Graham Greene: BBC Radio Drama Collection
from archive.org
Graham Greene was an English writer and journalist, regarded as one of the leading novelists of the 20th century.
Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a reputation early in his lifetime as a major writer, both of serious novels, and of thrillers (or "entertainments" as he termed them). He was shortlisted for the Nobel Prize in Literature several times. Across 67 years of writing, which included over 25 novels, he explored the conflicting moral and political issues of the modern world. He was awarded the 1968 Shakespeare Prize and the 1981 Jerusalem Prize.
Collected here are twelve full-cast BBC Radio dramatisations of Greene's novels:
A Burnt-Out Case
Querry, a celebrated architect of churches believes himself burnt out: unable to feel anything for his profession, his faith or even the suicide of his mistress. He journeys to a remote leper colony in Africa. There, he hopes to live in obscurity, unconcerned with the fate of others and to die, but it seems that he may have a second chance to find both happiness and redemption.
Querry ...... Ben Miles
Dr Colin ...... Danny Sapani
Rycker ...... Jonathan Aris
Marie ...... Kathryn Drysdale
The Superior ...... Neil McCaul
Father Thomas ...... Philip Bretherton
Father Joseph ...... Clive Hayward
Father Paul ...... Adam Fitzgerald
Deo Gratias ...... Tayla Kovacevic-Ebong
Madame Guelle ...... Sudha Bhuchar
Captain ...... David Reakes
Controller ...... David Reakes
Marie Morel ...... Isabella Inchbald
Parkinson ...... Stephen Critchlow
Narrator ...... Adjoa Andoh
W??tten by Graham Greene
Adapted by Nick Warburton
Directed by Sally Avens
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2017
The Comedians
Three men meet on a ship bound for Haiti, a country in the grip of the corrupt 'Papa Doc' and the Tontons Macoute, his sinister secret police. Brown the hotelier, Smith the innocent American and Jones the confidence man - these are the 'comedians' of Graham Greene's title. Hiding behind their actors' masks, they hesitate on the edge of life. And, to begin with, they are men afraid of love, afraid of pain and afraid of fear itself...
Mr Brown ..... George Baker
Magiot ...... Norman Beaton
Martha ...... Carol Boyd
Jones ...... Peter Jeffery
Mr Smith ...... Shane Rimmer
Mrs Smith ...... Pat Starr
W??tten by Graham Greene
Adapted by Geoffrey M Matthews
Directed by Martin Williamson
First broadcast on BBC World Service in July 1976
The Confidential Agent
When Edgar Dominguez is sent to England on a mission to arrange a supply of coal for the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War it seems a straightforward business negotiation; but no sooner does he set foot on English soil than he finds himself a hunted man, with seemingly no one he can trust and implicated in murder.
Edgar Domniguez ...... Alun Raglan
Rose Cullen ...... Flora Spencer-Longhurst
Spanish Diplomat ...... Stefano Braschi
Inspector Collis ...... Stephen Critchlow
Ronald Kaye ...... John Bowler
Jim Barton ...... Ian Conningham
Secretary ...... Natasha Cowley
Woman in Benditch ...... Karen Bartke
Bertie Forbes ...... Nick Murchie
Captain Currie ...... John Dougall
Freddy ...... Luke MacGregor
Policeman in Benditch ...... David Sterne
Policeman in London ...... Gavi Singh Chera
W??tten by Graham Greene
Adapted by Nick Perry
Directed by Sally Avens
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2016
The Honorary Consul
Isolated Dr Eduardo Plarr, son of a missing political prisoner, is lured into collaborating with a defrocked priest in a kidnap plot, only to find the lives of two people he doesn't care for, suddenly in his hands. Meanwhile Charles Fortnum, the elderly and drunken Honorary Consul in a one-horse town near the Paraguayan border, faces his own terrors, and the loss of the young prostitute he has fallen in love with.
Dr Eduardo Plarr ..... Geoffrey Streatfeild
Charley Fortnum ..... Matthew Marsh
Le?n Rivas ..... Stefano Braschi
Aquino ..... Martin Marquez
Clara ..... Beatriz Romilly
Dr Humphries ..... Ewan Bailey
Colonel Perez ..... Chris Pavlo
Gruber ..... Sean Baker
Father ..... Brian Protheroe
Teresa ..... Rebecca Hamilton
W??tten by Graham Greene
Adapted by Nick Warburton
Directed by Jonquil Panting
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2016
The Ministry Of Fear
A wartime thriller about identity, memory and truth. For Arthur Rowe the charity fete was a trip back to childhood, a welcome chance to escape the terror of the Blitz. Then he correctly guesses the weight of a cake and from that moment - he's a hunted man.
