Episodes
| Episode | Title | First Broadcast | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Omnibus 1-2 | 20200214 | Laura Wade eavesdrops on conversations between men and women from the past to examine some of today's thorniest gender issues Recent high profile campaigns around thorny subjects such as sexual consent, harassment and assault, the pay gap and power imbalances between men and women have encouraged many of us to re-examine everyday gender relations. In ten programmes covering the last 500 years, Laura Wade eavesdrops on literary encounters between men and women to explore some of today's most pressing issues. An Omnibus edition of the first five of ten episodes 1. Lancelot and Lady Phelot in Thomas Malory's Morte D'Arthur: Dr Hetta Howes from City, University of London 2. Beatrice and Benedick in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing: Dr Will Tosh from The Globe Theatre 3. Adam and Eve in Milton's Paradise Lost: Dr Joe Moshenska from the University of Oxford 4. Pamela and Mr B in Samuel Richardson's Pamela: Dr Rebecca Bullard from the University of Reading 5. Elizabeth Bennett and Fitzwilliam Darcy from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice: Professor John Mullan from University College, London Readings by real-life couple Adrian Lester and Lolita Chakrabarti Laura Wade is an Olivier award-winning playwright - author of `Posh' `Home, I'm Darling` and a recent adaptation of Jane Austen's The Watsons Producer; Beaty Rubens Historic conversations between men and women reveal new truths about today's gender issues | |
| Omnibus 2-2 | 20200221 | Laura Wade eavesdrops on conversations between men and women from the past to examine some of today's thorniest gender issues An omnibus edition covering episodes 6 - 10: 6. Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins in Shaw's Pygmalion 7.Connie and Mellors in Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover 8.Rupert and Hilary in Jilly Cooper's Riders 9.Hortense and Gilbert in Andrea Levy's Small Island 10.Connell and Marianne in Sally Rooney's Normal People Recent high profile campaigns around issues such as sexual consent, harassment and assault, the pay gap and power imbalances between men and women have encouraged many of us to re-examine everyday gender relations. In ten programmes covering the last 500 years, playwright Laura Wade eavesdrops on encounters between men and women in great literary works to shed light on some of today's most pressing issues. With readings by real-life couple Adrian Lester and Lolita Chakrabarti Laura Wade is an Olivier Award-winning playwright, the author of `Posh` and `Home, I'm Darling`. Her recent adaptation of Jane Austen's unfinished story, `The Watsons`, transfers to the West End in 2020. Producer: Beaty Rubens Historic conversations between men and women reveal new truths about today's gender issues | |
| 01 | 20200210 | Laura Wade eavesdrops on conversations between men and women from the past to examine some of today's thorniest gender issues 1. What does the encounter between Sir Lancelot and Lady Phelot in Thomas Mallory's Morte d'Arthur reveal about the true meaning of chivalry? Dr Hetta Howes from City, University of London uncovers the origins of a very gender-based form of manners which continues to cause ripples today Why might that 17th century mother-of-all-rows between Adam and Eve in Milton's Paradise Lost contain the secret of a happy marriage? How might Mr B's predatory interest in Pamela in Samuel Richardson's 18th century novel help today's young people understand issues of consent? Are there uncomfortable erotic truths hidden in the sex scene between Rupert and Hilary in Jilly Cooper's 1985 bonk-buster, Riders? Recent high-profile campaigns around sexual consent, harassment, the pay gap and power imbalances between men and women have encouraged many of us to re-examine everyday gender relations. In ten programmes covering 500 years, Laura Wade eavesdrops on literary encounters between men and women to explore some of today's most pressing issues. She starts with the encounter between Lancelot and Lady Phelot in Thomas Malory's Morte D'Arthur to consider why chivalry is such a contested issue and culminates with the on-off relationship between Connell and Marianne in Sally Rooney's hit 2018 novel, Normal People, to understand why younger people find it increasingly hard to commit to a single partner today. Readings by real-life couple Adrian Lester and Lolita Chakrabarti Laura Wade is an Olivier award-winning playwright - author of `Posh' `Home, I'm Darling` and a recent adaptation of Jane Austen's The Watsons Producer; Beaty Rubens Historic conversations between men and women reveal new truths about today's gender issues | |
| 02 | 20200211 | Laura Wade eavesdrops on conversations between men and women from the past to examine some of today's thorniest gender issues Recent high profile campaigns around issues such as sexual consent, harassment and assault, the pay gap and power imbalances between men and women have encouraged many of us to re-examine everyday gender relations. In ten programmes covering the last 500 years, playwright Laura Wade eavesdrops on encounters between men and women in great literary works to shed light on some of today's most pressing issues. 2.Dr Will Tosh from Shakespeare's Globe explains why new-style 'Companionate Marriage' in the era after the Reformation presented a challenge to same-sex friendships - and perhaps still does to this day. Are we honest enough about the sacrifices we make in terms of former same-sex friendships when we embark upon marriage? With readings by real-life couple Adrian Lester and Lolita Chakrabarti Laura Wade is an Olivier Award-winning playwright, the author of `Posh` and `Home, I'm Darling`. Her recent adaptation of Jane Austen's unfinished story, `The Watsons`, transfers to the West End in 2020. Producer: Beaty Rubens Historic conversations between men and women reveal new truths about today's gender issues | |
