John Wyndham's The Midwich Cuckoos (2003) starring Bill Nighy

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I've previously uploaded a BBC World Service adaptation of this story from the early 1980s; now here's Radio 4's two-part version from 2003. It's a really good example of how a science fiction tale can handle very old, frightening, folkloric ideas in a new way. Notionally a tale of alien invasion, The Midwich Cuckoos is a modern variation on the myth of changelings. Recently adapted for television, I suspect contemporary audiences can also find implications of social stratification in here too, of a born-to-rule class who haven't the faintest compassion for those who make up the society that fosters them.

MYSTERIOUS MAGPIE is a channel devoted to ghost and horror stories on British radio, and to dark tales of every kind. I have another channel, MYSTICAL MAGPIE, which is all about stories of fantasy, mythology, and adventure:    / @mysticalmagpie-wo5fn  

If you're interested to know more about the century-long history of ghost and horror stories broadcast at Christmas on British television and radio, you might like to check out HOLLY WRAITHS (and its companion volume HOLLY TERRORS), an A-Z guide available in paperback and ebook from Amazon and Lulu.com.