Charles Dickens: A Brain on Fire! 🔥

Dominic is joined today by the inimitable Professor Ian Haywood, of the Centre for Inclusive Humanities at the University of Roehampton.
Together they delve into the astonishing 'Riots of Eighty' that gripped London for a week and were brought thrillingly to life in Dickens' Barnaby Rudge ...

Ian is a specialist in the radical politics and visual culture of the period of 1750-1850, and has published extensively on that period in books such as Bloody Romanticism: Spectacular Violence and The Politics of Representation and Queen Caroline and the Power of Caricature in Georgian England (for Palgrave); and appropriately for today The Gordon Riots: Politics, Culture and Insurrection in Late Eighteenth-Century Britain (for Cambridge University Press) …

Reading the following excerpts in this episode is wonderful actress Hollie Hales:

1, 2 & 16. Barnaby Rudge (C. 68 Dickens)
3. Sketches of Popular Tumults (Craik)
4, 5, 6, 11 & 13.  The Scots Magazine (June 1780)
7 & 10. Narrative of the late Riots and Disturbances ... (Holcroft)
8. The Riot Act
9. Kentish Gazette (June 1780)
11. (Source to be inserted!)
12. King's Proclamation
14. Northampton Mercury (July 1780)
15. Oxford Journal (August 1780)

The sound of crowds, gunshots & horses in this episode were used with permission from Epidemic Sound

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If you like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrard

Host: Dominic Gerrard
Series Artwork: Léna Gibert
Original Music: Dominic Gerrard

Thank you for listening!

Dominic is joined again by the inimitable Dr. Pete Orford for Part II of his examination of The Mystery of Edwin Drood ...

Pete’s book Edwin Drood: Charles Dickens’ Unfinished Novel And Our Endless Attempts To End It … (Pen & Sword books) is our guide throughout. It is a hugely entertaining read where scholarly citations and tomfoolery combine with vibrant illustrations by Alys Jones … there is a link purchase this in the description.

And reading extracts today, it is an honour to welcome the fantastic actors Joseph Chance and Dan Wheeler together they are part of a quartet known as The Apocalypse Players: an award-winning podcast where role-playing and improvisation combine to create immersive stories for eager listeners each week.

Dominic also asks  AI to try and write an ending to Edwin Drood with some truly hilarious results!

Support the show

If you like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrard

Host: Dominic Gerrard
Series Artwork: Léna Gibert
Original Music: Dominic Gerrard

Thank you for listening!

This Friday 17th May listeners can join an online symposium Charles Dickens: Beyond Realism ...  hosted by the Centre For Nineteenth Century Studies & Dr. Céleste Callen

The link to register is here:
https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=i9hQcmhLKUW-RNWaLYpvlGP-wSu2R1JFpVjsNyCAKKVURjI2MkFVUDRGNDBBODBEVEQ4RzNUV1RaOS4u

Chair and Guest Speakers include:
Kirsten Mills
Emily Vincent
John Bowen
Jonathan Wild
Céleste Callen
Lara Virrey
Chris Louttit
Amy Coles
Claire Wood
Amy Waterson
Andrew Smith
Madeline Potter

There will also be opportunities for an online Q&A after each talk!

Support the Show.

If you like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrard

Host: Dominic Gerrard
Series Artwork: Léna Gibert
Original Music: Dominic Gerrard

Thank you for listening!

Dominic is joined by the inimitable Emily Howes, author of The Painters Daughters, who is currently writing her second book, Mrs Dickens,  all about the life of Catherine Hogarth and her marriage to Charles Dickens … 

Emily is an alumna of Cambridge University, where she was a member of the famous Footlights. After gaining a First in English, she studied Lecoq at the London School of Performing Arts. She then went on to create work for theatre, radio and television. Highlights including two series of her show The Ladies BBC Radio 4, and performing in Tim Minchin’s Rocking On for BBC Radio 2. Emily is also a recipient of the Hans Cohn Scholarship for the study of existential pyscotherapy …

Support the show

If you like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrard

Host: Dominic Gerrard
Series Artwork: Léna Gibert
Original Music: Dominic Gerrard

Thank you for listening!

