PODCASTS/AUDIOBOOKS
People Who Knew Me
Adapted from a novel by Kim Hooper, this intriguing 10-part drama series stars Rosamund Pike as Emily Morris, a woman who used the chaos and upheaval of 9/11 to fake her own death. She has since been living happily in California as Connie Prynne. Then, 14 years later, a health scare – she is diagnosed with breast cancer – forces her to confront her past. She now has a 13-year-old daughter Claire and Emily/Connie must do the right thing in order to ensure her daughter will not be alone if she dies. It means she has to explain her secrets and lies and her ultimately selfish decisions, not to mention her ‘widowed’ husband – all the things she thought she had escaped when she left New York.
Drama on 3: The Women of Troy BBC Sounds , review by Yvette Huddleston
Linda Marshall Griffith’s contemporary re-imagining of Euripides’ powerful anti-war drama is a stark reminder that war is very much with us in the here and now. The great city of Troy is in ruins, the menfolk are all dead and the women are waiting to hear their fate at the hands of the Greek victors. Among the waiting women is Hecuba (Maxine Peake) whose sons all died in battle and whose daughters’ lives hang in the balance. The chorus of women is led by journalist Sappho (Christine Bottomley) while the other voices are of the women in the city who are recording and posting their witness accounts on social media, to let the world know what is happening to them.
The Ballad of Syd & Morgan BBC Sounds, review by Yvette Huddleston
Starring Simon Russell Beale as the author EM Forster and Tyger Drew-Honey as Syd Barrett, musician and founder of
Pink Floyd, this compelling drama sees the pair meeting in Forster’s rooms at King’s College, Cambridge University in 1968.
Their encounter, as imagined in the 2018 novel by Haydn Middleton, has been adapted by Roger James Elsgood and focuses on what the two men had in common. At that point Barrett had just left Pink Floyd and retreated from the public arena while Forster had not published a book for 40 years. The two men, separated by many decades (Barrett is 22 and Forster 89), discuss how early success and recognition actually had a negative impact on them in terms of their creative drive.
Her Spirit Various platforms, review by Yvette Huddleston
The sixth series of this health and wellbeing podcast hosted by former BBC Breakfast presenter Louise Minchin returns. This time, the series follows the stories of Donna and Amy as they embark on a 12-week health and fitness journey with Minchin. Both women have faced difficulties and challenges to their health over recent years and need some help and support in making a positive change in their lives to feel fitter, stronger and healthier. Over the course of 12 weeks, listeners will hear how Donna and Amy approach their regime, setting achievable goals, some of the high points and the low points and the transformative effect their programme of fitness training as on all areas of their lives. It’s all amounts to pretty inspirational stuff.