This month's #AudioDrama recommendation could be called a true crime podcast/black comedy crossover.
April: Arden of Faversham
Sometimes attributed to #Shakespeare, it's the story of a series of bungled attempts to kill, until...
#BBCSounds #RadioDrama #DramaOn3
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

I'm glad to hear that. I really do miss #DramaOn3. I've nothing against the plays produced for Radio 4, but they are a different beast. It seems such a missed opportunity too with Audible very prominently promoting its new audio offerings...

And here you can read a column I wrote for @thestage.co.uk (before the cut) about why Drama on 3 should have been saved. Available in full here: www.thestage.co.uk/opinion/opin...
Don't let #DramaOn3 die in vain! It's still there - albeit hidden away - so do use it 📻🎧🎭
(3/3)

Below you'll find an excerpt of a video I posted on Instagram in support of the Save Audio Drama campaign that was run by the @writersguildgb.bsky.social, @equityuk.bsky.social and the @societyofauthors.bsky.social
More on the campaign here: writersguild.org.uk/wggb-campaig...
#DramaOn3 (2/3)

BBC Radio 3 - Drama on 3 - Available now Available episodes of Drama on 3

A year ago today, the last #DramaOn3 was broadcast on #BBCRadio3 #RIP
However, while the campaign to stop the axe did not succeed (and the promised monthly, extended dramas on #BBCRadio4 never really materialised) Drama on 3 still exists on #BBCSounds
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b... (1/3)

A Welsh #AudioDrama recommendation this month for #StDavidsDay
March: Under Milk Woods
Not Dylan Thomas' play – but a recent reinvention, travelling around the country through the medium of sound. Touching, moving, beautiful.
#BBCSounds #RadioDrama #DramaOn3
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Fancy something a bit Shakespearey that isn’t actually #Shakespeare
My #AudioDrama recommendation for February is: Dog in the Manger by Lope de Vega.
It’s a 400-year-old Spanish comedy of love, envy, class – plus downright nonsense.
#BBCSounds #RadioDrama #DramaOn3
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

New year, new series of posts on #AudioDrama
For 2026 I'm going to avoid #Shakespeare and suggest new plays and adaptations, including some by his contemporaries.
January: Love and Information by Caryl Churchill.
Available for free on #BBCSounds
#RadioDrama #DramaOn3
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on BBC #Radio3's #DramaOn3

George Gershwin, Stefano Bollani, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig & Riccardo Chailly:
🎵 Piano Concerto in F major (3rd mvt)

#BBCRadio3 #GeorgeGershwin #StefanoBollani #GewandhausorchesterLeipzig #RiccardoChailly

🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on BBC #Radio3's #DramaOn3

Gewandhausorchester, Stefano Bollani, George Gershwin & Riccardo Chailly:
🎵 Piano Concerto in F major - 2nd movement, Adagio - Andante con moto

#BBCRadio3 #Gewandhausorchester #StefanoBollani #GeorgeGershwin #RiccardoChailly

🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on BBC #Radio3's #DramaOn3

George Gershwin, Stefano Bollani, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig & Riccardo Chailly:
🎵 Piano Concerto in F major (1st mvt)

#BBCRadio3 #GeorgeGershwin #StefanoBollani #GewandhausorchesterLeipzig #RiccardoChailly

Worth noting that the new slot may be 90 minutes - but #DramaOn3 could be any length - right up to three hours.
Not sure what this will mean for #Shakespeare on radio. Shorter plays or two-parters, presumably...
#RadioDrama #AudioDrama #SADatTheBBC #BBCRadio3 #BBCRadio4

@bbcradio3.bsky.social

Was that Hamlet the last #DramaOn3?

I’ll miss you.

#Feedback

All available episodes (108 total)

Coming up: no upcoming broadcasts

If you're wondering what to fill your Sunday evenings with now that #DramaOn3 is no more, then take heart from the fact that - at the moment, at least - a back catalogue of more than 100 plays is still available: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b...
#RadioDrama #AudioDrama #BBCRadio3

Now starting... The last ever #DramaOn3

BBC Radio 3 - Drama on 3, Duino Elegies Rainer Maria Rilke's poetic masterpiece with original music by Erland Cooper.

🔊 #NowPlaying on #BBCRadio3:

#DramaOn3
- Duino Elegies

Rainer Maria Rilke's poetic masterpiece with original music by Erland Cooper.


▶️ Relisten on BBCSounds

🟦 CLEAN FEED | Another 'end of an era' for BBC Radio today.

This evening's 'Drama on 3' production at 8pm brings to an end a decades-old tradition of drama content on The Third Programme/BBC Radio 3.
#DramaOn3

On the day of the very last #DramaOn3, here's my article for @thestage.co.uk on why it matters...
#BBCRadio3 #SADatTheBBC #RadioDrama #AudioDrama

change.org Save Audio Drama at the BBC Sign petition 10,594 Verified signatures The Issue "The BBC have informed the Writers' Guild of Great Britain, Equity and the Society of Authors that as of April 2025 they will be making dramatic cuts

Just because the battle to keep #DramaOn3 has been lost, it doesn't mean we should stop fighting for #AudioDrama on the #BBC. It's been heavily cut over recent years - don't let anything more go!
#SADatTheBBC @writersguildgb.bsky.social @societyofauthors.bsky.social
www.change.org/p/save-audio...

