Radio Plays: Producers' Choice
Producers are like SMs; we don't hear much about them. But a good play needs a steady hand in control......and it's not surprising that the best plays are associated with a relatively small number of names. For a list of producers and their work click on .....Radio Play Producers Index.
Richard Wortley has written an extended memoir for us about his life in radio, and some of the three thousand plays he has directed. To find this, click on......Some Reflections on a Lifetime in Radio
Graham Gauld, who brought us Sherlock Holmes (and much more) has also written for us: My time as a Radio Producer
.............Mary Kalemkorian of BBC7 invited producers/directors from Radio Drama to choose five 45 minute plays which they had directed and then to come into the studio to introduce and talk about them. Although it was difficult to whittle a mass of work down to five choices, the producers were all pleased to talk about some of their best work, and the plays, which might not have been heard again, were given another broadcast.
Their choices are shown below. Don't forget to look at the Radio Play Producers' Index page, too....
Jeremy Mortimer 19-23 Jan 04:
*Painting Mrs Jones by Rachel Joyce (original TX 2/4/98)
*Milk by Nell Leyshon & Stephen McAnena (original TX 7/3/02)
*Human Rights by Jonathan Lichtenstein (original TX 4/12/01)
*The Disappearance of Shirley McGill by Katie Hims (original TX 27/2/03)
Starry Eyes by Lucy Catherine (original TX 22/3/99)
More about these choices...
Ned Chaillet 26-30 Jan 04
The Deep End by Pete Lawson (original TX 27/12/99)
*The Polish Soldier by Gregory Evans (original TX 24/01/01)
*The Captain's Wife by Juliet Ace (original TX 8/05/98)
*The Man in Snow by Israel Horovitz (original TX 19/12/00)
Introducing Fagan by Maurice Leitch (original TX 27/5/92)
More about these choices...
Sue Roberts, 2-6 Feb 04
The Human Voice (no details)
Room of Leaves by Amanda Dalton 28-10-98
People come here to cry by Char March 2-3-99
The Unhearable by Pam Leeson 3-1-02
The woman with the fork and knife disorder by Jackie Kay 7-8-03
More about these choices...
Claire Grove, 9-13 Feb 04
*Bawcock's Eve, by Nick Darke, 12.1.99
*Contemplating Adultery, by Michael Butt, 11.1.99
Vanilla, by Lesley Bruce, 24.11.99
*Altaban the Magnificent, by S. Baczkiewicz, 21.9.99
No Joan of Arc, by Bryony Lavery, 3.12.97
More about these choices...
Cherry Cookson, 16-20 Feb 04
*Bodies and Souls, by M. Wade, 29.6.99
*Strange Meeting, by Patricia Bull, 11.11.98
*Apostle of Light, by John Pilkington, 14.1.02
*The Peacock Path, by Jennifer Curry, 10.11.00
*Hard Row to Porlock, by Eric Pringle, 4.2.98
More about Cherry Cookson's work, and
also about these choices...
Pauline Harris, 23-27 Feb 04
*Listen To Your Parents by Benjamin Zephaniah - 14.11.00
*The Kon Tiki Two Expedition by Richard Cameron - 25.6.03
*Little Lives by Kate Atkinson - 5.5.03
*The Big Marrow by Carina Rodney - 28.5.03
*Depth of Field by Matthew Dunster - 26.7.01
Peter Leslie Wilde, 1-5 Mar 04
Skeggy by Chris Thompson (TX 3/9/99)
Nevermore by Nicholas McInerny - (TX 29/5/00)
My Mother And Other Strange Creatures by Claire Bennett (TX 12/6/01)
Glorious John by Glyn Hughes (TX 8/8/02)
*The Perfect Wood by Andy Barrett (TX 30/5/03)
More about these choices...
Janet Whitaker, 8-12 Mar 04
*Bluethroat Morning (first broadcast 19 October 1999)
So Beats My Heart (first broadcast 30 October 1999)
No Problem (first broadcast 31 July 1990)
*From the House at the Top of the World (first tx 13 May 1999)
*The Drought (first broadcast 9 July 1999)- Stephen Dunstone
More about these choices...
Sally Avens, 15-19 Mar 04
*A Soldier's Debt by Nick Warburton (original tx: 18/01/99)
Hungarian Birdsong by Niall Ashdown (original tx: 09/08/02)
*Cross My Heart and Hope to Fly by Sarah Daniels (original tx: 22/03/02)
My Last Week with Modolia by Ben Moor (original tx: 27/10/99)
*Turning the Hut by Nick Warburton (original tx: 06/08/03)
More about these choices...
Enyd Williams, 22-26 Mar 04
Now or Never by Nan Woodhouse (Original TX 8/6/01).
*Slow Train to Woking by Michael Mears (Original TX 5/7/00).
*The Retired Colourman by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Original TX 29/3/95).
*Mr Wonderful by Maggie Allen (Original TX 13/10/03).
*Anton in Eastbourne by Peter Tinniswood (Original TX 20/11/02).
Jane Morgan, 29 Mar-2 Apr 04
Old Ladies at the Zoo (09/07/86)
The Perfect Moment (23/11/88)
Casque d'Or (02/10/91)
The Glad House (01/07/99)
*Dear Doctor Goebbels (30/11/01)
More about these choices...
Polly Thomas, 5-9 Apr 04
A Higher Education by Lloyd Peters (20/6/00)
Out of the Pirate's Playhouse by Shelagh Delaney (6/3/03)
Erskine May by Dan Rebellato (14/7/00)
Thursday - Chin Hair by Rachel Mathews (7/9/01)
Bottle Blonde and Beautiful by Vanessa Rosenthal (16/4/02)
More about these choices...
Asterisked plays in VRPCC collections
Nigel Deacon / Diversity Website
