Vanity Fair

Al Murray stars in this anarchic BBC radio reboot of Thackeray’s groundbreaking satirical novel Comedian Al Murray plays his great-great-great grandfather William Makepeace Thackeray as the unreliable narrator in this radical makeover of his ancestor’s celebrated satire on class, sex, money, hypocrisy and snobbery in nineteenth-century England. As the curtain rises on our ‘story without a hero’, moneyless Becky Sharp leaves school with her upper-class best friend Amelia Sedley. Clever, cunning and ambitious, Becky is determined to make her way in Regency society – and she’ll trample on anyone who gets in her way. When her plan to marry Amelia’s brother Jos falls through, she snares the aristocratic Rawdon Crawley – but her hopes of riches are dashed when the couple are disinherited by his wealthy aunt. Meanwhile, Amelia marries the dashing George Osborne, breaking the heart of her devoted admirer, William Dobbin. But war is fast approaching, and as Napoleon advances towards Waterloo, where will the winds of destiny blow our players? And will the ever-resourceful Becky succeed in achieving her desires? Pacey, contemporary, fresh and funny, this sparkling dramatisation features Ellie White as Becky, Helen O’Hara as Amelia, Blake Ritson as Rawdon, Rupert Hill as George, Thom Tuck as Jos and Graeme Hawley as Dobbin. Cast and credits Thackeray (narrator)…………………… Al Murray Becky Sharp…………………… Ellie White Amelia Sedley…………………… Helen O’Hara Rawdon Crawley…………………… Blake Ritson Jos Sedley…………………… Thom Tuck George Osborne…………………… Rupert Hill Dobbin…………………… Graeme Hawley Mrs Sedley/Mrs Bute/Aunty Crawley/Jane/Rawdon Junior…………………… Emma Gregory Mr Sedley/Sir Pitt/Lord Steyne…………………… Jonathan Keeble Mr Osborne/Bute/General Tufto…………………… Malcolm Raeburn Pitt…………………… Lloyd Peters Lady Bareacres/Miss Briggs/George Junior…………………… Fiona Clarke Written by William Makepeace Thackeray Dramatised by Jim Poyser, with additional material by Al Murray A BBC Radio Drama North production Produced and directed by Gary Brown First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 26 May-9 June 2019