Charles Dickens: A Brain on Fire! 🔥

Dominic is joined by the inimitable Dr. Joanna Hofer-Robinson and Dr. Pete Orford, for a lively discussion on their new publication The Plays of Charles Dickens .
This is the first ever critical edition of Dickens’ plays which include the early farces of The Strange Gentleman, The Village Coquettes, Is She His Wife, Or Something Singular, The Lamplighter … and his later collaborations of Mr Nightingale’s Diary, The Frozen Deep and No Thoroughfare ...
Original cover headshot of Dominic Gerrard © Jane Lloyd Original cover headshot of Joanna Hofer-Robinson c/o University of Warwick © Original cover headshot of Pete Orford c/o University of Buckingham © Background watercolour of Interior of St. James Theatre, London (c. 1835) by John Gregory Crace & sourced by Wikimedia Commons
Piano music of John Hullah & Joseph W. Turner played by Dominic Gerrard

Additional Sound Effects have been provided under license through Epidemic Sound
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If you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrard

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Host: Dominic Gerrard
Series Artwork: Léna Gibert
Original Music: Dominic Gerrard

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Dominic is joined by the inimitable Dr. Céline Prest who guides today's discussion on A Tale of Two Cities  - one of the most gripping, exciting and heart-rending stories that Dickens ever wrote. 
Céline completed her Phd at the Sorbonne University in 2016. Her doctoral research was awarded the André Topia Prize by the Chancellerie des Universitiés de Paris, and the Robert B. Partlow Jr prize by the Dickens Society. In 2019 she published a new edition of The Pickwick Papers for Gallimard. And in 2023 she published a monograph Le Spectre du document dans l’œuvre romanesque de Charles Dickens ...
Original Photo of Céline Prest © Chancellerie des Universités de Paris - Sylvain Lhermie / Original Photo of Dominic Gerrard © Jane Lloyd / Original Dickens illustrations sourced from Michael John Goodman's incredible Charles Dickens Illustrated Gallery
Support the show
If you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrard

Thank you so much!

Host: Dominic Gerrard
Series Artwork: Léna Gibert
Original Music: Dominic Gerrard

Thank you for listening!

Ahead of a new series this month Dominic re-shares his popular interview with the inimitable Armando Iannucci!
Armando is one of the leading comedy writers and political satirists of our time - where we delve into his literary passions and influences.
This lively conversation peels back the layers of Armando's lifelong love of Charles Dickens - Martin Chuzzlewit in particular -and his interest in John Milton's masterpiece Paradise Lost and how these literary giants have left an indelible mark on his work. How he would later go on to write, produce and direct his own adaptation of David Copperfield, and whether he agrees that the character of Alan Partridge belongs in Dickens' canon of comic creations!
With readings from the wonderful Rebecca Tanwen.
Original cover headshot of Armando Iannucci © Matt Crockett / Original cover headshot of Dominic Gerrard © Jane Lloyd & Original Dickens illustrations sourced from Michael John Goodman's incredible Charles Dickens Illustrated Gallery
Support the show
If you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrard

Thank you so much!

Host: Dominic Gerrard
Series Artwork: Léna Gibert
Original Music: Dominic Gerrard

Thank you for listening!

Charles Dickens: A Brain on Fire! will return in the summer ...
In the meantime there are nearly 100 Episodes to enjoy with guests such as: Stephen Fry, Miriam Margolyes, Armando Iannucci, Andrew Davies, Alice Loxton, Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, Lucinda Hawksley, John Bowen, John Mullan, Rosie Holt,  Steven Knight …. And many more!
And if you’d like to make a small donation to cover the costs of researching, recording and producing this series, wherever and whenever you listening to this you can follow the link below and buy a coffee! ☕️ 
Also - if you feel these episodes have earned a five star rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ please consider scrolling down right now and added them there. 
With Best wishes,
Dominic x
Support the show
If you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrard

Thank you so much!

Host: Dominic Gerrard
Series Artwork: Léna Gibert
Original Music: Dominic Gerrard

Thank you for listening!

Dominic welcomes back one of the most celebrated guests of this series Professor Robert Douglas-Fairhurst ... 
Robert’s latest book Look Closer: How to get more out of reading (published by Penguin) is an invitation to all of us to go deeper into our reading, and find greater joy and meaning in the works of great writers from all ages and backgrounds. With examples from Dickens (of course!) but also George Eliot, Shakespeare, Margaret Attwood, Samuel Becket, Jane Austen and many more … 
Since they last spoke Robert has also published Metamorphosis: A Life in Pieces : a deeply powerful biography of his life and career, set against the backdrop of shock diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis in 2017.
Here are links to purchase Robert's books:
Look Closer: How to get more out of reading
Metamorphosis: A Life in Pieces
The Turning Point: A Year That Changed Dickens and the World  
A Christmas Carol & Other Christmas Books 
Becoming Dickens: The Invention of a Novelist
Original cover headshot of Dominic Gerrard © Jane Lloyd / Original cover headshot of Robert Douglas-Fairhurst © John Cairns / Background shows A hand-written manuscript of William Wordsworth's 'I wandered lonely as a cloud' also known as 'Daffodils' (1802) © The British Library Board / Public Domain & Ullswater from Gobarrow Park (1819) J. M. W. Turner, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Support the show
If you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrard

Thank you so much!

Host: Dominic Gerrard
Series Artwork: Léna Gibert
Original Music: Dominic Gerrard

Thank you for listening!