Blood, Sex and Money
A BBC Radio 4 Serialisation of Zola's Epic Saga
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Blood, Sex and Money
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By:
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Émile Zola
About this listen
Glenda Jackson stars in this award-winning BBC Radio series, inspired by literature's greatest ever whistleblower, Émile Zola, and his epic saga of the Rougon-Macquart family
First published between 1870 and 1893, Émile Zola’s 20-book cycle chronicling four generations of the Rougon-Macquarts was a shocking exposé of the decadence, degradation and moral decay of 19th-century France. It included some of his greatest novels, among them his masterpiece, Germinal.
These innovative, ambitious dramas, first broadcast on Radio 4 over 24 hours in 2015-16, is a radical reimagining of Zola’s classic series, introducing us to 104-year-old matriarch, Dide, imprisoned in an asylum in southern France. Trapped, but omniscient, she broods over her ‘family of wolves’. As a young woman, she gave birth to two dynasties that exemplified French society. One legitimate – rich, powerful, obsessive and corrupt. The other illegitimate – poor, vulnerable, weak and depraved.
In these three seasons, themed around blood, sex and money, we come to know the members of her extended family intimately – the good, the bad and the misguided. As we follow their highs and lows, we are taken deep into the heart of France’s ‘Second Empire’ and drawn into the tragic, farcical reign of Napoleon III as it marches forward towards a modern, industrialised society.
This groundbreaking series won Best Drama at the BBC Radio and Music Awards 2016 and Best Adaptation at the BBC Audio Drama Awards 2017, and boasts a star cast including Robert Lindsay, Julie Hesmondhalgh, Holliday Grainger, Samuel West, Anna Maxwell Martin, Paul McGann, Georgina Campbell, Jack Lowden and Alison Steadman.
Also included is a 30-minute bonus programme, The Life and Work of Émile Zola, in which Glenda Jackson travels to Paris to discover how Zola’s experience and the physical and cultural landscape in which he lived influenced his great novels.
Written by Émile Zola
Dramatised by Dan Rebellato, Oliver Emanuel, Martin Jameson and Lavinia Murray
Produced and directed by Pauline Harris, Polly Thomas, Kirsty Williams, Nadia Molinari and Gary Brown
Executive Producer: Melanie Harris
Series Producer: Susan Roberts
Sound designer: Eloise Whitmore
A Sparklab production for BBC Radio 4
©2019 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2019 BBC Studios Distribution LtdListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
"Unmissable." (Daily Telegraph)
What listeners say about Blood, Sex and Money
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- 007row
- 24-07-21
Outstanding!
An absolutely first class dramatisation of Emile Zola. A truly gripping tale from beginning to end. Superb!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- rj
- 30-12-20
Excellent
Incessantly miserable but listenable. Like a painful itch that you shouldn't scratch but must carry on scratching. Is it a BBC adaption? I can't remember, seems like it due to the quality of the delivery. Not dated. Great collection of stories.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Helen
- 20-07-21
Fantastic!!
This series was amazing I was hooked from the first story to the end. Would highly recommend. It's heartbreaking, emotional but also has it's lighter moments as well.
(I did download the Family Trees to help me follow who the characters were and how they were all interrelated. That was helpful as sometimes it was a little confusing. Good versions on the BBC website for the series)
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Lauri Sim
- 28-05-21
Amazing
An incredible production of Emile Zola’s epic Rougon-Macquart cycle. Glenda Jackson is a tor de force as matriarch DiDe and family member is outstandingly cast and played.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- lucy laidler
- 29-06-22
An epic saga!
I’ve read a few of Zola’s books in isolation and loved them. This BBC dramatisation of his series of 20 books chronicling the life of a 19th century French family exceeded my expectations. The performances are brilliant, the stories full of the drama, poverty, revenge, regret and tragedy typical of the time. Loved it!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Pamela
- 04-05-20
Glenda Jackson at her finest.
First, let me say that the performances in this are excellent and happily the listener is spared the usual trope of if it was written in French then everyone needs to play it with a cringey fake accent. Glenda Jackson takes the central role that carries all the way through the saga. And she flawlessly captures the part of the matriarch that sees the lives of the future generations. I don’t want to spoil any listening and therefore I’ll leave the description of the stories there. I feel it needs to be mentioned however that there are some dark tales here and is not a cozy listen. Once aware of that and the social commentary of the times that is harsh it is possible to enjoy a masterpiece.
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Magnus Macdonald
- 01-03-21
Fantastic
Wonderfull interpretation of my favourite series could have been twice as long. Thank God Glenda Jackson came back from the dark side (politics)
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 24-02-24
DRAMA PAR EXCELLENCE!
In my amplifer, literature rather than Spinal Tap, this goes up to 11. For starters the narrator is the older Glenda Jackson - consummate actress and bringing a coherence, emotionally grasping, to the whole series. Regional accents portrayed by the cast in Britspeak. A comprehensive exploration of social norms at the time, not in an economic or purely political way, but in an enthralling emotional story as were the original books. Rather than in movie version with CGI this 'Audible' allows the listeners imagination to fill in their own experiences/comparisons which is far more effective and less distracting.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Alice
- 03-04-20
Love this
Fantastic audio performance! Perfect for the lockdown!!! An excellent adaption of the classic books that I love!
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Janet Record
- 05-03-21
Epic Emile Zola story brought to life
This is a fantastic dramatisation of an epic family story. If you like Les Miserables then you will enjoy this story. The acting is fantastic and although the story has many chapters it kept me entertained all the way through. I had not read anything by Emile Zola before so cannot compare the dramatisation to a reading of the book but this is fantastic. I loved Glenda Jackson as the narrator Aunt Didi and in fact all of the cast were brilliant. There is plenty of tragic tales throughout which was sometimes hard to listen to because of the saddening cruelty of some of the characters but truly an epic tale of humanity.
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