Sarah Daniels Radio Plays
17.02.99 Warming her pearls
25.10.00 2000 Tales: The Slapper's Tale*
22.03.02 Cross my heart and hope to fly*, 45m
12.07.02 The long farewell, 60m
05.06.04 The long wait, 45m
06.06.04 Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded (dram), 2 x 60m.
27.07.04 A partial eclipse of the heart*, 45m
18.07.05 Soldiers' Wives: Woman's hour drama
24.08.07 Sound Barriers*, 60m
09.11.07 The birdwoman of Bognor*, 45m
08.01.09 Left In trust, 45m
16.07.07 The Understanding, 45m
13.01.10 The Jonestown Letters, 45m
27.07.10 Humanly Possible
13.06.11 But if you try sometimes
14.11.11 Journey to Starlight Mountain 5 x 12m
31.12.12 The Cazalets, 10 eps The Light Years
22.04.13 The Cazalets, 10 more eps, Confusion
08.09.14 Home Front, 19 episodes in 2014
29.12.14 Eating for England, 4 eps: 1,2,3,5
16.03.15 Home Front, 30 episodes in 2015
2016 - more Home Front episodes
25.05.16 A Girl Called Jack, 5 eps
2017-2018 more Home Front episodes
19.02.18 Riot Girls - The Good terrorist 10 x 12m
10.06.19 A Woman on the Edge of Time 5 x 12m
27.01.20 Dykes; three-part series
08.08.20 Bird in the Hand, 5 x 12m
10.11.20 Connections
31.10.21 Lolly Willowes, ad.
07.03.22 Talking ABout a Revolution
18.09.24 Riot Girls; three plays
NOTES
25 Sep 24:Riot Girls, 2, Dykes
By Sarah Daniels. Ep. 2. Season 4.
The angry, pioneering 1970s give way to the more repressive 1980s, and Mrs. Thatcher's introduction of Clause 28 (which prohibited the "promotion of homosexuality" by local authorities).
Pat.....Nichola McAuliffe,
Lynn/Liam.....Jelena Budimir,
Miley.....Katie Angelou,
Younger Pat.....Lucy Reynolds,
Younger Bex.....Scarlett Courtney,
Younger Lynn.....Sinead MacInnes,
Flick.....Laura Christy,
Marc.....Ian Conningham,
Policeman.....Neil McCaul.
Directed by Emma Harding.
18 Sep 24: Riot Girls - Dykes, 1
An original three part series by Sarah Daniels, which follows the friendship of three radical lesbian feminists from the 1970s to today, and takes in the campaigning of the ‘70s and ‘80s, Clause 28 in the 1990s, and the more recent fractures in the LGBTQ+ community.
This is the fourth season of Riot Girls. (In a weak moment I wondered whether we will ever get a series entitled Quiet Girls - Ed. )
Pat.....Nichola McAuliffe,
Lynn/Liam.....Jelena Budimir,
Miley.....Katie Angelou,
Younger Pat.....Lucy Reynolds,
Younger Bex.....Scarlett Courtney,
Younger Lynn.....Sinead MacInnes
Headmaster.....Neil McCaul,
Pat’s Dad.....Ian Conningham.
Produced by Emma Harding.
7 Mar 22: Talking About a Revolution
By Sarah Daniels. When Maya unearths new information about her Aunt’s death, and the curious circumstances behind a car crash happening over 40 years ago, she’s determined to find out the truth. She opens up a murky world of radicalisation and revenge. Maya ….. Saffron Coomber, Diane ….. Clare Perkins, Louise ….. Christine Kavanagh, Jude ….. Rebecca Crankshaw, Ava ….. Amy Golden, Young Diane ….. Elexi Walker, Young Nina ….. Alexandra Hannant, The Police Officer ….. Neil McCaul. Produced by Anne Isger.
31 Oct 21: Saturday Play - Lolly Willowes
By Sylvia Townsend Warner, ad. Sarah Daniels. 55m. Lolly lives a quiet with her tedious brother Henry and his family, but when she decides to move to the countryside she discovers a darker calling: witchcraft. Rpt. The novel shows the unfulfilled potential to be found in women tied to hearth and home. Laura ..... Louise Brealey, Titus ..... Hugh Skinner, Henry ..... Robert Bathurst, Caroline ..... Rhiannon Neads, Mrs Leek ..... Ellie Piercy, Satan ..... Sam Dale, Pandora ..... Grace Cooper Milton, Shopkeeper ..... Joseph Ayre, Mr Arbuthnot ..... Shaun Mason. Produced by Sally Avens. Rpt. Oct 2023.
.......A few days later we had LOLLY WILLOWES (R4, 1500, 31 Oct 21) by Sylvia Warner, dramatised by Sarah Daniels and broadcast as a one-off play on the Classic Serial slot. The story: Laura Willowes moves from Somerset to London to live with her brother and his family. After twenty years of being a live-in aunt Laura feels increasingly stifled both by her obligations to the family and by living in London. When shopping for flowers on the Moscow Road, she decides to move to the Chilterns and, buying a guide book and map, picks the village of Great Mop as her new home. Against the wishes of her extended family, she moves there and finds herself entranced and overwhelmed by her new surroundings. She takes up the practice of witchcraft, which is when the fun begins. Harry Turnbull thought it an absorbing listen, and writes:
"Another fantasy tale penned by a woman in 1926 as part of the Halloween offering. Sylvia Townsend Warner depicts a woman oppressed by patriarchal slavery who escapes to the countryside only to wed herself to a mystic presence. A semi-supernatural tale encompassing gender constraint and escapism and a seemingly underestimated book although it did appear in Robert McCrum’s Top 100 novels. Warner wanted to demonstrate that many women are ‘sticks of dynamite’ waiting to explode on the world."
