Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh

[william warren]

By Evelyn Waugh. Dramatised by Jeremy Front.

Scholarly young Oxford student Paul Pennyfeather remains ignorant of the high-life, until a fateful encounter with members of the notorious Bollinger Club draws him into a world of excess he never knew existed.

Set in the early jazz age, the tone of Decline And Fall is Wodehousian with added sex, drugs and alcohol. The central character is Paul Pennyfeather, played by Oxford graduate and emerging comedian Kieran Hodgson. Paul is an innocent but, nevertheless, the engine of the piece. The fuse is lit in Oxford after which the plot moves listeners quickly to London, then out to a tenth rate school in rural Wales where we meet the headmaster Dr Fagan, and two fellow teachers Grimes and Prendergast, played by comedy stars Geoffrey Whitehead, John Sessions and James Fleet.

From here the story moves to a glass and steel fantasy of excessive modern architecture in the middle of the English countryside, the home of the beautiful Margot (played by Emilia Fox) and designed by the eccentric Otto (a cameo played by Tom Hollander in episode two). Paul’s travels then take him to hot and sweaty Marseille and into trouble which results in him ending up in a British prison. Paul’s adventures end in a rather Alice In Wonderland fashion when he is given a new identity and returns to Oxford, exactly where he started, but with the addition of a beard.

 

Cast:

Pennyfeather.........Kieran Hodgson

Dr Fagan.........Geoffrey Whitehead

Grimes.........John Sessions

Prendergast.........James Fleet

Philbrick.........Ben Crowe

Margot.........Emilia Fox

Peter.........Alex Lawther

Flossie.........Tilly Vosburgh

Lady Circumference/Dingy.........Felicity Montagu

Tangent.........Richard Linnell

Clutterbuck.........Mark Edel-Hunt

Cholmondley.........Jude Akuwudike

Mr Davies/Paul's guardian.........Stephen Critchlow

Trumpington.........Sam Valentine

Sniggs.........Sam Dale

Postlethwaite.........David Acton

Levy.........Ian Conningham

 

Directed by Tracey Neale

 

Produced by Marion Nancarrow

 

2 Files. Size 52MB each. Length 57 Minutes each. Bitrate 128kbps.

 

http://1drv.ms/1BnxUoh

 

 

[Robert]

Sounds like a good one

[semoshorts]

thanks for sharing.

[Couch Potato]

Thank you!

[Gayle Crane]

Hi William,

   All the ingredients for a fun filled romp!  Thanks!