Dominic meets Ben Power backstage at London’s National Theatre who takes a break from rehearsals to talk about London Tide  - an exciting new staging of Our Mutual Friend -  which he has adapted with songs composed by the award-winning PJ Harvey

Ben is a Tony Award winning, and a BAFTA & Olivier Award nominated writer for stage and screen, and an Associate here at the National. His adaptation of The Lehman Trilogy, directed by Sam Mendes, has become an international theatrical juggernaut, playing in London, New York, San Francisco and Sydney. His screen credits include the BBC series The Hollow Crown and Netflix’s Munich: The Edge of War …

London Tide runs from 10th April - 22nd June 2024. You can book tickets here

Support the show

If you like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrard

Host: Dominic Gerrard
Series Artwork: Léna Gibert
Original Music: Dominic Gerrard

Thank you for listening!

A new series of Charles Dickens: A Brain on Fire! 🔥 will launch on Friday 5th April ...

The first episode takes place deep inside London’s Royal National Theatre, mid-rehearsal, for London Tide - an exciting new adaptation of Our Mutual Friend, co-written by Ben Power and PJ Harvey.

Previous series guests include: Stephen Fry, Miriam Margolyes, Armando Iannucci, Lucinda Hawksley, Andrew Davies, Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, Alice Loxton, John Mullan and many many more …

Support the show

If you like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrard

Host: Dominic Gerrard
Series Artwork: Léna Gibert
Original Music: Dominic Gerrard

Thank you for listening!

Our final festive extract comes from Dickens’ last Christmas Book The Haunted Man and The Ghost’s Bargain  - read today by the fantastic actor Tom Andrews

Tom’s screen credits include: This England (for Revolution films & Sky Atlantic), Netflix’s The Strays, Feelgood & Afterlife; HBO’S I Hate Susie and the BBC’s Show Trial … His stage work includes the Royal National Theatre production of Major Barbara and The Accidental Death of an Anarchist in London’s West End

In the following scene Dr Redlaw - a celebrated chemist and teacher - is sitting down to dinner one Christmas. He is full of grief and feels that each passing year only seems add to the store of regrets and painful memories …

Meanwhile the Swidger family: William,  Millie, and the elderly Philip, visit Redlaw and gently try to cheer him …

Support the show

If you like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrard

Host: Dominic Gerrard
Series Artwork: Léna Gibert
Original Music: Dominic Gerrard

Thank you for listening!

Happy 6th Day of Christmas! Today’s guest is the wonderful Rebecca Tanwen reading for us the opening pages of Dickens’ 4th Christmas book The Battle of Life …

The story opens with a wide shot of an ancient battle ground, where the traces of the fight have lingered through the centuries, not only in the earth but in the minds of the generations that have lived afterwards. The narrative works its way through a kind of time-lapse describing the changing seasons over many decades before settling on an orchard where amongst the apple-pickers two sisters - Grace & Marion - are found dancing along to a harp and fiddle with total abandon …

As a voice artist Rebecca won this year’s One Voice Award and previously the BBC’s Carleton Hobbs. Her theatre credits include Royal National Theatre production of Othello, As You Like It for the Oxford Shakespeare Company and Elephant 21 at the Royal Court. Her screen credits include The Wheel of Time on Amazon Prime and Lionsgate’s Nacho XXL ...

Support the show

If you like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrard

Host: Dominic Gerrard
Series Artwork: Léna Gibert
Original Music: Dominic Gerrard

Thank you for listening!

Happy 5th Day of Christmas!

The fantastic actor Tom Bennett reads an excerpt from Dickens’ third Christmas book The Cricket on the Hearth …

Caleb Plummer and his daughter Bertha are poor toymakers in the service of the cruel, miserly Tackleton. As the scene unfolds we learn that Caleb’s daughter Bertha is blind, and that her father is constantly trying to shield her from the hardship and poverty of their lives … meanwhile even their poor hearth is visited by a cricket that may yet bring good fortune for them.

Tom’s screen credits include his critically acclaimed portrayal of Sir James Martin opposite Kate Beckinsale in Love and Friendship, the HBO series Family Tree, Netlfix’s After Life and coming soon in 2024 House of the Dragons. He also starred as Del Boy in the London’s West End hit Only Fools and Horses …

Support the show

If you like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrard

Host: Dominic Gerrard
Series Artwork: Léna Gibert
Original Music: Dominic Gerrard

Thank you for listening!

The wonderful actress Carlyss Peer returns to the series to read an excerpt from Dickens' second Christmas Book The Chimes

You'll be transported to Trotty's humble abode, feeling the chill of the London streets and the welcoming embrace of his heart as he opens his home to strangers, reminding us of the transformative power of kindness and community.

Support the show

If you like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrard

Host: Dominic Gerrard
Series Artwork: Léna Gibert
Original Music: Dominic Gerrard

Thank you for listening!