The Stage

Vegas to star in radio version of The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists

Published Tuesday 4 December 2007 at 15:20 by Matthew Hemley

Johnny Vegas is being lined up to star in a three-part radio adaptation of Robert Tressell’s novel The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists.

The comedian is expected to have a leading role in the drama series, which is being made by independent company Above The Title and will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 next summer.

It tells the story of a group of painters and decorators who live in the fictional town of Mugsborough around 1906 and has been adapted for radio by Andy Lynch. Full casting has yet to be announced.

Above The Title has also been commissioned by BBC Radio 4 to produce Jack Rosenthal’s drama Tortoise, which will broadcast at the end of the year.

Initially proposed as a television series called Articles for Sale, the script has been adapted into a radio play by his daughter Amy and will be directed by his widow Maureen Lipman and Dirk Maggs.

It focuses on a man’s relationship with his pet and stars Stephen Mangan and Felicity Montagu alongside Julia McKenzie and Stanley Baxter. The drama will go out on Radio 4 on New Year’s Eve.

Radio 4 has also announced plans for a major new drama series that will run in Woman’s Hour throughout 2008 and 2009.

Called Writing the Century, the series will explore the 20th century through real correspondence written by a variety of people, including housewives, politicians, council workers, writers and prisoners. The letters have been dramatised by playwright Vanessa Rosenthal.

Radio 4 drama commissioner Jeremy Howe said Woman’s Hour drama had not done anything as “boldly big for a very long time”.

Earlier this year, The Stage revealed how scripted plays in Woman’s Hour were being scaled back in favour of dramatic readings as part of a cost-saving initiative at the Corporation.