JOE DUNLOP RADIO PLAYS

The Society of Authors website gives some information about Joe Dunlop - he is the writer of many radio plays including the one about Bob Geldof, "Remember Live Aid". He dramatised "Bomber", by Len Deighton, "Georgie Girl" by Margaret Forster, and adapted "Tom Brown's Schooldays" by Thomas Hughes. He has also written for stage and TV. Joe was born and educated in Scotland. He trained as an actor in Glasgow and still appears in radio plays. He has written for schools radio (Listening Corner) and has done corporate video scripts for BP and the NHS. He lives in London.

I have found three categories of plays involving Joe Dunlop - those where he has been in the cast, original plays which he has written, and dramatisations.

These are listed separately, though there is probably some overlap.

AS ACTOR
09.09.70 Keep Amy Kettle off the Road, by Pam Tickell- with Joan Sims, Joe Dunlop, Heather Stoney
15.09.84 Time & The Conways, by J.B. Priestley (SNT) -with Zena Conway/Sue Jenkins/Jane Hollowood/Joe Dunlop
06.01.90 Post Captain At Quebec, by John Lucarotti (SNT) -with Graham Blockley/Susan Sheridan/Joe Dunlop
04.06.97 The Oldest Member, by P.G.Wodehouse
09.10.98 The Oldest Member, by P.G.Wodehouse - in several episodes

ORIGINAL PLAYS
23.10.93 Dangerous Influences (SNT)- with Bill Nighy/Caroline Strong
05.02.94 Getting Mad (SNT) -with Bill Paterson/Frances Jeater ND 2410
??.??.95 Remember Live Aid
22.06.98 The Strange Petitioner

DRAMATISATIONS
??.??.92 Georgie Girl, by Margaret Forster. 6 x 30m.
21.08.93 Death Against The Odds, by Michael McStay- With Stephen Thorne/Joe Dunlop
29.01.98 Espedair Street, by Iain Banks
04.09.99 Bomber, by Len Deighton
14.10.00 His Natural Life, by Marcus Clarke
10.06.01 Tom Brown's Schooldays, by Thomas Arnold

NOTES ON THE PLAYS

GEORGIE GIRL....1992
Rebroadcast by ABC, c1998. 6 x 30m serial. Dramatised by Joe Dunlop. This version of Margaret Forster's novel is presented as a children's fairtale, but the themes it deals with are anything but childlike. Humorous, well-paced satisfying drama. There was a film of it some years ago which became popular. This radio version stars Kenneth Cranham, John Hollis, Caroline Strong, Joe McGann. Producer Adrian Bean.

DANGEROUS INFLUENCES....1993
A television producer and his attempts to expose the head of a dangerous religious cult which preys on vulnerable women ... it gets too personal for comfort. Produced by Adrian Bean. SNT, 90m.

The play is fictional. A related play, SNAPPING OUT, by Martin Worth, went out in 1984 (31.3.1984/2030, Jane Wenham/Lesley Dunlop/Jack Watling) and was the autobiographical story of Susan Swatland, from her book, which might have been subtitled "Escape from the Moonies".

REMEMBER LIVE AID....1995
A remarkable play based on the events leading to the Live Aid concert in 1985 - the largest musical concert in history, organised by the Boomtown Rats pop-singer Bob Geldof, whose dynamism and refusal to be beaten resulted in millions of pounds being raised for the starving of Ethiopia. Geldof comes across as a bundle of raw energy and determination, and this cannot be far from the truth, or the concert and its follow-ups would never have happened.

THE OLDEST MEMBER....1997 onwards
Starring Maurice Denham; remarkably good comedy series based on the golfing tales by P.G.Wodehouse. These are in the same class as the Michael Hordern-Richard Briers version of the Jeeves stories and Martin Jarvis's "Just William".

ESPEDAIRE STREET....1998-
Dramatised in four parts; original story by Iain Banks. It's the story behind the rise and fall of the seventies band Frozen Gold. With John Gordon-Sinclair, Louise Beattie, James MacPherson, Steve McNicoll; directed by Dave Batchelor. Paul Gambaccini appears as himself.

