John Yorke explores the way the celebrated 19th century writer Alexander Pushkin’s 400-line narrative poem, The Bronze Horseman, gives us an astonishing image of the unequal relationship between ruler and ruled.

This ground breaking poem, which is one of the great landmarks of Russian literature, shows us how the empire building passion of one ruler, the tsar Peter the Great, with his grand design to create the city of St Petersburg in spite of its situation on marshy and inhospitable land, can be seen to lead to tragic consequences for one particular individual, a hundred years later.

We learn how the story becomes mythic when this man, a lowly clerk, descends into madness after losing his beloved to the flood that descends on the city, and then confronts the statue of the tsar. The statue then comes to life and chases the clerk to his death.

Pushkin’s poem changed literature and narrative forever by introducing the idea of this ‘little man’ who embodies us all, and who Is single handedly taking on the legacy of history.

It's also clear to see that the poem speaks to us as forcefully now as it did to its contemporary readers.

John Yorke has worked in television and radio for nearly thirty years, and shares his experience with Radio 4 listeners as he unpacks the themes and impact behind the books, plays and stories that are being dramatised in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday/Saturday Drama Series. From EastEnders to the Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless, he has been obsessed with telling big popular stories. He has spent years analysing not just how stories work but why they resonate with audiences around the globe and has brought together his experience in his bestselling book Into the Woods. As former Head of Channel Four Drama, Controller of BBC Drama Production and MD of Company Pictures, John has tested his theories during an extensive production career working on some of the world’s most lucrative, widely viewed and critically acclaimed TV drama. As founder of the hugely successful BBC Writers Academy, John has trained a generation of screenwriters - his students have had 17 green lights in the last two years alone.

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Producer: Penny Boreham