by Charles Dickens
Adapted for radio in twelve parts by Giles Cooper
2-1 Oliver Runs Away '
Produced by Charles Lefeaux
A child is born in a Midland workhouse to a poor creature who has staggered in from nobody knows where. A few minutes after the birth the mother dies and Mrs. Corney. the workhouse matron, leaves the laying-out of the body to an old pauper, Sally, who finds something of interest and value which she keeps. The boy becomes a ward of the parish under the care of Mr. Bumble, the beadle, who names him Oliver Twist. For his first nine years Oliver is farmed out to live a life of hunger and neglect at the parish nursery, and is then brought before the Board, who consign him to a life of equal neglect in the workhouse.
While there he is chosen by lot to approach the Master one dinner-time and ask for more. This rebellious conduct decides the Board that they must get rid of him at once. After an unsuccessful attempt to apprentice him to a chimney-sweep, he finds himself bound to Mr. Sowerberry, the local undertaker, where, on his first night, he is shown his bed in the workshop among the coffins.

by Charles Dickens
Adapted for radio by Giles Cooper
6—' A Proposal'
Produced by Charles Lefeaux
Oliver having been kidnapped by Nancy Sikesand Bill Sikes, is hurried away to Fagin's house where he is received with great glee. He tries unsuccessfully to escape. Nancy prevents Sikes from setting his dog on him and defies Fagin when he remonstrates with her. Meanwhile Mr. Brownlow has offered a reward for information about the boy, and the notice has been read by Mr. Bumble, who is visiting London. He tells Mr. Brownlow that Oliver has always been worthless and dishonest. Fagin and Bill Sikes plan a burglary at Cherbey. A boy is needed to enter by a small window, and the ' fence persuades Bill to use Oliver, knowing that once the boy is incriminated he will be in his power, thus satisfying his own ends and those of Monks. Nancy takes Oliver to Bill Sikes' house so that they shall be ready to start early the next morning.

by Charles Dickens
Adapted for radio in twelve parts by Giles Cooper
4—' Kidnapped'
Produced by Charles Lefeaux
On arrival in London after running away from Mr. Sowerberry, Oliver stays with Fagin, not at first realising that the old man is a criminal and that he uses his boys to pick pockets for him. He meets Nancy, an associate of Fagin. Soon after, Monks calls; he is startled when he sees Oliver and pays Fagin to bring about the boy's disgrace. Oliver begins his apprenticeship in crime by being sent out with the Artful Dodger and Charley Bates. To his horror they pick an old gentleman's pocket and run away, leaving Oliver to be chased and captured. He is taken to court, where he collapses just before being sentenced, but at the last moment he is saved by new evidence. The old gentleman. Mr. Brownlow, has pity on him and takes him to his own house in Pentonville.

by Charles Dickens
Adapted for radio by Giles Cooper 3 — ' In Trouble'
Characters in order of speaking:
Produced by Charles Lefeaux
Oliver, apprenticed to Mr. Sowerberry, spends his first night in the shop among the coffins; in the morning he meets for the first time Noah Claypole, his work-mate, who bullies him. Oliver spends some weeks with Mr. Sowerberry reluctantly learning the gloomy trade. One evening while his master is out Oliver is taunted by Noah with his shameful birth; furious at hearing his mother mocked Oliver flies at the charity-boy and attacks him so savagely that only the combined effort of Mrs. Sowerberry and Charlotte, the maid, succeed in dragging him ofl. Shut in the coal cellar, he defies Mr. Bumble and is beaten by Mr. Sowerberry. He determines to run away, so the next morning, after a brief visit to his friend, Dick, he sets out for London. After walking for seven days he arrives, miserable and alone, at Barnet, where he meets a young gentleman who introduces himself as Jack Dawkins , The Artful Dodger. Hearing that Oliver is friendless the Dodger takes him to London to meet an old gentleman who will make his fortune. The old gentleman is Fagin.
(Wilfrid Downing is appearing in ' Peter Pan ' at the Scala Theatre, London)

by Charles Dickens
Adapted for radio in twelve parts by Giles Cooper
(To be repeated on Thursday at 3.10)

Oliver, having been kidnapped by Nancy and Bill Sikes, is hurried away to Fagin's house where he is received with great glee. He tries unsuccessfully to escape. Nancy prevents Sikes from setting his dog on him and defies Fagin when he remonstrates with her. Meanwhile Mr. Brownlow has offered a reward for information about the boy, and the notice has been read by Mr. Bumble, who is visiting London. He tells Mr. Brownlow that Oliver has always been worthless and dishonest. Fagin and Bill Sikes plan a burglary at Chertsey. A boy is needed to enter by a small window, and the 'fence' persuades Bill to use Oliver, knowing that once the boy is incriminated he will be in his power, thus satisfying his own ends and those of Monks. Nancy takes Oliver to Bill Sikes' house so that they shall be ready to start early the next morning.

