Breaking The Rules

A collection of nine dramas about upsetting the status quo.

Episodes

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A House Called Insanity20240727Anne-Marie Duff stars as Elsy Borders, the working-class heroine whose remarkable true story deserves to be far better known. Even though she became a national figure in the late 1930s, no play celebrating her achievements has ever been written - until now.

The wife of a South London cabby (played by Karl Davies), Elsy did something a working-class woman was not supposed to do. She broke the rules and conventions of acceptable behaviour. Determined to expose the poor quality of workmanship in house-building which continues to resonate today with scandals such as Grenfell Tower, she took the unprecedented step of refusing to pay her mortgage owing to the dire state of their new, but poorly-built, house on an estate in Kent. When the building society responded by suing for repossession of the house which the family had by now christened Insanity, Elsy counter-claimed for damages.

The fight was on -

With contributions from Stella Etheridge, Jeremy Tagg and Phillipa Tagg who are current residents of the Coney Hall Estate where Elsy lived.

Cast:

Elsy Borders....................Anne-Marie Duff

Jim Borders.....................Karl Davies

Roxburgh.........................Sam Dale

Librarian...........................Jenny Funnell

Judge.................................Nigel Anthony

Agent................................Andrew Branch

Michael............................Harry Myers

Pamela ............................Betsy Horsfall

Written by Stephen Wyatt

Directed by Martin Jenkins

Sound Design by David Thomas

Production Co-ordinator: Sarah Tombling

Production Manager: Sarah Wright

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4

True story of one woman's remarkable fight against malpractices in the building industry.

The remarkable true story of Elsy Borders who challenged malpractices in the building industry by refusing to pay her mortgage and then by conducting her own defence in court.

Cry If You Want To20240720by E.V Crowe.

Single parent Ana is pretty sure she isn't being paid fairly at work.

She's tried her boss; she's tried HR - to no avail.

So now she needs to find out how much her colleague Dave earns in order to make her case.

So one night, she turns up at his flat to ask him...

Crackling two-hander from award-winning writer E.V Crowe that asks: how far would you go to get what's fair?

Ana....Ellie Kendrick

Dave....Sam Swann

Production co-ordinator....Gaelan Davis-Connolly

Sound by Ali Craig, Keith Graham and Andrew Garratt

Written by E.V Crowe

Directed by Abigail le Fleming

The Writer

E V Crowe is a graduate of the Royal Court Young Writers Programme Super Group, and a writer for Theatre, Film, TV, Radio and Dance. She has had four plays on at the Royal Court. Her work for radio includes the award-winning How To Say Goodbye Properly and two series of comic but political two-hander Cry Babies.

Crackling two-hander from award-winning writer EV Crowe.

Crackling two-hander by EV Crowe. Ana is pretty sure her male colleague is being unfairly paid more than her. So one night she turns up at his flat to ask him what he earns.

Guilt Trip20241019

Saul long gave up worshipping God to worship at the altar of Art but not without a huge amount of guilt.

Now he has a chance to interview and curate a retrospective of a true icon: elderly painter Maeve Goring.

As Saul finds himself caught up in Maeve's murky bigoted world he begins to question not only the rules that the Art world is built upon

but over a single weekend manages to break every one of the ten commandments

Saul - Alex Waldmann

Joy - Jemima Rooper

Lisa - Jenna Augen

Maeve - Elizabeth Counsell

The Omniscient Presence - Allan Corduner

Writer - Jeremy Front

Director - Sally Avens

Can Saul manage to break all ten commandments in one weekend? Comedy from Jeremy Front.

A collection of nine dramas about upsetting the status quo.

Jeremy Front's comedy about breaking all the rules, morally, ethically and artistically. This is Saul's last chance to save his career and his marriage, but can he save his soul?

[LISTEN NOW]

O Is For Orson20241109

From when he blagged a lead role at Dublin's Abbey Theatre, aged 16, to when he shocked America with his War of the Worlds radio drama and struck the most outrageous deal in movie history to direct Citizen Kane, Orson Welles' energy and creative genius is unparalleled.

His production of Citizen Kane would make an enemy of Randolph Hearst, one of the most powerful men in the world. This could – perhaps should - have been a step foo far, but Welles still manages to turn out one of the greatest films of all time.

Featuring Lucas Aurelio as Welles, with Laurel Lefkow playing Hearst's lover Marion Davies who tries to stop the film being made, and Miles Jupp as John Houseman, Welles' producer and close collaborator.

Jonathan Myerson's drama tells the story of how Welles became a titan of American culture by tearing up the rulebook at every turn and finding ever more creative ways to get his work made and seen.

Cast:

John Houseman. Miles Jupp

Marion Davies Laurel Lefkow

Orson Welles Lucas Aurelio

Macliammoir and others Nathan Wiley

Toland and others Nigel Whitmey

Blitzstein and others Danny Mahoney

Written by Jonathan Myerson

Sound design by Alisdair McGregor

Produced and directed by Boz Temple-Morris

A Holy Mountain production for BBC Radio 4

How Orson Welles turned convention on its head to become a titan of American cinema.

A collection of nine dramas about upsetting the status quo.

Orson Welles breathes new life into theatre, radio and cinema, turning convention on its head to become one of the most remarkable artists of all time.

[LISTEN NOW]

Snares20241026

A remote valley, echoing with birdsong. An expensive off-grid eco house, going to ruin. A wire fence garlanded with dead crows. And a visionary environmentalist, fast disappearing down a rabbit-hole of conspiracy theories.

Following Skye's burnout, she and her partner Kezia hope to start a radical new life in the alternative eco community set up by Skye's friend Tobias. Tobias is an idealistic disruptor who has tried to find a more sustainable way to live. But is Tobias really the visionary environmentalist he claims to be?

