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The Leveret, a radio drama lost for over 40 years, has been rediscovered. Airing for the first time since 1980, the drama follows a County Down native who returns home, bringing his family from England to settle in the countryside, seemingly untouched by the Troubles. This supernatural tale plays on ancient folklore, where the family’s idyllic life takes a twist after the children find a leveret.

Dick Mills of the Â鶹Éç Radiophonic Workshop, famed for his Doctor Who creations, crafted the eerie soundscape.

Written by Â鶹Éç Northern Ireland journalist and presenter Larry McCoubrey, and originally broadcast on Â鶹Éç Radio 4, this recording was discovered by the Radio Circle, a group of radio enthusiasts and collectors who have found over 1,000 radio plays and returned them to the Â鶹Éç Archives.
Through the years, the Â鶹Éç used one-off commissions like this, to nurture and develop the best in new talent. Culture Café will reflect on Â鶹Éç’s role in shaping arts and drama locally and across the UK.
Joining Marie-Louise to discuss The Leveret and its impact, is writer Declan Lawn, co-creator of ‘Blue Lights’, the smash hit police drama in Belfast featuring a group of rookie recruits to the PSNI , playwright and producer Alice Malseed, whose latest radio drama ‘Mister Derek’ about a young woman reconnecting with an unlikely acquaintance is on Â鶹Éç Sounds, and Dr. Steve Arnold – founder, researcher, and broadcasting historian and digitisation consultant from the Radio Circle, the team who discovered the play.

The Leveret:
Written by Larry McCoubrey
Adapted for radio by Matthew Walters
Directed by Robert Cooper
Music: Dick Mills (Radiophonic Workshop)

Starring: Susan Sheridan, Bernadette Windsor, Sandra Clark, Sean Barrett, Elizabeth Begley, John Hewitt, P.G. Stephens, Ann Hasson, Denys Hawthorne, Desmond MacAleer, Gertrude Russell, Kevin Moore, Desmond MacAleer.