Rogue Herries

A BBC Radio adaptation of Hugh Walpole''s historical novel, set in the Lake District during the 18th Century

1730. Driven by a wild romantic impulse, Francis Herries uproots his family from Doncaster to the lakeland valley of Borrowdale. Accompanied by his housekeeper/mistress, Alice, they settle in his tumbledown ancestral home, Herries, in the shadow of the Cumberland fells.

Proud, stubborn and temperamental, Francis cuts himself off from his brother, spurns his long-suffering wife and becomes embroiled in drink and debauchery. When he sells Alice at Keswick Fair, his reputation is ruined, and the locals dub him ''Rogue'' Herries. His fate is sealed when he falls for the flame-haired Mirabelle Starr. They are both vagabonds, both outcasts - but she is thirty years his junior, and does not love him.

As Francis struggles with his feelings for Mirabelle, his son David and daughter Deborah have battles of their own to fight. Meanwhile, the Jacobite rising has begun, and Bonnie Prince Charlie''s rebel army is at the gates of Carlisle...

Described by John Buchan as ''the greatest English novel since Jude the Obscure'', Rogue Herries is a sweeping family saga full of romance and drama. This powerful adaptation stars Gavin Muir as Francis, Mark Bonnar as David, Jane Slavin as Alice, Deborah Berlin as Mirabelle and Jane Whittenshaw as Deborah, with a full cast including Stephen Thorne, Hugh Dickson and Gerard McDermott.

Written by Hugh Walpole
Dramatised by Eric Pringle
Technical presentation by Rosamund Mason, Colin Guthrie and Andy Garrett
Directed by David Blount

Cast
Francis - Gavin Muir
David - Mark Bonnar
Margaret - Janet Maw
Deborah - Jane Whittenshaw
Alice Press - Jane Slavin
Pomfret/Greenship - Stephen Thorne
Jannice - Shirley Dixon
Roche/Harcourt/Whitfield - Hugh Dickson
Statesman Peel/George Endicott/Harness - Gerard McDermott
Pedlar/Adam Beatty - Ioan Meredith
Benjamin/Anthony Thorne - Chris Pavlo
Young Deborah - Katie Clarke
Young David - George Maguire
Razeley - Joseph Head/Robert Harper
Prince - Robert Harper
Mirabelle - Deborah Berlin
Cumberlege - Gordon Reid
Mrs Cumberledge - Carolyn Jones
Hetty - Alison Pettitt
Sunwood/Bann/Reverend - Christopher Scott
Denburn - Keith Drinkel
Sarah - Becky Hindley
Mrs Henny - Linda Polan
Others parts played by Alex Lowe and members of the company

First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 20 April-11 May 1997

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