BBC Radio Plays from 1973
HASSAN....1973
23 Dec 73. By James Elroy Flecker, with the music of Frederick Delius.
Cast:
Joss Ackland, Leslie French, Rachel Gurney, Robert Hardy,
Carleton Hobbs, Elizabeth Morgan, Stephen Murray,
Norman Shelley and BBC Singers trained by Kerry Woodward
BBC Welsh Orchestra leader Colin Staveley conducted by Rae Jenkins. Details:
Ishak, the Poet - Robert Hardy,
Hassan, a Confectioner- Norman Shelley,
Selim, his friend - Leslie French,
Porter of Yasmin's House- Anthony Hall,
Yasmin - Elizabeth Morgan,
The Caliph Haroun ar Raschid - Joss Ackland,
Jafar, his Vizier - Carleton Hobbs,
Masrur, his Executioner - Frank Cousins,
Rafi, King Of The Beggars- Stephen Murray,
The Chief Beggar - Roger Heath (baritone),
Herald - William Sleigh,
Pervaneh - Rachel Gurney,
A Muezzin - Leslie Fry (tenor),
The Fountain Ghost - Vernon Joyner,
Master of the Caravan- Neville Jason,
Other parts played by
Diana Bishop, Fraser Kerr, Diana Olsson, Sion Probert,
Terry Scully and Stephen Thorne.
The ' Serenade ' is sung by Gareth Roberts (tenor)
with the Persian Lute played by Hugo D'Alton.
Programme arranged for Stereo and produced by Raymond Raikes.
THE WRITING OF HASSAN....1973
19 Dec 73. John Sherwood, nephew and biographer of the poet, discusses the various
versions of James Elroy Flecker's famous play and introduces excerpts
from scenes which were eventually suppressed or greatly changed.
Taking part in the scenes:
Joss Ackland, Leslie French, Robert Hardy, Neville Jason,
Elizabeth Morgan and Norman Shelley.
NO GOLDEN JOURNEY....1973
19 Dec 73. A study of James Elroy Flecker 1884-1915.
Written and introduced by Patric Dickinson.
With
Geoffrey Beevers as Flecker,
Margaret Russell as Helle, his wife,
Margot Boyd as his mother,
and the voices of
Hilda Schroder, Haydn Jones, Nigel Anthony, James Thomason
and Denys Hawthorne.
Also taking part:
John Sherwood, the poet's nephew.
O friend unseen, unborn, unknown
Student of our sweet English tongue
Read out my words, at night alone
I was a poet, I was young
Producer - Hallam Tennyson.
JENNINGS AT SCHOOL- HAPPY CHRISTMAS, JENNINGS....1973
BBC Radio 4: Fourth Dimension; a BBC Radio 4 series of 30 programmes for young listeners, spanning the years 1972 to 1975. Sat 22 Dec 73.
The lively 12-year-old schoolboy John Christopher Timothy Jennings made his first appearance on BBC radio in 1948, when Anthony Buckeridge, an established radio playwright (for adults), and former prep school master, sent in a script to be dramatised in Children's Hour. The reaction to the broadcast was so positive that Buckeridge was invited to write more stories about the rascally boy, leading not only to whole radio series but a veritable Jennings industry. Here, as ever, the play is set in Linbury Court, a boarding school where Jennings, his bespectacled friend Darbishire, and other pupils perpetually got under the skin of the masters, in particular Mr Wilkins.
"Jennings at School: Happy Christmas, Jennings" is a festive tale that includes an end-of-term school concert, a lost pen, a cunning plan from Jennings and two Santas.
With Mark Hadfield [Jennings], Stephen Jenkins [Darbishire], Nigel Makin [Venables], Jonathan Carp [Temple], John Daglish [Mr. Carter], David Mahlowe [The Headmaster], Juliet Cooke [Matron], Geoffrey Banks [Mr. Mcready], Jeremy Clarkson [Atkinson], and Anthony Buckeridge [Mr. Wilkins].
