North and South - Episode 1
by Elizabeth Gaskell dramatised by Lin Coghlan Margaret ..... Patsy Ferran Mr Hale ..... Paul Chahidi Mrs Hale ..... Ruth Everett Dixon ..... Felicity Montagu John Thornton ..... James Cartwright Mrs Thornton ..... Pooky Quesnel Higgins ..... Sean Gilder Bessy ..... Olivia Barrowclough Aunt Shaw ..... Joanna Monro Henry Lennox ..... Jonathan Forbes Henderson ..... David Hounslow Boucher ..... Lloyd Thomas Youth ..... Colin Ryan Cabbie ..... Roger Ringrose Directed by Sally Avens Sound by Peter Ringrose and Keith Graham Margaret Hale and her family are forced to move north to the industrial mill town of Milton, an upheaval that brings the awakening of her social conscience. When a strike threatens the town, Margaret finds herself pitted in passionate opposition to the values of local mill owner John Thornton, one of her family's few acquaintances in their new home. Gaskell's great Condition of England novel still resonates today in its portrayal of the north-south divide and its themes of class, gender and social responsibility. It stars award-winning actress Pasty Ferran as Margaret, Paul Chahidi (This Country, Good Omens) as Hale, James Cartwright (The Archers, History Boys, Johnny Shakespeare) as John Thornton and Felicity Montagu (Alan Partridge, Landscapers) as Dixon. This drama was originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4.