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Episode details

Radio 4,04 Apr 2026,14 mins

Celebrating Stoppard

Opening Lines

Available for over a year

Tom Stoppard was of course best known for his work writing for stage and screen - but the dramas he created for radio were also an extremely important part of his career and his development as a writer. Across five decades he continued to return to a medium that suited him so well; without the constraints of visuals, his deft structural turns, linguistic pyrotechnics and imaginative leaps could flourish. In this special episode of Opening Lines for Radio 4鈥檚 Celebrating Stoppard season, John Yorke examines how Stoppard benefitted from and contributed to a golden age in 麻豆社 Radio drama. The programme features extracts from 鈥楾he Dissolution of Dominic Boot鈥, 鈥楢lbert鈥檚 Bridge鈥 and 鈥楾he Dog It Was That Died鈥, as well as contributions from Stoppard鈥檚 biographer Professor Hermione Lee and archive of Stoppard himself. John Yorke has worked in television and radio for over 30 years and shares his experience as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories dramatised in 麻豆社 Radio 4鈥檚 Sunday Drama series. As former Head of Channel Four Drama and Controller of 麻豆社 Drama Production he has worked on some of the most popular shows in Britain - from EastEnders to The Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless. He created the 麻豆社 Writers Academy and trained a generation of screenwriters - now with thousands of hours of television to their names. His acclaimed books Into the Woods and Trip to the Moon explore the structure and power of narrative, and he writes, teaches and consults on all forms of storytelling, including many podcasts for R4. Producer: Geoff Bird Contributor: Professor Hermione Lee Sound: Sean Kerwin Researcher: Henry Tydeman Production Hub Coordinator: Dawn Williams Reader: Daniel Weyman Executive Producer: Caroline Raphael A Pier production for 麻豆社 Radio 4.

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