Carols sung by the pupils of Chetham School in Manchester; produced by Herbert Smith.
(....info from s-j, 'radiofans' -thank you.)
Rules Of Asylum
By James Follett 10.11.1973 Vernon Joyner/Manning Wilson/Francis de Wolff/Cyril Shaps
EASTWARD HO....1973
21 Oct 73. A comedy of Jacobean London by Ben Jonson, George Chapman,
John Marston and Peter Barnes.
With Joe Melia, Norman Rodway, Dillys Laye and Cyril Shaps;
music composed and conducted by Christopher Whelen.
Peter Barnes, a contemporary Londoner and playwright, is the fourth
co-author of this old play which was the fruit of collaboration between
three Jacobean dramatists. He regards himself as their fellow craftsman
and collaborator, rather than the adapter of the play for radio.
Touchstone, a Goldsmith - David Neal,
Mistress Touchstone, his wife Ann Heffernan,
His apprentices:
Quicksilver - Joe Melia,
Golding - Peter Craze,
His daughters:
Gertrude - Dilys Laye,
Mildred - Sandra Clarke,
Bettrice, Gertrude's Maid - Bonnie Hurren,
Poldavy, a tailor - Anthony Hall,
Sir Petronel Flash, a knight - Norman Rodway,
Security, a moneylender - Cyril Shaps,
Winnie, his wife - Hilda Schroder,
Seagull, a mariner - Brian Haines,
and
Peter Williams, Anthony Daniels, Vernon Joyner, Timothy Bateson,
Godfrey Kenton, Rold Lefebvre, Nigel Graham, Fraser Kerr,
William Sleigh, David Sinclair and Jan Edwards.
Producer - Martin Esslin.
Henrietta Who?
By Catherine Aird 13.10.1973 Ciaran Madden/Alan Rowe/Nigel Anthony
NO NAME....1973
6-part serial beginning 7 Oct 73, by Wilkie Collins. Dramatized by Elizabeth Bradbury.Angela Pleasance as Magdalen Vanbston; Frank Thornton as Captain Wragge. It's 1846 in West Somerset, and Mr. Vanstone lives an untroubled existence with his adoring wife and devoted daughters...
Episode Titles:
1.Tragedy at Combe-Raven
2.Nobody's Children
3.Magdalen takes a risk
4.The Conspiracy
5.Death comes to Balliol Cottage
6.Suffering and Release
The Doubting Thomases
By Mike Stott 6.10.1973 Alan Downer/Caroline John/Margot Boyd/Geoffrey Beevers
Darkness At Pemberley
By T.H. White 29.9.1973 Marius Goring/Brewster Mason/Vernon Joyner. A murder story with a difference. ...Recording from Jeremy Stevenson - many thanks.
THE RECRUITER....1973
9 Sep 73. By Frederick Bradnum.
With Hugh Burden, Maurice Denham and Mary Wimbush.
' Bunny ' Bingham, formerly of the Foreign Office, defected to Russia but
has now been allowed back into England under conditions of utmost secrecy.
He has returned to die.
'Bunny' Bingham - Hugh Burden
Lord Newham - Maurice Denham
Sybil Pennington - Mary Wimbush
Malcolm Phillipson- William Fox
Nurse Mycroft - Elizabeth Proud
Glyn Hacker - John Rye
Dr Brown - Michael Kilgarrif
Paul - Garrick Hagon
Guy Soper - Gerald Cross
Roderick Meredith- John Wyse
Michael Linsky - Andrew Sachs
Veronica Thorne - Fiona Nicholson
Dounia Smerdyakova- Magdalena Busnea
Producer - John Tydeman
VISITING TIME....1973
By Dominic le Power. 8 Sep 73. With
Sheila Grant as Mrs Ivy Pond,
Derek Seaton as Norman Pond,
Robin Browne as Barry Benson.
Through a series of comic mishaps a shy young man finds himself trapped
in a kangaroo suit.
