1966 Radio Plays
CYRANO DE BERGERAC....1966
Cyrano de Bergerac - poet, swordsman and wit, who is doomed in love because of his preposterous hooter. A heroic comedy by Edmond Rostand. With Ralph Richardson as Cyrano, Jane Wenham as Roxanne, Patrick Barr, Tim Sealey, Harold Casket, Hector Ross, Anna Burden, Douglas Hankin, Valeria Taylor, Noel Hood, Hilda Schroder, Wilfred Babbage, Michael Kilgariff, Nigel Anthony. Translated by Brian Hooker; music composed and conducted by Steve Race. Adapted and produced by John Powell. This play was repeated on 31 Dec 1990. Running time about 2 hours.
A later version of this play, by Anthony Burgess / John Tydeman, was broadcast in 1998 and repeated in early 2008; there's a piece written about it in 'reviews 2008'. Go back to the main radio page to find this.
HOME AT SEVEN....1966
3 Dec 66. Puzzling mystery story about a person who returns home one night to find that a day has disappeared from his life. What happened to him on the missing day? 60m. By R.C.Sherriff.
A GAZELLE IN PARK LANE....1966
By Dorothy Campbell. 90m. Too highly stylized for me to get to the end.
THE IRON DUCHESS....1966
By William Douglas-Home. Saturday Night Theatre.
8 Oct 66, 20:30. Athene Seyler/Ronald Ward/Terence Alexander
Reserved Compartment....1966
Leslie Darbon, Light Programme, 28.9.1966; Eric Anderson/Colin Campbell. An intriguing mystery which starts with an argument about whether a titled landowner should have the right to get off the train on his own land.
A Question of Disposal....1966
By Gerry Jones, Light Programme, 29.6.1966. Shelagh Fraser/Simon Lack/Jon Rollason.
A typical ex-army man and his wife...it all begins with a 'phone call from an anonymous caller. Some days later, Mr. Brook moves in to the empty lodgings next door, and in Peter Evett's mind, some unpleasant memories, long hidden, begin to come to the surface. He is to learn that there is more than one way of taking revenge...
This play has been broadcast both in the UK and South Africa (Springbok Radio 1990). The South African version is adapted and produced by Zeona Burnell; Mr. Brook was played by Colin Fish, Brian O'Shaunessy was Peter Evett and Jenny Gratis was his wife.
JAMAICA INN....1966
By Daphne du Maurier, Home Service, 12.6.1966, beginning 10.7.1966, with Patricia Gallimore/Walter Fitzgerald/Patrick Troughton, Molly Rankin, John Browing, Alec Anderson, Noel Hood, John Dearth, Hilda Schroder, Anna Burden, Nigel Anthony, . Five episodes. This tale of wreckers and smugglers in the early 1800s has never done in a better version than this. Adapted by Jonquil Anthony; Wilfred Babbage, Harold Caskett, Geoffrey Matthews. Producer Norman Wright.
APPOINTMENT WITH VENUS....1966
By Jerrard Tickell. 90m. Set in the Channel Islands; world war 2 story.
Venus, as some of you will know, is a dairy cow. Home Service, 9.4.66, 2030, John Justin/Penelope Lee/Hector Ross. There was also a serial version of this broadcast some years later.
DEAD MAN'S BAY....1966
By P. M. Hubbard. Thriller. Home Service, 26 Feb 66. With Hector
Ross, Cecile Chevreau, Nigel Graham, Noel Howlett; directed by
Martyn C. Webster.
THE SLIDE....1966
By Victor Pemberton; 13.2.1966 - 27.3.1966, Light Programme. Maurice Denham/Roger DelgadoAllan McLelland/Marion Mathie. Glyn Dearman is also in the cast. This serial can loosely be described as science fiction. It begins with an earthquake occurring in southern England, and a deep fissure appearing on the outskirts of a little village. Then the local wildlife starts to disappear. 7x30m. Producer John Tydeman.
Penny Fabb's synopsis: After an earthquake in Cornwall, England, an evil intelligence comes out of the ground. It comes in the form of mud which sets like concrete when it comes into contact with light. The intelligence can control a human mind, but not all minds can be controlled.
The Joy Ride....1966
By Allan Prior, Home Service, 29.1.1966; Richard Carpenter/Charles Carson/Kate Allitt/Renny Lister.
BRASS FARTHING....1966
By Rupert Croft-Cooke; dram. Giles Cooper.
IF YOU'RE GLAD I'LL BE FRANK....1966
By Tom Stoppard. 'TIM' the talking telephone clock can think as well as speak and pip the seconds. She becomes disillusioned by the tyranny of time. Frank recognises in her voice the wife he loves. 8-Feb-1966. With Patsy Rowlands, Timothy West, Elizabeth Proud, Brian Hewlett, Henry Stamper, Barbara Mitchell, Isabel Rennie, Noel Howlett, Alan Haines, Austin Trevor, Eva Haddon. Produced by John Tydeman.
DEAR CHARLES 1966
5 Feb 66. By Alan Melville. An excellent light comedy where a lady gets her three ex-lovers together to decide which one will be the best father to her children...
RETURN TO TYASSI....1966
By Benn W. Levy. 24 Jan 66, Home Service. A youngish woman, in her 30s, is trapped in a claustrophobic second marriage with a bright but priggish person who does not understand her. Then one day, out of the blue, there is the opportunity to start again. Hugh Burden as the husband, with Noel Hood, Patrick Troughton, Particia Leventon, Jack May. Producer Charles Lefaux.
A SMELL OF LAVENDER....1966
By Gerry Jones. A little Welsh village is dying; the mine has shut, and the trains
no longer stop there. Only one famous person has come from the
village, and now he's lecturing all around the world. The
villagers appeal to him for help - his response is unexpected,
and so is what happens next....with Jessie Evans, Anthony Hall,
Michael McLean, Harry Stamper; produced by John Powell.
Nigel Deacon / Diversity website
Above plays known to exist in VRPCC collections
