BBC Radio 4 productions of JG Farrell's celebrated historical novels - plus bonus material

Acclaimed author JG Farrell came to fame with his Empire Trilogy, exploring the collapse of British colonialism and its repercussions in three different countries. The first book in the series, Troubles, won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize and the Lost Man Booker Prize, while the second, The Siege of Krishnapur, was awarded the Booker Prize for Fiction. Included here are three BBC Radio adaptations of the trilogy, plus an edition of Witness History exploring Farrell's tragic accidental death.

Troubles - 1919, and Major Brendan Archer travels to Kilnalough in Ireland to visit his accidental fiancée, Angela. Arriving at her father's once-grand hotel, the Majestic, he finds it a dilapidated wreck, overrun by vegetation and hordes of feral cats. And outside its walls, a violent storm is brewing - one that will sweep him, and the Majestic, away... Jim Norton reads Farrell's tragicomic novel set during Ireland's struggle for independence.

The Siege of Krishnapur - It is 1857 and British rule in India is under threat. At first the colonists are confident that their 'superior culture' will prevail, but when the Indian mutineers attack the Residency in Krishnapur, the Collector is unsure whether his defences can hold out... This thrilling adaptation of JG Farrell's masterpiece stars Alex Jennings, Shiv Grewal and Jasmine Hyde.

The Singapore Grip - 1937. Young Matthew Webb arrives in Singapore to join the family rubber business, and becomes embroiled in a love triangle with two beautiful women. But as the Japanese invasion grows closer, Matthew's comfortable expat world is about to crumble... Robert Glenister, Jonathan Cake and Samantha Spiro star in this gripping dramatisation of Farrell's satirical tale of the fall of Singapore.

Witness History: The Death of JG Farrell - The Booker Prize-winning author drowned off the south-west coast of Ireland in 1979, aged just 44. Vincent Dowd talks to those who knew him, and hears an eyewitness account of his death.

Text copyright © JG Farrell 1970 (Troubles), 1973 (The Siege of Krishnapur), 1978 (The Singapore Grip)

Cast and credits
Written by JG Farrell

Troubles
Read by Jim Norton
Abridged by Doreen Estall. Produced by Heather Larmour
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 8-19 November 2010

The Siege of Krishnapur
Hopkins, The Collector - Alex Jennings
Fluery - Ben Askew
Prince Hari - Shiv Grewal
Harry Dunstaple - Matt Addis
Louise Dunstaple - Jasmine Hyde
Dr Dunstaple - Malcolm Tierney
Mrs Dunstaple - Caroline Guthrie
Willoughby - Sam Dale
Miriam - Janice Acquah
Dr MacNab - Stephen Hogan
The Padre - Philip Fox
Cutter - Jonathan Tafler
Lieutenant Peterson - Paul Rider
Lucy Hughes - Lizzy Watts
Dramatised by Shelagh Stephenson. Directed by Eoin O'Callaghan
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 10-17 May 2009

The Singapore Grip
JG Farrell - Robert Glenister
Matthew - Jonathan Cake
Joan - Samantha Spiro
Monty/Mr Smith - David Thorpe
Vera - Su-Lin Looi
Major Archer - John Rowe
Walter - Timothy Bateson
Jim - Kenny Blyth
Air Marshall Brook-Popham - Terence Edmond
Brigadier - Karl Johnson
Governor - John East
Captain Sinclair - Alex Tender
Percival - Barry Foster
ADC - Thomas Arnold
Dramatised by Mike Walker. Directed by Peter Kavanagh. Music: Felix Jay
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 29 October-12 November 2000

Witness History: The Death of JG Farrell
Presented by Vincent Dowd
With Lavinia Greacen, Hilary Spurling, Jerry Daly, Pauline Foley
First broadcast BBC World Service, 17 October 2017

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