Decline and Fall (2015) by Evelyn Waugh; starring Emilia Fox and Tom Hollander

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The story of the fall and rise - and fall again - of a hapless young man. While very funny, I've always thought this story had the essential characteristic of an adventure in that the main character goes on a journey in which he must navigate - or be subjected to - obstacles and interferences of a broad and strange variety.

As it happens this adaptation was broadcast just a couple of years before a television adaptation, also from the BBC, appeared, starring Jack Whitehall. This was not the first radio adaptation of the story either, with a previous serial broadcast in 1992 (I'll be uploading that to the channel sometime next year). There's a curious connection between the two versions, though - Emilia Fox plays Margot in this version, and in the 1992 version Margot is played by Joanna David - Emilia Fox's mother. Not that this was the first time Fox had reprised one of her mother's roles, of course - both women have played the lead in TV adaptations of Du Maurier's Rebecca.

Check out my other channel @mysteriousmagpie for hundreds of radio plays about ghosts, monsters and murderers...

I've also written a guide to ghost and horror stories for Christmas on British television and radio, which may be of interest. HOLLY WRAITHS (and its companion volume HOLLY TERRORS, or a combined edition of the two), is available in paperback and ebook from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Holly-Wr...