Les Misérables - Episode One

In the first of two episodes, John Yorke looks at Victor Hugo’s sprawling masterpiece, Les Misérables. Considered one of the greatest works of the 19th century, the story follows the journey to redemption of ex-convict Jean Valjean and his epic battle with police inspector Javert.

First published in 1862 when Victor Hugo was living in Guernsey, Les Misérables has remained a bestseller along with numerous stage and television adaptions, including the most famous of musicals. John Yorke explores the characters and motivations that drive the plot, from the moment when Jean Valjean steals some candlesticks from a bishop to the dramatic climax as he struggles through the sewers of Paris. We meet Fantine, an abandoned single mother and her daughter Cosette, and John explores how these characters come to address the poverty and cruelty that Hugo found so distressing in 19th century France. Les Misérables was written with anger and with compassion and remains one of the great social novels of its time.

John Yorke has worked in television and radio for over 30 years and shares his experience as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories dramatised in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Drama series. As former Head of Channel Four Drama and Controller of BBC Drama Production he has worked on some of the most popular shows in Britain; from EastEnders to The Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless. He created the BBC Writers Academy and trained a generation of screenwriters, now with thousands of hours of television to their names. His acclaimed books Into the Woods and Trip to the Moon explore the structure and power of narrative, and he writes, teaches and consults on all forms of storytelling, including many podcasts for Radio 4.

Contributor: Professor Catriona Seth, Marshal Foch Professor of French Literature, All Souls College, University of Oxford

From the BBC archives

Andrew Davies, Front Row 24th December 2018

Readings by Matthew Gravelle

From Les Misérables, translated by Christine Donougher
Penguin/Random House UK published 2013

Researcher: Henry Tydeman
Production Hub Coordinator: Dawn Williams
Sound: Sean Kerwin
Producer: Mark Rickards
Executive Producer: Caroline Raphael
A Pier Production for BBC Radio 4 & BBC Sounds