Laura was played by Louise Brealy, Titus by Hugh Skinner, Henry by Robert Bathurst and Sam Dale was Old Nick. The producer was Sally Avens. (....ND, Diversity Website Review, Dec 2021)
BIRD IN THE HAND: Where There's a Will .... 2020
By Sarah Daniels. Began 8 Aug 2020; 5 x 12m. Si is finding it hard to move on after the death of his partner, Mel. When her mother writes him out of her will and puts an end to Si's dreams of running his own business, he determines to find a way of being written back in.
Si ..... Ben Miles,
Mel ..... Pippa Nixon,
Barbara ..... Haydn Gwynne,
Jan ..... Karen Bartke.
Produced by Sally Avens.
27 Jan 20: Dykes - Six of one and half a dozen of the other
A new three part series by Sarah Daniels, which follows the friendship of three radical lesbian feminists from the 1970s to today, and takes in the pioneering campaigning of the ‘70s and ‘80s, the backlash of Clause 28 in the 1990s, and the more recent fractures in the LGBTQ community. Part of the fourth season of Riot Girls: provocative writing by women which explores themes of gender identity, lesbian relationships and the intersections between the feminist and LGBTQ movements. Pat.....Nichola McAuliffe, Lynn/Liam.....Jelena Budimir, Miley.....Katie Angelou, Younger Pat.....Lucy Reynolds, Younger Bex.....Scarlett Courtney, Younger Lynn.....Sinead MacInnes, Headmaster.....Neil McCaul, Pat’s Dad.....Ian Conningham. Directed by Emma Harding.
2010-07-27 Humanly Possible
The third of three dramas dealing with ethical dilemmas. Two babies spend the same day on the same Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Their cases are very different and entirely unrelated until the feelings and decisions of one set of parents begin to affect the other.
Jasmine ..... Farzana dua Elahe, Sebastian ..... Michael Shelford, Dominic ..... Ewan Bailey, Sophie ..... Zita Sattar, Brigid ..... Joanna Monro, Lucy ..... Federay Holmes, Ben ..... Tony Bell.
Researcher: Alison Griffiths. Directed by Jonquil Panting.
2009-01-08, 14-15 Left in Trust
When a young woman decides to write a play about the founder of the National Trust, it leads her to discover secrets about her own family.
With Kenneth Cranham, Sophie Stanton.
Produced by Sally Avens.
SOUND BARRIERS....2007
Sound Barriers (R4, 2102, 24 Aug 07) was about a young mother who befriends two of her
neighbours and little by little changes their lives. The story emerges through the thoughts of Jenny, a
social worker (Caroline Quentin), Ian, the deaf man (Steve Day) and an elderly widow (Patricia Routledge).
It wasn't really a play at all, but three skilfully intercut monologues. When writing this review
I found to my surprise that Mel, the young woman, was missing from the cast list; then I realised
she had no lines at all, my picture of her: beautiful, sad, and in desperate straits, had emerged
through the words of everyone else. This was a poignant and moving piece, and the broadcast, a
repeat from about a year ago, was well-deserved. Sally Avens directed.
....ND, VRPCC
newsletter
Soldiers' Wives....2005
Beginning 18 Jul 05. Woman's Hour drama. Five plays about five women whose husbands are serving with the Armed Forces in Iraq, by Sarah Daniels.
Play 1:. 'I wouldn't put it like that, but yes I am married to someone whose job description includes being prepared to die'.
With
Juliet Aubrey,
Maxine Peake,
Suzanna Hamilton,
Sarah Counsell,
Hayley Doherty;
directed by Jeremy Howe.
PARTIAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART....2004
A death, a birth and a small miracle as three women meet for the first time in tragic circumstances.
With Penelope Wilton, Anastasia Hille, Lorna Gayle; producer Sally Avens.
The Long Wait....2004
5 Jun 04. Afternoon play. Drama based on a story by Mike Walker. In Normandy on June 5 1944, Nicole is getting ready to go out with her German boyfriend, despite the nightly air raids.
The Long Farewell ....2002
12 Jul 02; Friday play. A cancer patient has fallen into a coma and her family is braced for her death. Yet she continues to live. With Douglas Henshall, Adjoa Andoh, Marcia Warren
CROSS MY HEART AND HOPE TO FLY....2002
22 March 2002; rpt. BBC7 2005.
As three characters tell their individual stories they find not only sadness but also a great deal of humour.
With Pauline Collins.
2000 Tales ....2000
Afternoon play, 25 Oct 00. In the middle of the night, with no light and no heating, the travellers hear a ghostly moral tale, a story of 50s racketeering, and how a playground fight reveals a shocking truth about a grandmother. `The Teacher's Tale' by Glynn Maxwell; `The Quiet Gentlemen's Barber's Tale' by Jeremy Front; `The Slapper's Tale' by Sarah Daniels. With Zita Sattar, Joseph Fiennes, Warren Mitchell and Lesley Manville. Directed by Mary Peate.
WARMING HER PEARLS....1999
Inspired by Carol Ann Duffy's poem. Annie decides to reveal a secret affair from her past. But is it too
late to repair the damage already done to her daughter and granddaughter? With Rosemary Leach,
Barbara Flynn and Lesley Sharp. Woman's hour serial.
Nigel Deacon / Diversity website
Asterisked plays known to exist in VRPCC collections
