Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

Available for 28 days

*** Broadcast as part 4 Extra's 'The Stories Of Studio Ghibli' season. In the land of Ingary, Sophie Hatter is resigning herself to an uninteresting life working in a hat shop. That is until a castle appears above the town of Market Chipping and refuses to stay still. Visiting the shop one day, the dreaded Witch of the Waste transforms Sophie into an old crone. Setting off into the countryside to seek her fortune, Sophie soon runs into the sinister moving castle. But the castle belongs to the dreaded Wizard Howl, whose appetite, they say, is satisfied only by the souls of young girls. Diana Wynne Jones's novel, first published in 1986. Its reputation has grown over time to become recognised as a fantasy classic. (In 2004, it became an Oscar-nominated animated film by Studio Ghibli) Starring Julia McKenzie. Dramatised by Robert Valentine. Narrator ...... Robert Bathurst Old Sophie ...... Julia McKenzie Howl ...... Iwan Rheon Michael ...... Angus Imrie Calcifer ...... Dan Starkey Miss Angorian ...... Gwyneth Keyworth The Witch of the Waste ...... Pippa Bennett-Warner Young Sophie ...... Dakota Blue-Richards Neil ...... Gerran Howell Sound Design: Richard Fox Music: Evelyn Sykes Director: Simon Barnard A Bafflegab production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in December 2021.