Titus Groan first catalyst is the birth of Titus Groan, the heir to Lord Sepulchrave, which interrupts the centuries-old daily rituals which are practiced at all levels of the castle's society, from the kitchens to the Hall of Bright Carvings in Gormenghast's upper reaches. Though he is the title character and integral to the plot, Titus appears only infrequently as an infant during his first two years of life. The second is Steerpike, a ruthlessly ambitious kitchen boy, whose rise drives the plot of "Titus Groan". His escape from the kitchen during the castle celebration of Lord Titus' birth introduces change into
Brian Sibley and "Gormenghast" for Radio 4, for which he received a Sony Radio Award in 1985. He returned to Peake's writings in 2011 with "The History of Titus Groan", a cycle of six one-hour plays for BBC Radio 4's 'Classic Serial' based on "Titus Groan", "Gormenghast", "Titus Alone" and Maeve Gilmore's "Titus Awakes". Produced Jeremy Mortimer, the series began transmission on Sunday 10 July with a cast headed by David Warner, Luke Treadaway and Miranda Richardson and won the BBC Audio Drama Award 2012 for Best Adaptation. Other major radio dramatisations by Sibley include: John Bunyan's "The Pilgrim's Progress"; Tolkien's "Tales