A Long Wave Goodbye
by Lalage Hitchcock
A Long Wave Goodbye....1988
By Lalage Hitchcock. R4 Afternoon Play. Broadcast: Thursday 31 Mar 88, 3:00 p.m.
"A Long Wave Goodbye" looks at the life of radio fan, Laura, who cooks to 'PM', gardens to 'Woman's Hour', and sometimes shares a
bath with Richard Baker. Her husband Tom, on the other hand, is sick of her obsession with radio and tries to bring her attention back to him and their home.
Can radio be a substitute for life? According to Tom, it "feasts off itself like a black hole". And of the personalities that, to his wife, have
become surrogate friends, he says bitterly: "You fall in love with their voices and create beautiful faces to go with them, but you'd be appalled
if you knew what they really looked like. They wouldn't 'be' on radio if they were worth looking at."
Tom eventually tries to communicate with his wife by writing a radio play: 'Goodbye and Take Care'. He appears on "Woman's Hour"; his play is discussed on "Kaleidoscope"; chosen for "Pick of the Week", and he eventually makes the news on "PM". But has he been able to reach his wife?
With Michael Graham Cox [Tom], Zelah Clarke [Laura], Caroline Gruber [Linda / Liz Montague], Richard Tate [Dan], Diana Olsson [C.
S. Darling], and Margot Boyd [Mrs. Antrobus].
Other parts were played by John Baddeley, David Goodland and members of the cast.
Also taking part were Derek Cooper, Gordon Clough, Margaret Howard, Jenni Murray. Valerie Singleton, Paul Vaughan, and Peter
Donaldson who plays himself (The BBC Announcer).
Directed by Jeremy Mortimer. 60m.
NOTES
Further information on the radio play from Radio Times:
When the cast of a play includes Margaret Howard, Jenni Murray, Gordon Clough, Valerie Singleton, Paul Vaughan, Derek Cooper, and
The Archers's Mrs. Antrobus - all of them playing themselves - you would be right in expecting something a little, well, radio-incestuous.
And the fact that Lalage Hitchcock's "A Long Wave Goodbye" is going out on the eve of 1st April (Thursday 3:00) should not be entirely
overlooked.
For Lalage - an artist, sculptor, and print-maker - is a self-confessed Radio 4 addict and her first play reflects that aural obsession. A
spoof of her own addiction (not to mention the corridors of power of Radio 4 itself), it explains the life of a fictitious woman radio fan and
the efforts of her husband Tom (Michael Graham Cox) to bring her attention back to him and their home.
Can radio be a substitute for life? According to Tom, it "feasts off itself like a black hole". And of the personalities that, to his wife, have
become surrogate friends, he says bitterly: "You fall in love with their voices and create beautiful faces to go with them, but you are
appalled if you knew what they really looked like. They wouldn't 'be' on radio if they were worth looking at." Well!
All good fun, of course. The 31-year-old Lalage - "call me Lal" - says she's besotted by the medium partly because she lives in rural
Dorset "in a cultural desert" and partly because she loves listening while she works. "It's a huge lifeline - a great oasis of culture,
entertainment and amusement." Watching her heroes perform was "an enormous thrill", she adds.
Her cast appear to have enjoyed themselves, too. Michael Graham Cox, whose radio career has taken him from "Mrs. Dale's Diary" to,
more recently, "Citizens", says: "It's a very funny piece. Tom eventually tries to communicate with his wife by writing a radio play. He
appears on "Woman's Hour", his play is discussed on "Kaleidoscope" and chosen for "Pick of the Week" and he eventually makes the
news on "PM""."
It's certainly given Valerie Singleton the acting bug. "I trained at RADA and worked as an actress before joining television," she tells
me. "This was just like doing "PM", really, but perhaps now somebody will find a real part for me."
Lal has another radio play on the way but Valerie and co can breathe again - this one's about life in Dorset. Watch out Lal's neighbours!
