1. Summer

The Light Years tells the story of the extended Cazalet family.

Set in the lead up to the outbreak of the Second World War, it appears that the Cazalets have it all.

But we soon discover that infidelity, indiscretions, jealousies and misplaced loyalties lurk just beneath the surface.

In the hot summer of 1938, Home Place in the beautiful Sussex countryside is frantically being opened up and prepared for another Cazalet family holiday, as siblings Hugh, Edward, Rupert and Rachel - and their respective families - are reunited.

Rupert is trying not to think about whether he married the beautiful but rather petulant Zoe too soon after his first wife's death; Hugh and his wife Sybil each try to put the other first, not necessarily to their mutual advantage; Edward is mulling on how he might be able to get away from his wife, Villy, to spend time with his mistress and Rachel is trying to find a private place to read her letter in secret.

But the wider world is about to intrude on their lives forever and each is increasingly to wonder what their future may hold - for themselves and their children.

Written by Elizabeth Jane Howard

Dramatised in ten parts by Sarah Daniels

Narrator ...... Penelope Wilton
Rupert ...... Raymond Coulthard
Zoe ...... Zoe Tapper
Clary ...... Georgia Groome
Rachel ...... Naomi Frederick
The Duchy ...... Shirley Dixon
Sid ...... Helen Schlesinger

Producers & Directors: Sally Avens & Marion Nancarrow

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2012.