Drama of the Week

An original short story specially commissioned by BBC Radio 4 from the writer Bernie McGill. Read by Amy Molloy.

The Author.
Bernie McGill is the winner of the 2023 Edge Hill Short Story Prize for her collection ‘This Train is For’. She is the author of the novels ‘The Butterfly Cabinet’, ‘The Watch House’ and one previous short story collection ‘Sleepwalkers’. She has written audio scripts for heritage projects and stage scripts for theatre. She is a Writing for Life Fellow with the Royal Literary Fund and an honorary member of The Linen Hall Library in which building her writing archive is held.

Writer: Bernie McGill
Reader: Amy Molloy
Producer: Michael Shannon

A BBC Audio Northern Ireland Production for BBC Radio 4.

James Fritz's award-winning drama about the UK prison system returns with two contrasting stories of release, told from the perspective of prisoners and staff alike.

In this first episode, a prisoner (who listeners met in Series 1) leaves with his paperwork signed and a discharge grant in his pocket, convinced his prayers have been answered. What he doesn't know is that a single clerical error, buried for years in a box of court paperwork, means he should never have been let out at all. As an overstretched prison scrambles to find him, the press whips up a manhunt and ministers demand a name, one question echoes from the courtroom to Whitehall: how could something like this happen?

Written by James Fritz

Lee ..... Carl Prekopp
Yas ..... Yasmin Mwanza
Clare ..... Maddy Lenny
Jenny ..... Emma Handy
Carly ..... Laura Dos Santos
Rihanna ..... Rebekah Murrell
Prison Director ..... Ben Crowe
The Box Officer ..... Harry Myers
Toby/Reverend ..... Joe Jameson
Minister ..... Ian Dunnett Jnr

Production Team:
Producer and Director, Tracey Neale
Sound Design, Keith Graham, Sam Dickinson and Andrew Garrett
Production Co-Ordinator, Ben Hollands

A BBC Studios production.

James Fritz has won the Imison and Tinniswood Awards, Best Single and Best Series at the Audio Drama Awards, and Gold and Bronze at the ARIAs. For his theatre work he has won the Critics' Circle Award and the Bruntwood Prize, and was nominated for an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre. He is under commission to the RSC, on attachment to the National Theatre, and is currently writing a TV drama and adapting his play The Flea into a feature film.

James Fritz's award-winning drama about the UK prison system returns with two contrasting stories of release, told from the perspective of prisoners and staff alike.

In this first episode, a prisoner (who listeners met in Series 1) leaves with his paperwork signed and a discharge grant in his pocket, convinced his prayers have been answered. What he doesn't know is that a single clerical error, buried for years in a box of court paperwork, means he should never have been let out at all. As an overstretched prison scrambles to find him, the press whips up a manhunt and ministers demand a name, one question echoes from the courtroom to Whitehall: how could something like this happen?

Written by James Fritz

Lee ..... Carl Prekopp
Yas ..... Yasmin Mwanza
Clare ..... Maddy Lenny
Jenny ..... Emma Handy
Carly ..... Laura Dos Santos
Rihanna ..... Rebekah Murrell
Prison Director ..... Ben Crowe
The Box Officer ..... Harry Myers
Toby/Reverend ..... Joe Jameson
Minister ..... Ian Dunnett Jnr

Producer and Director, Tracey Neale
Sound Design, Keith Graham, Sam Dickinson and Andrew Garrett
Production Co-Ordinator, Ben Hollands

A BBC Studios production.

James Fritz has won the Imison and Tinniswood Awards, Best Single and Best Series at the Audio Drama Awards, and Gold and Bronze at the ARIAs. For his theatre work he has won the Critics' Circle Award and the Bruntwood Prize, and was nominated for an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre. He is under commission to the RSC, on attachment to the National Theatre, and is currently writing a TV drama and adapting his play The Flea into a feature film.