Portrait of Lord Melvyn Bragg, host of In Our Time

Dystopian novels

Utopian and dystopian fiction are genres of speculative fiction that explore social and political structures. Utopian fiction portrays a setting that agrees with the author's ethos, having various attributes of another reality intended to appeal to readers.

3 episodes

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  1. Animal Farm

    4 Extra Debut. Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss George Orwell's Animal Farm, which he struggled to publish in WW2 as the USSR was an ally. From 2016.

    29 September 2016

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    Featuring: Steven Connor, Mary Vincent, Robert Colls

     
  2. Nineteen Eighty-Four

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Orwell's dystopian novel where the state rewrites history, war is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength - and Big Brother is watching you

    15 September 2022

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    Featuring: David Dwan, Lisa Mullen, John Bowen

     
  3. The Time Machine

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas and anxieties in late Victorian London, explored by HG Wells in his story of time travel, evolution and a planet unfit for humans.

    17 October 2019

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    Featuring: Simon Schaffer, Amanda Rees, Simon James