13 episodes

A young boy’s time-travelling fight against ancient evil. This dramatisation of Susan Cooper’s cult novel is a magical journey into the supernatural.

The Dark Is Rising BBC World Service

    • Fiction
    • 4.4 • 13 Ratings

A young boy’s time-travelling fight against ancient evil. This dramatisation of Susan Cooper’s cult novel is a magical journey into the supernatural.

    12. The Joining of the Signs

    12. The Joining of the Signs

    Twelfth Night. The Old Ones gather from across the centuries. The Signs are joined together by a blacksmith with rings of gold and, as the Old Ones bid him farewell, Will is full of anguish as he returns to his own time. Listen on headphones for 3D immersive sound. #TheDarkIsRising

    Will Stanton: Noah Alexander
    John Smith/Paul Stanton/Mr Beaumont: Thomas Arnold
    Bus Conductor/Jamaican Old One/James Stanton: Danny Bailey
    Stephen Stanton: Simon Bubb
    Mrs Stanton/Mrs Pettigrew/Dr Armstrong: Amanda Hadingue
    The Walker/Hawkin: Toby Jones
    Narrator: Simon McBurney
    The Rider/Mr Mithothin/Mr Stanton/Farmer Dawson: Tim McMullan
    Merriman: Paul Rhys
    Maggie Barnes/Mary Stanton: Natasha Stone
    The Lady/Miss Greythorne: Harriet Walter
    Herne: Miles Yekinni
    The chorister: Vinay Singh
    Radio announcer: Samuel West

    Soundscape design: Gareth Fry
    Music: Josh Sneesby
    Original songs by Johnny Flynn, Luisa Gerstein and Héloïse Tunstall-Behrens

    Adapted for audio by Robert Macfarlane and Simon McBurney
    Dramaturg: James Yeatman

    Director: Simon McBurney
    Producers: Catherine Bailey and Tim Bell

    A Complicité and Catherine Bailey Production for BBC World Service
    Commissioned by Simon Pitts

    • 18 min
    11. The Hunt Rides

    11. The Hunt Rides

    Will is pursued by the tornado of the Dark and prepares for the final battle. He flies with Merriman on the great white horse to where Herne the ancient hunter is waiting. Herne summons his hounds – a pack of huge white animals ghostly in the half-light. Listen on headphones for 3D immersive sound. #TheDarkIsRising

    Will Stanton: Noah Alexander
    John Smith/Paul Stanton/Mr Beaumont: Thomas Arnold
    Bus Conductor/Jamaican Old One/James Stanton: Danny Bailey
    Stephen Stanton: Simon Bubb
    Mrs Stanton/Mrs Pettigrew/Dr Armstrong: Amanda Hadingue
    The Walker/Hawkin: Toby Jones
    Narrator: Simon McBurney
    The Rider/Mr Mithothin/Mr Stanton/Farmer Dawson: Tim McMullan
    Merriman: Paul Rhys
    Maggie Barnes/Mary Stanton: Natasha Stone
    The Lady/Miss Greythorne: Harriet Walter
    Herne: Miles Yekinni
    The chorister: Vinay Singh
    Radio announcer: Samuel West

    Soundscape design: Gareth Fry
    Music: Josh Sneesby
    Original songs by Johnny Flynn, Luisa Gerstein and Héloïse Tunstall-Behrens

    Adapted for audio by Robert Macfarlane and Simon McBurney
    Dramaturg: James Yeatman

    Director: Simon McBurney
    Producers: Catherine Bailey and Tim Bell

    A Complicité and Catherine Bailey Production for BBC World Service
    Commissioned by Simon Pitts

    • 17 min
    10. The King of Fire and Water

    10. The King of Fire and Water

    Will’s sister is missing. He searches through driving rain and melting snow to find her, as a road becomes a river. The great white horse again comes to his aid and, when lightning strikes, a ship rises bearing a long-dead king. Listen on headphones for 3D immersive sound. #TheDarkIsRising

    Will Stanton: Noah Alexander
    John Smith/Paul Stanton/Mr Beaumont: Thomas Arnold
    Bus Conductor/Jamaican Old One/James Stanton: Danny Bailey
    Stephen Stanton: Simon Bubb
    Mrs Stanton/Mrs Pettigrew/Dr Armstrong: Amanda Hadingue
    The Walker/Hawkin: Toby Jones
    Narrator: Simon McBurney
    The Rider/Mr Mithothin/Mr Stanton/Farmer Dawson: Tim McMullan
    Merriman: Paul Rhys
    Maggie Barnes/Mary Stanton: Natasha Stone
    The Lady/Miss Greythorne: Harriet Walter
    Herne: Miles Yekinni
    The chorister: Vinay Singh
    Radio announcer: Samuel West

    Soundscape design: Gareth Fry
    Music: Josh Sneesby
    Original songs by Johnny Flynn, Luisa Gerstein and Héloïse Tunstall-Behrens

    Adapted for audio by Robert Macfarlane and Simon McBurney
    Dramaturg: James Yeatman

    Director: Simon McBurney
    Producers: Catherine Bailey and Tim Bell

    A Complicité and Catherine Bailey Production for BBC World Service
    Commissioned by Simon Pitts

