Posted by
Riklaa on July 5, 2008 at 5:25pm
Sister Agnes Investigates: BBC Radio 4 Drama
Detective-nun, Sister Agnes, the heroine of Alison Joseph’s popular crime series is brought to life in a radio drama for BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour!
Celebrated actress Anne Marie Duff (best known for her roles in Shameless and The Virgin Queen and married to actor James McAvoy) stars in the role of Sister Agnes.
The radio crime-story Sister Agnes Investigates was specially written for Woman’s Hour by Alison Joseph and adapted from her book Shadow of Death (out now in paperback).
In this radio series Agnes is a novice nun of 30, about to take her vows. While genuine in her faith, she is only too human in her attachments to people and to the material life. She lives in a tiny bed-sit in Bermondsey, and has two close confidants: the worldly Athena (Archie Panjabi) and Julius (John Rowe), an old learned priest. Agnes revels in the opportunity to help people out of harm`s way, recognising self-destructive behaviour in others because it is so familiar to her from her own life. While struggling with her calling, Agnes` enthusiastic engagement with life outside the order inevitably leads to her getting embroiled in solving crimes.
Sister Agnes is cataloguing a bequest to her Order`s library with mousy librarian Catherine (Helen Longworth), when they discover a series of discreet entries in some of the more obscure volumes, hinting at an imprisonment some eighty years earlier. Assuming this will be the distraction she has longed for, Agnes is shocked when Catherine begs her to hear her confession and suddenly blurts out that 11 years previously she killed a man. Agnes is tortured by what she should do with this knowledge so, unable to believe in Catherine`s guilt, she sets out to uncover the truth. She is helped in her quest by Catherine’s fiancé, William Ashley (Chris Pavlo), a disconcertingly attractive man who seems to be hiding something more than a secret smoking habit.
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Replies
Thank you! The quality of the acting is wonderful - your efforts are truely appreciated.
Dear Rick -
You have done it again. Provided a new series I was not familiar with and now I truly enjoy it and WANT MORE!
Thanks for doing all you do making this website an oasis of audio.
Bob
Thank you
Thanks as always Rick. I do hope you are well.
Gypsy
Many thanks for this, Rick.
Roger
Rick, thanks for sharing this 6 years ago.
and Roger, thanks for finding and resurfacing it!
Makes me wonder what other little gems I've missed the first time around.
4-5 of 5
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