Charles Dickens: A Brain on Fire! 🔥

Dominic is joined by the inimitable Steven Knight who's exciting and daring screenplays include Peaky Blinders, Taboo and SAS Rogue Heroes. Steven also adapted the dark and thrilling FX A Christmas Carol  (with Guy Pearce as Scrooge) and has now re-imagined Great Expectations in a new series led by Olivia Colman. Now screening on Hulu in the US and BBC One in the UK. Support the showIf you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrardThank you so much!Host: Dominic GerrardSeries Artwork: Léna GibertOriginal Music: Dominic GerrardThank you for listening!

Host Dominic Gerrard reads the opening chapter of A Tale of Two Cities ... Support the showIf you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrardThank you so much!Host: Dominic GerrardSeries Artwork: Léna GibertOriginal Music: Dominic GerrardThank you for listening!

Dominic is joined by the inimitable actor and Dickens descendant Harry Lloyd. Together they discuss their first impressions of  FX’s new Great Expectations and Harry's experience of playing Dickens characters in previous BBC dramatisations of his Great Great Great Grandfather's works, and his career more widely.The copyright for this specific episode is owned by FX Networks.Support the showIf you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrardThank you so much!Host: Dominic GerrardSeries Artwork: Léna GibertOriginal Music: Dominic GerrardThank you for listening!

Dominic is joined by the inimitable broadcaster & historian Alice Loxton who takes us on a journey into the frenzied and scandalous world of London society in the Georgian Period ...Alice is a celebrated presenter on History Hit  and her new book UPROAR! takes a look at the movers and shakers of the time as seen through the eyes of  caricaturists such as James Gillray, Thomas Rowlandson & Isaac CruikshankYou can also follow Alice on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok Support the showIf you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrardThank you so much!Host: Dominic GerrardSeries Artwork: Léna GibertOriginal Music: Dominic GerrardThank you for listening!

It's the 10th Day of Christmas ... and Dominic is joined by the brilliant writer Katie Lumsden where they attempt to examine, with fresh eyes, Dickens' long forgotten Christmas Book The Battle of Life ...  An alumna of both Durham & Bath Spa Universities, her debut novel The Secrets of Hartwood Hall  - set in 1852 - is now available to pre-order here. Katie also hosts the hugely successful Youtube channel Books and Things where she examines in detail the mountains of literature she reads her way through each year!And reading excerpts from The Battle of Life is the wonderful Sophie Reynolds who is the curator at Jane Austens’ House in Chawton.  Support the showIf you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrardThank you so much!Host: Dominic GerrardSeries Artwork: Léna GibertOriginal Music: Dominic GerrardThank you for listening!

Dominic reads a Christmas Day excerpt from Chapter IV of Great Expectations where Pip has to sit through the ordeal of a Christmas Dinner with a heavy  conscience ...HAPPY CHRISTMAS!  Support the showIf you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrardThank you so much!Host: Dominic GerrardSeries Artwork: Léna GibertOriginal Music: Dominic GerrardThank you for listening!

It's Christmas Eve! And Dominic reads an excerpt from Stave III of A Christmas Carol ... Support the showIf you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrardThank you so much!Host: Dominic GerrardSeries Artwork: Léna GibertOriginal Music: Dominic GerrardThank you for listening!

Dominic is joined by the wonderful Dr. Claire Wood again for a special Christmas episode on Charles Dickens' The Story of the Goblins who Stole a Sexton; A Christmas Carol and The Chimes ...Reading extracts from these stories is the brilliant actor Tom Andrews ...HAPPY CHRISTMAS!! Support the showIf you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrardThank you so much!Host: Dominic GerrardSeries Artwork: Léna GibertOriginal Music: Dominic GerrardThank you for listening!

Dominic is joined again by the inimitable Robert Douglas Fairhurst who returns to this series to explore Dickens' five iconic Christmas Books: A Christmas Carol, The Chimes, The Cricket on the Hearth, The Battle of Life & The Haunted Man ...Robert's latest book Metamorphosis: A Life in Pieces is available to order hereHappy Christmas! Support the showIf you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrardThank you so much!Host: Dominic GerrardSeries Artwork: Léna GibertOriginal Music: Dominic GerrardThank you for listening!

Dominic is joined by the brilliant Morgan Lloyd Malcolm: who’s writing for stage and screen includes her pivotal play Emilia - which won three Olivier Awards when it transferred from Shakespeare’s Globe to the West End - and a soon to be released adaptation of Josephine Hart’s Damage for Moonage, Gaumont & NetflixAs a writer Morgan also works extensively with Clean Break: a feminist theatre company that engages and empowers women who have either experience of the criminal justice system or are at risk of entering it. Morgan has also written several pantomimes, and Christmas shows for children.  All of these elements of her work have been woven into her magical new adaptation of A Christmas Carol which opens this week at the Rose Theatre, Kingston …The music in this episode is taken from the show itself and has been composed by the hugely talented Eamonn O’Dwyer Support the showIf you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrardThank you so much!Host: Dominic GerrardSeries Artwork: Léna GibertOriginal Music: Dominic GerrardThank you for listening!