Amazonia (2010)

A 90 minute drama for BBC Radio 3 telling the little-known story of Arthur Ransome’s spell as a foreign correspondent and undercover agent in Russia in the years after the 1917 Revolution, long before he found fame as a children’s writer with Swallows and Amazons. The narrative centres on his romance and subsequent marriage to Trotsky’s secretary, Evgenia Schelepina, leading to his daredevil mission to rescue her and eventually bring her back to England. Produced by Melanie Harris for Crosslab Productions, the play starred Rory Kinnear (Skyfall, Black Mirror) and Michelle Dockery, shortly before she became a regular in Downton Abbey. The pictures show Kinnear, Dockery and the rest of the cast and crew recording the play on location in Cheshire.