Orley Farm (BBC Radio 4 Classic Serial)

This novel, described as a '... brilliantly choreographed legal thriller' ( Mail on Sunday ), centres on the pathos of the main character, Lady Mason. Youthful marriage choices, middle-aged marital crisis, love and loss revolve around the legal action and the complex portrayal of Lady Mason, who is both sympathetic and wily. The novel proposes a standard of morality higher than that embodied in the practice of an English court of law. With its concern for social issues and its extensive coverage of middle-class and landed life, 'Orley Farm' is a novel that demands attention in the rich field of nineteenth century fiction. Trollope wrote in his Autobiography that his friends considered this 'the best I have written'. With Tim Pigott-Smith as Anthony Trollope and Samantha Bond as Lady Mason, this production also stars Ronald Pickup, Dan Stevens, Amanda Root, Jonathan Christie and Lydia Leonard. Directed by Tracey Neale.