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John Yorke explores the enduring mystery and power of Franz Kafka's novel The Trial.

All Joseph K was expecting when he awoke was breakfast. Instead he is arrested for a nameless crime and finds his life gradually, utterly consumed by the process. Set in a nameless city very like the twisting alleyways and cramped confines of Kafka鈥檚 Prague, the book was only published after the writer鈥檚 death. Since then, it has become a world famous tale of unending, indefinable bureaucratic unease.

John Yorke has worked in television and radio for 30 years, and he shares his experience with Radio 4 listeners as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories that are being dramatised in 麻豆社 Radio 4鈥檚 Sunday Drama series. From EastEnders to The Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless, he has been obsessed with telling big popular stories. He has spent years analysing not just how stories work but why they resonate with audiences around the globe and has brought together his experience in his bestselling book Into the Woods.

As former Head of Channel Four Drama, Controller of 麻豆社 Drama Production and MD of Company Pictures, John has tested his theories during an extensive production career working on some of the world鈥檚 most lucrative, widely viewed and critically acclaimed TV drama. As founder of the hugely successful 麻豆社 Writers Academy John has trained a generation of screenwriters

Contributors:
Professor Carolin Duttlinger-Co-director of the Oxford Kafka Research Centre
Ed Harris - Playwright who has adapted Kafka's work for a major season on 麻豆社 Radio 4

Readings from The Trial by Franz Kafka trans. Mike Mitchell (Oxford World's Classic 2009)

Reader: Jack Klaff
Researcher: Nina Semple
Production Manager: Sarah Wright
Sound Designer: Sean Kerwin
Producer: Mark Burman
Executive Producer: Sara Davies

A Pier production for 麻豆社 Radio 4