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A boy’s 11th birthday and an unusual gift mark the beginning of a great test of character, as young Will Stanton is drawn into an ancient struggle between Light and Dark.
He is told his task: to find the six Signs of the Light before the Dark destroys them. Realising he has supernatural powers, Will learns he is an ‘Old One’, whose duty is to fight the rising strength of the Dark across the centuries.
#TheDarkIsRising

This four-part version, edited for ±«Óãtv Radio 4, of the ±«Óãtv World Service serialisation of Susan Cooper's classic, written and recorded to take place across the Christmas holidays.

Cast
Will Stanton ... Noah Alexander,
John Smith/ Paul Stanton ... Thomas Arnold
Jamaican Old One/ James Stanton ... Danny Bailey
Stephen Stanton ... Simon Bubb
Mrs Stanton ... Amanda Hadingue,
The Walker (Hawkin) ... Toby Jones
Narrator ... Simon McBurney
The Rider/Mr Stanton/Farmer Dawson ... Tim McMullen
Merriman ... Paul Rhys
Maggie Barnes/Mary Stanton ... Natasha Stone.
The Lady/Miss Greythorne ... Harriet Walter

Soundscape designed by Gareth Fry
Original songs are by Johnny Flynn, Luisa Gerstein and Heloise Tunstall-Behrens.
Music by Josh Sneesby

The book by Susan Cooper was adapted for audio by Robert Macfarlane and Simon McBurney.

Director: Simon McBurney
Producers: Catherine Bailey and Tim Bell.
A Complicité and Catherine Bailey Production for ±«Óãtv World Service.