THE STRANGE PETITIONER....1998
A dramatisation of the life of Robert Andrews, who sat in the House of Commons every day from 1963 until just before Christmas Day 1997. This is a true story; his seat was in the central lobby and by night he lived on the streets of London. With Tony Benn, Peter Bottomley, Emma Nicholson, Bernard Weatherill. John Rowe took the part of Robert Andrews. Director Alastair Wilson, producer Karen Rose; independent production (Pier Productions).

The Strange Petitioner by Joe Dunlop (R4 22 June) was the true story of Robert K. Andrews, who was by choice a down-and-out in London and a daily visitor to the Commons for 40 years, on first name terms with many Ministers and MPs. Tony Benn contributed to the programme, as did Peter Bottomley, Emma Nicholson and Bernard Wetherill....-ND, VRPCC newsletter, Sep 98.

ND summary of a review from 'The Independent', 30jun98; not sure who wrote the original:

.....Archive recordings were used for an innovative drama, Joe Dunlop's "The Strange Petitioner". Robert Andrews was a Dunkirk survivor who had suffered some undefined wrong and wanted to clear his name. He supported himself by outwitting arcade slot-machines, later becoming a tramp and for 34 years spending most of the day in the central lobby at Westminster, petitioning MPs on the subject of world peace.

He died on Christmas Day, 1997, on the streets. Karen Rose's production used live interviews, snatches of news bulletins, surreal conversations between Andrews and his younger self, and dramatised scenes from his life. It was a fascinating play, asking more questions than it answered. One wonders why none of his parliamentarian friends discovered the nature of his grievance. Peter Bottomley gave him birthday cakes; Emma Nicholson begged him to see a doctor; Lord Weatherill wished he had granted him a debate; Tony Benn intends to erect a plaque; but the enigma persists.

Bomber (R4, 4 parts: 1430, 1730, 1950, 2330, 4 Sep 99) was the story of a bomber crew, based on Len Deighton's novel about an air raid on Saturday 18 February 1943. It was broadcast in real time, and followed the fortunes of Sam Lambert and his men as they carried out a night attack on Krefeld. The play included interviews with pilots and others who were involved at the time. My father recalls counting six hundred bombers congregating in the sky in 1943 above Kirby Muxloe, and thinking what a feat of engineering it was to get so many planes airborne at the same time. Tom Baker narrated this stunning 4-hour production, and the cast included Samuel West, Jack Shepherd, and Frank Windsor as Air Marshall Harris: "If I have to, I will flatten the whole of Germany". In Churchill's words: "Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few". The dramatisation was by Joe Dunlop.

HIS NATURAL LIFE....2000
Dramatisation in three 1-hour parts (Classic Serial) of the novel by Marcus Clarke. This is the story of a man falsely accused of murder and transported to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania). I'm not sure whether this is fictional or a dramatisation of true events; perhaps someone can enlighten us. Directed by Jane Morgan and starring Owen Teale, Nicholas Boulton, Terence Edmond, Sarah Badel.

TOM BROWN'S SCHOOLDAYS....2001
Dramatisation in 2 one-hour parts as Classic Serial; too familiar to say anything about it other than to name the cast and to say it's an excellent dramatisation: with Robert Hardy, Tom Huntingford, Henry Peters, Jordan Copeland. Directed by Chris Wallis.

Tom Brown's Schooldays, by Thomas Hughes, was dramatised by Joe Dunlop(R4, Classic Serial, two episodes, beginning 1502, 10 Jun 01) . Tom Brown arrives at Rugby school full of innocence and eagerness to learn. He is not disappointed, but some of the lessons are harsher than he expects. Robert Hardy was Tom, Tom Huntingford was young Tom, and Jordan Copeland was an excellent Flashman..... ND, VRPCC newsletter, Sept 01

Nigel Deacon / Diversity website

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