Opening Lines
Opening Lines
The Last of the Mohicans - Episode 1
28 December 2025
14 minutes
Available for over a year
Published in 1826, the American writer James Fenimore Cooper’s novel The Last of the Mohicans is set during the French and Indian War, in 1750s North America. The story follows a group of British colonists trying to cross frontier land – and examines the complexity of the relationship that existed between the colonialists and the land they were - in essence stealing – the native American’s.
The book, which has been adapted widely for film and TV, mixes fiction with real historical events and has received both huge praise, as one of the foundation stones of American literature, and substantial criticism, for perpetrating a false narrative about the fate of indigenous American people.
In the first of two episodes, John Yorke asks how Cooper came to write The Last of the Mohicans, why was it successful and what we should we make of it today.
John Yorke has worked in television and radio for 30 years and shares his experience as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories that are being dramatised in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Drama series. As former Head of Channel Four Drama and Controller of BBC Drama Production he has worked on some of the most popular shows in Britain - from EastEnders to The Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless. As creator of the BBC Writers Academy, he's trained a generation of screenwriters - now with over 70 green lights and thousands of hours of television to their names. He is the author of Into the Woods, the bestselling book on narrative, and he writes, teaches and consults on all forms of narrative - including many podcasts for Radio 4.
Contributors:
Jordan Abel, Nisga’a writer and academic.
Richard Slotkin, American Cultural Historian.
Credits:
Readings by Eric Stroud
Excerpts from The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper, 1826.
Researcher: Henry Tydeman
Sound: Sean Kerwin
Producer: Jack Soper
Executive Producer: Caroline Raphael
Production Hub Coordinator: Dawn Williams
A Pier Production for BBC Radio 4 & BBC Sounds
