
 
 
Production credits 
Created by John Scott Dryden and Mike Walker and inspired by the Mamluk slave rulers of Egypt 
Written by John Scott Dryden, Mike Walker and Mac Rogers 
Directed by John Scott Dryden 
Produced by Emma Hearn, Nadir Khan and John Scott Dryden 
Original music by Sacha Puttnam 
Additional music by Jon Ouin 
Sound Design: Steve Bond, Jon Ouin and Eloise Whitmore 
Sound Recording by Joe Richardson and Laurence Farr 
Sound Edited by James Morgan and Andrea Gomez 
Editors: Ania Przygoda and James Morgan 
A Goldhawk Production for BBC Radio 4 
 
© 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
(p) 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

An engrossing, expansive historical fantasy drama, inspired by the Mamluk slave dynasty of Egypt 
 
Tumanbay: the wealthiest city on earth. The beating heart of a vast empire. A city of dreams, where those who once arrived as slaves now hold power, and merchants, artists and warriors live side-by-side in peace. But this magnificent city is under threat. A rebellion in a far-off province, led by 'Queen' Maya, is gathering strength - and a mysterious force is devouring the empire from within. 
 
Gregor, a merciless spymaster and Master of the Palace Guard, is charged by Sultan Al-Ghuri to crush the insurgence, as his brother General Qulan is dispatched to quell the provincial insurrection. But as well as rooting out traitors, Gregor must contend with his arch-rival, the cunning Grand Vizier, Cadali. Meanwhile, Heaven, the 14-year-old daughter of slave merchant Ibn, is adrift at sea, captive to an escaped slave on whom she depends for her survival. Madu, the Sultan's spoilt nephew, also has to grow up quickly as he swaps palace life for the army... 
 
As the wheel of fate turns, Tumanbay's fortunes suffer a terrible reversal. Beset by plague, assassins, invasion, occupation and revolution, the once-great city is riven by political intrigue and power struggles. As rulers are toppled and tyrants fall, who will survive and thrive - and who will die? 
 
A Game of Thrones-style epic with the sweep of The Arabian Nights, this compelling story of love, revenge, betrayal and deception won the Best Audio Serial Gold Award at the New York Radio Festival. Among the impressive ensemble cast are Rufus Wright, Olivia Popica, Matthew Marsh, Alexander Siddig, John Sessions, Hiran Abeysekera, Aiysha Hart, Anton Lesser, Tara Fitzgerald, Enzo Cilenti and Rob Jarvis. 
 
 
Production credits 
Created by John Scott Dryden and Mike Walker and inspired by the Mamluk slave rulers of Egypt 
Written by John Scott Dryden, Mike Walker and Mac Rogers 
Directed by John Scott Dryden 
Produced by Emma Hearn, Nadir Khan and John Scott Dryden 
Original music by Sacha Puttnam 
Additional music by Jon Ouin 
Sound Design: Steve Bond, Jon Ouin and Eloise Whitmore 
Sound Recording by Joe Richardson and Laurence Farr 
Sound Edited by James Morgan and Andrea Gomez 
Editors: Ania Przygoda and James Morgan 
A Goldhawk Production for BBC Radio 4 
 
© 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
(p) 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

The Reluctant Spy

John Dryden (Author) 
 John Dryden is a multi-award-winning writer and director whose radio credits include Pandemic (winner of the 2012 Writers’ Guild of Great Britain Award Best Radio Drama), A Kidnapping (which won Best Debut Performance for actress Jade Matthew at the 2015 BBC Audio Drama Awards), Scenes from a Crime and Tumanbay. He was also named Best Drama Producer at the 2015 Radio Academy Production Awards.

