Ken Blakeson Radio Plays
No biographical details yet; please email if you would like to contribute. I would also be interested to hear if you have information about the plays; I have only heard a handful of them.
BBC RADIO BROADCASTS
2004 Pick-Up
2008 Bearing the Cross
1992 Lost for Words
1991 September Song, serial
1990 Homeland
1988 Excess Baggage
1985 Famous Last Words
1984 Arthur's Angel
1984 Sunday Visiting
1984 A Fine Edge
1982 Clubnight
1981 Screen Test
1981 Over the Points (with Dave Simpson)
1981 Fren
1980 Day Trip (with Dave Simpson)
1980 A Long Weekend
1980 The Mañana Man
1979 Mercenary
1977 Down Came A Blackbird
About half of the above in VRPCC collections.
NOTES
BEARING THE CROSS....2008
13 Mar 08. Zulu story. The Battle of Rorke's Drift and the effect it had on three of the soldiers who fought in it. William Jones VC ...... Nigel Anthony Robert Jones VC ...... Sebastian Harcombe Henry Hook VC ...... Jon Strickland Landlord/Buffalo Bill ...... Robert Blythe Barmaid ...... Bethan Walker.
PICK-UP....2004
Friday Play, 4 Jun 04. With Phillip Jackson/Janice Makenzie/Noreen Kershaw/Ann Rye/Fiona Clarke/Declan Wilson/Jonathon Keeble/Keith Ladd.
A pickup truck is stolen by a stranger, who promptly crashes it and dies, unrecognisable in the ensuing fire. The truck's owner, who no longer loves his wife, now has an opportunity to disappear and make a fresh start somewhere else. The story is told with Ken Blakeson's customary realism, and it's an absorbing listen. Lasts about an hour.
LOST FOR WORDS....1992
BBC World Service, 90m. 15 Mar 92. A senior opposition MP is afflicted with motor neurone disease. He is still the sitting MP, but it's likely that he will be asked to stand down.
SEPTEMBER SONG....1991
Six-part serial about late love. Began 28 Feb 91. With Geoff Hinsliff, James Greene, Elizabeth Kelly.
HOMELAND....1990
With Michael Hordern. 21 May 90. Monday Play.
EXCESS BAGGAGE....1988
Play about army life, and particularly army wives. 22 Feb 88.
- ......excerpt from Mike Harris's essay on Writing Radio Drama (EUP, see ARTICLES page for the whole essay, with thanks to EUP for permission to use the quote):-
On the whole..................... Radio Dramas that exploit its similarities to screen drama are a more interesting technical proposition. Here’s a whole scene from Ken Blakeson’s army wives drama Excess Baggage:
Interior quarters
DENNY: Three Bedrooms, Sarge?
SERGEANT: Yes, three bedrooms ...
DENNY: But I put in for two …
SERGEANT: Well you got three, didn’t you! Three beds, one bath, one reception, one dining, one hall and one shithouse…you!
The mike
then cuts like a camera from parade ground, to bedroom, to pub, and back,
rapidly interweaving the stories of several army families. This ‘cinematic’
approach need not be confined to gritty realism. In The Falklands Play
Ian Curteis inter-cuts seamlessly between
FAMOUS LAST WORDS....1985
14 Jan 85.90m. A man wishes to commit suicide, on TV. Now very relevant in the light of the Terry Pratchett TV programme on assisted suicide (Jun 2011).
ARTHUR'S ANGEL....1984
Arthur is a person who never speaks; he lives in an old people's home. His 'angel' is another elderly resident who wants to look after him. 13 Sep 84. No casting details but the 'angel' sounds like Patricia Hayes. 45m.
SUNDAY VISITING....1984
With Jason Littler, June Barry. Afternoon Theatre. 4 Jul 84.
A FINE EDGE....1984
31 Jan 84. With Geoffrey Hinsliff, Ian Sharrock, Geoffrey Banks. Afternoon Theatre.
CLUBNIGHT....1982
With Ray Mort, Paul Webster, James Tomlinson.
SCREEN TEST....1981
With Brigit Forsyth, Brian Southwood, Anne Cunningham, Tim Preece. 2 Jul 81.
OVER THE POINTS....1981
15 May 81. By Ken Blakeson/Dave Simpson. With John Webb, Karen Archer. Afternoon Theatre.
FREN....1981
26 Mar 81. With Malcolm Hebden, Rosalind Ayres, Susan Tracy, Martin Jarvis. Afternoon Theatre.
DAY TRIP....1980
By Ken Blakeson & Dave Simpson. With Gwen Taylor, Russell Dixon.
A LONG WEEKEND....1980
With Christian Rodska, Eve Karpf. 25 Jul 80. Afternoon Theatre.
THE MAÑANA MAN....1980
18 Apr 1980. Afternoon Theatre. With Russell Dixon / Geoffrey Banks.
DOWN CAME A BLACKBIRD....1977
27 Oct 77. With Geoffrey Banks, Dave Hill, John Jardine, Christian Rodska. Afternoon Theatre.
compiled by Nigel Deacon / Diversity website
