BBC Radio 4, June 10, 2018

Dostoevsky’s tale of a man haunted by his own double neatly updated to the very near future…

It’s a very long time since I read Dostoevsky’s original story (a Crime and Punishment unit at A Level which featured that particular novel, and a teacher who encouraged us to read more from each author for context… so some forty years now), and for a few minutes at the start of Jonathan Holloway’s clever adaptation, you could easily believe that he’s presenting a period piece. It’s only when there are mentions of computer programs and the suchlike that you realise that the trappings may have changed, but the central themes of Dostoevsky’s story – identity theft and our own sense of our own identities – are as relevant today as they were nearly two centuries ago.

Holloway hews closer to the original plotline than Richard Ayoade’s movie version from 2013, albeit with plenty of 21st century concerns addressed that come out through the computer program that’s being created. Joseph Millson pulls off a very tricky double part, leaving the listener genuinely wondering if there are two Golyadkins, or whether this is all part of the character’s mental disintegration, with Gemma Jenkins’ direction creating the levels of paranoia intrinsic to the tale.

Verdict: A disturbing trip into the world of the double. 9/10

Paul Simpson