Drama of the Week

Set inside Britain's housing crisis, six stand-alone but interconnected dramas follow ambition, resilience and the search for belonging.

Tanika Gupta's drama tells the story of the tenants in the crumbling Riverbourne tower block in west London, where damp walls, broken lifts, mould, unsafe wiring and heating failures have been ignored for years while rents continue to climb. The Housing Association claims its mission is to provide homes for “vulnerable tenants” - those unable to sustain a tenancy without support due to age, disability, health conditions, or exceptional circumstances - But in reality the Association neglects repairs and intimidates the very people it's meant to protect.

There is fear and anger for the tenants but as they get to know one another their solidarity and defiance grows: housing is a human right, not a commodity. All of them have personal histories but these difficulties they have all faced individually give them strength to stand together and the number of voices calling for change is a powerful force. Is victory within their grasp.

Shazia ….. Avita Jay
Aisha ….. Yasemin Ozdemir
Amara ….. Alaa Taha
Eustace ….. David Webber
Dylan ….. Max Hastings
David ….. Ian Dunnett Jnr
Arthur ….. Ben Crowe

Directed by Tracey Neale

Sound ..... Sharon Hughes, Keith Graham and Andy Garratt
Production co-ordinators ..... Sara Benaim and Jonathan Powell
Director ..... Tracey Neale
Writer .... Tanika Gupta

A BBC Studios Audio production for BBC Radio 4

Tanika Gupta is an award winning writer. Her original theatre work includes Sugar Mummies,The Empress, Lions and Tigers and A Tupperware of Ashes. Her stage adaptations include Anita and Me, Hobson's Choice A Midsummer Night's Dream, A Doll's House and Hedda. Tanika has written numerous audio dramas and adapted classics like A Passage to India and Brick Lane. In 2008, Tanika was awarded an MBE for her services to drama and she has been awarded honorary doctorates from Chichester and University of West London. She was a writer in residence at the National Theatre and at Soho Theatre.

By Philip Catherwood.

After twenty years living in the same end terrace house in North Belfast, Maggie is now being pressured into having a divisive mural painted on her gable wall. Rather than give in to intimidation, she enlists the help of teenage street artist Kyle – a Dubliner trying to find his feet in the city – to create a different kind of mural. However, not everyone in the community is ready to embrace change.
Starring Abigail McGibbon and Daniel Mick Ryan.

Author
Philip Catherwood is a writer from Northern Ireland. His audio drama podcast ‘The Dial-Up' won a British Podcast Award and an Independent Podcast Award for Best Fiction in 2024. His play ‘The Pitch’ was recently staged at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast and finished a run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this summer. Philip was selected for BBC Writers Belfast Voices 2026 scheme and The Royal Court Theatre Writers Group 2026.

Cast:
Maggie ... Abigail McGibbon
Kyle ... Daniel Mick Ryan
Carl ... Paul Mallon
Sammy ... Shaun Kearns
Zuzanna .... Katarina Kokenyova

All other parts were played by the company.

Production Co-ordinators: Sylvie Conway and Caoilfhinn McFadden.
Studio Production: David Sproule, Bill Maul and Michael Davidson.

Written by Philip Catherwood
Directed by Michael Shannon

A BBC Audio Northern Ireland Production for BBC Radio 4.