This Sporting Life

As part of Radio 4's celebration of British New Wave film and cinema, Johnny Vegas directs a feature-length radio reversioning of This Sporting Life - marking the 50th anniversary of the classic Lindsay Anderson film which starred the young Richard Harris.

This new version is adapted by Andrew Lynch, directly from David Storey's novel. A surprisingly beautiful, yet repressed, northern drama, it contrasts the deep wants and needs of protagonist Arthur Machin with the stark aggression of the rugby pitch.

The sounds are rich - the rugby scrum, the atmosphere of the match, the changing rooms, the dancehall, struggles in the bedroom, arguments by the kitchen hearth.

James Purefoy plays Arthur Machin and Emily Watson is Mrs Hammond, accompanied on the touchline by an ensemble cast including John Thomson, Julia Davis, Sheridan Smith and Philip Jackson.

Commentary for the Rugby League game-play is provided by commentator Ray French, who witnessed some of the filming of the 1963 film with Richard Harris.

Dramatised from David Storey's original novel by Andrew Lynch

Producer: Sally Harrison
Director: Johnny Vegas

A Woolyback production for BBC Radio 4.