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1834 Time Travelling Teacher
1834 Time Travelling Teacher
Jan 17, 2026 2:12 AM

Author:Jim Poyser,Michael Begley,Joe Caffrey,Kenneth Alan Taylor,Mark Chatterton,James Nickerson,Julia Rounthwaite,Glenn Cunningham,Toby Hadoke,John Craig,Caroline Harding,Full Cast

1834 Time Travelling Teacher

Jim Poyser's BBC radio riotous six-part comedy of time travel and delight

Jason Slater is a very average twenty-first-century English teacher from Cheadle Hulme, but somehow wakes up after a few drinks in nineteenth-century Macclesfield. Apparently, he's now Tarquin, third son of Lord Belport, with a faithful valet, a suspicious brother, a spurned ex-girlfriend (who's now going out with his brother) - and no obvious way he'll ever get back home again.

From toasted sandwich makers and the perfect beer, to root canals and royal visits, can Jason - Tarquin, that is - change the course of history and make 1834 his playground? Or will all his modern sentiments and inventions cause total disaster for the rest of time - or at least the rest of his life)? A fun comedy of historical proportions, 1834: Time Travelling Teacher is created by the writer of Stockport: So Good They Named It Once and The Architects.

Cast

Jason Slater: Michael Begley

Ned: Joe Caffery

Hoskins: Kenneth Alan Taylor

Lord Belfort: Mark Chatterton

Henry: James Nickerson

Luddite/Highwayman: Toby Hadoke

Millicent: Julia Rounthwaite

Stubbs: Glenn Cunningham

Duke of Cranmere: John Craig

Queen Victoria: Caroline Harding

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on the following dates:

11 June - 16 July 2003

Production credits

Written by Jim Poyser

Directed by Polly Thomas

©2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Reviews

Signal Fires is a great novel, but it's also something rarer: a good novel, one that shines with deep truths about what it is to love someone, lose them, and live on

—— Alex Preston , Financial Times

A stunning future classic

—— LISA TADDEO

Tender and philosophical

—— Observer

Gripping

—— People Magazine

Lyrically examines the ways a single event can alter many lives for ever . . . wonderful

—— Joanne Finney , Good Housekeeping BOOK OF THE MONTH

Shapiro weaves a compulsive, tender narrative that flits between viewpoints and time frames in its quest for connectivity

—— Mail on Sunday

A wonderful novel, full of insight and compassion

—— MARY LAWSON

Haunting, moving, and propulsive

—— MEG WOLITZER

Beautifully written, Dani Shapiro explores time, memory and our human interconnectedness to create a moving portrayal of the ripple effect one event and one person's actions can have on many lives

—— Woman's Weekly

Beautiful... a family saga, but a book about destiny too, the unavoidable push and pull of choice and chance

—— Francesca Steele , i News

Lyrical and propulsive . . . hard to put down

—— Oprah Daily

Masterful and poignant

—— Today Show US

Wise, deeply perceptive, suffused with light

—— CLAIRE MESSUD

Signal Fires is an urgent and compassionate meditation on memory, time, and space. In Shapiro's elegant convergence of narrative threads, she creates a world that's as wrenching as it is wondrous

—— RUTH OZEKI

A subtle, compelling and expansive book about family, love and the devastating power of secrets. I love the way Shapiro writes relationships, the ambition of having so many concurrent narratives and the deft way she draws her characters.

—— NELL FRIZZELL

Beautifully composed

—— New York Journal of Books

Shapiro's characters' interweaving stories grapple with the ways that guilt festers when it's not dealt with - and, ultimately, the unexpected paths that can lead to healing and redemption

—— Time

A powerful work that delves into the consequences of a long-hidden lie . . . Shapiro's novel offers the comfort of a view from the stars

—— Washington Post

Gripping from the start... beautifully written, Shapiro explores time, memory and our human interconnectedness to create a tender, moving portrayal of the ripple effect one event and on person's actions can have on many lives

—— Woman & Home *Book of the Month*

The queen of family secrets

—— BookPage

What a treat. I don't know of anyone who writes about family with the same generous understanding

—— Gary Shteyngart

Gripping, unexpected and beautiful

—— Jamie Lee Curtis

Wears its philosophical intentions on its sleeve; well-developed characters and their interesting careers seal the deal.

—— Kirkus

The wisdom and beauty in these seamlessly-braided narratives form a singular emotional experience for the reader that is both immediate and everlasting.

—— Simon Van Booy

A beautiful exploration of the connections between two families and the reverberations from a teenager's lie...Shapiro imagines in luminous prose how each of the characters' lives might have gone if things had turned out differently...an intriguing meditation

—— Publishers Weekly

Shapiro writes with compassion and a deep understanding of the damage that secrets wreak

—— Library Journal

Shapiro returns...with a beautiful exploration of the connections between two families and the reverberations from a teenager's lie... Shapiro imagines in luminous prose how each of the characters' lives might have gone if things had turned out differently. It's an intriguing meditation.

—— Publishers Weekly

Shapiro delivers keen perceptions about family dynamics via fictional characters that exude a rare combination of substance and delicacy. Stunning in depth and breadth, this luminous examination of loss and acceptance, furtiveness and reliability, abandonment and friendship ultimately blazes with profound revelations

—— Booklist

Gorgeous

—— BookPage

Lyrical and sharp

—— i

Signal Fires is an exquisite portrait of two families, and a testament to the human capacity to experience love and loss. With wry tenderness it shows how we are all connected through time in ways that are at once beautiful, mysterious, profound and full of hope.

—— Mummy Pages
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