South on the Great North Road by Michael Chaplin

"Many have gone before us now. Many have tried and failed somehow. Many souls on the Queen's highway. Where many a tail-light glowed. With the promise of a better life. Heading South on the Great North Road, South on the Great North Road."

Michael Chaplin’s drama is inspired by the song ‘Going South On The Great North Road’ from Sting's 2016 album 57th and 9th.

Sting says both the road and the journey to London have resonances for him:

'It's about my journey from Newcastle to make my fortune. In my young life I covered enough road miles to recall that relentless gravitational pull, the promise of a different kind of life down that road'.

Down the centuries, countless young people from the North and other points of the compass have made similar journeys.

The central character in this play is one of them, and the drama reveals how that journey threatens to tear Peggy Charlton apart.

In her 30s, Peggy (a long-standing name for the Charlton family girls) has the Great North Road in her blood and bones.

Starring Jessica Johnson and Stephen Tompkinson.

Sting's haunting song, which he has performed acapella for the production, is the counterpoint to this drama.

Peggy ..... Jessica Johnson
Steve ..... Stephen Tompkinson
Kelly ..... Laura Jane Matthewson
Joe ..... Tom Glenister
Jean ..... Judi Earl
The Singer ..... Sting

Director: Eoin O’Callaghan
Producer: Marilyn Imrie

A Big Fish Radio production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in May 2021.