What happens
Jean Valjean, a released convict, is given shelter by a kindly bishop after stealing a loaf of bread years earlier. Breaking parole, he reinvents himself as Monsieur Madeleine, a prosperous factory owner in the town of Montreuil, while the dogged police inspector Javert begins to suspect his true identity. Valjean's past catches up with him when another man is accused of being him, and he must decide whether to reveal himself. The episode, from the Lux Radio Theatre series, aired on December 22, 1952, and stars Ronald Colman as Valjean, Debra Paget as Cosette, and Robert Newton as Javert. Adapted from Victor Hugo's novel, the story follows Valjean's long struggle between justice and mercy.
France in the early nineteenth century, including a prison ship, a bishop's home, the town of Montreuil and Paris.
Characters: Jean Valjean, Javert, Bishop, Monsieur Madeleine, Cosette, Marius, Fantine
Listen for: Listen for the bishop's act of mercy toward Valjean and Javert's growing suspicion of the factory owner.
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.