Echoes from the ‘Beasts of England’:Orwell’s 1947 BBC Radio Adaptation of 'Animal Farm'

Many critics consider Animal Farm a simple, beguiling text that primarily offers Orwell’s beautifully rendered take on the Russian Revolution. There has been little attention paid, however, to Orwell’s adaptation of the text for the BBC Third Programme, broadcast in 1947. This paper concentrates on the surviving script to tease out how that performance offers new perspectives on the novel itself. It also deals with Orwell’s own complex relationship with the BBC. Particular attention is paid to neglected characters, particularly Clover and Benjamin, and to largely-ignored elements such as the song ‘Beasts of England’. The paper encourages critics and readers to return to the novel in search of hidden or neglected resonances.