Home Front: The Complete BBC Radio Collection, Volume 1

By: Lucy Catherine, Katie Hims, Sebastian Baczkiewicz, Richard Monks, Sarah Daniels, Shaun McKenna

Narrated by: full cast, Toby Jones, Ami Metcalf, Keely Beresford, Mark Stobbart, Michael Bertenshaw, Freddie Fox, Harriet Walters

Length: 38 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

Series 1-5 of the groundbreaking BBC Radio 4 drama charting life on the home front during World War One

First heard on radio between 4 August 2014 and 9 November 2018, each episode of Home Front is set exactly 100 years before the broadcast date, and each follows one character’s day. Together they create a mosaic of experience from a wide cross section of society, mixing historical fact with enthralling fiction to explore how ordinary people coped with daily life in wartime Britain.

The story begins in Folkestone, as the first troops march off to the front lines. Soon, families such as the Grahams and the Wilsons begin to feel the impact of war, as the wounded return and first Belgian refugees, then Canadian troops, arrive in the seaside resort. In addition, the White Feather and suffragette movements grow in popularity, and a tide of grief increasingly leads people to thoughts of the hereafter.

Industrial Tynemouth, meanwhile, is experiencing a quite different war. The factories and shipyards are at peak production, and more women are joining the workforce. At the munitions factory, owner Geoffrey Marshall and his family must adapt to the changing times - as must workers like Fraser and Edie Chadwick.

Tackling themes including the outbreak of war, recruitment, industry, profiteering and spiritualism are some of radio’s foremost dramatists including Katie Hims, Sebastian Baczkiewicz and Shaun McKenna. Among the extensive cast are Michael Bertenshaw, Keely Beresford, Freddie Fox, Ami Metcalf, Edmund Wiseman, Barbara Flynn, Mark Stobbart and Toby Jones, with Dame Harriet Walter making a cameo appearance as Emmeline Pankhurst.

©2018 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2018 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Excellent Radio Drama!

This is an incredibly well done radio drama. It can be tough to keep track of all the characters, but if you go to the BBC 4 website you can see a list of them. It touches on virtually every aspect of World War One on the British Home Front.

Exceptionally engrossing drama

This is a most wonderful drama set during the turmoil of WWI in Britain. The only thing that one needs is a character list to keep up, although you can get on the BBC 4 website and print one off. It comes in handy! The characters are voiced to perfection, capturing all of the emotional spectrum, just like in a stage play. I can’t wait for the next volume! I wish it would keep going and going. But at 38-39 hours per volume times three, that’s not a bad set up.

love love love

Great storyline and performance. It was my cross Atlantic companion. lost myself in the performance and was annoyed that I had to come back to reality. Bought series 2 and 3. I am escaping again.

What a treat for the ears!!

Loved this audio book got lost in the characters and story. Every character was genuine and the story kept me coming back for more . Will get the other 2 volumes as well.

Great Listen

This is 39 hours long, yet a completed it all in two weeks and have already downloaded the next volume, keen for the next installment.

Each of the chapters is only 10mins long which makes it so easy to listen when doing any type of task....even if only 10mins. I think that is the reason I have got though it so quick.

Great performances and very interesting to see the perspectives of World War I from the perspectives of the different aspects of society. I feel I have learnt so much about the culture and way of thinking of people at that time.

Amazing piece of work

Fantastic writing and acting. Beautifully structured epic drama exploring the lives of many different people in WW1. Very engaging and easy to listen to, especially as it is in short chapters of about 15 mins. Thoroughly recommend it and cannot wait to listen to next series.

Sublime performance

Really good in site into ww1. Excellent characters and stories.

If you like dramatisation... This is def worth it

Outstanding - addictive listening

Really immersive listening. What is so striking is so many people were killed - where every family, friendship group experienced loss and listening to the impact, how people coped and were changed by this was moving.

Listening to this drama at this time has a strange resonance to the current news of wars as some small reminder of the real impact of suffering.

Full credit to the BBC for this quality of drama.

A very good radio soap-opera

I really liked this series. There are three in total and they are all very long. This first series had good characters and storylines. Things got a bit silly a couple of times, but didn't ruin my listening. It's set at home, not on the WW1 battlefields.

Excellent, but seems to be a chunk missing

I've started listening to this epic quite recently and I'm enjoying it. However, I had got to October 3rd 1914 when it suddenly jumped to December 1st 1914. Unless I'm mistaken I thought it was supposed to be every consecutive day mirroring the actual days of WWI. Can Audible confirm this is the case, and if there is a chunk missing please could a complete recording be made available?

A thoroughly enjoyable listen

What a wonderful story, giving an insight into World War 1 through this dramatisation . I feel sure that the reality was far worse than the stories portray but I really enjoyed the way that the story was told through the various characters view points. Very well written and good performances by all. I would thoroughly recommend to any who enjoys the Archers or similar radio broadcasts.

Very enjoyable

I'm enjoying this very much love the detail great cast
Love all these bbc programmes on the radio am looking forward to listening volumes2 and 3

Just brilliant

I love this series. Very well acted, fabulous characters. Can’t wait to start volume 2. Highly highly recommend

Enjoyable but disjointed

An enjoyable listen that is well narrated but a little difficult to follow as the story jumps from one characters point of view to another.