| 03 | 20200212 | Laura Wade eavesdrops on conversations between men and women from the past to examine some of today's thorniest gender issues Recent high profile campaigns around thorny subjects such as sexual consent, harassment and assault, the pay gap and power imbalances between men and women have encouraged many of us to re-examine everyday gender relations. In ten programmes covering the last 500 years, Laura Wade eavesdrops on literary encounters between men and women from the past to explore some of today's most pressing issues. 3. Adam and Eve after the Fall in Paradise Lost: Dr Joe Moshenska from the University of Oxford on marriage, divorce and marital rows through Milton's eyes Readings by real-life couple Adrian Lester and Lolita Chakrabarti Laura Wade is an Olivier Award-winning playwright - author of `Posh' `Home, I'm Darling` and a recent adaptation of Jane Austen's The Watsons Producer; Beaty Rubens Historic conversations between men and women reveal new truths about today's gender issues | |
| 04 | 20200213 | Laura Wade eavesdrops on conversations between men and women from the past to examine some of today's thorniest gender issues Recent high profile campaigns around thorny subjects such as sexual consent, harassment and assault, the pay gap and power imbalances between men and women have encouraged many of us to re-examine everyday gender relations. In ten programmes covering the last 500 years, Laura Wade eavesdrops on literary encounters between men and women from the past to explore some of today's most pressing issues. 3. A shocking encounter between the serving maid Pamela and her master, Mr B, in Samuel Richardson's Pamela: reveals an 18th century power dynamic which could just as well be happening in Hollywood today, as Dr Rebecca Bullard from the University of Reading discusses Readings by real-life couple Adrian Lester and Lolita Chakrabarti Laura Wade is an Olivier Award-winning playwright - author of `Posh' `Home, I'm Darling` and a recent adaptation of Jane Austen's The Watsons Producer; Beaty Rubens Historic conversations between men and women reveal new truths about today's gender issues | |
| 05 | 20200214 | Laura Wade eavesdrops on conversations between men and women from the past to examine some of today's thorniest gender issues 5. Professor John Mullan from University College London decodes Darcy's proposal and Elizabeth's refusal in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and considers contemporary expectations of marriage Recent high profile campaigns around thorny subjects such as sexual consent, harassment and assault, the pay gap and power imbalances between men and women have encouraged many of us to re-examine everyday gender relations. In ten programmes covering the last 500 years, Laura Wade eavesdrops on literary encounters between men and women to explore some of today's most pressing issues. Readings by real-life couple Adrian Lester and Lolita Chakrabarti Laura Wade is an Olivier award-winning playwright - author of `Posh' `Home, I'm Darling` and a recent adaptation of Jane Austen's The Watsons Producer; Beaty Rubens Historic conversations between men and women reveal new truths about today's gender issues | |
| 06 | 20200217 | Laura Wade eavesdrops on conversations between men and women from the past to examine some of today's thorniest gender issues Recent high profile campaigns around issues such as sexual consent, harassment and assault, the pay gap and power imbalances between men and women have encouraged many of us to re-examine everyday gender relations. In ten programmes covering the last 500 years, playwright Laura Wade eavesdrops on encounters between men and women in great literary works to shed light on some of today's most pressing issues. 6. The relationship between Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins in George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion reveals far more about early 20th century gender issues than its frothy film version, My Fair Lady, might suggest. Dr Sophie Duncan from the University of Oxford discusses fears about the growing power of women and of the working classes - even worse when embodied in one individual! - in 1914 Britain, and draws comparison with coercive control issues today. With readings by real-life couple Adrian Lester and Lolita Chakrabarti Laura Wade is an Olivier Award-winning playwright, the author of `Posh` and `Home, I'm Darling`. Her recent adaptation of Jane Austen's unfinished story, `The Watsons`, transfers to the West End in 2020. Producer: Beaty Rubens Historic conversations between men and women reveal new truths about today's gender issues | |
