The Amateur Gentleman: A Full-Cast BBC Radio Dramatisation

A vintage 13-part dramatisation of Jeffery Farnol’s historical romance

When 22-year-old Barnabas Barty, the son of a landlord and ex-prize fighter, unexpectedly inherits £700,000 from his uncle in Jamaica, he decides to fulfil his dream of becoming a gentleman. Leaving his father’s country inn in Kent, he sets off to London determined to enter the beau monde.

En route, he meets and falls in love with a beautiful woman, and engages in fisticuffs with an arrogant aristocrat in a green coat. Though the lady vanishes before Barnabas can ask for her name, he later learns that she is Lady Cleone Meredith… and that he has several rivals for her affections. He also learns that he has made a powerful enemy – for the man he knocked down was Sir Mortimer Carnaby, a member of the Ton and a close friend of the Prince Regent…

Has Barnabas blighted his chances of becoming a person of quality? Can he ever win the heart of the fair Cleone? And what will fashionable London make of this amateur gentleman?

Alongside Georgette Heyer, Jeffery Farnol largely originated the ‘Regency romance’ genre, and in his 50-year career he wrote over 40 bestselling tales of love and adventure. The Amateur Gentleman was among his most popular novels, and was adapted as a film three times in the 1920s and 1930s. First broadcast in 1966, this classic BBC Radio dramatisation stars Brian Hewlett as Barnabas, with Anthony Jackson as the Storyteller and Eva Haddon as Cleone.

Cast Barnabas Barty – Brian Hewlett Storyteller – Anthony Jackson John Barty/Captain Slingsby – John Dearth Mr Crabtree – Stephen Jack Nathaniel Bell/Jack Truelove/Jaspar Gaunt – Wilfred Babbage A Chapman/Pufton, a Gentleman-in-Powder/Quinly – Michael McClain Sir Mortimer Carnaby/Jerry Tucker, the Bosun/Coachman/Waiter//Mr Tressider/Bow Street Runner – Ronald Herdman Cleone – Eva Haddon John Chumley/Gamekeeper/Jaspar Shrig – Basil Jones Viscount Devenham – Henry Stamper Milo – Nigel Anthony Mr Chichester/Guard – Anthony Hall John Peterby/A landlord – Kevin McHugh Clemency Dare – Carol Marsh Billy Button/Corporal Richard Roe/Nick, the Cobbler – Michael Kilgarriff A Fussy Gentleman/Sir George Annersley/Mr Bimby – Walter Fitzgerald Gabriel Martin/Major Piper – Alan Dudley Digby Smivvle – Harold Kasket The Marquis of Jerningham – John Justin Ronald Barrymaine – Allan McClelland A woman debtor/Mrs Smummitt – Anna Burden Duchess of Camberhurst – Noel Hood Countess of Orme – Joan Matheson Marquis of Jerningham – John Justin Ralph Darville – Noel Howlett

Adapted by Felix Felton and Susan Ashman Produced by John Powell First broadcast BBC Home Service, 29 July-21 October 1966

Episode list 1. The Road to London 2. The Lace Handkerchief 3. At Oakshott’s Barn 4. The Duties of a Valet 5. The Misfortunes of Ronald Barrymaine 6. Annersley Revisited 7. Barnaby Bright 8. Wagers and Warnings 9. The Great Steeplechase 10. The Gathering Shadows 11. Account Settled 12. The Harder Way 13. The Duchess Decides

© 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

© 2026 BBC Digital Audio (Lydbog): 9781529978087

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Lydbog: 26. marts 2026