Duino Elegies Drama on 3 Rainer Maria Rilke's elegies about the deep mysteries of existence translated by Vita and Edward Sackville-West and performed by Alfred Enoch with original music by Erland Cooper.

After nearly 80 years, drama on #BBCRadio3 ends tonight. Perhaps the commissioner is as sad as the listeners, having scheduled an elegy as the final play - a work to mourn a loss.
I hope at least the #DramaOn3 archive will remain on #BBCSounds
#RadioDrama #AudioDrama
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

BBC Radio 3 - Drama on 3, Henry V Hal has to prove he has what it takes to be King as he lays claim to the throne of France.

🔊 #NowPlaying on #BBCRadio3:

#DramaOn3
- Henry V

Hal has to prove he has what it takes to be King as he lays claim to the throne of France.


▶️ Relisten on BBCSounds

Listing for BBC Radio 3 on 30 March without the drama slot

Listing for BBC Radio 3 on 6 April without the drama slot

#RadioDrama on #BBCRadio3 is going even more quickly than we thought... It had been suggested that #DramaOn3 wouldn't be axed until April. Actually it looks like the last play will be broadcast a week on Sunday, as the slot disappears after that...
#SADatTheBBC

BBC Radio 3 - Drama on 3, The Defectors Drama-documentary inspired by the defection of North Korea's Deputy Ambassador to the UK.

🔊 #NowPlaying on #BBCRadio3:

#DramaOn3
- The Defectors

Drama-documentary inspired by the defection of North Korea's Deputy Ambassador to the UK.


▶️ Relisten on BBCSounds

Why did no-one tell me...?!
Ronald Pickup as Hamlet, Martin Jarvis as Horatio(!) in a very NT-at-Old-Vic company. No indication on #BBCSounds or #DramaOn3 website when it was originally broadcast. (31-10-1971 since you ask). www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

BBC Radio 3 - Sunday Feature, A Powerful Crush The teenage love letters of a young George IV are maybe not so sweet.

🔊 #NowPlaying on #BBCRadio3:

#DramaOn3
- Hamlet

A restored production of Shakespeare's play with Ronald Pickup, first broadcast in 1971.


▶️ Relisten on BBCSounds

8.00 Drama on 3: Hamlet Radio 3 revisits an archive 1971 production of Shakespeare's classic tragedy not broadcast since 1973, starring Ronald Pickup (1940-2021) and produced by John Tydeman (1936-2020), with a score by Malcolm Clarke (1943-2003) of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. The play is introduced by Dr Andrea Smith, English lecturer at the University of Suffolk and author of Shakespeare on the Radio: a Century of BBC Plays. This restoration, an edit of the original broadcast, was made possible with help from Keith Wickham at the Radio Circle, and was produced by James Peak at Essential Radio. See page 109. (R)

DRAMA Drama on 3: Hamlet Sunday 8.00pm Radio 3 The wonders of the Radio Circle never cease. That's the organisation that devotes itself to unearthing lost radio recordings, and this is the most amazing gem: a production of Hamlet unheard on radio for more than 50 years. It's done with a powerful sense of foreboding and immense vocal authority, with a score by Malcolm Clarke of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop that lifts it into a whole other sonic realm. The great Ronald Pickup (left) is in the title role. Other stars include Angela Pleasence (Ophelia) and Martin Jarvis (Horatio). Wonderful stuff. SIMON O'HAGAN

This Sunday in the #DramaOn3 slot you can hear what I suspect will be the last really long radio play on the BBC: a 1971 production of Hamlet starring Ronald Pickup running at 3 hours.
You can hear an introduction from me first including a quote from Pickup on the importance of radio drama to him 📻🎭

Listen to this! 👇
Linda Marshall Griffiths, Paterson Joseph, Nell Leyson, Andrew MacCaldon, Timberlake Wertenbaker, Rhiannon Tise, David Morley and Hannah Silva on cuts to #RadioDrama
These people know their stuff! 📻🎭
#SADatTheBBC #DramaOn3 #BBCRadio3 #AudioDrama

BBC Radio 3 - Drama on 3, Messiaen and the Birds Poet Michael Symmons Roberts explores composer Olivier Messiaen's obsession with birdsong.

🔊 #NowPlaying on #BBCRadio3:

#DramaOn3
- Messiaen and the Birds

Poet Michael Symmons Roberts explores composer Olivier Messiaen's obsession with birdsong.


▶️ Relisten on BBCSounds

Following on from Katie Hims important piece on the worrying state of #RadioDrama in today's Observer (@theguardian.com), here's a reminder of my piece on the subject in @thestage.bsky.social Plus my Insta post for the #SADattheBBC campaign: www.instagram.com/reel/DGAVL_S... #DramaOn3 #AudioDrama

A fantastic piece from Katie Hims. Please read!
#SaveAudioDrama #DramaOn3 #BBCRadio3 #SADattheBBC