| 07 | 20200218 | Laura Wade eavesdrops on conversations between men and women from the past to examine some of today's thorniest gender issues Recent high profile campaigns around issues such as sexual consent, harassment and assault, the pay gap and power imbalances between men and women have encouraged many of us to re-examine everyday gender relations. In ten programmes covering the last 500 years, playwright Laura Wade eavesdrops on encounters between men and women in great literary works to shed light on some of today's most pressing issues. 7. Constance Chatterley and Oliver Mellors in D.H.Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover It's so common to joke about Lawrence's 1928 classic that we easily overlook how ground-breaking his treatment of a sexual relationship across the class divide was. Dr Erica Wickerson from the University of Cambridge discusses the meaning of this radical novel both on publication and at the time of the famous R vs Penguin Books trial in 1960. In the light of contemporary notions of 'assortative matching', she he and Laura consider whether difference of class is still an issue in relationships today. With readings by real-life couple Adrian Lester and Lolita Chakrabarti Laura Wade is an Olivier Award-winning playwright, the author of `Posh` and `Home, I'm Darling`. Her recent adaptation of Jane Austen's unfinished story, `The Watsons`, transfers to the West End in 2020. Producer: Beaty Rubens Historic conversations between men and women reveal new truths about today's gender issues | |
| 08 | 20200219 | Laura Wade eavesdrops on conversations between men and women from the past to examine some of today's thorniest gender issues Recent high profile campaigns around issues such as sexual consent, harassment and assault, the pay gap and power imbalances between men and women have encouraged many of us to re-examine everyday gender relations. In ten programmes covering the last 500 years, playwright Laura Wade eavesdrops on encounters between men and women in great literary works to shed light on some of today's most pressing issues. 8. Might the illicit affair between Rupert and Hilary' in Jilly Cooper's Bonkbuster, Riders, reveal some uncomfortable truths about inequality in the bedroom? Zoe Strimpel, a historian of gender and relationships in modern Britain, considers issues of power and consent in the bedroom, both at the time of the book's original publication in 1985 and on its 30th anniversary in 2015. With readings by real-life couple Adrian Lester and Lolita Chakrabarti Laura Wade is an Olivier Award-winning playwright, the author of `Posh` and `Home, I'm Darling`. Her recent adaptation of Jane Austen's unfinished story, `The Watsons`, transfers to the West End in 2020. Producer: Beaty Rubens 8. Provocative bedroom revelations from Rupert and Hilary's affair in Jilly Cooper's Riders Historic conversations between men and women reveal new truths about today's gender issues | |
| 09 | 20200220 | Laura Wade eavesdrops on conversations between men and women from the past to examine some of today's thorniest gender issues Recent high profile campaigns around issues such as sexual consent, harassment and assault, the pay gap and power imbalances between men and women have encouraged many of us to re-examine everyday gender relations. In ten programmes covering the last 500 years, playwright Laura Wade eavesdrops on encounters between men and women in great literary works to shed light on some of today's most pressing issues. Laura Wade eavesdrops on historic conversations between men and women to explore today's thorniest gender issues 9. Hortense and Gilbert face racism in Andrea Levy's Small Island Dr Kenneta Perry, Director of the Stephen Lawrence Research Centre and Reader in History at De Montfort University, discusses institutional racism in post-war Britain, and explores its impact on relationships between men and women such as Hortense and Gilbert - so different at the start of the novel but unified by the shock and horror of their reception in a new country. With readings by real-life couple Adrian Lester and Lolita Chakrabarti Laura Wade is an Olivier Award-winning playwright, the author of `Posh` and `Home, I'm Darling`. Her recent adaptation of Jane Austen's unfinished story, `The Watsons`, transfers to the West End in 2020. Producer: Beaty Rubens Historic conversations between men and women reveal new truths about today's gender issues | |
| 10 | 20200221 | Laura Wade eavesdrops on conversations between men and women from the past to examine some of today's thorniest gender issues Recent high profile campaigns around issues such as sexual consent, harassment and assault, the pay gap and power imbalances between men and women have encouraged many of us to re-examine everyday gender relations. In ten programmes covering the last 500 years, playwright Laura Wade eavesdrops on encounters between men and women in great literary works to shed light on some of today's most pressing issues. 10.Sally Rooney's 2018 novel, Normal People, was not only sensationally successful, but revealed new truths about contemporary relationships between young people such as its protagonists, Connell and Marianne. Laura Hackett and John Maier - both recent winner of the Today Programme Student Critic award - bring the series to a close with a discussion about issues of sex, love and commitment in 21st century Britain. With readings by real-life couple Adrian Lester and Lolita Chakrabarti Laura Wade is an Olivier Award-winning playwright, the author of `Posh` and `Home, I'm Darling`. Her recent adaptation of Jane Austen's unfinished story, `The Watsons`, transfers to the West End in 2020. Producer: Beaty Rubens Historic conversations between men and women reveal new truths about today's gender issues |