A collection of full-cast dramatisations plus interviews with Laurie Lee

Laurie Lee was a poet, novelist and screenwriter renowned for his bestselling autobiographical trilogy Cider With Rosie, As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning and A Moment of War. Among the best loved memoirs in the English language, the books chart Lee’s life from his boyhood summers in a remote Cotswold village to joining the Republican International Brigade during the Spanish Civil War. Included here are dramatisations of the first two volumes, alongside a specially written radio play and four fascinating interview programmes.

Cider with Rosie – Recorded on location in and around the Slad valley in Gloucestershire, this lyrical, evocative account of Laurie Lee’s childhood in the West Country just after the First World War stars Tim McInnerny and Niamh Cusack.

As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning – It is the mid-1930s and 19-year-old Laurie sets out on foot to London, but soon finds himself en route to Spain. Accompanied by his trusty fiddle, he walks the length of the country – but as he reaches Almunecar, the Spanish Civil War begins… Featuring recordings made in Spain, this irresistible tale stars Jonathan Keeble as Laurie Lee.

I Call Me Adam – Laurie Lee retells the story of the Bounty mutineers, as they occupy Pitcairn Island and try to create a new life there. Produced by the celebrated poet and playwright Louis MacNeice, this bloodthirsty take on what happened to Fletcher Christian and his crew stars Ralph Truman and Wilfred Babbage.

Literary Walks: Laurie Lee – The poet and author takes Christopher Somerville on a stroll around Slad, where he grew up and where Cider with Rosie is set.

Through My Window: Laurie Lee – Casting his eye over the countryside seen from his window, Laurie Lee waxes lyrical over the view that inspired his most famous work.

Laurie Lee’s Long Sleep – This interview with Christopher Cooke from 1989 sees Lee discussing his own sense of mortality. These thoughts are accompanied by a reading of poems and tributes from his 1997 Thanksgiving Service.

Laurie Lee’s final interview – In this last radio interview, recorded in 1997 by BBC Radio Gloucestershire's Mark Hurrell, Laurie Lee talks about the inspiration for Cider With Rosie, his epic walk from Stroud to Spain and his love for the landscape around his beloved home village.

Text copyright © Laurie Lee 1959 (Cider with Rosie, I Call Me Adam), 1969 (As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning)

Credits

Written by Laurie Lee

Cider with Rosie

Dramatised by Nick Darke

Music arranged and performed by Paul Burgess

Directed by Viv Beeby and Jeremy Howe

First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 12-19 Apr 1998

As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning

Dramatised by Christopher Denys

Music arranged and played by Chris Leslie

Directed by Peter Leslie Wild

First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 27 Aug 2000

I Call Me Adam

Production by Louis MacNeice

First broadcast BBC Third Programme, 1 Nov 1959

Literary Walks: Laurie Lee

Produced by Jude Howells

First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 22 Sep 1985

Through My Window: Laurie Lee

Produced by John Harrison

First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 5 Aug 1981

Laurie Lee’s Long Sleep

Produced by Chris Eldon Lee

First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 25 Oct 1997

Laurie Lee’s final radio interview

First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 28 Apr 2014