AIRING ON COMMUNITY RADIO STATIONS MARCH 2021
Welcome to the village of Greenborne…
Welcome to the village of Greenborne…After the long months of lockdowns, the villagers of Greenborne begin to rebuild their personal and professional relationships as they negotiate the emerging freedoms of the summer of 2021 with renewed hope and optimism. But when a major figure in the community finally makes her return from a long Covid imposed exile she threatens the villages fragile return to normality…
In what is the first UK radio soap to be broadcast nationwide since Waggoners’ Walk, which ended in 1980, John plays Alan Godwin, the landlord of The Fox and Dragon. An ex-detective inspector and a real rough diamond, he is a tough, streetwise, but honest man with a copper’s nose for trouble. His village, Greenborne, is slowly waking from the long nightmare of Covid-19. Set six months in the future, it starts in the summer of 2021, when the entire country (and world) is adjusting to the new ‘normal’. The majority of the UK population has been vaccinated, but a series of ‘circuit breaker’ lockdowns are still in place. For now, the virus is considered to be under control.
The story begins as a major figure in the community, Evie, [Louise Jameson, Doctor Who, Bergerac, EastEnders) makes her return from a long Covid-19 imposed exile, threatening to ruffle feathers. John’ character (Alan) is struggling to get his business back on its feet while trying to keep his lively younger wife Beverley [Corrinne Wicks, Emmerdale, Doctors] from spending too much time on her back. Meanwhile their twin teenage kids, Lewis and Daisy [Finley Pile and Luci Fish] are busy breaking both hearts and the law.
The owner of the local shop Tanny Jefferson [Amy Rockson, Holby City] is puzzled by mysterious cash losses and her husband Matt [Ali Zayn] appears to be constantly ill. A local Chinese girl, Chloe [Rebecca Yeo, Alien3 and Strangers] is getting hate mail and her partner, Sandra [Niamh McGrady, Holby City, The Fall] is determined to discover the culprit. The local mechanic Arjun [Raj Ghatak, Dead Set, Ghosts and EastEnders] is seeing a new woman, Lisa (Ally Murphy) only months after losing his wife to Covid – much to his son’s fury – and as family patriarch, Samesh [Pal Aron, Casualty, The Archers) attempts to provide the voice of reason, the arrival of Arjun’s sister-in-law, Piya [Bhavnisha Parmar, Doctor Who] adds further complications. If that isn’t enough drama, an exotic Iranian artist, Farhad, [Raad Rawi, Tyrant, Dan Dare] has moved into the village, causing hearts to flutter and gossip to spread.
With misunderstandings, half-truths, secrets, revelations and surprises in every episode, Greenborne offers a fast-paced, fun glimpse at where we might all be on the other side of lockdown and, most importantly of all, while we remain starved of ‘normal life’ it offers a vision of hope for the future.
Greenborne is funded by the Audio Content Fund and broadcast across a Network of Community Radio Stations from mid-March 2021.