Rowe....Michael Feast
Willi....James Nickerson
Anna....Fiona Clarke
Mrs Bellairs....Anne Rye
Rennit....David Fleeshman
Mrs Willcox / Miss Pantil....Maggie Fox
Mrs Dermody / Mother....Sue Ryding
Poole / Fullove....Malcom Raeburn
Reverend Sinclair....Stuart Richman
W??tten by Grahame Greene
Adapted by Sean O'Brien
Directed by Gary Brown
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2006
Monsignor Quixote
Graham Greene's comic reworking of Cervantes' classic novel. In rural Spain a few years after the death of Franco, Father Quixote makes a friend of an Italian bishop, with unexpected consequences.
Father Quixote ...... Bernard Cribbins
Sancho ...... Philip Jackson
Teresa ...... Susan Jameson
The Italian Bishop ...... Sean Baker
W??tten by Grahame Greene
Adapted by Stephen Wyatt
Directed by Marc Beeby
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2006
Our Man in Havana
James Wormold is scraping a living in Havana as a vacuum cleaner salesman while looking after Milly, his teenage daughter. He is approached by British intelligence and offered money to spy for his country. Wormold accepts the offer - the trouble is he doesn't know the first thing about spying nor does he have any useful contacts or information. Loathe to give up his new source of income he hits upon the idea of creating intelligence and inventing fellow agents he has recruited. But when a news story reports that one of Wormold's fictitious sources has been killed in a suspicious car accident, the story takes a weird and dark turn. It seems the KGB has discovered that he's an M16 spy and they too believe his reports. Way out of his depth, Wormold is now on a desperate mission to save his other 'sources' whilst not being killed himself.
Wormold ..... Rory Kinnear
Hawthorne ..... Miles Jupp
Hasselbacher ..... Kenneth Collard
Milly ..... Kitty O'Sullivan
Chief ..... Michael Bertenshaw
Lopez ..... Martin Marquez
Beatrice ..... Emily Berrington
Miss Jenkinson ..... Jessica Turner
Ethel / Iris ..... Rhiannon Neads
Barman / Policeman 1 ..... Jot Davies
Joe / Policeman 2 ..... Josh Bryant-Jones
W??tten by Graham Greene
Adapted by Jeremy Front
Directed by Tracey Neale
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2024
The Potting Shed
With the exception of two, the Callifer family is gathered for the funeral of the family head. Then, unexpectedly, one of the missing two turns up, and the defence they have all maintained during the old man's lifetime begins to crumble as the long-guarded secret of what happened in the potting shed is threatened.
Mrs Mary Callifer ...... Sybil Thorndike
John, her eldest son ...... John Justin
Anne, John's daughter ...... Cbrys Salt
James Callifer, brother of John ...... Robert Harris
Sara, James's former wife ...... Jill Balcon
Fr William Callifer, uncle of John and James ...... Henry Stamper
Dr Frederick Baston ...... Ronald Herdman
Dr Kreuzer ...... Harold Kasket
Corner ...... Brian Hewlett
Mrs Potter ...... Marjorie Forsyth
Miss Connolly ...... Anna Burden
W??tten by Graham Greene
Adapted by Peggy Wells
Directed by John Powell
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1973
The Quiet American
Pyle is a brash young idealist sent out by Washington on a mysterious mission to Saigon, where the French Army struggles against the Vietminh guerrillas. As young Pyle's well-intentioned policies blunder into bloodshed, Fowler, a seasoned and cynical British reporter, finds it impossible to stand safely aside as an observer. But Fowler's motives for intervening are suspect, both to the police and himself, for Pyle has stolen Fowler's beautiful Vietnamese mistress.
Fowler ...... Ian Holm
Pyle, the quiet American ...... Adam Henderson
Phuong ...... Lucy Sheen
Deputy ...... Burt Kwouk
Commandant ...... Vincent Brimble
Helen ...... Marian Diamond
Vigot ...... Philippe Giraudeau
Dominguez ...... Sam Dastor
Heng ...... Burt Kwouk
Joe ...... Vincent Brimble
Miss Hei ...... Marcia King
Trouin ...... Simon Treves
Metisse ...... Tara Dominick
Patron ...... Nicholas Gilbrook
W??tten by Graham Greene
Adapted by Gregory Evans
Directed by David Benedictus
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 1991
The Return of A J Raffles
Raffles was a gentleman thief, invented by the early Edwardian author E W Hornung. Hornung killed off his creation by having him join the army and die fighting in the Boer War. In 1975 however, Graham Greene decided that Raffles had faked his own death and returned to England, to set out on one final crime with his friend Bunny. This is a BBC radio adaptation of that play.
