Episodes
| Episode | Title | First Broadcast | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Boyhood | 20160201 | In Virginia Woolf's boisterous adventure her hero, Orlando, embarks on a tumultuous journey spanning five centuries. Orlando, "the longest and most charming love letter in literature" was intended for and inspired by Vita Sackville-West and her noble roots. Along with the eponymous hero's adventuring through the ages, Woolf explores what it means to write and the all important question of gender - as relevant and resonant today as it was in the 1920s when she wrote this high spirited novel. Orlando, is a young nobleman in Tudor England when we first encounter him and he writes the first lines of his poem, The Oak Tree, a poem that he keeps about him as he travels through time. Swept along by his adventures we next find him as he falls in love for the first time with a beautiful Russian princess on the frozen Thames at the court of James I. A desire to write leads to a disastrous meeting with a much admired poet before, under Charles 1, he becomes the king's charismatic ambassador in Constantinople. A dramatic transformation takes place in this opulent city and Orlando continues his adventures as a woman. Returning to eighteenth century London, the life of the poet continues to call, but later the restrictions placed upon Orlando by the Victorian era are impossible to bear. Glimmers of new possibilities arrive with the twentieth century and the promise of fulfilment through love and writing. Reader: Amanda Hale Orlando is a young nobleman in Tudor England and writes the first lines of The Oak Tree. Readings from modern classics, new works by leading writers and world literature |
| 02 | The Muscovite Princess | 20160202 | Orlando falls for a beguiling Muscovite princess one frozen winter at the court of James I Readings from modern classics, new works by leading writers and world literature |
| 03 | A Lampooning | 20160203 | Orlando aspires to the life of a poet and extends an invitation to an admired writer. Readings from modern classics, new works by leading writers and world literature |
| 04 | An Admirer | 20160204 | Orlando turns his mind to his noble ancestry, and an archduchess demands his attention. Readings from modern classics, new works by leading writers and world literature |
| 05 | A Transformation | 20160205 | In opulent Constantinople, Orlando undergoes a miraculous transformation Orlando. Readings from modern classics, new works by leading writers and world literature |
| 06 | The Enamoured Lady | 20160208 | In Virginia Woolf's high spirited novel her eponymous heroine is preoccupied by the penalties and privileges of womanhood. First off all a sojourn in the mountains of Broussa leads to further reflections on love and nature. The reader is Amanda Hale. The eponymous heroine is preoccupied by the penalties and privileges of womanhood. Readings from modern classics, new works by leading writers and world literature |
| 07 | Society's Seductions | 20160209 | In 18th-century England, Orlando is seduced by London society and poetry. Readings from modern classics, new works by leading writers and world literature |
| 08 | Marmaduke Bonthrop Shelmerdine, Esquire | 20160210 | The oppressive 19th-century dawns, and an extraordinary encounter takes place on the moor. Readings from modern classics, new works by leading writers and world literature |
| 09 | The Most Influential Critic of the Victorian Age | 20160211 | Orlando arrives at an ending and a new beginning. Readings from modern classics, new works by leading writers and world literature |
| 10 | The Present | 20160212 | The present catches up with Orlando's extraordinarily lengthy past. Readings from modern classics, new works by leading writers and world literature |