Opening Lines Podcast
Producer and writer John Yorke has worked in television and radio for 30 years, and he shares his experience with Radio 4 listeners as he unpacks the themes and impact behind the books, plays and stories that are being dramatised in Radio 4's weekend afternoon dramas.
Episodes to download
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The Last of the Mohicans - Episode Two
Last Sunday
John Yorke on James Fenimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans.
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The Last of the Mohicans - Episode 1
Sun 28 Dec 2025
John Yorke looks The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper.
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Sense and Sensibility - Episode Two
Sun 21 Dec 2025
John Yorke explores the enduring appeal of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility.
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Sense and Sensibility - Episode One
Sat 20 Dec 2025
John Yorke explores Jane Austen’s influential novel, Sense and Sensibility.
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Pride and Prejudice - Episode Two
Sun 14 Dec 2025
John Yorke explores Jane Austen’s most popular novel, Pride and Prejudice.
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Pride and Prejudice - Episode One
Sat 13 Dec 2025
John Yorke explores Jane Austen’s most popular novel, Pride and Prejudice.
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The Princess Bride
Sun 30 Nov 2025
John Yorke takes a look at William Goldman’s metafictional fairytale.
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The Wind in the Willows
Sun 16 Nov 2025
John Yorke takes a look at The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame.
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Northanger Abbey - Episode Two
Sun 9 Nov 2025
John Yorke takes a look at Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen.
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The Castle of Otranto
Sun 26 Oct 2025
John Yorke takes a look at The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole.
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Star of the Sea
Sun 5 Oct 2025
John Yorke explores Joseph O’Connor’s novel Star of the Sea, about the Irish Famine.
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A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian
Sun 28 Sep 2025
John Yorke looks at the worldwide bestseller A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian.
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The Cherry Orchard - Episode Two
Sun 14 Sep 2025
John Yorke takes a look at Anton Chekhov’s final and most radical play.
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The Cherry Orchard - Episode One
Sun 14 Sep 2025
John Yorke takes a look at Anton Chekhov’s final and most radical play.
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On the Origin of Species
Sun 31 Aug 2025
John Yorke investigates Charles Darwin’s world-changing book On The Origin of Species.
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Hiroshima
Sun 10 Aug 2025
John Yorke looks at how Hiroshima, the book by John Hersey, changed journalism.
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Death at La Fenice
Sun 27 Jul 2025
John Yorke looks at Death at La Fenice, Donna Leon’s first Commissario Brunetti novel.
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The Girls of Slender Means
Sun 29 Jun 2025
John Yorke takes a look at The Girls of Slender Means by Muriel Spark.
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Comet in Moominland
Sun 22 Jun 2025
John Yorke takes a look at Tove Jansson's 1946 novel Comet in Moominland.
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King Lear - Episode Two
Sun 15 Jun 2025
John Yorke takes a look at King Lear, Shakespeare’s most brutal tragedy.
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King Lear - Episode One
Sun 8 Jun 2025
John Yorke takes a look at King Lear, Shakespeare’s most brutal tragedy.
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Underfoot in Show Business
Sun 18 May 2025
John Yorke looks at Underfoot in Show Business by US writer Helene Hanff.
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Casino Royale
Sun 20 Apr 2025
John Yorke looks at Casino Royale, the novel by Ian Fleming that introduced James Bond.
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London Belongs to Me
Sun 6 Apr 2025
Ian Sansom takes a look at Norman Collins’s novel London Belongs to Me.
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Kramer Versus Kramer
Sun 23 Mar 2025
John Yorke looks at Avery Corman’s 1977 bestselling novel Kramer Versus Kramer.
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Brat Farrar
Sun 9 Mar 2025
John Yorke investigates Josephine Tey’s classic story about an imposter, Brat Farrar.
