Description
A BBC Radio collection of dramatisations of E Nesbits finest childrens books with extra magical readings plus an original drama by Martin Jameson
E Nesbit is widely regarded as the first modern childrens writer Her groundbreaking novels have influenced authors from Oscar Wilde to Jacqueline Wilson and over 100 years after their first publication they remain perennially popular
This wideranging collection comprises some of her very best childrens fiction commencing with her timeless tale The Railway Children Starring Victoria Carling Daniel Eyssen and Kate McEnery Frances Jeater this enchanting dramatisation tells the story of three suburban children forced to move to the countryside after their father is mysteriously taken away
Martin Jamesons sequel Roberta Peter and Phyllis revisits them 13 years later in 1919 to reveal how their lives have changed Fiona Clarke James Alper and Emma HughesJones star as the titular siblings
Also included is Nesbits classic Psammead trilogy In Five Children and It Five children are granted a series of wishes by a sand fairy but inevitably things do not go to plan
Cast includes Julia McKenzie Simon Carter James Richard Justyn Towler
Patricia Hodge reads the second book in the series The Phoenix and the Carpet in which the discovery of a mysterious egg in an old carpet heralds the start of a magical adventure And in The Story of the Amulet a fullcast dramatisation the children voyage through history on a quest for an ancient lucky charm Featuring the same cast as Five Children and It
Penelope Keith stars as E Nesbit in The House of Arden a timetravelling fantasy tale about the hunt for a lost family treasure Other cast includes Timothy Spall and Kelly Bright
Prunella Scales reads five stories from Nesbits delightful compendium The Book of Dragons Last of the Dragons Kind Little Edmond The Deliverers of their Country The Book of Beasts and The Dragon Tamers Concluding this anthology are two fantastic feline fables from Cat Tales cowritten by Nesbit and her adopted daughter Rosamund E Bland The White Cat read by Jenny Agutter and Too Clever by Half read by Helen Clapp
Cast and credits
Written by E Nesbit
Cat Tales written by E Nesbit and Rosamund E Bland
Roberta Peter and Phyllis written by Martin Jameson
First published 1901 The Book of Dragons 1902 Five Children and It 1904 The Phoenix and the Carpet Cat Tales 1906 The Story of the Amulet The Railway Children 1908 The House of Arden
The Railway Children
Dramatised by Marcy Kahan Produced by John Taylor
First broadcast BBC Radio 5 324 January 1991
Roberta Peter and Phyllis
Produced and directed by Gary Brown
First broadcast BBC Radio 4 4 January 2005
Five Children and It
Dramatised by Malcolm McKee Directed by Rosemary Watts
First broadcast BBC Radio 4 31 August 1998
The Phoenix and the Carpet
Abridged by Penny Leicester Produced by Marion Nancarrow
First broadcast BBC Radio 4 28 March1 April 1994
The Story of the Amulet
Dramatised by Malcolm McKee Directed by Rosemary Watts
First broadcast BBC Radio 4 30 August 1999
The House of Arden
Dramatised by Chris Curry Produced by Mary Kalemkarian
First broadcast BBC Radio 4 23 April25 June 1989
The Book of Dragons
First broadcast BBC Radio 5 711 December 1992
Cat Tales
The White Cat
First broadcast BBC Radio 3 3 January 2000
Too Clever by Half
First broadcast BBC Sounds 23 July 2019
2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd P 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.