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Maxine Peake, actor

Maxine Peake, actor, shares the eight tracks, book and luxury item she would take with her if cast away to a desert island. With Lauren Laverne.

Maxine Peake is an actor and writer who first came to public attention in 1998 as Twinkle in the Victoria Wood sitcom Dinnerladies. She went on to play Veronica in Paul Abbott’s series Shameless and later became known for playing real people, including the Hillsborough campaigner Anne Williams, and Sara Rowbotham, the former health worker who exposed the sexual abuse scandal in Rochdale in 2012.

Maxine was born in Bolton and after a rocky start at college – she was asked to leave her performing arts course after just two weeks but stuck it out – she won a scholarship to study at RADA. Three months before she was due to graduate she auditioned for Victoria Wood and won her first television role starring alongside Wood, Julie Walters and Anne Reid.

Victoria Wood advised her to take on a diverse range of roles in order to avoid being typecast as what Maxine calls the β€œfat, funny northerner”. She took the advice to heart and extended her range playing Myra Hindley, Martha Costello QC in the legal drama Silk and Hamlet in a critically acclaimed production at the Royal Exchange theatre in Manchester.

Maxine has also written plays including Beryl: A Love Story on Two Wheels about Beryl Burton, a Yorkshire woman who dominated 1960s cycling and held the record for the men’s 12-hour time trial for two years.

DISC ONE: Mersey Paradise by The Stone Roses
DISC TWO: Puff the Magic Dragon by Bonnie "Prince" Billy and Red
DISC THREE: Joe Hill by Paul Robeson
DISC FOUR: The Four Horsemen by Aphrodite’s Child
DISC FIVE: Evening of Light by Nico
DISC SIX: Promised Land by Joe Smooth
DISC SEVEN: A Whistling Woman by The Unthanks
DISC EIGHT: I Saw the Light by Todd Rundgren

BOOK CHOICE: One Moonlit Night by Caradog Prichard
LUXURY ITEM: A solar-powered epilator
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Joe Hill by Paul Robeson

Presenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Paula McGinley

Available now

35 minutes

Last on

Fri 21 Oct 2022 09:00
ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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Music Played

  • The Stone Roses

    Mersey Paradise maxine

    • Turns Into Stone.
    • Sony Music UK.
    • 4.

  • Bonnie "Prince" Billy and Red

    Puff the Magic Dragon

    • Songs for the Young at Heart.
    • Lucky Dog.
    • 1.

  • Paul Robeson

    Joe Hill

    • Ol' Man River.
    • Black Sheep Music.
    • 24.

  • Aphrodite’s Child

    The Four Horsemen

    • 666.
    • Vertigo.
    • 4.

  • Nico

    Evening Of Light

    • The Marble Index.
    • Elektra.
    • 8.

  • Joe Smooth

    Promised Land

    • Armada Music.

  • The Unthanks

    A Whistling Woman

    • Lines: Parts One, Two & Three.
    • Rabble Rouser Music.
    • 2.

  • Todd Rundgren

    I Saw The Light

    • The Very Best of Todd Rundgren.
    • Rhino.
    • 3.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 16 Oct 2022 11:15
    ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
  • Fri 21 Oct 2022 09:00
    ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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