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