The Thomas Hardy BBC Radio Drama Collection

Jan 8, 2026 3:41 AM

Author:Thomas Hardy,Full Cast,Toby Jones,Shaun Dooley,Adam Godley,Faye Marsay,Rebecca Humphries,David Calder,Emma Fielding,Olivia Poulet,Callum Scott Howells,Katy Sobey,Sacha Dhawan,Alex Tregear,Patrick Kennedy,Ruth Wilson

A definitive, fully-dramatised collection of the best-known works of Thomas Hardy

Renowned novelist and poet Thomas Hardy is best known for his fatalistic, often tragic novels set in the 'realistic dream-country' of Wessex, in south and south-west England. Drawing on his own life, he created some of the most memorable characters and stories in Victorian literature - many of which are included here.

In five dramas taken from Radio 4's 'Hardy's Women' season, we meet a few of Thomas Hardy's most compelling female protagonists. The Hand of Ethelberta centres around an infamous poet who's not the lady everyone thinks she is; while Two on a Tower is the star-crossed love story of Lady Viviette Constantine and handsome young astronomer Swithin St Cleeve. The Woodlanders tells Hardy's tale of ambition, money and missed chances from the perspective of its unsung heroine, Marty South; unhappy Tess Durbeyfield recounts her life story in Tess of the d'Urbervilles; and in Jude the Obscure, Sue Bridehead relates the tale of stonemason Jude and his dreams of being a scholar. Among the stars of these irresistible adaptations are Rebecca Humphries, Olivia Poulet, Callum Scott Howells, Katy Sobey, Sacha Dhawan, Faye Marsay, Kirsty Oswald and Robert Emms.

Also featured are dramatisations of three of Hardy's other masterpieces. Far from the Madding Crowd sees the beautiful, independent Bathsheba Everdene (Alex Tregear) pursued by three suitors: Gabriel Oak (Shaun Dooley), William Boldwood (Toby Jones) and Sergeant Troy (Patrick Kennedy). In The Return of the Native, Hardy's poignant tale of love and longing is brought to life by an ensemble cast including David Calder, Emma Fielding and Adam Godley. And in The Mayor of Casterbridge, starring John Lynch and Ruth Wilson, a man spends his life trying to atone for his terrible past - but however hard he tries to conceal it, it will not be buried.

Rounding off our collection we have a pair of classic short stories - 'The Withered Arm' and 'The Fiddler of the Reels', starring Victoria Hamilton, Susan Jameson, Janet Dale, Stephen Tomlin and Struan Rodger.

Contents

Far from the Madding Crowd

The Hand of Ethelberta

The Return of the Native

Two on a Tower

The Mayor of Casterbridge

The Woodlanders

Tess of the d'Urbervilles

Jude the Obscure

'The Withered Arm'

'The Fiddler of the Reels'

First published 1874 (Far from the Madding Crowd), 1876 (The Hand of Ethelberta), 1878 (The Return of the Native), 1882 (Two on a Tower), 1886 (The Mayor of Casterbridge), 1887 (The Woodlanders), 1888 ('The Withered Arm'), 1891-2 (Tess of the d'Urbervilles), 1893 ('The Fiddler of the Reels'), 1895 (Jude the Obscure)

Reviews

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—— Literary Review

A fascinating glimpse of the peculiar writerly life

—— Sunday Times *Books of the Year*

One of the most read authors around the world... You end this collection of beautiful essays vowing to never let life, or writing, get so complicated again.

—— Guardian, *Book of the Day*

A quirky, chatty collection of essays by the award-winning Japanese novelist... this charming collection opens up much of the Japanese master's thinking on a life of luck, hard work, and joy in his long vocation as a novelist.

—— Irish Independent

Intriguing glimpses inside the singular mind of Murakami

—— Sean O’Hagan , Observer

Some of [Murakami's] best books are non-fiction: Underground, about the Tokyo sarin gas attack, and this year's Novelist as a Vocation, a book of essays about his life, writing method and the wellsprings of his extravagant imagination.

—— Richard Lloyd Parry, Books of the Year , New Statesman

At any moment on our planet there are at most a few dozen novelists working with great power, for a broad audience, with the material of consciousness, which is what the novel is so uniquely good at handling, how it feels to be inside us, what it means, the devastations and beauties it brings. Murakami is one of them.

—— New York Times Book Review

It's safe to say there is no one like Murakami

—— Literary Review

A true original

—— The Times

A master storyteller

—— Sunday Times

Murakami is like a magician who explains what he's doing as he performs the trick and still makes you believe he has supernatural powers

—— New York Times Book Review

One of the most influential novelists of his generation.

—— Observer

Murakami is one of the best writers around

—— Time Out, on Norwegian Wood

'The world's most popular cult novelist'

—— Guardian

Murakami's... latest offering, Novelist As A Vocation... offers a rare glimpse into his thoughts on writing... There's something magnetic that draws you into the narrative, so by the time the last page is turned, you're invested more than you realised

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An instantly compelling and novel take on a fractured society, The Raptures is a captivating, clever book by a truly original writer

—— Sarah Gilmartin

A compelling page-turner rendered in exquisite prose

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Whip-smart and thoughtful with a dark vein of humour. Compulsively readable. I loved it

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An important novel . . . Jo Harkin does a masterful job . . . this mind-bending debut will certainly make you think

—— Book Reporter

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