Cry of the Bittern: A Full-Cast BBC Radio Drama

A full-cast environmental mystery set against the evocative backdrop of the Norfolk fens

Mist rising over the fens. The haunting cry of the nesting bittern. But not everything is as pristine as it appears to be. The protection of nature and the pursuit of progress collide in this thrilling, full-cast, environmental drama.

When Laura McLaren lands a much-needed job with the Environment Agency in Norfolk, her principal concern is the distance it involves from her fiancé Dean. But things soon change when Dean joins a development company, and Laura finds herself trying to help a young girl suffering from a mystery illness. As she seeks to unravel the source of a contamination in a local water supply, Laura quickly discovers greater distances, deeper mysteries, and concerns she had only previously dreamed about. Will the conflict between her career and her relationship with Dean change their lives irrevocably? And what can be done ensure the protection of the delicate eco-system of the fens in the face of relentless progress?

Commissioned for Radio 4 by former Archers’ producer Vanessa Whitburn, this is a gripping full-cast dramatisation by author, playwright and economist Tim Jackson. Since 2016 Jackson has been Director of the Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity (CUSP), which aims to understand the economic, social and political dimensions of sustainable prosperity. His ground-breaking book Prosperity without Growth has been translated into twenty foreign languages and was named as a Financial Times ‘book of the year’ in 2010 and UnHerd’s economics book of the decade in 2019.

Starring Rachel Atkins, Ian Pepperell, and Sean Baker, this series won the Public Awareness of Science (PAWS) Drama Fund award in 1997.

Cast and credits Written by Tim Jackson Directed by Peter Leslie Wild and Vanessa Whitburn Music by Malcom McKee performed by Paul Arden Taylor

Laura McLaren - Rachel Atkins Dean Finch - Ian Pepperell Alice Tibbett - Lesley Carvello Tom Tibett - Terry Molloy Alex Sawyer - Sean Baker Other parts played by Helen Palmer, Peter Tuddenham, Kelly Hunter, Tina Gray, Eric Allan, David Holt, Bella Hamblin, Joe Crowley, Marian Kemmer, Norman Bird, Use Stuart, Daphne Neville, Martin Cookson, Sunny Ormonde, Graham Padden, Peter Gunn, Ian Brooker and James Thackwray

First Broadcast BBC Radio 4, 15th February - 26th March 1999

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© 2025 BBC Digital Audio (Lydbog): 9781529968286

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Lydbog: 4. december 2025