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Hope and Sheila

It's 1968. After two decades in Britain, Hope wants her children to work hard and keep their heads down, as she’s taught them, but they’re not listening anymore. By Roy Williams.

By Roy Williams

We began following the lives of Hope James, Eunice Faith Isaac and Gloria de Soto as they were beginning their lives in the UK in 1946. It’s now 1968 and Hope and second husband Rodney worry about the three English-born youngsters they are raising and the turbulent times they are living through in the aftermath of Enoch Powell's infamous speech and the emergence of the Black Power movement. Can Hope heal the family by revealing the secret she has kept from Sheila, Jean and James all their lives?

Hope ..... Danielle Vitalis
Rodney ..... Richie Campbell
Sheila ..... Keziah Joseph
Connor ..... Laurie Kynaston
Jean ..... Cecilia Appiah
James ..... Michael Ajao
Miss Grayling ..... Joanna Monro
Giles ..... Luke Pierre
Woman ..... Carol Russell

Produced and directed by Pat Cumper

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Faith, Hope and Glory’ returns for its fifth series on Radio 4. We began following the lives of Hope James, Eunice Faith Isaac and Gloria de Soto in the UK in 1946. Two generations of three families, bound together by the fate of one baby lost and found on Tilbury Docks in 1946, are taking their place in the rapidly changing Britain of the late 1960s.

This series is set in 1968. Racial tensions are growing, partly as a result of Enoch Powell’s controversial 'Rivers of Blood' speech and the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968. It was the year of increasing student protest and the rise of the Black Panther movement in Britain.

Hope still works at the hospital as a sister, having long accepted that she will never be promoted. She is happily married to her second husband, Rodney. The children are growing up fast. James is now a mechanic and Jean is about to do her O-Levels. But Hope’s biggest worry is Sheila who moved out after she and her mother had another blazing row - this time about her going to an anti-Vietnam march. Sheila is living with Connor in a squat down the road. Hope’s missing daughter Eunice is never far from her mind.

Available now

44 minutes

Last on

Mon 20 Feb 2023 14:15

Broadcast

  • Mon 20 Feb 2023 14:15