65 episodes
Charles Dickens: A Brain on Fire! �� Dominic Gerrard
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- Arts
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5.0 • 20 Ratings
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Actor Dominic Gerrard hosts an exciting new series that explores the Life and Times of Charles Dickens: his extraordinary novels, who he was as a person, his career as a performer, and his activism. Guests include: Stephen Fry, Miriam Margolyes, Armando Iannucci, Alice Loxton, Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, Lucinda Hawksley, John Mullan, Pen Vogler, Andrew Davies, Rosie Holt, Bernard Cornwell .... and many more academics, writers, actors, directors and descendants of the great man himself! Along side these interviews there are special Dickens readings from across his works ...Thank you for listening 🔥
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Mrs Dickens: with Emily Howes
Dominic is joined by the inimitable Emily Howes, author of The Painters Daughters, who is currently writing her second book, Mrs Dickens, all about the life of Catherine Hogarth and her marriage to Charles Dickens …
Emily is an alumna of Cambridge University, where she was a member of the famous Footlights. After gaining a First in English, she studied Lecoq at the London School of Performing Arts. She then went on to create work for theatre, radio and television. Highlights including two series of her show The Ladies BBC Radio 4, and performing in Tim Minchin’s Rocking On for BBC Radio 2. Emily is also a recipient of the Hans Cohn Scholarship for the study of existential pyscotherapy …
Support the show
If you like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrard
Host: Dominic Gerrard
Series Artwork: Léna Gibert
Original Music: Dominic Gerrard
Thank you for listening! -
London Tide: with Ben Power
Dominic meets Ben Power backstage at London’s National Theatre who takes a break from rehearsals to talk about London Tide - an exciting new staging of Our Mutual Friend - which he has adapted with songs composed by the award-winning PJ Harvey
Ben is a Tony Award winning, and a BAFTA & Olivier Award nominated writer for stage and screen, and an Associate here at the National. His adaptation of The Lehman Trilogy, directed by Sam Mendes, has become an international theatrical juggernaut, playing in London, New York, San Francisco and Sydney. His screen credits include the BBC series The Hollow Crown and Netflix’s Munich: The Edge of War …
London Tide runs from 10th April - 22nd June 2024. You can book tickets here
Support the show
If you like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrard
Host: Dominic Gerrard
Series Artwork: Léna Gibert
Original Music: Dominic Gerrard
Thank you for listening! -
NEW EPISODES FOR 2024 !!! 🔥
A new series of Charles Dickens: A Brain on Fire! 🔥 will launch on Friday 5th April ...
The first episode takes place deep inside London’s Royal National Theatre, mid-rehearsal, for London Tide - an exciting new adaptation of Our Mutual Friend, co-written by Ben Power and PJ Harvey.
Previous series guests include: Stephen Fry, Miriam Margolyes, Armando Iannucci, Lucinda Hawksley, Andrew Davies, Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, Alice Loxton, John Mullan and many many more …
Support the show
If you like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrard
Host: Dominic Gerrard
Series Artwork: Léna Gibert
Original Music: Dominic Gerrard
Thank you for listening! -
"The Haunted Man" (Excerpt): Read by Tom Andrews
Our final festive extract comes from Dickens’ last Christmas Book The Haunted Man and The Ghost’s Bargain - read today by the fantastic actor Tom Andrews
Tom’s screen credits include: This England (for Revolution films & Sky Atlantic), Netflix’s The Strays, Feelgood & Afterlife; HBO’S I Hate Susie and the BBC’s Show Trial … His stage work includes the Royal National Theatre production of Major Barbara and The Accidental Death of an Anarchist in London’s West End
In the following scene Dr Redlaw - a celebrated chemist and teacher - is sitting down to dinner one Christmas. He is full of grief and feels that each passing year only seems add to the store of regrets and painful memories …
Meanwhile the Swidger family: William, Millie, and the elderly Philip, visit Redlaw and gently try to cheer him …
Support the show
If you like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrard
Host: Dominic Gerrard
Series Artwork: Léna Gibert
Original Music: Dominic Gerrard
Thank you for listening! -
“The Battle of Life” (Excerpt): Read by Rebecca Tanwen
Happy 6th Day of Christmas! Today’s guest is the wonderful Rebecca Tanwen reading for us the opening pages of Dickens’ 4th Christmas book The Battle of Life …
The story opens with a wide shot of an ancient battle ground, where the traces of the fight have lingered through the centuries, not only in the earth but in the minds of the generations that have lived afterwards. The narrative works its way through a kind of time-lapse describing the changing seasons over many decades before settling on an orchard where amongst the apple-pickers two sisters - Grace & Marion - are found dancing along to a harp and fiddle with total abandon …
As a voice artist Rebecca won this year’s One Voice Award and previously the BBC’s Carleton Hobbs. Her theatre credits include Royal National Theatre production of Othello, As You Like It for the Oxford Shakespeare Company and Elephant 21 at the Royal Court. Her screen credits include The Wheel of Time on Amazon Prime and Lionsgate’s Nacho XXL ...
Support the show
If you like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrard
Host: Dominic Gerrard
Series Artwork: Léna Gibert
Original Music: Dominic Gerrard
Thank you for listening! -
"The Cricket on the Hearth" (Excerpt): Read by Tom Bennett
Happy 5th Day of Christmas!
The fantastic actor Tom Bennett reads an excerpt from Dickens’ third Christmas book The Cricket on the Hearth …
Caleb Plummer and his daughter Bertha are poor toymakers in the service of the cruel, miserly Tackleton. As the scene unfolds we learn that Caleb’s daughter Bertha is blind, and that her father is constantly trying to shield her from the hardship and poverty of their lives … meanwhile even their poor hearth is visited by a cricket that may yet bring good fortune for them.
Tom’s screen credits include his critically acclaimed portrayal of Sir James Martin opposite Kate Beckinsale in Love and Friendship, the HBO series Family Tree, Netlfix’s After Life and coming soon in 2024 House of the Dragons. He also starred as Del Boy in the London’s West End hit Only Fools and Horses …
Support the show
If you like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrard
Host: Dominic Gerrard
Series Artwork: Léna Gibert
Original Music: Dominic Gerrard
Thank you for listening!
Customer Reviews
Back to college (in a good way!)
I studied English Lit in college and fell in love with Dickens during a semester-long course focusing on his work. Since then I’ve read biographies as well as more of his work, just trying to soak up as much of Dickens as I could. Finding this podcast was like entering the best, most interesting lectures and I feel like I’m back with my college friends, geeking out about our shared love and interest in his novels. Thank you for all the hard work you put into the episodes!
A Delight!
A Brain on Fire is an absolute delight! A must for all Dickens fans.
Fantastic!
I love this podcast and am looking forward to more episodes! I’ve learned so much and have greatly enjoyed Dominic’s chat with the guests so far. Keep up the good work!