A three-part BBC Radio drama about modern-day spying set in Cairo against a backdrop of the "Arab Spring". Hard-up Coptic art expert Duncan Kavanagh scrapes a living as a private English language tutor and by showing tourists around the ancient churches of Cairo. He lives with his feisty, politically-aware, 15-year-old daughter Ola, who is half-Egyptian, in a modest flat they can barely afford. Since the revolution, the situation has become ever harder for Duncan with tourists in short supply. When approached by seductive Canadian student Tara Moore to deliver a letter - for money - to a prominent Egyptian politician whose son Duncan teaches, he accepts. It's a decision that will solve his short-term financial problems but embroil him in a complex web of secrets and misinformation and a struggle for his own and his daughter's survival. Written and directed by John Dryden. Starring Nigel Lindsay, Aiysha Hart and Sarah Goldberg.

Pandemic

Ben Daniels, Emily Beecham and Michael Maloney star in this BBC Radio 4 three-part thriller by John Dryden.

John Dryden is a multi-award-winning writer and director whose radio credits include Pandemic (winner of the 2012 Writers’ Guild of Great Britain Award Best Radio Drama), A Kidnapping (which won Best Debut Performance for actress Jade Matthew at the 2015 BBC Audio Drama Awards), Scenes from a Crime and Tumanbay. He was also named Best Drama Producer at the 2015 Radio Academy Production Awards.

A three-part thriller by John Dryden.   In Part 1, 'The Present', Dr Jan Roldano, microbiologist and WHO advisor on infectious diseases, arrives in Bangkok to give a keynote lecture at a medical conference. But when a virulent strain of bird flu emerges, he finds himself trapped in Thailand.   In Part 2, 'The Future', it is five years after a global pandemic that has wiped out half the world's population. British civil servant Diane Harper is sent to Oxfordshire to investigate the suicide of a government scientist, a job that leads to a desperate search for the truth about the origins of the outbreak.   In Part 3, 'The Past', eco-warrior Richard Frankel wants to give up direct action. But then he learns something that leads him into a dangerous world of environmental espionage and a conspiracy that will have a terrible, cruel and profound impact on the world.   Starring Ben Daniels, Emily Beecham and Michael Maloney.   ‘Radio drama at its galvanising best’  Daily Mail.   ‘An extraordinarily taut piece of writing by John Dryden and the pace is faster than the deadly Red Eye virus. It should be made into a movie’  Jane Anderson, Radio Times.   ‘An almost unbearably suspenseful affair…’ Gillian Reynolds, The Telegraph.

A Tokyo Murder

Three dramas surrounding the murder of a young teacher in Japan.  Part 1: 'The Parents':    Jennifer and Peter Whitelock arrive in Japan to help find their daughte's murderer. Frustrated with the progress of the police investigation, Peter puts his trust in TV producer Norio Ito, who promises to champion their cause on his popular 'news and entertainment' show, while Jennifer tries to discover what her daughter's life in Tokyo was like... Then she starts getting calls from a man claiming to be the killer.  Part 2: 'The Detective':    Detective Inspector Julie Hill is sent to Tokyo to investigate the disappearance of British teacher Daisy Whitelock. Working with the Tokyo police, who are reluctant to have a foreign police officer interfering with the case, she has to overcome cultural and bureaucratic obstacles as she attempts to untangle what really happened at the foreign language school Daisy taught at.  Part 3: 'The Daughter':    Daisy Whitelock arrives in Japan to teach English at a foreign language school in Tokyo. Her desire to scratch beneath the surface of Japanese society leads her to shun the companionship of the other ex-pat teachers in her shared apartment, and exposes her to the terrifying reality of a disturbed mind.    The production was recorded in Tokyo, Japan. Directed by John Dryden.

Severed Threads

John Dryden (Author) John Dryden is a multi-award-winning writer and director whose radio credits include Pandemic (winner of the 2012 Writers’ Guild of Great Britain Award Best Radio Drama), A Kidnapping (which won Best Debut Performance for actress Jade Matthew at the 2015 BBC Audio Drama Awards), Scenes from a Crime and Tumanbay. He was also named Best Drama Producer at the 2015 Radio Academy Production Awards.

