Drama of the Week - A Place Called Home: Riverbourne Rising

Download A Place Called Home: Riverbourne Rising

Set inside Britain's housing crisis, six stand-alone but interconnected dramas follow ambition, resilience and the search for belonging.

Tanika Gupta's drama tells the story of the tenants in the crumbling Riverbourne tower block in west London, where damp walls, broken lifts, mould, unsafe wiring and heating failures have been ignored for years while rents continue to climb. The Housing Association claims its mission is to provide homes for “vulnerable tenants” - those unable to sustain a tenancy without support due to age, disability, health conditions, or exceptional circumstances - But in reality the Association neglects repairs and intimidates the very people it's meant to protect.

There is fear and anger for the tenants but as they get to know one another their solidarity and defiance grows: housing is a human right, not a commodity. All of them have personal histories but these difficulties they have all faced individually give them strength to stand together and the number of voices calling for change is a powerful force. Is victory within their grasp.

Shazia ….. Avita Jay
Aisha ….. Yasemin Ozdemir
Amara ….. Alaa Taha
Eustace ….. David Webber
Dylan ….. Max Hastings
David ….. Ian Dunnett Jnr
Arthur ….. Ben Crowe

Directed by Tracey Neale

Sound ..... Sharon Hughes, Keith Graham and Andy Garratt
Production co-ordinators ..... Sara Benaim and Jonathan Powell
Director ..... Tracey Neale
Writer .... Tanika Gupta

A BBC Studios Audio production for BBC Radio 4

Tanika Gupta is an award winning writer. Her original theatre work includes Sugar Mummies,The Empress, Lions and Tigers and A Tupperware of Ashes. Her stage adaptations include Anita and Me, Hobson's Choice A Midsummer Night's Dream, A Doll's House and Hedda. Tanika has written numerous audio dramas and adapted classics like A Passage to India and Brick Lane. In 2008, Tanika was awarded an MBE for her services to drama and she has been awarded honorary doctorates from Chichester and University of West London. She was a writer in residence at the National Theatre and at Soho Theatre.

Published on Friday, 2nd October 2026.

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