Primo Levi's The Periodic Table

Scientist, resistance fighter and Holocaust survivor, Primo Levi was one of Italy's greatest writers and an internationally renowned chronicler of human nature. In his masterpiece The Periodic Table, he charts his incredible life story through the medium of chemistry, using the titular list of elements - the building blocks of everything - as a prism to explore his experiences and search his soul. In this superlative BBC adaptation, all 21 of the peerless stories in Levi's memoir are incorporated into 11 radio episodes, comprising both compelling dramatisations (starring Henry Goodman as the older Primo and Akbar Kurtha as his younger self) and eloquent readings by Paul Copley, Ben Crowe, Evie Killip and Henry Goodman. The chapters are preceded by a short introductory feature by Janet Suzman, discussing Levi's life and writing and featuring archive interviews with Levi himself. We hear of Levi's student days in Fascist Italy, his battles as a partisan, his imprisonment in Auschwitz, his subsequent career as a professional chemist, and his imagined meeting with his Piedmontese ancestors - as well as his job in a paint factory in the 1960s and an unsettling encounter with his past. Alongside these autobiographical meditations are fabulous fictional tales of a European prospector, a little girl enchanted by white paint, an 1820s captain living on a remote island with strange chemical properties, and the incredible, centuries-long journey of a single carbon atom... Named 'the best science book ever' by the Royal Institution of Great Britain, this astonishing compilation fuses autobiography and fantasy, science and emotion, to extraordinary effect. Vivid, powerful and breathtaking, it will surprise, amuse and move you, lingering in your imagination and changing the way you look at the world. Written by Primo Levi Dramatised by Graham White from the translation by Raymond Rosenthal Introduced by Janet Suzman Produced and directed by Emma Harding and Marc Beeby Vanadium, Part 1 Older Primo - Henry Goodman Cometto - John Rowe Dr Muller - Erich Redman Younger Primo - Akbar Kurtha Lucia - Juliet Aubrey Polish overseer - Chris Pavlo Argon Older Primo - Henry Goodman Cesare - John Rowe Jacob - David Horovitch Moses - David Hounslow Samuel - Sam Dale Abigail - Jessica Turner Zepora - Debra Baker Sulphur Read by Ben Crowe Titanium Read by Evie Killip Lead Read by Paul Copley Mercury Abrahams - Paul Hilton Maggie - Amelia Lowdell Hendrik - Nicholas Murchie Willem - Leo Wan Andrea - Chris Pavlo Gaetano - George Watkins Burton - Richard Pepple Rebecca - Debra Baker Woman - Katie Redford Iron Younger Primo - Akbar Kurtha Older Primo - Henry Goodman Enrico/Marchetti - Caolan McCarthy Rina - Debra Baker Lazzari - Sam Dale Luca - Leo Wan Giulia - Rebecca Hamilton Caselli - Stephen Critchlow Bettega - George Watkins Rita - Katie Redford Sandro - Andrew Rothney Dallaporta - Richard Pepple Antaeus - David Hounslow Alida - Amelia Lowdell Gold Older Primo - Henry Goodman Younger Primo - Akbar Kurtha Vanda - Rebecca Hamilton Silvio - Leo Wan Lina - Evie Killip Aldo - George Watkins Militiaman 1/Prisoner - David Hounslow Militiaman 2 - Caolan McCarthy Fossa - Stephen Critchlow Cagni - Nicholas Murchie Cerium Older Primo - Henry Goodman Younger Primo - Akbar Kurtha Alberto - Leo Wan Guard - Erich Redman Prisoner 1- David Hounslow Prisoner 2 - Sam Dale Arsenic and Silver Older Primo - Henry Goodman Younger Primo - Akbar Kurtha Versino - Jessica Turner Lentini - Nicholas Murchie Bruni - David Horovitch Cometto - John Rowe Lucia - Juliet Aubrey Gallery director/Emilio's father - Stephen Critchlow Emilio - Caolan McCarthy Farmer - David Hounslow Customer - Ben Crowe Bonino - Sam Dale Gina - Rebecca Hamilton Vanadium, Part 2 Older Primo - Henry Goodman Younger Primo - Akbar Kurtha Cometto - John Rowe Dr Muller - Erich Redman Lucia - Juliet Aubrey Polish overseer - Chris Pavlo Postwoman - Debra Baker Carbon Read by Henry Goodman