logo
episode-header-image
May 2024
1h 27m

Calmer

Bbc Radio 4
About this episode

A new drama about motherhood and chaos, from Olivier-Award-winning writer Lolita Chakrabarti, starring Meera Syal.

Three generations of ultra-successful women in one family:

Maya, a self-help guru with an avid following, has an American TV deal in the offing. Nina, her daughter, a psychiatrist, is expanding her thriving practice. Amber, Nina's daughter, has an offer from Cambridge.

But a fault line will soon tear everything apart.

Deeply visceral, often sharply funny, Calmer explores mental health and the intense love and competition in mother-daughter relationships.

By Lolita Chakrabarti

Maya…. Meera Syal

Nina… Lolita Chakrabarti

Amber… Payal Mistry

Michael… Julian Wadham

Jude… Benjamin Westerby

Grace… Sophie Melville

Production co-ordinator: Lindsay Rees

Original music… Lee Affen

Sound design: Nigel Lewis

Directed by Fay Lomas

A BBC Audio Drama Wales Production

Up next
Aug 22
Curry Canyon
In the heart of Glasgow’s “Curry Canyon” during the 2009 recession, aspiring journalist Halima returns home to help at her family’s struggling tandoori restaurant, just as a campaign erupts to crown chicken tikka masala a Scottish national treasure.While her dad sees opportunity ... Show More
44m 33s
Aug 15
Hersey's Hiroshima
John Hersey's ground-breaking account of the bombing of Hiroshima that brought the world face to face with the human reality of nuclear war. Told through the voices of six survivors, this powerful and unflinching retelling includes detailed accounts of the injury, loss, courage a ... Show More
57m 45s
Aug 8
Faith, Hope and Glory Series 7 - Hope and Jean
As Hope faces an unexpected medical scare, she sets her heart on reconnecting with her long-lost daughter — but secrets from the past threaten to derail her plans. Meanwhile, Jean embarks on her own emotional quest to confront her birth mother. Old wounds resurface, loyalties are ... Show More
44m 30s
Recommended Episodes
Dec 2023
English Rose - 4: Young Blood
By Helen Cross. It seems that Rose has been chasing after the wrong father. But neither of the men in Gully's life are great role models. And they're definitely up to something. Meanwhile, Delphine has disappeared.Stylish and surprising fantasy horror with a comic twist, starring ... Show More
28m 37s
Dec 2023
English Rose - 1: Go West Young Girl
By Helen Cross.Rose has made a fresh start in the City of Angels and life feels good. But she can't ignore the past, and now it's starting to bite.Her ex-boss Maya is loving never getting older and has Rose to thank for that. Maya has big plans for a 'rejuvenation' spa in the Cal ... Show More
28m 16s
Jul 2022
English Rose - Episode 3: Tending the Wounds
by Helen Cross Rose has come from Whitby to Manhattan to work as a nanny for power couple Austin and Maya. Their baby Gulliver is... unusual. But then, so is Rose. Bloody revenge is her speciality. The body count is rising and she still has to work out where the dangers lie. Also ... Show More
28m 16s
Nov 2021
Part 7
The winner of the British Podcast Award for Best Fiction 2021 returns with a gripping drama about trauma, obsession and why we harm the things we love.Part 7 of 7Written by Lucia Haynes and Anita Vettesse with monologues by Eileen Horne.Dr Alex Bridges is an expert forensic psych ... Show More
44m 25s
Jun 2017
Ravenous
Investigating the disappearance of a colleague, BBC journalist Albert Titus lands the scoop of a lifetime in the Scottish coastal village of Redmayne as he unravels a terrifying mystery perhaps tied to a sinister cannibal clan of legend. Warning: Contains explicit language and fr ... Show More
32m 32s
Dec 2023
English Rose - 5: Fire and Ice
By Helen Cross.Rose is getting closer to the truth and learning about her own heritage is helping her grow in strength. The vampires are arriving from Europe by Maya's invitation and Austin and Jack are plotting. Can she keep Gully safe and whose side is Maya on? Stylish and surp ... Show More
30m 4s
May 2023
1. Hello LA
New episodes released on Tuesday and Thursday. If you’re in the UK, listen first on BBC Sounds.Connie Prynne lives a small life with her daughter, Claire, in Los Angeles. But when she is diagnosed with breast cancer she is forced to start addressing her past, a life she hasn’t to ... Show More
16m 9s
Sep 2021
Introducing: The Beautiful Liar
The Beautiful Liar premieres on 11/3 on Amazon Music ad-free with new episodes dropping every Wednesday. And, it will launch widely, wherever you listen your podcasts, on 11/17. ~~ An unlikely super-hero origin story, The Beautiful Liar, is an original scripted series imagined by ... Show More
3m 29s
Jun 2019
Blood Puppets
Puppets from a local children's TV show haunt the dreams of an anxiety stressed single mother and seem to foreshadow horrifying events to come. Warning: Contains frightening situations not suitable for younger audiences. Written by Steve Schneider Directed and produced by John Ba ... Show More
35m 18s