Notices 2025

Also note that this page is in reverse chronological order. That means newer items are at the TOP of the page.

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PLAYS TO LOOK OUT FOR OVER CHRISTMAS
2.15pm, 23 Dec, R4: New play by Dan Rebellato: Plum in Prison - about P.G.Wodehouse and the foolish mistake he made during the war. Produced by Polly Thomas.

2.15pm, Christmas Eve, R4: The truth About Phyllis Twigg - the first person to write a radio drama, a hundred years ago. Richard Hughes was credited with this achievement, but she did it first - a year earlier. This is a light-hearted drama about giving credit where it's due, even if it's 100 years late. By Paul Kerensa. Produced by Andrew Mark Sewell; directed by Helen Quigley.

2.15pm, Christmas Day, R4: Regifted, by Martin Jameson. A lonely 40-year old woman fears that her hopes of finding friendship are fading fast. "Radio only" - one of those rare plays where inanimate objects have speaking parts.

2.15pm, New Year's Eve: Snow White's Radio Drama Romance, by Gordon House. This follows on from his first radio play, Rumpelstiltskin Radio Drama Romance, broadcast on 31 Jan last year. Gordon directs; produced by Lucinda Mason Brown. He tells me this will be his final radio play!

22 Dec 25.

FROM DAN REBELLATO
What ho! My new play is PLUM IN PRISON and it's on Tuesday 23 December at 2.15pm on Radio 4 and available on BBC Sounds thereafter.

During WW2 PG Wodehouse ('Plum' to his friends) was living in north-western France, when the German army invaded. Plum was in various internment camps for a year. While there, he wrote some comic essays about life as a civilian at the hands of the Nazis. After he was released, he unwisely agreed to read these essays out on Berlin radio. This caused outrage back in Britain, Plum was denounced as a traitor, and he never set foot in the Britain again.

This play tells the story of Plum's wartimes exploits, trying to offer a more sympathetic account of that foolish mistake. I also try to make a case for laughter even in the darkest times - in part by letting the play become an increasingly Wodehousean farce of misunderstandings, mistaken identities, and comedy Nazis. (I won’t say we’ve gone the full Allo! Allo! but it’s close...).

Our lovely cast is led by the superb Stephen Mangan, and also features Clare Lawrence Moody, Graeme Hawley, Silas Carson, Max Runham, and Harley Viveash. Directed, as ever, by the superb Polly Thomas.

Details

20 Dec 25.

STANLEY BAXTER
From Miriam Margolyes .....
"I just heard with great sadness of the death of Stanley Baxter. We worked together many times & I loved him - brilliant, witty, shy man, bursting with originality & kindness. He was one of the very great ones and I mourn his passing with a deep sense of loss. My condolences to David Holt, who took such care of him for many years. I hope the BBC did not wipe the great Christmas shows he did and that his genius will be properly celebrated. I was truly lucky to have known him & become a friend. Unforgettable & adored."

I love his radio work; over the last few weeks I've been listening to the series he did with the late Richard Briers set in a home for the elderly. 'Two-Pipe Problems' - wonderful radio drama, written by Michael Chaplin. He did quite a lot of radio work late in his career; I've compiled a list of about 100 programmes available under "Stanley Baxter" at the bottom of the PRODUCERS page, under 'ACTORS'.

12 Dec 25.

BBC BIAS UPDATE
The BBC-bias scandal continues, and it's causing a lot of anger in some circles. The BBC is still behaving immoderately and it seems to me that if this continues it will jeopardise its future. I am reproducing a message I received recently, without comment.

As a licence payer, I've had 15 years of the BBC's extremely biased editorial policy. Anti-semitic, pro-Palestine, pro-Remain, anti Leave, pro-illegal immigration, anti-UK Border Control. Ultra left-wing, anti-women's rights, pro-LBGT, pro-diversity, pro-vegan, pro-wind power, etc.

I've paid my licence fee to be informed and entertained, not to be patronised, called names, brainwashed, lied to, coerced, persuaded and made to feel like an alien in my own country.

