Drama of the Week

By Roy Williams. We have followed the lives of Caribbean-born Hope and Faith (Eunice) and British-born Gloria since 1946. It’s now 1978, and Hope is struggling with life in a society in which she feels unwelcome and also at home now all her children have flown the nest. Her family are worried and frustrated. Not even the planning for her first grandson’s christening interests her. Can a voice from her distant past jolt the usually ebullient Hope out of her despair?

Hope .... Danielle Vitalis Rodney .... Lloyd Thomas Faith .... Shiloh Coke Sheila .... Keziah Joseph Jimmy .... Michael Ajao Jean ..... Cecilia Appiah Gabriel ..... Darren Hart Errol ..... Joshua-Alexander Williams Boy ..... Tyler Cameron

Produced and directed by Pat Cumper

A BBC Audio Production for BBC Radio 4

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Faith Hope and Glory returns to Radio 4. We began following the lives of Hope, Faith (Eunice) and Gloria in the UK in 1946; three generations of three families bound together by the fate of one baby lost and found on Tilbury Dock. They are now firmly established in their lives in late 1970s Britain.

This series is set in 1978. Although racial tensions continue to simmer, black Britons are taking practical measures to help themselves. Some are standing for election as councillors. Saturday schools are springing up all over the country to support black students suffering discrimination in the education system.

Hope still works at the hospital as a Sister but feels increasingly unwelcome in the UK. Her children have all left home - Sheila is now a teacher, Jean is studying fashion design and Jimmy has just become a father. Despite her strong marriage to second husband Rodney, Hope is struggling and her family have no idea how to help her. It doesn’t help that memories of the loss of her first child have become stronger with the passing of the years.