Snares by Clare Bayley is part of BBC Radio 4's Breaking the Rules season and explores if the way you choose to live your life inevitably has an impact on those around you. It questions if rule-breaking is always brave or if imposing your views on others can be harmful.

SKYE......Rebecca Banatvala

KEZIA.....Sarah Kameela Impey

TOBIAS.....Rupert Hill

FIONA......Jenny Platt

Written by Clare Bayley

Directed by Nadia Molinari

Sound design by Sharon Hughes

Production co-ordinator: Pippa Day

Musical Director: Akintayo Akinbode

A BBC Studios Audio Production for BBC Radio 4.

Clare Bayley's psychological drama set in a remote Exmoor valley.

A collection of nine dramas about upsetting the status quo.

Skye and Kezia hope to start a radical new life but is Tobias really the visionary environmentalist he claims to be? A tense, atmospheric noir set in a remote Exmoor valley.

[LISTEN NOW]

The Great Cricket Con20240706In July 2022, reporters in the Indian state of Gujarat broke a story that seemed unbelievable. In a tiny village in north-western India, police had arrested a gang of villagers for running a fake cricket tournament that they had made to look like the Indian Premier League. According to reports, the villagers broadcast their spectacle on betting websites and targeted gamblers from Russia.

The story caught fire, drawing comparisons with the 1973 movie The Sting, in which Paul Newman and Robert Redford's plucky conmen run a fake gambling parlour to rip off a mob boss.

This drama-documentary explores the police allegations and media coverage of a story that could be ripped straight from the pages of a Bollywood script.

Narrator . . . . . Ayesha Dharker

Shoeb . . . . . Hiran Abeysekera

Asif . . . . . Sid Sagar

Jain . . . . . Tony Jayawardena

Farooq . . . . . Sagar Arya

Shuks . . . . . Danny Ashok

Misha . . . . . Greg Kolpakchi

Drama written by Ayeesha Menon

Production Co-ordinator: Luke MacGregor

Additional reporting: Harita Kandpal in Delhi and Laxmi Patel in Gujarat

Sound design: Peter Ringrose

Producer: Sasha Yevtushenko

A BBC Studios Audio production for Radio 4

The story of the Indian villagers who staged a fake cricket cup to scam Russian gamblers.

Drama-documentary that tells the story of the Indian villagers who staged and broadcast a fake cricket tournament to scam gamblers in Russia.

The Markov File20241116

For those that remember the Cold War, the name Georgi Markov might be familiar. His assassination sent shockwaves around the globe in 1978 and his death was the first instance of Soviet pugilism on British soil. But even more famous than the name, was the infamous weapon of execution - the poison tip umbrella.

In The Markov File, we go beyond the headlines to reveal the truly remarkable life of a writer, dramaturgist, journalist and broadcaster, who used his wit and guile to wage war against the communist state. It's a story about autocracy, rebellion and impunity from the rule of law.

Simon McBurney - Georgi Markov

Christopher Eccleston - President Zhivkov

Lucy Phelps - Zlatka Dubova

Ben Onwukwe - Peter Udell / Pesho / Colonel Kolev

Steve Brody - Kiro / Pavel Matev

Joshua James - Zahariev / Anastas Stoyanov

Conrad Nelson - Mihail Antonov

Kate Anstey - Lada Galina

David Burnett - Dr Riley / Vanelin Kostev

Howard Ward - Piccadilly / Nikolai Markov

Writer - Marek Horn

Assistant Producer - Lucy Vallance

Director & Producer - Hunter Charlton

Executive Producer - David Hunter

Sound Design - John Scott

With special thanks to Luke MacGregor, without whom this drama would not have been possible.

An Ember production for BBC Radio 4

The story of the dissident assassinated with a poison tip umbrella in London, 1978.

A collection of nine dramas about upsetting the status quo.

The story of the Bulgarian dissident whose assassination by means of a poison tip umbrella on London's Waterloo Bridge in 1978 made shockwaves around the world.

[LISTEN NOW]

This Week Is Family Week20240713Xinjiang Province, China. Uyghur student, Nur, is able to 'pass' as Han Chinese, and exploits this as much as possible in a society where Uyghur people live under constant surveillance.

Nur and her mother, Meryem, want to avoid being sent to one of the re-education prison camps, where it is thought a million people - mostly Uyghur - have been detained without trial. But then they are assigned a live-in Chinese 'relative' by the authorities - Auntie Wang Shu - who comes to stay in their apartment as part of a Family Week initiative to ensure lifestyle conformity: 'Cook together, eat together, study together, travel together, sleep together!

But Wang Shu has other motives, which involve marrying her son to a Uyghur woman. And she has Nur in her sights as a prime candidate. Any missteps by Nur or Meryem could result in their being sent into re-education. But will Nur play by the rules?

A fictional story inspired by real accounts. Writer Avin Shah has drawn on testimonies from the 2021 independent Uyghur Tribunal (chaired by Sir Geoffrey Nice, chief prosecutor on the trial of Slobodan Milošević) and on research by Raminder Kaur, Professor of Anthropology and Cultural Studies at the University of Sussex, who served on the tribunal, as well on interviews with other Uyghur and Chinese cultural and political consultants.

Nur......Aruhan Galieva

Meryem.....Camilla Anvar

Guard and various other roles.....Daniel York Loh

Other members of the cast have chosen to remain anonymous.

It was a BBC Audio Wales production, directed by Emma Harding.

A Uyghur family in Xinjiang are assigned a live-in Chinese 'relative' by the authorities.

Xinjiang Province, China. A Uyghur family are assigned a live-in Chinese 'relative' by the authorities to ensure lifestyle conformity. Drama by Avin Shah inspired by real events.