Agatha Christie's Absent in the Spring

Agatha Christie's Absent in the Spring is a 2020 BBC Radio 4 adaptation of the Mary Westmacott novel Absent in the Spring. It was first broadcast on 31 August 2020. The adaptation is a Catherine Bailey production for BBC Radio 4, adapted by Malcolm McKay and directed by Catherine Bailey. The music was by Nick Bicât, and Leon Chambers was the sound designer.

Summary
Set in 1934, it is the story of a woman, Joan Scudamore, who unexpectedly becomes stranded in a Mesopotamian way station when returning from a visit to her daughter in Baghdad. The sudden solitude compels her to look back over her married life in rural England. The barren heat of the desert is contrasted against the lush greenery of her West Country home as she digs deeper into her emotional memories and uncovers incidents that have lain buried in her psyche for many years.

She begins to put together a picture of her life that both frightens and appalls her in equal measure. She returns to England, determined to change her attitude to love and married life. The conclusion to the story is as unexpected as it is truthful.

Cast

 * Harriet Walter as Joan Scudamore
 * Amy Morgan as Barbara Wray & Myrna Randolph
 * Nabil Elouahabi as Ali & William Wray
 * Geraldine Alexander as Blanche Haggard
 * James Fleet as Rodney Scudamore & Colonel Sherston
 * Hilary Maclean as Lesley Sherston & Miss Gilbey