Michael Frayn: A BBC Radio Drama Collection

Synopsis

Original plays and dramatisations from the award-winning novelist and playwright, plus bonus documentary Viewing the Century: Michael FraynA renowned playwright, novelist, journalist, memoirist and translator, Michael Frayn has had a varied and prolific literary career spannning over seven decades. His play Noises Off was one of the 20th century’s most beloved and successful plays, and he has been lauded for his dramas and prose fiction exploring the absurdities and suffering of the human condition.This collection opens with his Tony Award-winning play Copenhagen, centring on the controversial 1941 meeting between the two presiding geniuses of quantum physics, Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg. Between them, they could change the course of history… Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Heisenberg and Simon Russell Beale as Bohr, with Greta Scacchi as Bohr’s wife, Margrethe.Next, we turn to a selection of his philosophical comedies, featuring star-studded casts including Samuel West, Dawn French, Michael Kitchen, Barbara Flynn and Harriet Walter. Clouds finds rival Sunday supplement writers clashing in 1970s Cuba; Here revolves around Phil and Kath, newly cohabiting and facing important decisions; and Birthday sees the heavily pregnant Jess disrupting her sister’s party. Benefactors follows idealistic architect David, as he endeavours to redevelop a London slum – and preserve his personal relationships – and Alphabetical Order depicts a battle between order and chaos, in the forms of disorganised newspaper librarian Lucy and her methodical new assistant Lesley.An adaptation of Frayn’s comic 1967 Fleet Street novel, Towards the End of the Morning stars Martin Jarvis as John Dyson, an unfulfilled editor on a national daily, who jumps at the chance to become a TV celebrity. In Jarvis’s Frayn Too, the acclaimed actor performs a selection of classic sketches, columns and vignettes written by Michael Frayn. And in our final drama, Make and Break, also starring Martin Jarvis, a workaholic manufacturer attending a trade conference in Frankfurt finds himself facing a dark night of the soul. Capping off our collection is an illuminating bonus programme, Viewing the Century – Michael Frayn, in which Kevin Jackson talks to the celebrated author about Copenhagen, determinism and the future of the theatre.Production creditsWritten by Michael FraynCopenhagenCast: Greta Scacchi, Simon Russell Beale, Benedict CumberbatchCloudsCast: Dinsdale Landen, Morag Hood, Don Fellows, Paul Chapman, Arturo VenegasHereCast: Samuel West, Lucy Tregear, Margaret CourtenayBirthdayCast: Dawn French, Deborah Findlay, Thomas Wheatley, Liz Crowther, Oona Beeson,Matthew Morgan, John Webb, Peter Gunn, Ann Windsor, Joanna WakeBenefactorsCast: Michael Kitchen, Barbara Flynn, Harriet Walter, Clive FrancisAlphabetical OrderCast: Penelope Wilton, Rosalind Ayres, Martin Jarvis, Deryck Guyler, Geoffrey Matthews,Marcia Warren, Nigel LambertTowards the End of the MorningCast: Martin Jarvis, Rosalind Ayres, Sian Probert, Trevor Martin, Fenella Fielding, Kathryn Hurlbutt, Lockwood West, Peter Whitman, John Green, Andrew Lodge, Sean Arnold,Ronald Herdman, Stephen Garlick, Miranda Forbes, Rosalind AdamsJarvis’s Frayn TooPerformed by Martin JarvisProduced by Pete AtkinMake and BreakCast: Martin Jarvis, Rosalind Ayres, Christopher Godwin, John Bayton, Mark Patten, Elaine Claxton, Neville Jason, Gareth Armstrong, David JarvisAdapted by Martin JarvisViewing the Century – Michael FraynPresented by Kevin JacksonWith Michael Frayn© 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P)2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd