Hello, my name's Tim. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
Today's story has one of the most famous opening lines of all time.
It's an epic tale of terrible cruelty and terrific courage, set around the French Revolution.
We begin in 1775.
The time is ten past eleven at night, and Jarvis Lorry, manager of Telson's Bank,
is given a message asking him to meet a young woman, Lucie Manette, at Dover.
Lorry tells her some astonishing news.
Her father, who has spent eighteen years falsely imprisoned in the Bastille,
an infamous Parisian prison, has just been released.
They travel to France and find him living above a wine shop owned by his former servants,
Ernest and Thérèse Defarge.
He has been in prison for such a long time that he's gone mad and spends his time obsessively making shoes.
Laurie reassures Lucy that with love and care he will recover in no time.
and they all return home.
Five years later, the French émigré Charles Darnay is on trial in London for treason.
He has been framed by two spies, Cly and Bassard, who claim that they would recognise him anywhere.
Darnay's lawyer points out that his colleague, Sidney Carton, looks almost identical to Darnay.
so they can't possibly be sure that Darnay is the right man.
The tactic works.
Darnay is acquitted.