Alistair McGowan on HE Bates
"His stories are about nature, kindness, love, about friendship, sensuality ..." Alistair McGowan on the writer HE Bates, author of the Darling Buds of May.
HE Bates is probably best known for the Darling Buds of May and Fair Stood the Wind for France, but Alistair McGowan is surprised that he is not known for his short stories, which he believes are the best ever written. "To me it's a minor literary tragedy that he is so little known and so little trumpeted."
Joining him in studio is HE Bates' granddaughter, Vicky Wicks; and from South Africa his son, Richard Bates who was executive producer of the wildly successful tv adaptations of the Darling Buds of May starring David Jason. The programme also includes Bates own voice plus an extract from Fair Stood the Wind for France, his second world war novel about a British plane that crash lands in German occupied France.
Produced in Bristol for 麻豆社 Studios by Miles Warde
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- Mon 13 Apr 2026 15:00麻豆社 Radio 4
- Tue 14 Apr 2026 21:30麻豆社 Radio 4
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Great Lives
Biographical series in which guests choose someone who has inspired their lives.
