Episodes
| Episode | Title | First Broadcast | Repeated | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Dear Dante | 20171127 | 20190429 (R3) | Dear Oscar Fingal O'Flaherty Wilde, Do you mind if I just call you Oscar? It's just you always seemed so approachable yet ultimately unknowable...a bit like the Queen. Continuing his series of imaginary correspondences, Ian Sansom finds he's in the gutter, looking at the stars again. As his dispatches to some of the world's great writers resume, Ian is increasingly shocked by their unexpectedly frank and direct answers... Dear Dante, Did you really meant all that stuff about people being thrown into boiling pitch and tar..? In his on-going epistolary quest, Ian attempts to find out everything we wanted to know but were too afraid to ask. Why did Mary Shelley start so young? How did William Trevor keep going for so long? And what exactly is the significance of Marianne Moore's tricorn hat? Ian Sansom drops a quick line to Dante. |
| 02 | Dear Mary | 20171128 | 20190430 (R3) | Dear Oscar Fingal O'Flaherty Wilde, Do you mind if I just call you Oscar? It's just you always seemed so approachable yet ultimately unknowable...a bit like the Queen. Continuing his series of imaginary correspondences, Ian Sansom finds he's in the gutter, looking at the stars again. As his dispatches to some of the world's great writers resume, Ian is increasingly shocked by their unexpectedly frank and direct answers... Dear Dante, Did you really meant all that stuff about people being thrown into boiling pitch and tar..? In his on-going epistolary quest, Ian attempts to find out everything we wanted to know but were too afraid to ask. Why did Mary Shelley start so young? How did William Trevor keep going for so long? And what exactly is the significance of Marianne Moore's tricorn hat? Ian Sansom writes to Frankenstein author, Mary Shelley, to ask her how on earth she coped? |
| 03 | Dear Oscar | 20171129 | 20190501 (R3) | Dear Oscar Fingal O'Flaherty Wilde, Do you mind if I just call you Oscar? It's just you always seemed so approachable yet ultimately unknowable...a bit like the Queen. Continuing his series of imaginary correspondences, Ian Sansom finds he's in the gutter, looking at the stars again. As his dispatches to some of the world's great writers resume, Ian is increasingly shocked by their unexpectedly frank and direct answers... Dear Dante, Did you really meant all that stuff about people being thrown into boiling pitch and tar..? In his on-going epistolary quest, Ian attempts to find out everything we wanted to know but were too afraid to ask. Why did Mary Shelley start so young? How did William Trevor keep going for so long? And what exactly is the significance of Marianne Moore's tricorn hat? Ian Sansom is in the gutter looking at the stars again as he writes to Oscar Wilde. |
| 04 | Dear Marianne | 20171130 | 20190502 (R3) | Dear Oscar Fingal O'Flaherty Wilde, Do you mind if I just call you Oscar? It's just you always seemed so approachable yet ultimately unknowable...a bit like the Queen. Continuing his series of imaginary correspondences, Ian Sansom finds he's in the gutter, looking at the stars again. As his dispatches to some of the world's great writers resume, Ian is increasingly shocked by their unexpectedly frank and direct answers... Dear Dante, Did you really meant all that stuff about people being thrown into boiling pitch and tar..? In his on-going epistolary quest, Ian attempts to find out everything we wanted to know but were too afraid to ask. Why did Mary Shelley start so young? How did William Trevor keep going for so long? And what exactly is the significance of Marianne Moore's tricorn hat? Ian Sansom writes to poet Marianne Moore to finally ask her about that tricorn hat |
| 05 LAST | Dear William | 20171201 | 20190503 (R3) | Dear Oscar Fingal O'Flaherty Wilde, Do you mind if I just call you Oscar? It's just you always seemed so approachable yet ultimately unknowable...a bit like the Queen. Continuing his series of imaginary correspondences, Ian Sansom finds he's in the gutter, looking at the stars again. As his dispatches to some of the world's great writers resume, Ian is increasingly shocked by their unexpectedly frank and direct answers... Dear Dante, Did you really meant all that stuff about people being thrown into boiling pitch and tar..? In his on-going epistolary quest, Ian attempts to find out everything we wanted to know but were too afraid to ask. Why did Mary Shelley start so young? How did William Trevor keep going for so long? And what exactly is the significance of Marianne Moore's tricorn hat? Ian Sansom writes to William Trevor to ask if every silver lining must have a cloud. |