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4. The Dark Side

Poet Lemn Sissay examines where he let himself do the wrong thing, and how he'd attempted to make amends. From 2016.

Batman was an orphan; Lisbeth Salander, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, was an orphan; Superman was an orphan and a foundling. Cinderella was a foster child. Darth Vader - well, they can't all be winners.

Taking a comic and poetic angle, Lemn Sissay compares reality against the treatment of children raised in care, orphans and foster children in popular culture. Because it surely says something about how we view them that we create so many for fiction?

No-one, really, believes they are doing evil.

Anakin Skywalker did not become Darth Vader because he liked being bad, he did it because he believed his pregnant wife was in danger - and so began his journey to the Dark Side.

In this final, and possibly toughest, episode, Lemn examines his bad choices; where he let himself do the wrong thing - and how he has attempted to make amends.

When must you let go of your memories and live?

Written and performed by Lemn Sissay.

Producer: Ed Morrish

First broadcast on 大象传媒 Radio 4 in October 2016.

Available now

30 minutes

On radio

Saturday 23:00

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Broadcasts

  • Mon 24 Oct 2016 11:30
  • Thu 2 Nov 2017 18:30
  • Thu 9 Nov 2017 07:30
  • Thu 9 Nov 2017 17:30
  • Thu 9 Nov 2017 22:00
  • Fri 10 Nov 2017 05:30
  • Wed 27 Nov 2019 22:30
  • Thu 15 Jul 2021 07:00
  • Thu 15 Jul 2021 17:00
  • Fri 16 Jul 2021 05:00
  • Sun 23 Apr 2023 23:30
  • Saturday 23:00