Seventh Test

A ten-part dramatisation of the bestselling thriller by Slumdog Millionaire author Vikas SwarupSapna Sinha is a sales assistant in a TV showroom in New Delhi. As the sole breadwinner in the family, she works hard to support her widowed mother and younger sister Neha. Then billionaire Vinay Mohan Acharya walks into her life and offers to make her the CEO of his global empire. All she has to do is pass seven tests - rites of passage, designed to gauge her mettle as a leader.It seems too good to be true, and Sapna is sceptical. But, in desperate need of money, she signs the contract that will subject her to the series of 'life tests'. She has no idea what they will be, or when they will come, but if she gets through them, her life will change forever.And change it does - though not in a way she could ever have predicted. As the consequences of her Faustian pact become clear, it seems there is no escape. Only by revisiting her past can she make sense of her present: but nothing can prepare her for what she finds there...Dramatised by award-winning authors Ayeesha Menon and John Dryden, this gripping, suspenseful drama with a twist in the tale stars Rasika Dugal as Sapna and Vijay Chrishna as Acharya.Production creditsDramatised by Ayeesha Menon and John Dryden from the novel The Accidental Apprentice by Vikas SwarupProduced by Nadir KhanDirected by John DrydenSound Design: Steve BondEditing Assistant: Varun BangeraScript Editor: Mike WalkerAssistant Producer: Toral ShahMusic: Sacha PuttnamA Goldhawk Production for BBC Radio 4CastSapna - Rasika DugalAcharya - Vijay ChrishnaKaran - Neil BhoopalamNirmila Ben/Rosie - Radhika MitalSapna's Mother - Shernaz PatelRaja - Sumeet VyasKuldeep Singh/Roaji - Rajit KapurNeha - Amrita PuriPriya Capoor/Pushpa/Female Judge - Ayesha RazaBadan Singh/Politician/Constable - Kenny DesaiMadan - Vivek MadanNeelam - Prerna ChawlaBabli/Janet - Preetika ChawlaRent Collector - Satchit PuranikFirst broadcast BBC Radio 4, 19-30 May 2014(c) 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (p) 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd