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Conn Iggulden, Timberlake Wertenbaker and virtual reality on radio

Conn Iggulden on writing about St Dunstan, distinguished playwright Timberlake Wertenbaker on her new play Winter Hill, we assess virtual reality on radio.

Conn Iggulden is one of the most successful authors of historical fiction, writing about the Wars of the Roses, Genghis Khan and Julius Caesar; as well as his hugely popular manual Dangerous Book for Boys. He now turns to St Dunstan, who was Archbishop of Canterbury and lived through the reigns of seven kings in the tenth century. Conn talks to Samira about how Dunstan became a saint, and his legacy.

Royal drama The Crown was made by Netflix when they outbid the ´óÏó´«Ã½ for the rights. The £100m series was expected to pick up the top awards at the BAFTAs after it led the shortlist with five nominations. But on the night, it missed out entirely. TV writer Andrew Collins discusses what the fate of The Crown reveals about the BAFTAs.

Playwright Timberlake Wertenbaker has won many awards for her stage plays Our Country's Good, Three Birds Alighting on A Field, and most recently Jefferson's Garden; as well as praise for her radio adaptations of War and Peace and Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan quartet. Her new play, premiering at the Octagon Theatre in Bolton, looks at a group of women attempting to block the development of a big hotel on Winter Hill. Front Row spoke to Timberlake on the hill outside Bolton that inspired the drama.

Quake is Radio 4's experimental new drama set after a deadly earthquake. As well as the audio drama, there is a virtual reality video to accompany the first episode and graphic novel style animations for the remaining eleven. Quake is also non-linear so apart for the first and last, the episodes can be listened to in any order. Critic Pete Naughton reviews.

Presenter : Samira Ahmed
Producer : Dymphna Flynn.

Available now

30 minutes

Chapters

  • Baftas 2017

    Duration: 05:03

  • Conn Iggulden

    Duration: 08:25

  • Timberlake Wertenbaker

    Duration: 08:53

  • Quake

    Duration: 05:27

The Baftas 2017

The Baftas 2017

Claire Foy and Matt Smith in The Crown, available to watch on .

Image Credit: Robert Viglasky/ Netflix 

You can see the full list of 2017 Bafta winners .

Conn Iggulden

Conn Iggulden

Image credit: Emelie Asplund

Conn Iggulden’s new book, ‘Dunstan: One Man Will Change the Fate of England’ is out now.

Timberlake Wertenbaker

Timberlake Wertenbaker

Winter Hill is at the in Bolton until Saturday 3rd June.

Quake

Quake

Quake is available to download as a complete box-set from the now.

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Samira Ahmed
Interviewed Guest Conn Iggulden
Interviewed Guest Andrew Collins
Interviewed Guest Timberlake Wertenbaker
Interviewed Guest Pete Naughton
Producer Dymphna Flynn

Broadcast

  • Mon 15 May 2017 19:15

´óÏó´«Ã½ Arts Digital

The best of British culture live and on demand.

Inspire

Inspire

A season discovering where artists find inspiration and helping listeners get creative.

Podcast