Philip has been pretty busy recently, what with checking the proofs for Debatable Space and finishing the first draft of his next book for Orbit — it’s no wonder the strain is starting to tell . . . But seriously, Philip has been doing a huge amount of work in recent months for his new radio play for Radio 4, and you can catch this tonight from 9-10pm.

The play is entitled Breaking Point and is an insightful and powerful exploration into psychological manipulation, and how to ‘break’ people in interrogation. We see the story from an unusual perspective as we follow Jon Starkey, undergoing training to become a British Army interrogator. As the drama unfolds, we see the effects on him and his family as he joins the ‘war against terror’. Philip talks about the play on his blog and you can also find out more on Radio 4’s site.

If you miss the play on Friday, you can listen for a further week after broadcast, courtesy of Radio 4’s ‘listen again’ facility. Philip has also written an interesting piece on the making and recording of the play, an engaging read.

Radio 4 describes its Friday plays as “strong stories that reflect the world: entertaining, emotionally engaging and challenging” and Breaking Point will certainly be all of these things.