Flashman & More: Three Full-Cast BBC Radio Dramatisations

by George MacDonald Fraser, Joss Ackland (Narrator), Nigel Anthony (Narrator)

Full-cast adaptations of two Flashman novels, plus a standalone historical romp, a humorous short story and an interview with George MacDonald Fraser

Scottish author George MacDonald Fraser took the loutish bully from Thomas Hughes’ Tom Brown's Schooldays and gave him a new lease of life. Over the course of 12 novels, caddish anti-hero Flashman swashbuckled his way around the British Empire, playing a key role in some of the 19th century’s most significant events.

Adapted for BBC Radio, and featuring a stellar cast, this collection

Flash for Freedom! – It is 1848 and Flashman is considering a political career. But a disastrous card game with Disraeli plunges him into hair-raising involvement with a murderous sea captain, the transatlantic slave trade, the Underground Railroad and Abraham Lincoln.

Flashman at the Charge – Renowned bounder, blackguard, liar, lecher, and self-confessed coward Sir Harry Flashman suffers the ill fortune of being caught up in the Charge of the Light Brigade – and rides with the descendants of Genghis Khan against the might of Imperial Russia, as he attempts to save British India…

Good Queen Bess and the Dastardly Don – England, 1599, and at the Spanish Embassy, a devilish plot is brewing. New envoy Don Diego claims to possess a compromising letter written by Queen Elizabeth 50 years and unless it is retrieved, her reputation as the Virgin Queen will be in tatters. Time to call in Mistress Phoebe Fosdyke, Secret Agent…

‘Monsoon Selection Board’ – Corporal David MacNeill recalls his challenging time in 1940s Burma, when he was part of a battalion trying to stop the Japanese army escaping. Hoping to become an officer, he is sent to face the Selection Board – but can he prove his mettle?

George MacDonald Fraser – James Naughtie talks to George MacDonald Fraser about his inspiration for the Flashman books, writing a Bond screenplay, and why we can’t resist a rogue.

Text copyright George MacDonald Fraser 1970 (‘Monsoon Selection Board’), 1971 (Flash for Freedom!), 1973 (Flashman at the Charge), 2000 (Good Queen Bess and the Dastardly Don)

Cast and credits

Written by George MacDonald Fraser

Flash for Freedom

Featuring Joss Ackland, Rhys Meredith, Nigel Anthony, Christian Rodska, William Hope, Ndidi Del Fatti, Emily Wachter, Jamie Newall, Robert Hastie, Damian Lynch, Stuart Milligan

Dramatised by George MacDonald Fraser

Directed by Patrick Rayner

First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 27 Mar-3 Apr 2005

Flashman at the Charge

Featuring Joss Ackland, Angus Wright, Jayne McKenna, Tracy-Ann Oberman, Nigel Anthony, David Holt, David Bannerman, Peter Kenny

Dramatised by George MacDonald Fraser

Directed by Patrick Rayner

First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 13-20 Oct 2002

Good Queen Bess and the Dastardly Don

Featuring Vivienne Dixon, Crawford Logan, Katherine Igoe, Mark McDonnell, James Bryce, Julie Austin

Written by George MacDonald Fraser

Directed by Patrick Rayner

First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 20 May 2000

‘Monsoon Selection Board’

Read by Tom Fleming

Produced by Bruce Young

First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 5 Oct 1990

George MacDonald Fraser

Presented by James Naughtie

With George MacDonald Fraser

Produced by Dymphna Flynn

First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 1 Jan 2006

Audible Audio

Published January 30, 2025

About the author

George MacDonald Fraser is best known for his Flashman series of historical novels, purportedly written by Harry Flashman, a fictional coward and bully originally created by Thomas Hughes in Tom Brown's School Days. The novels are presented as "packets" of memoirs written by the nonagenarian Flashman, who looks back on his days as a hero of the British Army during the 19th century. The series begins with Flashman, and is notable for the accuracy of the historical settings and praise from critics. P.G. Wodehouse said of Flashman, “If ever there was a time when I felt that ‘watcher-of-the-skies-when-a-new-planet’ stuff, it was when I read the first Flashman.”