Radio Times: Review by:; Jane Anderson

There is a delicate sense of melancholy that haunts every scene of this enchanting drama by radio stalwarts, writer Lavinia Murray and director Pauline Harris. Whether we are inside the freezing-cold humble dwelling of the young Hans Christian Andersen, his gin-soaked mother and his ailing father, or outside meeting a magical ensemble of characters who will be familiar from the famous fairy stories, the overwhelming feeling is one of a sorrow waiting to happen.

This is an imagined glimpse into one day in young Hans’s life, looking at some of the events that might have influenced his work as a writer, but it also captures the very essence of his fairy stories — that quivering balance between good and evil, joy and sadness. It is utterly bewitching.

About this programme

By Lavinia Murray. An imagined day in the life of Hans Christian Andersen as a child. The evil Ice Maiden appears outside the Andersen's window one day. Hans' mother fears she will freeze her husband's heart and eyes and take his soul, so she sends Hans on a quest to fetch home a talisman from the wise woman. Fantasy, starring Ellis Hollins, Fiona Clarke, Kathryn Hunt and Seamus O'Neil.