Full-cast BBC adaptations of Oliver Goldsmith’s two most famous works

Anglo-Irish author Oliver Goldsmith was one of the most accomplished writers of the 18th century. A novelist, playwright, poet and essayist, he came to fame with his novel The Vicar of Wakefield and comic play She Stoops to Conquer. Both those classics are included here, with star casts including Julia McKenzie, Amanda Root, Peter Jeffrey and Sunny Ormonde.

She Stoops to Conquer – Misunderstandings and mistaken identity are at the heart of this funny, farcical comedy of manners, in which a London gentleman looking for love finds himself the butt of a mischievous prank. Shy young Marlow comes to court Kate Hardcastle at her father’s house in the Yorkshire Dales, but is fooled into believing that Liberty Hall is an inn and his prospective bride a barmaid. Luckily for both, while Marlow is tongue-tied in the presence of a lady, he can be his charming, confident self with a commoner – and the sassy, independent Kate is happy to pretend, if it means she can win his heart...

The Vicar of Wakefield – Part morality tale, part satire of the sentimental novel, Goldsmith’s 1766 masterpiece recounts the humorous adventures of the naive, ever-optimistic Rev Charles Primrose, who lives contentedly in the countryside with his wife and six children. When he loses his fortune to a swindler, he sets off with his despairing family through storms and floods to embrace a life of poverty in a rural Pennine parish. But as disaster piles upon calamity, the vicar finds his faith severely tested – can he face up to adversity and come through unscathed?


She Stoops to Conquer
Mrs Hardcastle – Julia McKenzie
Mr Hardcastle – Clive Francis
Kate Hardcastle – Amanda Root
Tony Lumpkin – Adrian Scarborough
Sir Charles Marlow – Norman Rodway
Young Marlow – Martin Ball
Hastings – Jonathan Cake
Constance Neville – Cathy Sara
Landlord/Jeremy – Terry Molloy
Diggory/Master Muggins – Ian Brooker
Pimple/Barmaid – Naomi Harris
Roger/Master Slang – Richard Neale
Adapted and directed by Sue Wilson
Music composed and performed by Anthea Gomez (piano) with Martha Ann Brooks (trombone) and Katherine Gittings (violin)
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 18 June 2000

The Vicar of Wakefield
Rev Charies Primrose – Peter Jeffrey
Deborah Primrose – Sunny Ormonde
Squire Thornhill – Michael Cochrane
Burchell – Anthony Pedley
Lady Blarney – Tina Gray
Miss Skeggs – Sara Coward
Ephraim Jenkinson – Christopher Scott
Olivia Primrose – Susan Jeffrey
George Primrose – Iwan Thomas
Arabella Wilmot – Lisa Kay
Sophia Primrose – Laura Strachan
Moses Primrose – James Richard
Farmer Flamborough – Terry Molloy
Actor/Innkeeper – John Webb
Actress/Landlady – Gillian Goodman
Gaoler – Kim Durham
Adapted by Christopher Denys
Directed by Sue Wilson
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 3-17 October 1999

© 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd