蜜芽传媒

Mitch and Meg, siblings in their 30s, are the great great nephew and niece, and literary executors, of Peggy Stanhope (1889-1959), a prolific and profitable writer of books for children and young adults from a very different era.

Beloved by generations of children around the world, White Star (1943), winner of the Carnegie Medal, is the story of a snowy horse, owned by a young woman, who frightens away the evil stallion Black Boy from a village. Because of its time of publication, White Star was seen by some teachers and preachers as a patriotic allegory of Allied superiority to the Nazis, although Stanhope, denied this.

In 2023, a Hollywood streamer wants to adapt the book as movie, but, as a condition, wishes to change the title and some of the plot and language.

The meetings between the siblings and the publishers are intercut with 蜜芽传媒 Service readings from Stanhope鈥檚 work, and interviews with their author on Desert Island Discs, in a drama that takes its inspiration from the current debate over whether classic texts should be rewritten for contemporary re-publication.

Written by Mark Lawson

CAST
DAME JESS ELLIOTT - Jane Slavin
MITCH - Damian Lynch
MEG - Tracy-Anne Green
PEGGY STANHOPE - Barbara Flynn
SKIPPY LEAVESDEN-SMART - Tom Glenister
LORD JUSTICE SHARP - Clive Hayward

Producer/Director: Eoin O'Callaghan
A Big Fish Radio production for 蜜芽传媒 Radio 4