Paul B. Davies Radio Plays
Paul B. Davies first came to my attention as a radio writer in the late 80s with "Unnatural Acts" and its sequel "At Home with the Hardys", two excellent comedy series in which he starred with Jeremy Hardy (with whom he wrote the episodes), Kit Hollerbach and Caroline Leddy.
The cast have become well-known: Jeremy Hardy on "Just a Minute", Kit Hollerbach as an actress, Caroline Leddy into management (I think in radio) and now Paul B. Davies's name is appearing as the author of some very good radio plays.
My only regret is that Paul doesn't star in them, because as the cockney rogue in "At Home
with the Hardies", he was very good indeed.
Paul has given workshops in "Improvisation as a writing tool". As one of the course
tutors, his cv was given as follows:
Paul Bassett Davies is a writer, director and actor. He founded the Crystal Theatre, whose pioneering
multimedia work was acclaimed in Britain and Europe. He created a series of one-man shows, two of
which were Perrier Award finalists at the Edinburgh Festival. Other shows combined live performance
with video and other media to create innovative theatrical experiments.
Radio and television credits include: Spitting Image, Smith and Jones, Rory Bremner, Jasper Carrot
and many more. He had his own series with Jeremy Hardy, and produced Sony Award winning BBC radio series Do
Go On, which he wrote with Griff Rhys Jones and Graeme Garden using improvisation to create the scripts.
He wrote the screenplay for The Magic Roundabout film and has a feature film in production based on The
Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers comics. His recent radio plays have starred Bill Nighy, Martin Clunes and David
Hemmings. Currently he has two more feature screenplays in development and writes a column for Scriptwriter
magazine.
Radio plays:
BROGUE MALE....1985-6
BBCR4 4eps x 30min
By Paul B Davies & Jon G Collee
Spoof on Bulldog Drummond in which adventurer, Sir Digby Spode, tackles a master criminal bent on world domination.
1/4: 30.12.85 The Further Adventures of Sir Digby Spode
2/4: 06.01.86 The Mandrake Connection
3/4: 13.01.86 The Curse of the Yeti
4/4: 20.01.86 The Skull of the Laughing Goat
UNNATURAL ACTS....1988
Ill met by moonlight
Clips with everything
Royal Fever
Day in the Country
Mean streets
All the world's a stage
AT HOME WITH THE HARDIES....1990
Sequel to "Unnatural Acts"; six episodes.
SPY NOZY AND THE POETS....2000
Wed. 10 Dec 00, R4. Suspicious behaviour by new residents in the small Somerset village of Nether Stowey, leads to the arrival of a Home Office spy, and a memorable encounter immortalised in literary history. Bill Nighy and Martin Clunes star as the protagonists in a drama where espionage, intrigue and poetic inspiration, blur the boundaries between truth and fiction. Coleridge is in there somewhere... Rpt. Radio4Extra, 18 Dec 2014.
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Summary of William Gallagher's write-up for R4Extra, Dec 2014:
....Paul pits the might of British Intelligence against the power of Coleridge and Wordsworth. It will make you question the words 'might' and 'intelligence' but it will reinforce your belief in the power of poetry to move and change people.
With Bill Nighy, Martin Clunes, Graeme Garden, John Woodvine, Matthew Thomas. Director Sara Davies.
DRAMA-DOC: A SOLDIER IN CROMWELL'S ARMY....2002
R4, 27 May 02. 30m
TOMMY THE VOICE....2003
R4, Fri 16 May 03. Tommy the Voice was a legend: the best minicab controller in the business. Ten years after his death, his memory lives on, and one night it seems as if Tommy's story has come back to haunt driver Amit, broken down in the middle of nowhere with a mysterious passenger in the back of the cab.
With David Hemmings, Nitin Ganatra, Mark Meadows, Linda Smith, David Lloyd, Stephen Perring, and Stuart Crossland. Producer Sara Davies.
THE ANCIENT MARINER'S WIFE....2005
This play was pure radio ... Mrs. Mariner is fed up with her husband who gives her no attention whatever. He comes home after a hard day's pestering (telling people his seafaring yarns) and all he wants is his tea and the paper. Meanwhile, in another place and time, Laura Sparrow is fed up with her husband's obsession with Coleridge's poem and his philandering with female students. As characters from these narratives start to invade each other's lives, one wonders who is writing the script, and how it will all end. The play starred Kenneth Cranham as the Ancient Mariner, Phllida Nash as his wife, David Calder as the teacher (Ivan the Professor) and Laura as the wife to whom he never listens. Cathy was played by Rebecca Smart. Director - Sara Davies.
Smoke and Mirrors....2007
11 jun 07. The Great Kalanag, Adolf Hitler's favourite conjuror, is touring the US during the
1950s when he is confronted by his dubious past in Nazi Germany.
With Geoffrey Durham; can't remember the other actors but this is a proper
drama, not a monologue.
Producer Jolyon Jenkins.
Nigel Deacon / Diversity website
All of the above plays known to exist in VRPCC collections
