Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman star in film of Exonian’s poem

BBC2 will be marking National Poetry Day on 7 October with a dramatisation of the poem The Song of Lunch by Christopher Reid (1968, English).

The poem tells the story of two former lovers who meet again, 15 years after their relationship ended. Over a nostalgic lunch in the restaurant they used to frequent together, their bittersweet reunion gradually turns to recrimination.

Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson play the two leads, and the BBC has described the project as “a unique fusion of poetry and drama”.

Janice Hadlow, Controller, BBC Two, said: “We hope that audiences will enjoy this dramatisation of Christopher Reid’s touching and witty poem and maybe feel inspired to indulge in a little more poetry themselves.”

Reid won the Costa Book of the Year prize for his anthology The Scattering at the start of this year