Other Radio Plays - 1984
TEDDY BEAR'S PICNIC....1984
18 Dec 84. By Paul King. Thirty Minute Theatre. Amusing tale about the arrival of two toy robots on a young boy's birthday. Will they get along with the other toys? Norman Rodway as Teddy, Bob Shderman as Tran, Robin Summers as LCD, John Webb as Action Man, James by Susan Sheridan, Mum by Helen McIntosh. Producer: John Tydeman.
Intimations of a Raid....1984
By John Kirkmorris. With Bill Wallis and Angela Phillips, directed in Bristol by Shaun McLaughlin.
8 December 1984 - Saturday Night Theatre. A rumour about the takeover of a privately held industrial firm is
published. Such a thing shouldn't be possible, but are all the principal shareholders playing for the same side? (GL)
Almost Time For School
Gordon McKerrow,10.11.1984/2030,Andrew Sachs/Robert Eddison/Jane Knowles/Margot Boyd
...recording from R. Hill; thanks Roy.
When The Wind Blows
Raymond Briggs,6.10.1984/2030,Brenda Bruce/Peter Sallis.
No-fun play about the dropping of a nuclear bomb, based on Brigg's novel in pictures. Chilling.
Time & The Conways
J.B. Priestley,15.9.1984/2030,Zena Conway/Sue Jenkins/Jane Hollowood/Joe Dunlop
The Legion Of The Lost
Paul Bryers,1.9.1984/2030,Tenniel Evans/David Healy/Zelah Clarke. Story of a little-known invasion. The Navy Lark star,
Teniel Evans, appears. Recording from H. Kieft, Australia; thanks
Hans.
The Doomed Oasis....1984
22-8-84. In 'The Doomed Oasis' (Mon-Fri at 1.30pm & 8.30pm, BBC7 June 2004),
based on the book by Hammond Innes, adapted for radio by Rene Basilico, Tim Munro stars as a young English lawyer
named George Grant. Learning that one of his former clients has been reported
missing, Grant embarks on a journey to Bahrain in search of a man called
Sir Phillip Gorde. Robert James and Jill Lidstone co-star
in this John Fawcett Wilson production. Serial, 6 x 30 min.
SIXTY TONS THROUGH THE IRON CURTAIN....1984
By the American writer, Dan Possumato. Set in the time of the Cold War, this is a 30-minute play about a runaway tank. It's great fun. ( R4 21.8.1984/1100 Brett Usher/Bernard Brown/William Hope ). Thanks to Dan for sending a copy - ND.
20 Feb 2012
HER PRIVATES WE....1984
By Frederic Manning. R4, Monday Play. 20 Aug 84.
"Her Privates We" is an account in the vernacular of the lives of ordinary soldiers during World War I. The central character is the filter through which Manning's own experiences during the war are transposed into the lives of a group of men whose own personal qualities interact in response to conflict and comradeship. The story is widely regarded as one of the very finest based upon the experiences of warfare.
"Her Privates We" was adapted for radio by David Buck and based on the 1929 novel, originally published anonymously, by Frederic Manning called "The Middle Parts of Fortune: Somme & Ancre, 1916". It would not be until 1977 that Frederic Manning allowed his name on the book. The novel was re-issued in 1999 as "Her Privates We", a title that had been previously been used in 1930 when an expurgated version of the novel was published. The title of the play is a quote from Shakespeare (see below).
With Peter Pacey [Private Bourne], Colin Starkey [Private Shem], Michael Jenner [Private Martlow], Michael Tudor Barnes [Sergeant-Major Tozer], Trevor Cooper [Private Weeper Smart], Bernard Brown [Private Pritchard], Norman Jones [Regimental Sergeant Major / Carpenter], David Gareth [The Colour Sergeant], Sean Barrett [Private Glazier], William Eedle [Private Madeley], Spencer Banks [Private Pacey], Brett Usher [Corporal Hamlow / Lance Corporal Johnson], Geoffrey Collins [Lieutenant Clinton / Corporal Greenstreet], Henry Stamper [Sergeant Glasspool], Peter Acre [Private Jakes / Captain Malet], Mark Straker [Lieutenant Marsden / Private Hines], Helena Breck [Therese], and Cecile Chevreau [Therese's Mother].
