North of England Home Service

Spring 2001, and the countryside of the North East of England resembles Fitzgerald's 'valley of ashes': the air is choked with the stench and smoke of the pyres which are burning in an attempt to contain the epidemic of foot and mouth disease.After forty years away, Ray Cruddas, a comedian with a national, considerably faded reputation, has returned to the North East to live. He has a new wife, a ...