Aldous Huxley: BBC Radio Drama Collection
from archive.org
Aldous Leonard Huxley was an English writer and philosopher. He wrote nearly 50 books, both novels and non-fiction works, as well as wide-ranging essays, narratives, and poems. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature nine times, and was elected Companion of Literature by the Royal Society of Literature in 1962.
This collection includes BBC Radio dramatisations of some of Huxley's best known novels.
Brave New World
It's 2116, and Bernard Marx and Helmholtz Watson are token rebels in an irretrievably corrupted society where promiscuity is the norm, eugenics a respectable science, and morality turned upside down. There is no poverty, crime or sickness - but no creativity, art or culture either. Human beings are merely docile citizens: divided into castes, brainwashed and controlled by the state and dependent on the drug soma for superficial gratification.
Bernard .... Justin Salinger
Helmholtz .... Jonathan Coy
Lenina .... Pippa Bennett-Warner
The Director .... Anton Lesser
John .... Milton Lopes
Linda .... Karina Fernandez
Fanny .... Nicola Ferguson
Henry .... Sam Rix
The Warden .... James Lailey
Mustapha Mond .... Sean Baker
Girl .... Scarlett Brookes
Heliport Man .... Brian Protheroe
Written by Aldous Huxley
Dramatised by Jonathan Holloway
Directed by David Hunter
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2017
The Dwarves
Sir Hercules and his wife, Filomena, are dwarves who have turned their country estate into a haven for others like themselves. This world of peace and harmony exists for many years until it becomes threatened from a most unexpected quarter.
David Learner .... Hercules
Claire Faulconbridge .... Filomena
Garard Green .... the Narrator
Ronald Herdman .... Sir Henry
Hedli Niklaus .... Lady Sarah
Eric Stovell .... Ferdinando
Silas Gregory .... Ferdinando & Hercules as boys
Tony Turner .... Charles
Rob Swinton .... Simon
Alan Devereux .... Jenkins
Alex Jones .... Gregory
John Dixon .... Sebastian.
Based on Chapter 13 of Crome Yellow by Aldous Huxley
Dramatised by Peter Mackie
Directed by Philip Martin
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1986
Antic Hay
When inspiration leads Theo Gumbril to design pneumatic trousers to ease the discomfort of a sedentary life, he decides to give up teaching and seek his fortune in London. But his dreams seem to disappear as he gets caught up in the world of his self absorbed friends. A wicked satire on the glittering hedonism of the 1920s.
Theo .... James Cooney
Myra .... Emily Pithon
Coleman .... Jonathan Keeble
Lypiatt .... Simeon Truby
Shearwater .... Graeme Hawley
Emily .... Verity Henry
Written by Aldous Huxley
Dramatised by Mike Harris
Producer/Director Gary Brown
First broadcast on BBC Radio in December 2020
The Gioconda Smile
Henry feels anger and guilt as his first wife lies upstairs confined to her bed. He finds solace in his relationship with Janet Spence and their shared love of art. He also finds pleasure in an affair with Doris. Then, his wife Emily dies suddenly - but what, exactly, caused her heart failure?
Henry Hutton .... Peter Bowles
Janet Spence .... Judy Loe
Doctor Libbard .... Philip Latham
Nurse Braddock .... Eva Stuart
Doris Mead .... Emily Richard
General Spence/First Warder .... Nat Brenner
Clara .... Maryon Ellor
Second Warder .... John Samson
Written by Aldous Huxley
Dramatised by Cynthia Pughe
Directed by Alec Reid
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 1989
The Genius and the Goddess
Thirty years ago, ecstasy and torment took hold of John Rivers. He had an affair with the wife of his mentor, Henry Maartens - a pathbreaking physicist, winner of the Nobel Prize - bringing the couple to ruin. Now, on Christmas Eve while his small grandson sleeps upstairs, Rivers is moved to set the record straight about the great man and the radiant, elemental creature he married, who viewed the renowned genius through undazzled eyes.
Written by Aldous Huxley
Read by Julian Elfer
- Brave New World part1 (51.8Mb)
- Brave New World part2 (52.1Mb)
- The Dwarves (51.9Mb)
- Antic Hay (52Mb)
- The Gioconda Smile (80.6Mb)
- The Genius and the Goddess (172.6Mb)
MP3 files hosted by archive.org.