Other parts played by members of the cast
The Military Advisor was Maurice E. Jones of the King's Shropshire Light Infantry. Directed by Richard Wortley
This particular reference of the title, "Her Privates We", occurs in Hamlet. In Act 2, Scene 2, there is a jocular exchange between Hamlet and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern:
Guildenstern: On Fortune's cap we are not the very button.
Hamlet: Nor the soles of her shoe?
Rosencrantz: Neither, my lord.
Hamlet: Then you live about her waist, or in the middle of her favours?
Guildenstern: Faith, her privates we.
Hamlet: In the secret parts of fortune? O, most true; she is a strumpet.
...this review by 's-j' of 'radiofans' - many thanks.
La Bolshie Vita
Ken Whitmore,11.8.1984/2030,Christian Rodska/Nigel Anthony
THE HISTORY OF ROCK....1984
2 Aug 84. A tongue-in-cheek tribute to the world of popular music. By Roger Planer. Additional material by Mark Smith and Arnold Brown.
Narrated by Chris Langham. Cast: Mark Arden, Janice Cramer, Steve Frost, Philip Pope.
Music written and performed by Steve Brown and Philip Pope; programmes
produced by Jamie Rix.
Three episodes. First broadcast on Radio 2 from 2 Aug 84 to 16 Aug 84.
BBC7 rebroadcast 3 Jun 05 and then at weekly intervals, ending 17 Jun.
2 Aug 84:
1: Rock 'n' Roll music from the birth of the blues to the death of Elvis.
9 Aug 84:
2: The 60s as they never were.
16 Aug 84:
3: The final part of this series starts with drugs and then wanders off aimlessly trying to find itself.
Musicians:
Steve Shone (bass),
Shaun Lyons (gtr),
Damon Butcher (kbds),
Dave Early (perc).
The Godwulf Manuscript
Robert B. Parker,21.7.1984/2030,Gary Waldhorn. Interesting
thriller. Recording from Michael Lloyd; many thanks.
A LITTLE BEHIND ON THE VIDEO....1984
16 Jun 84. A chance encounter on the lift with the head of the corporation may lead to a promotion for John. Having to head off to Oxford that evening and with his video recorder on the blink, Sir Quentin Briggs asks John to record a TV programme for him on Finance and Industry that's playing that evening on BBC 2. A simple task, John thought.... 30m.
Jon Glover, Gillian Bailey, Peter Pratt, Margot Boyd, Mark Straker, Geoffrey Collins, Don Fellows, Carole Boyd, and William Hope. Directed by Glyn Dearman. info from s-j, radiofans
Casa Clara
Dawn Lowe-Watson,7.7.1984/2030,Meg Wynn Owen/Jill Balcon/Gary Waldhorn. A holiday romance in Venice - see Dawn Lowe- Watson's page. Recording from DLW; thanks Dawn
WESTMORLAND....1984
21 Jun 84, AFT. By Robert Ferguson.
With Peter Faulkner and Janet Rawson.
Directed in Manchester by Kay Patrick.
Billy and Rose grew up together roughhousing in rural Cumbria as kids, when Billy was the one with the wilder imagination. They continued to love each other. In their early 20s, Billy has grown into a narrow-minded merchant seamen while Rose is at university in Liverpool, becoming inspired by socialist ideals. When Billy decides to leave the sea, Rose has to sort out her priorities, and Billy is impatient. He dreams of farming in Cumbria, which he still calls by the name it had in their childhood, Westmorland.
Cast:
Billy.........................................Peter Faulkner
Rose..........................................Janet Rawson
Hester........................................Gilly Coman
Jimmy.........................................Cliff Howells
Rose as a child...............................Suzanne Cleary
Billy as a child..............................Darren Shaw
Lake Attendant/Man in boat/Job Centre clerk...Stuart Organ
THE TRADE OF MAN....1984
2.6.1984, by T.D. Webster, SNT. 90 minute play set in the 80s but whose roots lie in France during WW2. Outstanding play along the lines of "For Elise", by John Bird. Nigel Davenport, Isabell Dean, John Rowe, Geoffrey Collins, Carole Boyd, George Pravda, Geoffrey Matthews, Graham Patten, Natasha Pyne, Crawford Logan. Produced in Birmingham by Peter Windows. Recording from Clive Lever; many thanks....
