English Audio - English Audio Books

It is 18 February 1943, and RAF Lancaster bomber WF 183 - call sign O-Orange - is about to set off on its final mission. It is a raid which will touch the lives of hundreds: the civilians in the small German town of Altgarten, consumed by blazing fire, and the crews, both German and British, men and women.

it is a night of horror that few will forget...

When the gripping dramatised version of Bomber was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4, it was transmitted in 'real time' throughout the day, to incredible critical and audience response.

Tom Baker is the Commentator, and an all-star cast includes Jack Shepherd, Frank Windsor, Samuel West, Emma Chambers, Brian Murphy and Michael Troughton.

Bomber is a thrilling, action-packed and ultimately poignant story that will stay in the listener's imagination for a long time to come.

Written By
Len Deighton

First Broadcast
BBC Radio 4
18 February 1995

RECORDED AT
Maida Vale. London W9

Len Deighton's extraordinarily accurate and emotionally charged novel about the raid that went wrong over Altgarten which was published in 1970 is here brought to life in a dramatisation written by Joe Dunlop from the book, produced by Jonathan Ruffle and breathtakenly directed by Adrian Bean. It also features interviews with British and German survivors of that dark period of our history which underline the reality of the dramatisation. The sound effects and the acting are superb and the drama still carries a very strong emotional punch all these years later. It is also one of the few radio productions recorded in Dolby Surround sound. I listened again to it recently and agree with what Len Deighton said at the time of first hearing it; the adaptation for radio works very well.