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