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Fortunes of War
- A BBC Radio 4 Full Cast Dramatisation of the Complete Balkan Trilogy
- Narrated by: Joanna Lumley, Honeysuckle Weeks, James Fleet, Khalid Abdalla, Alex Wyndham, John Rowe, full cast
- Length: 5 hrs and 38 mins
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Fortunes of War
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Summary
A sweeping adaptation of Olivia Manning's classic war novels, starring Joanna Lumley and Honeysuckle Weeks.
1939, and naïve young newlywed Harriet Pringle arrives in Bucharest with her husband, Guy - just as Europe is about to rip itself apart. She believes she knows everything about the man she has married, but soon realises she knows nothing.
Guy is oblivious to her needs and desires, seeming only to care about his job as a university lecturer, his friends and the beautiful, voluptuous Sophie. Struggling to build a life in a strange city, in the face of imminent invasion, Harriet feels bereft - and increasingly isolated.
As the Nazis come ever closer, an act of treachery puts the couple in terrible danger, and with Romania in enemy hands, they are forced to leave the country. Fleeing to Athens and then Egypt, their marriage comes under increasing strain amidst the chaos and upheaval of war. With the future uncertain, can they find the strength and resilience to face it together?
Joanna Lumley stars as the older Harriet, looking back on events many years later, with Honeysuckle Weeks as her younger self. Among the stellar cast are Khalid Abdalla, Alex Wyndham and James Fleet.
Production credits:
Written by Olivia Manning
Dramatised by Lin Coghlan and Jonathan Holloway
Produced and directed by Marc Beeby and Colin Guthrie
Cast:
Old Harriet - Joanna Lumley
Harriet - Honeysuckle Weeks
Guy - Khalid Abdalla
Clarence - Alex Wyndham
Yakimov - James Fleet
Inchcape - John Rowe
Sophie/Edwina - Joannah Tincey
Galpin/Clifford/Newsreader - John Dougall
Bella/Mona - Carolyn Pickles
Drucker/Desmond - Peter Marinker
Sasha - Joseph Arkley
Nikko/Toby Lush/Peter - Simon Treves
Despina/Phillips - Laura Molyneux
Dr Hassolel/Mortimer - Katy Cavanagh
Manager/Jackman - Ben Onwukwe
Dobson - Sam Dale
Dubedat/Aidan/Cpt Hardy - Ben Crowe
Professor Pinkrose - Nigel Anthony
Charles Warden/Mr Buschman - Alex Lanipekun
Angela - Alison Pettit
Bill - Philip Jackson
Simon - Sam Pamphilon
Arnold/Young Arab - Lloyd Thomas
Dr Shafik/Helal - Bijan Daneshmand
Marion - Emily Wachter
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 27 January-2 March 2008
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Critic reviews
"A rare and many-layered pleasure." (Gillian Reynolds, The Telegraph)
What listeners say about Fortunes of War
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
- Amanda J England
- 13-10-23
Fantastic
Story telling at its best. Could listen to this again and again. Great performance by cast.
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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
- Banjoman
- 20-04-22
A most excellent listen.
Strained relationship between newlyweds at the beginning of the second world war in Romania, Greece, and Egypt - would be my single sentence description of this dramatisation. But it is so much more than that. I feel as though I shared their journey through these horrible and desperate times, the trials and tribulations of their own relationship, and of survival itself. Based on Olivia Manning's personal experiences during the war, with excellent performances from all of the cast, and beautiful narration by Joanna Lumley as the older and wiser Harriet/Olivia.
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6 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
- John Nigel Needs
- 22-07-22
Quality Radio Drama
Superbly narrated by Joanna Lumley, expertly acted by an excellent cast. This was a great adaptation.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- S. G. Key
- 10-08-24
excellent story by Olivia manning
spoilt by confusing action and the men all sound the same. Joanna Lumley is the only one I enjoyed... I prefer the BBC movie on YouTube for atmosphere and sense of place.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Christineb
- 25-04-22
Waste of money
Despite high profile narrators l still can't fathom the storyline It was few chapters of absolute rubbish Had l not recognised Honeysuckle distinctive voice l would have given up Joanna Lumley had a few lines Worst audiobook lve bought
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1 person found this helpful