August in Manchester

2026. A chance encounter on a London tube train reunites Leigh with Rick: the man she has never stopped wondering about. And he’s never stopped wondering about her either.

Over the course of the journey, Leigh and Rick unpack the decisions, and the three days in August, that led them here. Is now the time they choose each other?

In 1996, Rick meets Leigh outside a house party one hot August night. Leigh feels a spark with him – the boy always on the brink of laughter – but later that night, she connects with his best friend Charlie, and ends up going home with him instead. Soon after, Leigh is pregnant.

Leigh and Charlie build a life together. More children follow. Routine, responsibility, sleep-deprivation. Rick’s life, by contrast, seems carefree. And it’s not that Leigh regrets her life. And it’s not that she doesn’t love Charlie. But sometimes she can’t help but wonder what the story could have been, had she chosen Rick that night in 1996 instead.

We meet Leigh, Rick and Charlie across four Augusts, each 10 years apart. It never seems the right time for Rick and Leigh to choose each other. Until they meet in a tube carriage in 2026.

Original romantic drama by award-winning Katie Hims, starring Rebekah Station (Raised by Wolves, The Following Events Are Based On A Pack Of Lies), Samuel Anderson (Amandaland, The Walsh Sisters) and Sam Swann (One Day, Mr Selfridge).

CAST
Leigh ….. Rebekah Staton
Rick ….. Samuel Anderson
Charlie ….. Sam Swann
Cal ….. Mylo Khan

Production Co-ordinators .... Sara Benaim and Emma Donald

Sound Design by Sam Dickinson, Andy Garratt and Kira Golightly
Written by Katie Hims
Directed by Anne Isger

A BBC Studios Production for BBC Radio 4.

Katie Hims is one of the country’s most celebrated radio dramatists. Notable plays and series include Shirley's Party, Lost Property, Black Eyed Girls, Home Front, 24, Kildare Road, Middlemarch, Behind the Scenes at the Museum and Transcription. Her most recent original play for radio, Waterloo Station, written for Ralph Ineson and Christine Bottomley, won the Writer’s Guild Best Audio Drama Award 2023. Behind the Scenes at the Museum won silver and Shirley's Party won bronze for Best Drama at the 2026 ARIAS.