A trio of dramas based on Henry Green’s most notable novels

Born Henry Yorke, aristocrat and industrialist Henry Green led a double life as a managing director of an engineering firm and one of the finest English modernists of the 20th century. A contemporary and friend of Evelyn Waugh and Anthony Powell, he penned nine novels before giving up writing in 1952 at the age of 47. Three of them are dramatised here, with casts incuding Pauline Quirke, Amanda Root, Mark Straker, Fenella Fielding and Paul Herzberg.

Loving – In their employers’ absence, the servants at Castle Tennant have enjoyed free run of the manor house, at liberty to indulge in romance, gossip, squabbles and battles over authority. Then an insurance man arrives, enquiring about Mrs Tennant’s missing diamond ring, and their habitual routine is thrown into disruption. Adapted by Booker Prize-winning author John Banville, this charming dramatisation of Green’s 1945 fairytale depicts life above and below stairs in an Anglo-Irish country house during the Second World War.

Doting – Stuck in a humdrum marriage, middle-aged civil servant Arthur Middleton suddenly finds himself besotted with a much younger woman: pretty, 19-year-old Annabel Paynton, whom he has known since she was a child. As he pursues her, his wife Diana embarks on her own romantic adventure with family friend Charles Addinsell – who is in turn courting Annabel’s friend Claire… Set in postwar London, Henry Green’s final novel is a sophisticated social comedy exploring the subtle distinction between doting and loving.

Party Going – Travelling by train to the South of France, a party of wealthy ‘Bright Young Things’ are delayed by heavy fog at Victoria Station. As they wait for the weather to lift, they take refuge in a hotel – but over the course of their stay, their lives change imperceptibly. Listed as one of the Guardian’s 100 best novels, this wry, dazzling, tale of self-absorbed socialites on the eve of war is adapted by veteran radio dramatist Neville Teller.

First published 1939 (Party Going), 1945 (Loving), 1952 (Doting)

Cast and credits
Written by Henry Green

Loving
Charley Raunce – Martin Kemp
Edith – Leanne Rowe
Miss Welch – Pauline Ouirke
Mrs Tennant – Joanna David
Violet – Claudia Harrison
Miss Burch – Amanda Root
Kate – Zoe Tapper
Capt Davenport – Mark Straker
Bert – Harry Eden
Albert – Johnny Brennan
Other parts played by members of the cast

Doting
Mr Arthur Middleton – Frederick Treves
Mrs Diana Middleton – Fenella Fielding
Master Peter Middleton – Stephen Pacey
Mr Charles Addinsell – James Villiers
Miss Annabel Paynton – Illona Linthwaite
Miss Claire Belaine – Mary-Claire Nash

Party Going
Angela Crevy – Amanda Murray
Robin Adams – Paul Herzberg
Miss Fellowes – Renee Asherson
Claire Hignam – Rosalind Shanks
Robert Hignam – Martin Connor
Evelyn Henderson – Penelope Lee
The Stranger – Sean Arnold
Julia Wray – Selina Cadell
Amabel – Frances Jeater
Max Adey – David McAlister
Edwards – Haydn Wood
Alex Alexander – Geoffrey Bateman
Thomson – Nick Brimble
Station announcer/Porter – Graham Faulkner
Driver/Porter – Alexander John
Clerk/Driver – John Livesey
Mr Roberts – Alan Dudley
Mr Wray/Floor waiter – John Forbes-Robertson
Cloakroom attendant – Sonia Fraser
Mr Ogilvie/Stationmaster/Doctor – David Graham
Counter Assistant/Receptionist – Jane Knowles
Counter Assistant/Room service – Vanessa Knox-Mawer
Embassy Richard/Passer-by – Rupert Everett

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