Doctor - William Eedle
Sylvia Brown - Emily Richard
Ronald Brown - Haydn Jones
Alice Farthing - Jilda Schroder
Johnny Nero - Blain Fairman
Steve Darbyshire - Gary Hope
Television Reporter - Sam Dastor
Producer - Richard Wortley
THE ADMIRABLE CRICHTON....1973
By J.M.Barrie. 27 Aug 73.
'A century of Modern Theatre' - a series of plays which have had a major
influence on the development of the theatre during the past 100 years.
This one stars Denholm Elliott, Prunella Scales and Elizabeth Morgan.
'The divisions into classes, my Lord, are not artificial. They are the natural
outcome of a civilised society. There must always be a master and servants
in all civilised communities, my Lord, for it is natural, and whatever is
natural is right.'
Crichton - Denholm Elliott
Lady Agatha Lasenby - Bonnie Hurren
Lady Catherine Lasenby- Diana Bishop
Lady Mary Lasenby - Prunella Scales
Rev John Treherne - Peter Tuddenham
Earl Of Loam - Ralph Truman
Lord Brocklehurst - Clive Swift
Fisher - Dina Olsson
Tweeny - Elizabeth Morgan
Naval Officer - Robin Browne
Countess of Brocklehurst- Gladdys Spencer
Concertina - Jimmy Robertson
Producer - Betty Davies
EVERY PACKET CARRIES A GOVERNMENT HEALTH WARNING....1973
27 Aug 73. A radio version of the 1973 Cambridge Footlights Revue.
With Mary Hamilton, Jeremy Browne, Jonathan Canter, John Lloyd and
Griffith Rhys Jones. Music by Nic Rowley, Nigel Hess and Tim Brutton.
Producers: Stephen Wyatt and Simon Brett.
Forty Years On
By Alan Bennett 11.8.1973 John Gielgud/Alan Bennett/Dorothy Reynolds/Nora Nicholson/Paul Eddington
Murder At The Eisteddfod
By Brian Evans 4.8.1973 Douglas Blackwell/Petra Davies/Dillwyn Owen. Recording from David Carvin - many thanks.
The Fallow Land
By H.E. Bates 14.7.1973 Denise Bryer/Geoffrey Matthews
The Ringer....1973
By Edgar Wallace,
adapted and produced by Raymond Raikes.
R4 9 Jun 73.
Narrator/Pianist........................................David Davis
Det. Insp. Wemburya..................................Alexander John
Det. Insp. Bliss...................................Geoffrey Collins
Col. Walford/Watchman/Laugher........................Peter Williams
Samuel Hackitt..........................................Bill Fraser
Maurice Meister.......................................Alan Wheatley
Mary Lenley.............................................Kate Binchy
Dr. Lomond..............................................Fraser Kerr
Cora Ann Milton........................................Sandra Clark
John Lenley............................................John Forrest
Phone Operator/Woman's Voice...........................Julie Hallam
Stn. Sgt. Carter......................................Vernon Joyner
Det. Sgt. Brown/Driver.................................Robin Browne
D.C. Field..............................................John Samson
PC Atkins..............................................Nigel Graham
LOAF...1973
6.6.73. By David Fitzsimons. A tale of a bakery, and some of the people who work there.
Rupert Of Hentzau
By Anthony Hope 26.5.1973 Julian Glover/Nigel Stock/Hannah Gordon/Martin Jarvis/David Timson. Sequel to 'The Prisoner of Zenda'.
The Prisoner Of Zenda
By Anthony Hope 19.5.1973 Julian Glover/Nigel Stock/Hannah Gordon/Martin Jarvis/David Timson.
Barchester Chronicles
By Anthony Trollope. Serial beginning 20 May 73, in (I think) 14 1-hour episodes. Are there any more? Dramatized by Constance Cox; produced by Gerry Jones; executive producer Norman Wright.