    • 18 min
    9. Hawk in the Dark

    9. Hawk in the Dark

    Will is terrified. The thunderous knocking on the door can only mean one thing – it is The Rider, ready to attack. The Walker has been emboldened by the Dark and summons ice candles which bring a terrible chill, even as they burn. Will discovers the awful truth of The Walker’s identity. Listen on headphones for 3D immersive sound. #TheDarkIsRising

    Will Stanton: Noah Alexander
    John Smith/Paul Stanton/Mr Beaumont: Thomas Arnold
    Bus Conductor/Jamaican Old One/James Stanton: Danny Bailey
    Stephen Stanton: Simon Bubb
    Mrs Stanton/Mrs Pettigrew/Dr Armstrong: Amanda Hadingue
    The Walker/Hawkin: Toby Jones
    Narrator: Simon McBurney
    The Rider/Mr Mithothin/Mr Stanton/Farmer Dawson: Tim McMullan
    Merriman: Paul Rhys
    Maggie Barnes/Mary Stanton: Natasha Stone
    The Lady/Miss Greythorne: Harriet Walter
    Herne: Miles Yekinni
    The chorister: Vinay Singh
    Radio announcer: Samuel West

    Soundscape design: Gareth Fry
    Music: Josh Sneesby
    Original songs by Johnny Flynn, Luisa Gerstein and Héloïse Tunstall-Behrens

    Adapted for audio by Robert Macfarlane and Simon McBurney
    Dramaturg: James Yeatman

    Director: Simon McBurney
    Producers: Catherine Bailey and Tim Bell

    A Complicité and Catherine Bailey Production for BBC World Service
    Commissioned by Simon Pitts

    • 18 min
    8. The Coming of the Cold

    8. The Coming of the Cold

    The Dark grips the country in unnatural frost, as deepening snow traps people indoors. Will needs the Fifth Sign, the Sign of Fire. Meanwhile, the frozen man Will rescued from the snow says the Dark is calling. Listen on headphones for 3D immersive sound. #TheDarkIsRising

    Will Stanton: Noah Alexander
    John Smith/Paul Stanton/Mr Beaumont: Thomas Arnold
    Bus Conductor/Jamaican Old One/James Stanton: Danny Bailey
    Stephen Stanton: Simon Bubb
    Mrs Stanton/Mrs Pettigrew/Dr Armstrong: Amanda Hadingue
    The Walker/Hawkin: Toby Jones
    Narrator: Simon McBurney
    The Rider/Mr Mithothin/Mr Stanton/Farmer Dawson: Tim McMullan
    Merriman: Paul Rhys
    Maggie Barnes/Mary Stanton: Natasha Stone
    The Lady/Miss Greythorne: Harriet Walter
    Herne: Miles Yekinni
    The chorister: Vinay Singh
    Radio announcer: Samuel West

    Soundscape design: Gareth Fry
    Music: Josh Sneesby
    Original songs by Johnny Flynn, Luisa Gerstein and Héloïse Tunstall-Behrens

    Adapted for audio by Robert Macfarlane and Simon McBurney
    Dramaturg: James Yeatman

    Director: Simon McBurney
    Producers: Catherine Bailey and Tim Bell

    A Complicité and Catherine Bailey Production for BBC World Service
    Commissioned by Simon Pitts

    • 17 min
    7. The Besieging

    7. The Besieging

    Christmas Day. The snowfall is intense as Will walks. The Dark has surrounded the church. Will fights back and discovers a Fourth Sign. On the journey home, a rook leads Will to a man freezing in the snow. Listen on headphones for 3D immersive sound. #TheDarkIsRising

    Will Stanton: Noah Alexander
    John Smith/Paul Stanton/Mr Beaumont: Thomas Arnold
    Bus Conductor/Jamaican Old One/James Stanton: Danny Bailey
    Stephen Stanton: Simon Bubb
    Mrs Stanton/Mrs Pettigrew/Dr Armstrong: Amanda Hadingue
    The Walker/Hawkin: Toby Jones
    Narrator: Simon McBurney
    The Rider/Mr Mithothin/Mr Stanton/Farmer Dawson: Tim McMullan
    Merriman: Paul Rhys
    Maggie Barnes/Mary Stanton: Natasha Stone
    The Lady/Miss Greythorne: Harriet Walter
    Herne: Miles Yekinni
    The chorister: Vinay Singh
    Radio announcer: Samuel West

    Soundscape design: Gareth Fry
    Music: Josh Sneesby
    Original songs by Johnny Flynn, Luisa Gerstein and Héloïse Tunstall-Behrens

    Adapted for audio by Robert Macfarlane and Simon McBurney
    Dramaturg: James Yeatman

    Director: Simon McBurney
    Producers: Catherine Bailey and Tim Bell

    A Complicité and Catherine Bailey Production for BBC World Service
    Commissioned by Simon Pitts

    • 17 min

Customer Reviews

4.4 out of 5
13 Ratings

13 Ratings

UisceBeatha❤️ ,

Please do the rest of the series!

I really enjoyed this adaptation & would be so happy if any (all?!) of the other books in the series were similarly produced

Just another music nerd ,

Takes me back

I vaguely remember reading this book as a child, and I enjoyed the series. Good music.

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