CHRISTOPHER ECCLESTON TO NARRATE BBC's A KESTRAL FOR A KNAVE

Bafta-nominated actor Christopher Eccleston narrates A Kestrel for a Knave, from Barry Hines’ seminal 1968 novel.

Billy Casper's life in a South Yorkshire mining village is bleak. Ridiculed and bullied at home and school, he adopts a fledgling kestrel and trains it for falconry. The happiness Billy feels when he connects with his beloved Kes means that for a moment the sky briefly opens, and freedom and fulfilment seem possible…

The Read is a series of outstanding performance readings of iconic British novels. A Kestrel for a Knave is the first Read of the second series.

Filmed at Oldham Colliseum Theatre, A Kestrel for a Knave is a Rural Studios production for BBC Four and BBC iPlayer. It is directed by Kieran Stringfellow. The commissioner for BBC Arts is Stephen James-Yeoman.