Moonbeam and Mrs Pat

The most constant and adored companion in the life of the celebrated stage actress Mrs Patrick Campbell was her little dog Moonbeam.

With war declared in 1939, 'Mrs Pat' travels with Dorothy, the daughter of her former secretary, on a train journey to Spain.

Thus begins Dorothy's voyage of discovery as she learns of her marriages, love letters from George Bernard Shaw – and how she met her beloved Moonbeam.

Starring Imelda Staunton.

Peter Ling's wet-nosed drama.

Mrs Patrick Campbell... Imelda Staunton
Egypt... Sarah Badel
Madame Lescaux... Zulema Dene
Mrs Whittall... Jilly Bond
Dorothy Whittall... Oona Beeson
George Cornwallis West.... David Collings
Harrington Bayley...John Hartley
George Alexander..... Roger May

With:

Mark Montgomerie
Geoffrey Whitehead
Patience Tomlinson
Ross Livingstone
Andrew Branch
Stephen Critchlow
Joshua Towb

Peter Ling - with Hazel Adair - most famously created the long-running Midland-based ITV soap opera, Crossroads.

Mrs Patrick Campbell made a name for herself in a variety of diverse theatre roles: Mrs Darling in Peter Pan, Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion, Roxane in Cyrano de Bergerac and Raina in Arms And The Man. (Born Beatrice Stella Tanner - she died aged 74 in 1940)

Director: Enyd Williams

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1996.