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Sign up todayMark Twain: A BBC Radio Drama Collection
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Learn moreBBC radio productions of Mark Twain's very best novels and short stories - plus bonus material
Mark Twain (real name Samuel Langhorne Clemens), was one of the foremost writers and humorists to come out of the United States. Hailed by William Faulkner as 'the father of American literature', he is renowned worldwide for his classic novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This wide-ranging collection comprises dramatisations and readings of a host of his much-loved stories, from well-known works to less familiar gems.
The adaptations include Tony Award-winning Bryony Lavery's rhythmic reworking of The Million Pound Bank Note; The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, dramatised by award-winning playwright Marcy Kahan; and The Diary of Adam and Eve, Twain's affectionate satire about the battle of the sexes. They are performed by full casts including Trevor White, Mark Caven, Christopher Jacot, Inika Leigh Wright and Tom Goodman-Hill.
Among the readings are an abridged version of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, in which Ed Bishop brings Tom's escapades to colourful life; the little-known yarn The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County (read by Jon Glover) telling the tall tale of an inveterate gambler and a talented amphibian; and The Prince and the Pauper (read by Jason Isaacs), an abridgement of Twain's historical fantasy about two identical boys born on the same day - one rich, the other poor. And in Mark Twain Stories, Frasier star Kelsey Grammer reads five of the great author's finest short stories.
Also included is Kaleidoscope Feature: The Further Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, charting the troubled 100-year history of Twain's controversial novel, which has gone from being banned to being beloved - and back again.
NB: Contains language that listeners may find offensive
Cast and credits
Written by Mark Twain. First published 1867 (The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County), 1868 (Cannibalism in the Cars), 1870 (The Facts in the Case of the Great Beef Contract, A Ghost Story), 1875 (The Experience of the McWilliamses with Membranous Croup, Niagara), 1876 (The Adventures of Tom Sawyer), 1881 (The Prince and the Pauper), 1884 (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn), 1893 (The Million Pound Bank Note), 1931 (The Private Life of Adam and Eve)
The Million Pound Bank Note
Dramatised by Bryony Lavery. Produced by Pauline Harris and Sharon Sephton
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 31 December 2011
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Abridged by Brian Miller. Read by Ed Bishop. First broadcast BBC Radio 5, 20-31 May 1991
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Dramatised by Marcy Kahan. Directed by Ned Chaillet. First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 15-29 December 2002
The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
Read by Jon Glover. Produced by Mitch Raper. First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 4 September 1978
The Diary of Adam and Eve
Dramatised by Martin Glynn. Produced by Jenny Stephens. Directed by Peter Leslie Wild
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 20 March 2005
The Prince and the Pauper
Read by Jason Isaacs. First broadcast BBC Radio 7, 17 October 2009
Mark Twain Stories: The Facts in the Great Beef Contract, A Day at Niagara, Cannibalism in the Cars, A Ghost Story and Experiences of the MacWilliamses
Read by Kelsey Grammar. Abridged and produced by Duncan Minshull. First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 15-19 September 1997
Kaleidoscope Feature: The Further Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Produced by Paul Quinn. First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 25 May 1996
©2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd
Mark Twain's real name was Sam Clemens, and he was born in 1835 in a small town on the Mississippi, one of seven children. He smoked cigars at the age of eight, and aged nine he stowed away on a steamboat. He left school at 11 and worked at a grocery store, a bookstore, a blacksmith's and a newspaper, where he was allowed to write his own stories (not all of them true). He then worked on a steamboat, where he got the name 'Mark Twain' (from the call given by the boat's pilot when their boat is in safe waters). Eventually he turned to journalism again, travelled round the world, and began writing books which became very popular. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn are his most famous novels. He poured the money he earned from writing into new business ventures and crazy inventions, such as a clamp to stop babies throwing off their bed covers, a new boardgame, and a hand grenade full of extinguishing liquid to throw on a fire. With his shock of white hair and trademark white suit Mark Twain became the most famous American writer in the world. He died in 1910.
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