Seventh Test

A ten-part dramatisation of the bestselling thriller by Slumdog Millionaire author Vikas Swarup

Sapna Sinha is a sales assistant in a TV showroom in New Delhi. As the sole breadwinner in the family, she works hard to support her widowed mother and younger sister Neha. Then billionaire Vinay Mohan Acharya walks into her life and offers to make her the CEO of his global empire. All she has to do is pass seven tests - rites of passage, designed to gauge her mettle as a leader.

It seems too good to be true, and Sapna is sceptical. But, in desperate need of money, she signs the contract that will subject her to the series of ''life tests''. She has no idea what they will be, or when they will come, but if she gets through them, her life will change forever.

And change it does - though not in a way she could ever have predicted. As the consequences of her Faustian pact become clear, it seems there is no escape. Only by revisiting her past can she make sense of her present: but nothing can prepare her for what she finds there...

Dramatised by award-winning authors Ayeesha Menon and John Dryden, this gripping, suspenseful drama with a twist in the tale stars Rasika Dugal as Sapna and Vijay Chrishna as Acharya.


Production credits
Dramatised by Ayeesha Menon and John Dryden from the novel The Accidental Apprentice by Vikas Swarup
Produced by Nadir Khan
Directed by John Dryden
Sound Design: Steve Bond
Editing Assistant: Varun Bangera
Script Editor: Mike Walker
Assistant Producer: Toral Shah
Music: Sacha Puttnam
A Goldhawk Production for BBC Radio 4

Cast
Sapna - Rasika Dugal
Acharya - Vijay Chrishna
Karan - Neil Bhoopalam
Nirmila Ben/Rosie - Radhika Mital
Sapna''s Mother - Shernaz Patel
Raja - Sumeet Vyas
Kuldeep Singh/Roaji - Rajit Kapur
Neha - Amrita Puri
Priya Capoor/Pushpa/Female Judge - Ayesha Raza
Badan Singh/Politician/Constable - Kenny Desai
Madan - Vivek Madan
Neelam - Prerna Chawla
Babli/Janet - Preetika Chawla
Rent Collector - Satchit Puranik
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 19-30 May 2014

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