Olivia Manning – författare

A sweeping adaptation of Olivia Manning''s classic war novels, starring Joanna Lumley and Honeysuckle Weeks''A rare and many-layered pleasure'' Gillian Reynolds, The Telegraph1939, and naive young newlywed Harriet Pringle arrives in Bucharest with her husband, Guy - just as Europe is about to rip itself apart. She believes she knows everything about the man she has married, but soon realises she knows nothing.Guy is oblivious to her needs and desires, seeming only to care about his job as a university lecturer, his friends, and the beautiful, voluptuous Sophie. Struggling to build a life in a strange city, in the face of imminent invasion, Harriet feels bereft - and increasingly isolated.As the Nazis come ever closer, an act of treachery puts the couple in terrible danger, and with Romania in enemy hands, they are forced to leave the country. Fleeing to Athens, and then Egypt, their marriage comes under increasing strain amidst the chaos and upheaval of war. With the future uncertain, can they find the strength and resilience to face it together?Joanna Lumley stars as the older Harriet, looking back on events many years later, with Honeysuckle Weeks as her younger self. Among the stellar cast are Khalid Abdalla, Alex Wyndham and James Fleet.Production creditsWritten by Olivia ManningDramatised by Lin Coghlan and Jonathan HollowayProduced and directed by Marc Beeby and Colin GuthrieCastOld Harriet - Joanna LumleyHarriet - Honeysuckle WeeksGuy - Khalid AbdallaClarence - Alex WyndhamYakimov - James FleetInchcape - John RoweSophie/Edwina - Joannah TinceyGalpin/Clifford/Newsreader - John DougallBella/Mona - Carolyn PicklesDrucker/Desmond - Peter MarinkerSasha - Joseph ArkleyNikko/Toby Lush/Peter - Simon TrevesDespina/Phillips - Laura MolyneuxDr Hassolel/Mortimer - Katy CavanaghManager/Jackman - Ben OnwukweDobson - Sam DaleDubedat/Aidan/Cpt Hardy - Ben CroweProfessor Pinkrose - Nigel AnthonyCharles Warden/Mr Buschman - Alex LanipekunAngela - Alison PettittBill - Philip JacksonSimon - Sam PamphilonArnold/Young Arab - Lloyd ThomasDr Shafik/Helal - Bijan DaneshmandMarion - Emily WachterFirst broadcast BBC Radio 4, 27 January-2 March 2008©2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

''Fantastically tart and readable'' Sarah Waters''An important 20th-century writer who paints a complex relationship between gender and power with wit and sensitivity'' Lauren Elkin''These books are clearly among the very best fiction about the Second World War'' The Sunday Times''One of the most gifted English writers of her generation'' New York TimesAs Rommel advances in wartorn Egypt, the lives of the civilian population come under threat. One such couple are Guy and Harriet Pringle, who have escaped the war in Europe only to find the conflict once more on their doorstep, providing a volatile backdrop to their own personal battles.The civilian world meets the military through the figure of Simon Boulderstone, a young army officer who will witness the tragedy and tension of war on the frontier at first hand.An outstanding author of wartime fiction, Olivia Manning brilliantly evokes here the world of Egypt and the Levant - Syria, Lebanon and Palestine - with perception and subtlety, humour and humanity