BBC Radio 4, December 30 and then on iPlayer

The story reaches its conclusion – as much as stories ever can.

I was right: I’ve come to the end of this adaptation by Dirk Maggs of Neil Gaiman’s novel and I want to find out what happens next to all of these wonderful characters. This double length finale provides a degree of closure for many of them – Maeve gets her heart’s desire (and I’d love it if she knows what happens to Grahame in his next live(s) – his final scene had me laughing out loud, particularly when one abhorrent misuse of the English language got what it deserved). Spider and Rosie are happy; Charlie (and no, he’s no longer Fat Charlie) finds his true metier as a purveyor of stories – and comes up with a terrific song, courtesy of Jacob Anderson (which you can hear here (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05qcprg) – and happiness with Daisy.

The power of story is at the heart of this tale – not just folktales and mythology, but the stories we tell about and to ourselves. Gaiman’s genius is in wrapping the messages within his stories inside a gripping tale, with characters that we quickly come to care about (for good or ill), and Maggs and director Allegra McIlroy lose none of that in this telling. There’s excellent work throughout from all the cast – there’s a lot of attention on leads Anderson and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett as the titular boys, but Lenny Henry’s Anansi makes an immediate impression as soon as you hear him, as do Sheila Atim and Pippa Bennett-Warner as Rosie and Daisy – and one final shoutout to sound designer Wilfred Acosta for taking us around and between the worlds in an instant.

Verdict: A beautifully told story comes to its end for now. 10/10

Paul Simpson