11-15 August 1914
Summary
This episode details the escalating search for two missing boys, Sam and Jimmy, in Folkestone, August 1914, as Britain prepares for war. Families are torn between hope and despair over theories of drowning or running away, while a German resident, Dieter, plans to flee with Kitty to avoid internment. The community attempts to find solace through a vigil, intertwining personal tragedies with the looming global conflict.Episode description
As Britain declares war on Austria-Hungary, Folkestone tries to rally flagging tourism whilst waving local troops off to the front.
Written by: Katie Hims & Sean Moffatt Consultant Historian: Professor Maggie Andrews Music by: Matthew Strachan Sound: Martha Littlehailes Directed and produced by: Lucy Collingwood Editor: Jessica Dromgoole
Home Front is a ground-breaking Radio Four radio drama - its biggest ever - set in Britain during 1914-18, playing a central role in the BBC's comprehensive offering to mark the centenaries of the First World War.
An enthralling fiction, set against a backdrop of fact. Each episode is set a hundred years to the day before broadcast, and follows one character's day. Together they create a mosaic of experience from a wide cross-section of British society, and a playful treasure hunt, with historical truths hidden in each story.
Season One is set in Folkestone, a fashionable Edwardian seaside resort that quickly became one of the hubs of the military machine, and close enough to France to hear the fighting. Future seasons will be set in Newcastle and Devon, telling the major stories of wartime Britain.