What happens
Robert and Jane Marriott, a wealthy English couple, live through the turn of the twentieth century while Robert goes off to fight in the Boer War. Their servants, Bridges and Ellen, share in the household's hopes and fears as New Year's Eve 1899 passes into 1900. Their sons Edward and Joe play at war in the nursery, and Jane waits anxiously for news from South Africa. The story follows the family through the wartime years, with the death of Queen Victoria and the changing times that follow. This Lux Radio Theatre production, broadcast on December 28, 1936, stars Herbert Marshall and Madeleine Carroll, with Una O'Connor, David Niven and Douglas Scott. The play is by Noel Coward.
London, England, from New Year's Eve 1899 through the Boer War and into 1901
Characters: Robert Marriott, Jane Marriott, Bridges, Ellen, Edward Marriott, Joe Marriott, Margaret, Fanny
Listen for: Jane's anxious wait for news of Robert in South Africa, and the family's New Year's Eve toast in 1899
Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.