A J Raffles ...... Jeremy Clyde
Bunny Manders ...... Michael Cochrane
Lord Alfred Douglas ...... David Timpson
The Prince of Wales ...... Edward de Souza
Inspector Mackenzie ...... Henry Stamper
The Marquis of Queensbury ...... David March
Captain von Blixen ...... Sean Baker
Alice ...... Alice Arnold
Mr Smith ...... Gordon Reid
The Maid ...... Melanie Hudson
W??tten by Graham Greene
Adapted and Directed by Gordon House
First broadcast on BBC World Service in January 1993
The Third Man
Rollo Martins is a writer of cheap paperback Westerns under the name of Buck Dexter. When his old friend Harry Lime invites him to Vienna, he jumps at the chance. With exactly five pounds in his pocket, he arrives only just in time to make it to his friend's funeral. The victim of an apparently banal street accident, the late Mr. Lime, it seems, had been the focus of a criminal investigation, suspected of nothing less than being "the worst racketeer who ever made a dirty living in this city." Martins is determined to clear his friend's name, and begins an investigation of his own...
Rollo Martins ...... Edward Bishop
Harry Lime ...... Ian Hendry
Colonel Calloway ...... John Bentley
Anna ...... Ann Lynn
Harry Lime's porter ...... William Fox
Sgt Paine ...... Henry Stamper
Tombs ...... Geoffrey Beevers
Carter ...... Leslie Heritage
Dr Winkelf ...... Henry Stamper
Kurtz ...... Denis McCarthy
Tyler ...... Peter Marinker
Hansl ...... Olwen Griffiths
Austrian woman ...... Olwen Griffiths
German hotel porter ...... John Samson
W??tten by Graham Greene
Adapted and Directed by Richard Wortley
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 1971
Travels with my Aunt
A retired bank manager, dahlia enthusiast and all-round dull and boring person Henry has his life turned upside down after meeting flamboyant Aunt Augusta at his mother's funeral. Fascinated by such an extraordinary lady he is roped into accompanying her to a variety of places, always first class and on the edge of criminal activity. Henry gradually opens his eyes to pleasures and scenes not previously known to him, and a morality far beyond his own narrow suburban experience.
Aunt Augusta ...... Dame Hilda Bracket
Henry Pulling ...... Charles Kay
Wordworth ...... Felix Dexter
Detective Sergeant Sparrow ...... Roger Sloman
Hatty ...... Liz Smith
Priest / Jonathan ...... Stephen Thorne
Attendant / Cabbie ...... Alex Lowe
W??tten by Graham Greene
Adapted by Rene Basilico
Directed by John Fawcett Wilson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 1997
- A Burnt Out Case part1 (52.4Mb)
- A Burnt Out Case part2 (52.4Mb)
- The Comedians part1 (26.7Mb)
- The Comedians part2 (24.9Mb)
- The Comedians part3 (26.7Mb)
- The Comedians part4 (26.6Mb)
- The Confidential Agent part1 (52.2Mb)
- The Confidential Agent part2 (52.3Mb)
- The Honorary Consul part1 (52.2Mb)
- The Honorary Consul part2 (52.2Mb)
- The Ministry of Fear part1 (52.2Mb)
- The Ministry of Fear part2 (52.4Mb)
- Monsignor Quixote part1 (63.2Mb)
- Monsignor Quixote part2 (64.3Mb)
- Our Man in Havana part1 (52.3Mb)
- Our Man in Havana part2 (52.3Mb)
- The Potting Shed (83.9Mb)
- The Quiet American part1 (52.4Mb)
- The Quiet American part2 (51.8Mb)
- The Quiet American part3 (51Mb)
- The Return of A J Raffles (52.8Mb)
- The Third Man (78.2Mb)
- Travels with My Aunt 1 (31.3Mb)
- Travels with My Aunt 2 (30.6Mb)
- Travels with My Aunt 3 (27.1Mb)
- Travels with My Aunt 4 (28.3Mb)
MP3 files hosted by archive.org.