Three lives on three continents connected by one event - A young British schoolboy obsessed with school massacres, a radio journalist in India on the trail of a scoop for the BBC and the boss of an American church-owned clothing firm are the threads that run through this intricate, suspenseful three-part thriller from award-winning writer-director John Dryden.  At first the three lives seem totally unconnected but as the threads unravel they become tangled in a shocking heap of child labour, abuse and murder. A unique and compelling thriller, recorded on location in the USA, India and the UK.   Written and directed by John Dryden. A Goldhawk Essential Production.

William Wycherley

Aphra Behn

John Dryden

George Etherege

Thomas Otway

Edward Ravenscroft

Derek Jacobi

Prunella Scales

Maggie Smith

Jonathan Pryce

Harriet Walter

Frances Jeater

Denys Hawthorne

Carleton Hobbs

Anna Massey

Full Cast

Nine BBC Radio Full Cast Productions including The Rover, The Country Wife and more

A sparkling collection of nine witty full-cast comedies from the early Restoration era 
 
Raunchy, risqué and rebellious, early Restoration comedies were a breath of fresh air for 17th century theatregoers. With Charles II restored to the throne in 1660, Oliver Cromwell's ban on stage performances was rescinded, and for the first time, women were invited to tread the boards as actresses. Playwrights developed a new style of social comedy, packed with amorous escapades, bawdy humour, wicked wit and sexual innuendo. 
 
This scintillating anthology showcases six leading lights of early Restoration drama, beginning with George Etherege, the creator of the 'comedy of manners': The Man of Mode, an irreverent portrait of the fops and libertines that populated London's beau monde; and She Wou'd If She Cou'd, a racy, fast-paced romp mocking society's double standards for men and women. Among the casts are Derek Jacobi, Anna Massey, Ian Richardson, Prunella Scales and Hattie Jacques. 
 
Also poking fun at hypocrisy and immorality was William Wycherley. However, his comedies were considered far more daring - especially The Country Wife, which was judged too obscene to be staged in its original form for over 200 years. Centred around a notorious rake who resorts to deception to pursue a naïve married woman, this effervescent BBC radio dramatisation stars Jonathan Pryce and Maggie Smith. 
 
Male playwrights were not the only ones penning scandalous dramas during this period. Aphra Behn, Britain's first professional female writer, was a poet, spy and the most prolific playwright of the 1670s and '80s. Her sex comedy The Rover, featured here, revolves around love, lust, intrigue and mistaken identity, and stars Julia Ford, Suzan Sylvester and Juliet Aubrey. 
 
England's first Poet Laureate, John Dryden, dominated Restoration literature to such an extent that it came to be known as the Age of Dryden. His 1677 play All For Love, a powerful reworking of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra, is regarded as his finest work. John Turner and Barbara Jefford star in this heroic tragedy. 
 
A rival of Dryden, Edward Ravenscroft was the first British playwright to introduce characters from the 'commedia dell' arte' into his farces. His seminal comedy The London Cuckolds, featuring three ridiculous husbands, three beautiful wives, and one dissolute young cad, was hugely popular, and this BBC adaptation retains all the original's ribald wit. It stars Carleton Hobbs, Norman Shelley and Madi Hedd. 
 
Thomas Otway achieved his greatest success in the last five years of his life. Three of his acclaimed works appear here: his 1683 comedy The Soldier's Fortune and its sequel The Atheist, focussing on disbanded army officers looking for sex and money, and his masterpiece Venice Preserved, a dark political thriller about power, revolution, love and betrayal. The ensemble casts feature Dennis Quilley, John Rowe, Michael Turner and Donald Wolfit. 
 
Content list 
 
The Man of Mode 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 27 Jun 1986 
 
She Wou'd If She Cou'd 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 6 Sep 1968 
 
The Country Wife 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 22 Dec 1985 
 
The Rover 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 22 Jan 1995 
 
All For Love 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 7 Jul 1983 
 
The London Cuckolds 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 30 Dec 1974 
 
The Soldier's Fortune 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 24 May 1981 
 
The Atheist 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 31 May 1981 
 
Venice Preserved 
First broadcast BBC Third Programme, 10 Aug 1960 
 
© 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

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