Strangers on a Train

A suspenseful full-cast BBC radio adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's classic psychological thriller

When Guy Haines meets Charles Bruno in the dining car of a Texas-bound train, they share their secrets in the way that only strangers can. Charles confides his hatred for his controlling father, Guy confesses that he is divorcing his unfaithful wife. As the drink flows and the conversation turns darker, Charles proposes the perfect solution to both their problems - a murder swap - and Guy laughingly agrees.

Back home, he quickly forgets their drunken pact: but Charles does not. Soon Guy is facing a nightmarish choice - fulfil his part of the bargain, or be framed for a murder he didn't commit...

Dramatised for radio by award-winning playwright Craig Warner, this disturbing tale of obsession, blackmail, guilt and fear stars Michael Sheen (Good Omens, Staged) as Guy Haines and Anton Lesser (Game of Thrones, Endeavour) as Charles Bruno.

Credits
Written by Craig Warner, based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith
Original music by Craig Warner
Directed by Andy Jordan

Cast
Charles Bruno........................Anton Lesser
Guy Haines........................Michael Sheen
Anne........................Saskia Reeves
Gerard........................Bill Nighy
Elsie Bruno........................Jane Whittenshaw
Alex........................Denys Hawthorne
Myers........................Roger May
Treacher........................Stephen Critchlow
Cop........................John Hartley
Frear........................Andrew Branch
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 25 January 1996

Strangers on a Train © 1993 by Diogenes Verlag AG Zurich, all rights reserved.
© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd
(p) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Patricia Highsmith was born Mary Patricia Plangman in Fort Worth, Texas. Her parents divorced 10 days after her birth on 19 January 1921, and her mother married her stepfather Stanley Highsmith in 1924 and moved to New York three years later. Their relationship was stormy, and Patricia later described her childhood as 'a little hell'.Highsmith was taught to read by her grandmother at the age of two: the beginning of her lifelong love for books. She studied English at Barnard's College in 1942, and after graduation, took a sales job at Bloomingdale's department store while freelancing as a comic book writer.In 1949, she travelled to Europe, where she eventually settled. Her first novel, Strangers on a Train, was published in 1950, and made into a film by Alfred Hitchcock the following year. Her next book, written under the pseudonym Claire Morgan, was the lesbian love story The Price of Salt (1952), inspired by an encounter with a glamorous blonde in a mink coat during her shop assistant days. In 1955 came The Talented Mr Ripley. Featuring her own favourite character, a charming, amoral psychopath who gets away with murder, the book was a hit with the public and critics alike, and was awarded the Edgar Allan Poe Scroll by the Mystery Writers of America in 1957. It was followed by Ripley Under Ground (1970), Ripley's Game (1974), The Boy Who Followed Ripley (1980), and Ripley Under Water (1991) - collectively known as the Ripliad.Among her other novels were The Cry of the Owl (1962) and A Suspension of Mercy (1965), and she also wrote several collections of short stories including Little Tales of Misogyny (1975) and Tales of Natural and Unnatural Catastrophes (1987). Patricia Highsmith died in Locarno, Switzerland, on 4 February 1995. Her final novel, Small g: a Summer Idyll, was published posthumously the same year.Michael Sheen is a renowned Welsh actor and homelessness activist. His incredible work on stage and screen has gained him numerous awards. A passionate social activist, Michael is the honorary president of Wales Council for Voluntary Action, and a patron of numerous British charities, including NSPCC’s Child’s Voice Appeal and Social Enterprise UK. In 2021, Sheen declared himself a not-for-profit actor. Michael lives in Wales with his partner and two daughters.

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