Episode titles:
1.The Warden: Barchester 1855
2.The Warden: Wheels within wheels
3.Barchester Towers: Mrs. Proudie Moves In
4.Barchester Towers: Love and Wrath
5.Barchester Towers: Mr. Slope Shows His Hand
6.Dr. Thorne: Affairs of the Heart
7.Dr. Thorne: A Question of Identity
8.Dr. Thorne: Will Power
9.Framley Parsonage: The Member for West Barsetshire
10.Framley Parsonage: Money Matters
11.Framley Parsonage: Resolution
12.The Small House At Allington: Peacocks on the Lawn
13.The Small House At Allington: Court Cases
14.The Small House At Allington: The Fate of the Small House
Four Days To Kill
Six-episode serial beginning 13 May 73. By Robert Barr.Jim Nicholson undertakes a vital mission to rescue or kill a captured agent. Jim- Edward de Souza, Paul O'Donnell: Geoffrey Frederick, The Commander: Gerald Cross, Col. Doyle: Frederick Treves, Sara Gale: Kate Binchy, Lt. Farrell: Geoffrey Collins, Sgt. Kelly: Derek Seaton. Produced by Charles Maxwell.
Episode titles:
1. The Fortress
2. Mission Tornado
3. The Tunnel (with Andrew Sachs and John Baddeley)
4. Ambush (with Andrew Sachs and Alex Scott)
5. The Search (with above cast plus David Nettheim and David Graham)
6. The Last Day (with above cast plus Nigel Graham)
THE TUNNEL....1973
By John D. Vincent. 5 May 73. Absorbing story of a gang of burglars who plan to rob a jeweller's shop by tunnelling from the property next door. Not everything goes smoothly. Stars John Hollis as the criminal mastermind. 90m.
RHODES OF DORLEY....1973
07-04-1973, By Norman Clare. 'It's a family store, nice size, unbelievably inefficient . . . And in a fast developing area, which to me spells massive potential. In effect it's a takeover, but we're keeping everybody happy by calling it a merger.'
John Sylvester Alan Rothwell
Eileen Croxford }
Miss Martin } Carole Turner
Ronald Lacy Geoffrey Banks
Mr Holt Ronald Harvi
Stephen Rhodes Graham Roberts
Arnold Sylvester David Mahlowe
Mr Ford John Linstrum
Jane Rhodes Stephanie Turner
Miss Burke Audrey Barr
Producer Alfred Bradley
THE ROAD TO ROME....1973
01-04-1973, By Robert Emmett Sherwood. Adapted by Cynthia Pughe. With Robert Beatty, June Tobin, John Justin A June day, 216BC. The action takes place in Rome at the house of Fabius Maximus and in Hannibal's camp outside the city walls.
Romans:
Fabius Maximus, a Senator John Justin
Fabia, his mother Joan Matheson
Amytis, his wife June Tobin
Scipio, an officer John Dearth
Sertorius, an elderly senator Noel Howlett
Varius, a slave Brian Hewlett
Meta, another slave Eva Haddon
Carthaginians:
Hannibal Robert Beatty
Mago, his younger brother Anthony Hall
Hasdrubal, his second in command Russell Napier
Maharbal, a general Jerry Stovin
Carthalo, another general Harry Towb
First Guardsman Barry Lowe
Second Guardsman Marvin Kane
Sergeant Jon Farrell
Producer Archie Campbell(1966)
SPRING AWAKENING....1973
26-03-1973, A series of plays which have had a major influence on the development of the theatre during the past 100 years. Spring Awakening (Fruhlings Erwachen) By Frank Wedekind: translated from the German by Tom Osborn. With Christopher Guard, John Moulder-Brown and Helen Worth. This work 'is one of the first plays of the modern movements, a key work of the naturalist school, that is also the pre-cursor of German Expressionism and the principal inspiration of it.' First produced in a modified version in 1906. 16 years after Wedekind began to write it, this play has had a tumultuous career in the hands of the censor. The action takes place in and around a provincial town in Germany: spring - winter, 1892.
