

Limelight
BBC Radio 4
The Limelight podcast - for fiction and drama serials you won't want to miss from Radio 4.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jul 7, 2023 • 28min
Bitter Pill: 2. Flashback
An audio drama series about memory and trauma.After a traumatic car crash, Mary joins a clinical drug trial that promises a cure for PTSD. The medication triggers intense flashbacks of the accident that left her fiancée comatose. But is Mary simply remembering the event, or reliving it? And if she is actually returning to the past, does that mean she can change her future?Cast:
Mary ….. Séainín Brennan
Jackie ….. Charlotte McCurry
Carl ……. Shaun Blaney
Eoin ….. Seamus O’Hara
Delia ….. Jo Donnelly
Warren ….. Martin McCann
All other roles were played by the cast and crew.Writers ….. Michael Patrick & Oisín Kearney
Producer ….. Michael Shannon
Executive Editor ….. Andy MartinMusic composed by Denis Clohessy.
Sound Design by Bill Maul.A BBC Northern Ireland production.

Jul 7, 2023 • 28min
Bitter Pill: 1. Fight or Flight
An audio drama series about memory and trauma.After a traumatic car crash, Mary joins a clinical drug trial that promises a cure for PTSD. The medication triggers intense flashbacks of the accident that left her fiancée comatose. But is Mary simply remembering the event, or reliving it? And if she is actually returning to the past, does that mean she can change her future?Cast:
Mary ….. Séainín Brennan
Jackie ….. Charlotte McCurry
Carl ……. Shaun Blaney
Barista ….. Christopher Grant
Board Member ….. Richard Croxford
Warren ….. Martin McCann
All other roles were played by the cast and crew.Writers ….. Michael Patrick & Oisín Kearney
Producer ….. Michael Shannon
Executive Editor ….. Andy MartinMusic composed by Denis Clohessy.
Sound Design by Bill Maul.A BBC Northern Ireland production.

Jun 30, 2023 • 2min
Bitter Pill: Trailer
A car crash survivor joins a clinical trial for a pill promising to cure PTSD. The speaker reflects on their past and discusses the effects of the pill. They also mention an audio drama series called 'The Train' on BBC Sounds.

Apr 28, 2023 • 34min
An Eye for a Killing: 5. The Reckoning
Welcome to hell. The true story of Scotland’s notorious serial killers, Burke and Hare.On Christmas Day in 1828 the jury at the High Court decide that serial killer, William Burke, is guilty of the murder of Madgy Docherty. Burke is sentenced to be hanged and his body publicly dissected. A crowd of 25,000 people turn out to watch him die – while his accomplice, William Hare, walks free from the court.Powerful five-part drama-documentary series from BBC Radio 4 with bonus scenes on BBC Sounds.Written and dramatised by Colin MacDonald.Narrator ….. Jack Lowden
Burke ….. Gavin Mitchell
Boyle ….. Paul Young
Robert Knox ….. Simon Donaldson
Janet Brown ….. Nicola Roy
Mrs Wilson ….. Lucianne McEvoy
Galbraith ….. Andy Clark
John Fisher ….. Robert Jack
Michael Campbell ….. James Rottger
Other parts played by the cast.Producer/director: Bruce Young

Apr 28, 2023 • 28min
An Eye for a Killing: 4. Anger on the Streets
Welcome to hell. The true story of Scotland’s notorious serial killers, Burke and Hare.As Burke’s murder trial continues at the High Court, a rumour spreads on the streets that there has been a series of killings – and the man buying the bodies is the anatomist, Dr Robert Knox. An angry mob surrounds Knox’s house threatening to lynch the doctor. Powerful five-part drama-documentary series from BBC Radio 4 with bonus scenes on BBC Sounds.Written and dramatised by Colin MacDonald.Narrator ….. Jack Lowden
Burke ….. Gavin Mitchell
Hare ….. James Boal
Sir William Rae ….. Stuart McQuarrie
Galbraith ….. Andy Clark
Robert Knox ….. Simon Donaldson
Madgy Docherty ….. Maureen Carr
Margaret Hare ….. Lucianne McEvoy
John Fisher ….. Robert Jack
Michael Campbell ….. James Rottger
Lord Justice Clerk ….. Paul Young
Other parts played by the cast.Producer/director: Bruce Young

