Fame is the Spur - Howard Spring - BBC Drama

Category: Adults, Full Cast, Plays & Theater, Radio Productions
Language: EnglishKeywords: BBC Drama Radio
Written by Howard Spring - BBC Drama
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 128 Kbps
Dramatization
Set against the wider current of events in England in the early 19th century, this is a tale of ambition. A man who rises from the most humble of beginnings in Ancoats, Manchester to reach the very top in politics in the era when the Labour Party was born after a great struggle.
John Hamer Shawcross is a victim of his own success, and one of the great characters of English literature.
Ian McKellen stars as Shawcross - from his boyhood on the streets of Manchester to his pursuit of power and fame.
John Shawcross …… Ian McKellen
John Shawcross as a Boy …… Gary Carp
Tom Hannaway as a Youth …… Phillip Politt
Arnold Ryerson as a Youth …… David Riley
Grandfather …… Geoffrey Banks
Ellen …… Rosalie Williams
Ma Hannaway …… Elizabeth Hannaway
Charles Artingstall …… George Hagan
Ann Artingstall …… Susan Revill
Lillian Artingstall …… Elizabeth Kelly
Hawley …… Graham Tennant
Lizzie Lightowler …… Rosalie Crutchley
George Hagan …… Charles Artingstall
Polly Burnsall …… Romy Baskerville
Ian Flintoff …… Gordon Stansfield
Hilda …… Lesley Nicol
Arnold Ryerson …… Andrew Jackson
Pen Muff …… Vida Paterson
Richardson …… Randal Herley
Ezra Crompton …… Jimmy Bradock
Tom Hannaway …… Geoffrey Wheeler
Lord Lostwithiel of Hereward Castle …… Jeffrey Wickham
Lady Lettice Melland …… Helen Ryan
Howard Spring’s novel freely adapted for radio in eight episodes by Ken Whitmore
Directed by Trevor Hill
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1979
Set against the wider current of events in England in the early 19th century, this is a tale of ambition. A man who rises from the most humble of beginnings in Ancoats, Manchester to reach the very top in politics in the era when the Labour Party was born after a great struggle.

John Hamer Shawcross is a victim of his own success, and one of the great characters of English literature.

Ian McKellen stars as Shawcross - from his boyhood on the streets of Manchester to his pursuit of power and fame.

John Shawcross …… Ian McKellen
John Shawcross as a Boy …… Gary Carp
Tom Hannaway as a Youth …… Phillip Politt
Arnold Ryerson as a Youth …… David Riley
Grandfather …… Geoffrey Banks
Ellen …… Rosalie Williams
Ma Hannaway …… Elizabeth Hannaway
Charles Artingstall …… George Hagan
Ann Artingstall …… Susan Revill
Lillian Artingstall …… Elizabeth Kelly
Hawley …… Graham Tennant
Lizzie Lightowler …… Rosalie Crutchley
George Hagan …… Charles Artingstall
Polly Burnsall …… Romy Baskerville
Ian Flintoff …… Gordon Stansfield
Hilda …… Lesley Nicol
Arnold Ryerson …… Andrew Jackson
Pen Muff …… Vida Paterson
Richardson …… Randal Herley
Ezra Crompton …… Jimmy Bradock
Tom Hannaway …… Geoffrey Wheeler
Lord Lostwithiel of Hereward Castle …… Jeffrey Wickham
Lady Lettice Melland …… Helen Ryan

Howard Spring’s novel freely adapted for radio in eight episodes by Ken Whitmore
Directed by Trevor Hill
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1979