Narrator Francis De Wolff
Wendla Helen Worth
Mrs Bergmann Diane Olsson
Georg Brian Hewlett
Melchior Christopher Guard
Ernst Michael Cochrane
Lammermeir Andrew Rivers
Hans Christopher Good
Moritz John Moulder-Brown
Martha Joanna David
Thea Judy Bennett
Mrs Gabor Mary Wimbush
Ilse Elizabeth Proud
Professor Corona Radiata William Eedle
Professor Breakneck Jonathan Scott
Professor Tonguetwister Kerry Francis
Schnell Leonard Fenton
Professor Strychnine Sam Dastor
Professor Total Loss Douglas Storme
Pastor Leonard Fenton
Mr Stiefel John Forrest
Judge Gabor Aubrey Woods
Ruprecht Andrew Rivers
Diethelm Michael Cochrane
Reinhold Brian Hewlett
Helmuth Christopher Good
Procrustees John Forrest
Man In The Mask Francis De Wolffe
Adaptor and producer John Tydeman
AMY JOHNSON....1973
20-03-1973, The Life and Death of a Legend. With Joss Ackland as Narrator, Rosalind Shanks as Amy. In 1930 Amy Johnson bought a Gipsy-Moth aircraft for £600. Her flying skill and experience were limited: she had never even flown across the Channel. But she had passed her examinations as a ground and aero engineer and her determination was boundless. The frail 26-year-old typist from Hull took off from Croydon airport determined to break the England Australia air record. Knowing that nearly half the journey lay across mountains, jungles and oceans without airfields or proper communications. She set out unknown. She ended a legend.
With Nigel Graham, John Samson, Gail MacFarlane , John Forrest, Diana Bishop, William Sleigh, Haydn Jones, Michael Kilgarriff. Script by Mary Jean Hasler. Producer Alan Burgess.
BACK INTO THE LIGHT....1973
18-03-1973, By James Carey. Adapted by Peter Cotes.
With Michael Turner and Bloke Modisane "God Almighty! What the hell's that? . . . . Sounded like a rock fall and not far away, either. Let's get out of here and fast. Get back, man. The bloody roof's coming down."
William Gilbert Michael Turner
Carl Gilbert Nigel Lambert
Norah Gilbert Hilda Kriseman
Avis Gilbert Eva Haddon
Sam Sean Barrett
Joseph Lionel Ngakane
George Bloke Modisane
Roberts Brian Haines
Doctor Hector Ross
Producer David H Godfrey
SHIPWRECK OF THE 'JUNO'....1973
14-03-1973; the narrative of the shipwreck of the Juno on the coast of Aracan (Burma) in 1795 was written by William Mackay, who was Second Officer on that ship. Published as a pamphlet in 1798 it fell into the hands of Lord Byron when he was a schoolboy and made such an impression on him that years later, when he wrote the shipwreck scene in Don Juan, he incorporated the main incident of this narrative. Many of those 19th-century writers who had read the original narrative considered its prose superior to Byron's poetic adaptation.
Narrator Hugh Burden
William Mackay Henry Stamper
Reader David Gooderson
Adapted and produced by Tony Gould
M6 NORTHBOUND....1973
14-03-1973, By John Tarrant. With June Barry and Barrie Ingham. When Derek Kneen stops to give an attractive young girl a lift from Hendon to Knutsford in Cheshire, little does he realise that he will become suspect No 1 in a murder hunt.
Derek Kneen Barrie Ingham
Tessa Cowell Carol Turner
Paula June Barry
Chief Insp Sayle John Blain
Det-Sgt Maddrell Graham Roberts
Roy Faragher Joseph Holmes
John Teare, a gamekeeper Joe Gladwin
Gelling John Baldwin
Producer Trevor Hill
The Prime Of Jean Brodie
12-03-1973,
The novel by Muriel Spark dramatised by Jay Allen. "Little Girls, I am In the business of putting old heads on young shoulders and all my pupils are the creme de la creme. Give me a girl at an impressionable age, and she is mine for life . . . .