Apr 28, 2023 • 29min
An Eye for a Killing: 3. The Innocent and the Guilty
Welcome to hell. The true story of Scotland’s notorious serial killers, Burke and Hare.In his prison cell, William Burke confesses to a journalist that he took part in 16 murders in the space of ten months. Jamie Wilson, a young boy living by his wits on the streets of Edinburgh, is one of the victims murdered by Burke and Hare. Neither man is charged with his death – but Jamie’s relatives continue to seek justice.In the witness box at the High Court, Hare’s wife, Margaret, also accuses Burke of killing Madgy Docherty - who had travelled from Ireland to Edinburgh in search of her son. Powerful five-part drama-documentary series from BBC Radio 4 with bonus scenes on BBC Sounds.Written and dramatised by Colin MacDonald.Narrator ….. Jack Lowden
Burke ….. Gavin Mitchell
Galbraith ….. Andy Clark
Jamie ….. Kyle Gardiner
Bobbie ….. James Rottger
Margaret Hare ….. Lucianne McEvoy
Madgy Docherty ….. Maureen Carr
Robert Knox ….. Simon Donaldson
Sir William Rae ….. Stuart McQuarrie
Other parts played by the cast.Producer/director: Bruce Young

Apr 28, 2023 • 42min
An Eye for a Killing: 2. The Lost Girl
Welcome to hell. The true story of Scotland’s notorious serial killers, Burke and Hare.Mary Paterson is 18 when she meets William Burke in a drinking dive in Edinburgh’s Old Town in 1828. By the end of the day she will be dead and her body sold for £10 to one of the city’s leading anatomy teachers, Dr Robert Knox. In the witness box at the High Court in Edinburgh William Hare is cross-examined on his knowledge of another murder. In fact, he has detailed knowledge of 16 murders because he’s one of the killers – but he can never be charged because the authorities have given him immunity.Powerful five-part drama-documentary series from BBC Radio 4 with bonus scenes on BBC Sounds.Written and dramatised by Colin MacDonald.Narrator ….. Jack Lowden
Mary Paterson ….. Helen Mackay
William Hare ….. James Boal
Burke ….. Gavin Mitchell
Galbraith ….. Andy Clark
Robert Knox ….. Simon Donaldson
Henry Cockburn ….. Jimmy Chisholm
David Paterson ….. Stuart McQuarrie
Janet Brown ….. Nicola Roy
Other parts played by the cast.Producer/director: Bruce Young

Apr 28, 2023 • 40min
An Eye for a Killing: 1. The Trial On Christmas Eve
Welcome to hell. The true story of Scotland’s notorious serial killers, Burke and Hare.On Christmas Eve in 1828, William Burke is on trial for murder at the High Court in Edinburgh. He’s accused of killing an old woman, Madgy Docherty. In the witness box is his accuser – William Hare - who is Burke’s accomplice in 16 murders.What started these two former canal labourers on a mass killing spree? In 1828, Edinburgh is a world-leading centre of medical training and dissection. The anatomists need cadavers on which to demonstrate and practice – but the supply of bodies from hospitals and prisons isn’t enough to meet the demand. Burke and Hare discover they can earn £10 by selling a dead body and decide they will lure victims to their lodging house and murder them. Powerful five-part drama-documentary series from BBC Radio 4 with bonus scenes on BBC Sounds.Written and dramatised by Colin MacDonald.Narrator ….. Jack Lowden
Burke ….. Gavin Mitchell
Hare ….. James Boal
John Fisher ….. Robert Jack
Mary Paterson ….. Helen Mackay
Janet Brown ….. Nicola Roy
Madgy Docherty ….. Maureen Carr
Jamie ….. Kyle Gardiner
Sheriff Tait ….. Ron Donachie
Sir William Rae ….. Stuart McQuarrie
Robert Knox ….. Simon Donaldson
Other parts played by the cast.Producer/director: Bruce Young

Apr 21, 2023 • 3min
An Eye for a Killing: Trailer
Jack Lowden tells the true story of Scotland’s notorious serial killers, Burke and Hare. What started two former canal labourers on a mass killing spree in 19th century Edinburgh?

Mar 24, 2023 • 28min
Who Killed Aldrich Kemp?: 5. Bogata
The team is in a race against time for answers, but the route proves circuitous.Chapter Five – the quest ends?Cast:Clara Page - Phoebe Fox
Aldrich Kemp – Ferdinand Kingsley
Mrs Boone – Nicola Walker
Sebastian Harcourt – Kyle Soller
Nakesha Kemp – Karla Crome
Aunt Lily – Susan Jameson
Forsaken McTeague and the Underwood Sisters – Jana Carpenter.
Sabine Seah – Rebecca Boey
Remington Schofield– Barnaby Kay
Miss Lotte Amutenya – Cherrelle Skeete
Mrs Bartholomew – Kate Isitt
Dr Hazlitt - Ben Crowe
Co Pilot – James Joyce.
Created and written by Julian SimpsonRecorded on location in Hove.Music composed by Tim Elsenburg.
Sound Design: David Thomas
Director: Julian Simpson
Producer: Sarah Tombling
Executive Producer: Karen RoseA Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4