Actor Alan Bates reads excerpts from the works of author Thomas Hardy, including "The Mayor of Casterbridge," "The Trumpet Major," "Tess of the d'Urbervilles," "Life's Little Ironies" and poems from "Poems of 1912-1913" and "Moments Of Vision". The program is interspersed with music researched from the Hardy family manuscripts and the Dorset County Museum, played by the Mellstock Band on early instruments.