Mr Perry Nigel Graham
Sister Helena Sandra Clark
Jenny Rose McBain
Miss Mackay Madeleine Christie
Sandy Christine McKenna
Mary Judith Carey
Mr. Lloyd Anthony Hall
Monica Lee Collier
Mr Lowther Andrew Robertson
The action is set in Edinburgh, in the 1930s.
Producer Stewart Conn
Thunder On Sunday....1973
By Karen Campbell 10.3.1973 Noel Johnson/Rosalind Shanks/Duncan McIntyre/Simon Lack/Tom Watson. A passenger plane makes a forced landing on a remote Scottish island. Will they get home?
LOUIS PASTEUR
06-03-1973, By Nesta Pain. "It's a risk I should never have taken. Marie! An inoculation never given to any human being before! That it should end like this - my life's work - with the killing of a little boy of nine." The little boy was not killed and Louis Pasteur's life's work ended very differently - but to him the inoculation had been a great risk. This programme traces his life and work and shows why the inoculation was made.
Louis Pasteur Richard Hurndall
Narrator Alan Rowe
Mme Pasteur Barbara Lott
Pouchet }
Biot } John Forrest
Dumas Rolf Lefebvre
Pasteur's Doctor Tony Leary
Fabre }
Vulpian } Nigel Graham
Emile Roux William Sleigh
Pasteur's Friend }
Rossignol } Anthony Hall
Producer Christopher Venning
Abracadaver
By Peter Lovesey 3.3.1973 Frank Windsor/John Hollis.
THE SLOW STAIN....1973
By Alan Plater, 12 Mar 73, with Vivien Merchant as Clare. When Clare's children talk about a run-over cat on the car ride to school, it opens up parts of her mind that had been undisturbed since she read Shelley's line - 'The contagion of the world's slow stain ' . . .
With the voices of Peter Allcorn, Gareth Armstrong, John Bull, David Collings, Pamela Grace, Rolf Lefebvre, Renu Setna, Terry Scully, Nigel Rathbone, Susan Drouet, Brian Hudson. Music composed and played by Larry Adler. Producer Keith Slade. (This play was first commissioned by BBC Radio Brighton for the Brighton Festival 1973)
Thunder On Sunday....1973
By Karen Campbell 10.3.1973 Noel Johnson/Rosalind Shanks/Duncan McIntyre/Simon Lack/Tom Watson. A passenger plane makes a forced landing on a remote Scottish island. Will they ever get home? Cast:
Lampeter Noel Johnson
Claire Rosalind Shanks
Bill Barrett Nigel Graham
Peter Spence John Forrest
Dawn Playfair Gail MacFarlane
Jerry Ainsworth John Samson
Mrs Ewart Sandra Clark
Hargendorn Michael Kilgarrif
Philby Anthony Hall
Crowther Haydn Jones
Mrs Crowther Joyce Latham
Duncan Duncan McIntyre
Menzies Tom Watson
Maiyrat Shelia Grant
Dundas Simon Lack
Todd John Graham
Jamie William Sleigh
'Thunder On Sunday' composed and played on the guitar by Steve Guana. Producer Betty Davies
THE MYSTERY ....1973
.........information from Clive Lever........."a play broadcast early to mid seventies. A man has been persuaded against his own inclination to take his tom cat to the vet to be neutered. He's relaxing in the garden and falls asleep. He dreams he's on the operating table, having been abducted and taken to hospital against his will to have the equivalent operation."
Radio Times.....Edward Grock is a writer married to a rich woman. He is ordered by his wife to take the cat and the dog to the vet to be neutered. He has some sympathy with their predicament. With Norman Rodway, Irene Sutcliffe, Amm Morrish, Peggy Aitcheson, Julie Hallam, Fraser Kerr, Anthony Jay, Sam Dastor, Diana Bishop, Leonard Fenton, Doreen Andrew. Producer- Guy Vaisen. This play won the 1974 Italia Prize. 1973; repeated 19 May 92 (ND).
compiled by Nigel Deacon, mainly from info. sent by G.S. / Diversity website
