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Opening Lines

Producer and writer John Yorke unpacks the themes and impact behind the books, plays and stories that are being dramatised in Radio 4's weekend afternoon dramas.

Radio 4,116 episodes

Episodes

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The Last of the Mohicans - Episode Two
John Yorke on James Fenimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans.
04 Jan 2026,14 mins
The Last of the Mohicans - Episode 1
John Yorke looks The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper.
28 Dec 2025,14 mins
Joy in the Morning
Ian Sansom takes a look at Joy In the Morning by PG Wodehouse.
23 Dec 2025,14 mins
Sense and Sensibility - Episode Two
John Yorke explores the enduring appeal of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility.
21 Dec 2025,14 mins
Sense and Sensibility - Episode One
John Yorke explores Jane Austen’s influential novel, Sense and Sensibility.
20 Dec 2025,14 mins
Pride and Prejudice - Episode Two
John Yorke explores Jane Austen’s most popular novel, Pride and Prejudice.
14 Dec 2025,14 mins
Pride and Prejudice - Episode One
John Yorke explores Jane Austen’s most popular novel, Pride and Prejudice.
13 Dec 2025,14 mins
The Princess Bride
John Yorke takes a look at William Goldman’s metafictional fairytale.
30 Nov 2025,14 mins
The Wind in the Willows
John Yorke takes a look at The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame.
16 Nov 2025,14 mins
Northanger Abbey - Episode Two
John Yorke takes a look at Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen.
09 Nov 2025,14 mins
Northanger Abbey - Episode One
John Yorke looks at how Jane Austen became a writer.
02 Nov 2025,14 mins
The Castle of Otranto
John Yorke takes a look at The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole.
26 Oct 2025,14 mins
Star of the Sea
John Yorke explores Joseph O’Connor’s novel Star of the Sea, about the Irish Famine.
05 Oct 2025,14 mins
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian
John Yorke looks at the worldwide bestseller A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian.
28 Sep 2025,14 mins
The Cherry Orchard - Episode Two
John Yorke takes a look at Anton Chekhov’s final and most radical play.
14 Sep 2025,14 mins
The Cherry Orchard - Episode One
John Yorke takes a look at Anton Chekhov’s final and most radical play.
14 Sep 2025,14 mins
On the Origin of Species
John Yorke investigates Charles Darwin’s world-changing book On The Origin of Species.
31 Aug 2025,14 mins
Treasure Island
John Yorke looks at Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson.
24 Aug 2025,14 mins
Hiroshima
John Yorke looks at how Hiroshima, the book by John Hersey, changed journalism.
10 Aug 2025,14 mins
Death at La Fenice
John Yorke looks at Death at La Fenice, Donna Leon’s first Commissario Brunetti novel.
27 Jul 2025,14 mins
The Girls of Slender Means
John Yorke takes a look at The Girls of Slender Means by Muriel Spark.
29 Jun 2025,14 mins
Comet in Moominland
John Yorke takes a look at Tove Jansson's 1946 novel Comet in Moominland.
22 Jun 2025,14 mins
King Lear - Episode Two
John Yorke takes a look at King Lear, Shakespeare’s most brutal tragedy.
15 Jun 2025,14 mins
King Lear - Episode One
John Yorke takes a look at King Lear, Shakespeare’s most brutal tragedy.
08 Jun 2025,14 mins
Next Season
John Yorke looks at the theatre novel Next Season by Michael Blakemore.
25 May 2025,14 mins
Underfoot in Show Business
John Yorke looks at Underfoot in Show Business by US writer Helene Hanff.
18 May 2025,14 mins
Casino Royale
John Yorke looks at Casino Royale, the novel by Ian Fleming that introduced James Bond.
20 Apr 2025,14 mins
London Belongs to Me
Ian Sansom takes a look at Norman Collins’s novel London Belongs to Me.
06 Apr 2025,14 mins
Kramer Versus Kramer
John Yorke looks at Avery Corman’s 1977 bestselling novel Kramer Versus Kramer.
23 Mar 2025,14 mins
Brat Farrar
John Yorke investigates Josephine Tey’s classic story about an imposter, Brat Farrar.
09 Mar 2025,14 mins