Orley Farm
Anthony Trollope, Tim Pigott-Smith, Samantha Bond, Martyn Wade (dramatisation), BBC Worldwide Ltd
Audiobook
(BBC Worldwide Ltd, Oct. 28, 2010)
A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation by Martyn Wade of Anthony Trollope’s classic novel. Orley Farm, described as a “[B]rilliantly choreographed legal thriller” (Mail on Sunday), centres on the pathos of the main character, Lady Mason. Youthful marriage choices, middle-aged marital crisis, love and loss revolve around the legal action and the complex portrayal of Lady Mason, who is both sympathetic and wily. The novel proposes a standard of morality higher than that embodied in the practice of an English court of law. With its concern for social issues and its extensive coverage of middle-class and landed life, Orley Farm is a novel that demands attention in the rich field of 19th century fiction. Trollope wrote in his autobiography that his friends considered this "the best I have written". With Tim Pigott-Smith as Anthony Trollope and Samantha Bond as Lady Mason, this production also stars Ronald Pickup, Dan Stevens, Amanda Root, Jonathan Christie, and Lydia Leonard. Directed by Tracey Neale.