The Read

The Read

Creative performance readings of iconic British novels.

Seasons

The Lonely Londoners

1. The Lonely Londoners

Air Date: 2022-04-10

A creative performance reading of The Lonely Londoners that juxtaposes modern imagery and fascinating archive footage to reflect on how Sam Selvon's novel shaped the London of today.

On the Black Hill

2. On the Black Hill

Air Date: 2022-06-05

A performance reading of the abridged novel On the Black Hill, by Bruce Chatwin. Identical twin brothers grow up on a farm in rural Wales and never leave home.

The Day of the Sardine

3. The Day of the Sardine

Air Date: 2022-11-06

A creative performance reading of a powerful novel of disaffection that charts a young man's uneasy passage into adulthood.

A Vision of Loveliness

4. A Vision of Loveliness

Air Date: 2023-04-02

Performance reading of A Vision of Loveliness by Louise Levene. A darkly comic novel that reveals the seedy underbelly of London in the 1960s, rich with period detail.

A Kestrel for a Knave

1. A Kestrel for a Knave

Air Date: 2023-09-17

Christopher Eccleston narrates Barry Hines’s heartbreaking coming-of-age tale in this fresh take on a classic British novel.

Shakespeare Sonnets: A Modern Love Story

2. Shakespeare Sonnets: A Modern Love Story

Air Date: 2023-10-29

Some of the best-known love poems are weaved together to create a fresh contemporary story told by four lovers.

Frankenstein

3. Frankenstein

Air Date: 2024-03-03

Alex Kingston breathes life into Mary Shelley’s timeless gothic horror story. Young, gifted scientist Victor Frankenstein unwittingly creates a monster. Written more than 200 years ago, the classic masterpiece still resonates today as a tragic romance that examines the battle between ambition and morality.

The Remains of the Day: The Read with Steve Pemberton

4. The Remains of the Day: The Read with Steve Pemberton

Air Date: 2024-05-12

Heartbreak and longing are centre stage as BAFTA-winning actor Steve Pemberton narrates Kazuo Ishiguro’s contemporary classic.

1984

1. 1984

Air Date: 2024-11-17

A bleak dystopian future plays out before us as Royal Television Society award-winning actor Sacha Dhawan narrates George Orwell’s profoundly impactful and thought-provoking classic.

A Christmas Carol

2. A Christmas Carol

Air Date: 2024-12-22

Anne-Marie Duff performs an intimate reading of Charles Dickens’s timeless classic. Can the ghostly interventions salvage Scrooge’s soul?

Wuthering Heights

3. Wuthering Heights

Air Date: 2025-01-05

Emily Brontë’s timeless classic set against the haunting backdrop of the Yorkshire Moors and narrated by award-winning actor Vinette Robinson.

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde with Reece Shearsmith

4. Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde with Reece Shearsmith

Air Date: 2025-02-02

Who is the real monster? Robert Louis Stevenson’s defining gothic horror explores alter egos in this captivating narration that reimagines the 19th-century classic.

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Rating

0.0/10

Release Date

2022-04-10

Episodes

8 (3 seasons)

Status

Returning Series

Cast

Production Companies

Rural Studios