THE COLLIERS' CATHEDRAL....1984
22 May 84; 22.5.1984; by Robin Brooks, with Jon Strickland/Hilda Schroeder. An unusual Yorkshire comedy; something like a cross between "Hobson's Choice" and Monty Python's "Four Yorkshiremen" sketch. Note the date; Mr. Brooks works in the features department of a local newspaper group in Gloucestershire and also wrote 'The Cotswold Order'; he is not the same Robin Brooks who has written radio plays for the BBC since 1998. Recording from Peter Brook; many thanks
WHO IS SYLVIA?....1984
29/04/1984 BBC Radio 3. By Stephen Dunstone. Dir: John Tydeman. Cast: Michael Aldridge ; Nigel Hawthorne ; Martin Jarvis ; Anna Massey ; Frances Jeater. This play was joint winner of the 1983 Radio Times competition for the best radio play. It also won a Giles Cooper Award in 1984. The title « Who is Sylvia? » is from a song in Shakespeare’s « The Two Gentlemen of Verona ». Franz Schubert set the song to music. This play is an excellent example of the pictures being much better on the radio. A senior research scientist and his assistant are experimenting on cockroaches in a particularly gruesome way. In a complete shift of levels we also hear the family of cockroaches themselves suffering these experiments but without understanding what is happening to them. (....notes by Alistair Wyper - many thanks)
THE VOYAGE OF ST. BRANDON....1984
Afternoon Theatre, 22 Apr 84. By George Mackay Brown; with Cyril Cusack as St Brandon.
'Look at that sunset Brothers, that's where the
island is – somewhere beyond that glory in the west.
Imagine it, no plough, no sickle, no quernstone – the corn
there is ripe for ever... '
Cast:
Scribe Brian/Finn ….. Tony Doyle,
Doorkeeper/Tomas ….. Denys Hawthorne,
Tramp Byrne ….. Michael Golden,
Malachi …... Patrick Malahide,
Colm/Rook …... Alan Barry,
Cormac ….. Patrick Hannaway,
Liam …... Bosco Hogan,
Seamus/Laird ….. Iain Agnew,
Old Man …... Ian Stewart,
Man on the rock/Fergus …. Paul Kermack,
Islander/Sean …... John Shedden.
Music by Thomas Wilson.
Sanchia Pilou (harp/clarsach),
Heather Corbett, Gordon Rigby (percussion),
Jim Henry (synthesiser).
Singers Alec Wands, Scott Cooper,
Ian McGlashan, John Purser, Peter Richfield.
SMs Jim Ross, Gordon Chalmers
and Iain Hunter.
Directed by Stewart Conn.
BBC Scotland.
THE BIRD OF DAWNING....1984
Six-part serial, adapted by Colin Finbow from John Masefield’s 1933 novel about a China tea clipper which sinks,
stranding half the crew in heavy, shark-infested seas. The cast features Brett Usher, Michael N. Harbour, Norman Jones, Timothy Bateson, Anthony Hall, Geoffrey Collins and Colin Starkey. Producer Peter King. 26 Feb-1 Apr 84.
SNAPPING OUT (ESCAPE FROM THE MOONIES) ....1984
By Martin Worth. 31.3.1984/2030, Jane Wenham/Lesley
Dunlop/Jack Watling. Autobiographical story of
Susan Swatland, from her book. Recording from C. Lever; thanks
Clive
GETTING THROUGH TO POLLY....1984
By Valerie Windsor. 20 Mar 84. Afternoon Theatre about an autistic child.
THE HOUSE OF THE ARROW....1984
4 Feb 84; by A.E.W.Mason. Detective drama, set in France. A person has been murdered, possibly poisoned, but there's no forensic evidence. Starts slowly but gathers pace. The 'arrow' is a curiosity of the type which one might find at the Pitt-Rivers museum in Oxford. 90m.
Nigel Deacon / Diversity website
Above plays known to exist in VRPCC collections
