Episode 1

When Edgar Dominguez is sent to England on a mission to arrange a supply of coal for the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War it seems a straightforward business negotiation; but no sooner does he set foot on English soil than he finds himself a hunted man, with seemingly no one he can trust and implicated in murder.

Graham Greene's masterful tale of suspense. was written at the same time as his masterpiece The Power and The Glory.

It was written in six weeks in 1938 as England stood on the brink of war, and the story is suffused with paranoia, distrust and urgency. He wrote it as an 'Entertainment' with the hope of getting a film made of the book and therefore providing much needed income for his family, in which he succeeded.

It's a tense thriller where the hero must avoid trap after trap that is set for him haunted by the memory of his dead wife and his own time in prison awaiting execution.

Dramatised in two parts by Nick Perry

Edgar Dominguez ..... Alun Raglan
Rose Cullen ..... Flora Spencer-Longhurst
Captain Currie ..... John Dougall
Victor Lazaro ..... Jot Davies
Ronald Kaye ..... John Bowler
Elsie ..... Kezia Joseph
Mrs Mendrill ..... Karen Bartke
Bertie Forbes ..... Nick Murchie
Spanish Diplomat ..... Stefano Braschi
Lord Benditch ..... David Sterne
Secretary ..... Natasha Cowley
Begging Man ..... Luke MacGregor

Director: Sally Avens

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2016.