by Charles Dickens
Adapted for radio by Giles Cooper
Characters in order of speaking: [see below]

After the murder of Nancy, Bill flees into the country but is so hounded by terror and remorse that he returns to London. Monks is apprehended by Harry and Mr. Brownlow. Threatened with exposure he reveals his relationship to Oliver and admits he intended to ruin him. He agrees to sign a full confession and Mr. Brownlow decides to go to Oliver's birthplace to find witnesses. Their interview is interrupted by the news that Bill Sikes has been cornered in a group of derelict buildings near Rotherhithe, called Jacob's Island. A huge crowd has assembled to see the murderer caught, but he defies them and determines to escape by the river.

by Charles Dickens
Adapted for radio by Giles Cooper

Characters in order of speaking:
Produced by Charles Lefeaux

While Oliver is lying ill in Mr. Brownlow's house, Fagin is frantic with worry, partly lest the boy should betray him, and partly for fear of Monks who threatens to inform against him should Oliver not be found. All the band, including Bill Sikes the housebreaker, take part in the hunt, and the boy is eventually traced. A watch is kept on the house. After several weeks, when Oliver is well enough to walk, Mr. Brownlow determines to question him about his origin. He is curious about the boy because of a resemblance he bears to a piciure of a girl, Agnes, which hangs in the house. Just as ne is about to begin his questioning he is interrupted by an old friend, Mr. Grimwig, who expresses mistrust of Oliver. His protector, anxious to prove the child's honesty, sends him on an errand. Oliver walks straight into the arms of Nancy and Bill Sikes. While his friends sit waiting for him to return, be is hustled away with threats and curses.

by Charles Dickens
Adapted for radio by Giles Cooper
Characters in order of speaking:
Produced by Charles Lefeaux

Bill Sikes takes Oliver to Chertsey where they meet Toby Crackit. The house to be burgled belongs to a Mrs. Maylie who lives there with Rose, her adopted niece. Oliver is put through the window but an alarm is raised and he is shot in the arm by Giles the butler. Bill Sikes abandons him in a ditch. On the same night, in the town where Oliver was born, Mr. Bumble proposes to Mrs. Corney the workhouse matron. She is called away to old Sally, who attended Oliver's mother, and is now dying herself. She tells Mrs. Corney of the locket she stole and the matron takes the pawn ticket from the old woman's dead hand. On the morning after the burglary, while Giles is describing the night's adventures, there comes a knock at the door. It is Oliver, almost dead from exhaustion and loss of blood.

by Charles Dickens
Adapted for radio by Giles Cooper
2—' Oliver Runs Away'

by Charles Dickens
Adapted for radio by Giles Cooper

Characters in order of speaking: [see below]

Fagin, seeing that Nancy is acting strangely, believes she has a new lover. Anxious to meet him, he makes Noah shadow her on the following Sunday when she goes to London Bridge. The boy sees her meet Rose and Mr. Brownlow, and hears her describe Monks to them. They beg her to betray the rest of the gang but she refuses. Fagin, however, tells Bill Sikes that she has in fact done so. Sikes, in a frenzy of rage, murders her.

by Charles Dickens
Adapted for radio by Giles Cooper
Produced by Charles Lefeaux

Oliver, wounded in the attempted burglary at Chertsey, is lovingly tended in Mrs. Maylie's house. He recovers slowly. Fagin, furious at the loss of the boy, plots his recapture in a conversation with Monks which is overheard by Nancy. Monks decides to go to Oliver's birthplace to find out whether any proofs of his parentage exist. When he arrives there he meets Mr. Bumble, now married to Mrs. Corney, a state which he heartily regrets. The beadle brings his wife to a disused warehouse where the locket and ring worn by Oliver's mother are sold to Monks and destroyed. Meanwhile Noah Claypole and Charlotte, having rifled the Sowerberrys' till, are on their way to London.

by Charles Dickens
Adapted for radio in twelve parts by Giles Cooper

by Charles Dickens
7—' Friends and Enemies '

by Charles Dickens
5 — ' A Robber's Apprentice '

by Charles Dickens
12-' Conclusion '

by Charles Dickens
6 — ' A Proposal'

by Charles Dickens
1—' The Parish Orphan '

by Charles Dickens
3—' In Trouble '