( ...name witheld)


...And another....


If you are in the country illegally, you are a criminal and you should be deported.

You should not be put into the Question Time audience by the BBC to instruct the British people about immigration policy.

( ...name witheld)

8 Dec 25.

TOM STOPPARD
I am sorry to report that the playwright Tom Stoppard died recently aged 88.

He was born Tomas Straussler in Moravia, Czechoslovakia in 1937. The family was Jewish, and just before the German occupation of 1939, they fled the country, to Singapore. In 1941 Tom was sent to Australia; then to India and finally to England. He went to school in Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire; left school at 17 and became a journalist on The Western Daily Press for four years. Then he moved to the Bristol Evening World where he was a feature writer, humour columnist and a drama critic.

He started to write short radio plays and stage plays at this point.

I don't know anything about his stage work, but his radio plays are interesting and thought-provoking. He began with two fifteen-minute plays included in the "Just Before Midnight" in 1964. THE DISSOLUTION OF DOMINIC BOOT charts swiftly but decisively the progressive demoralisation of its wretched protagonist through a series of disastrous encounters. M IS FOR MOON AMONG OTHER THINGS is a two-hander for a husband and wife whose thoughts interlock with their speeches. Among the 'other things' are the M to N section of an encyclopaedia and the film star Marilyn Munroe, whose death is reported in the course of the play.

His next play was IF YOU'RE GLAD I'LL BE FRANK (1966), a surreal farce in which the voice of the speaking clock becomes human and runs out of control. This was followed by ALBERT'S BRIDGE (1967), where John Hurt plays Albert, who spends much of the time obsessively painting the railway bridge over Clufton Bay.

My personal favourite Stoppard play is PROFESSIONAL FOUL, where a football-loving English philosopher goes on a visit to Prague to attend a conference on ethics and to see a football match. But it also gives a good picture of the peverse and petty Communist regime around 1977, and the difficulties of academic life there.

It seems to me that he was primarily a radio writer, so I was rather disappointed but not surprised that the obituaries in the newspapers hardly mentioned his radio work. Journalists are often unaware that radio drama is an important art form; it is not just a means of 'qualifying' to write for TV or the stage.

It's clear that Tom regarded radio drama as an important part of his work. There is an incident reported by David Mamet, writing in The Free Press:

"Steven Spielberg asked Tom to write the screenplay for Jaws, and Tom said he couldn’t as he was writing a play for the BBC.

Spielberg said, 'I'm offering you a fortune to collaborate with me on a Hollywood blockbuster, and you turn me down to write a play for BBC TV?"

"No," Tom said, "BBC Radio."

6 Dec 25.

CHAUCER'S RELEVANCE
I was interested to find this letter in the DT on 25 Nov, about the work of Geoffrey Chaucer, in reply to a person who thought that studying his Tales at school was of no practical use.

Sir - E.R. could not be more wrong about Chaucer's Canterbury Tales having no real-world application. I taught this incredible work to my sixth-form pupils at A-level. My first lesson always concentrated on the modern relevance of this text.

Human nature has changed barely at all since the time of Chaucer's medieval England. The Canterbury Tales are a collection of stories illustrating human qualities and deficiencies. Chaucer wrote about love, envy, greed, corruption and many other facets of the human condition. His tales are entirely relevant to this century, but today they would appear as The Minister's Tale, The Estate Agent's Tale, The Media Executive's Tale and The Wife of a Celebrity's Tale - to mention just a few of his targets.

LD, S. Tehidy, Cornwall.

This reminded me of an excellent set of dramas by 21 writers broadcast in 2000, called "2000 Tales", written to mark the 600th anniversary of Chaucer's death. They have the same spirit as the Canterbury Tales. When a group of travellers take shelter from a storm in a motorway service station, they soon find that everyone has a story to tell. Some of our finest actors, including Eleanor Bron, Joseph Fiennes and Warren Mitchell, play the parts of the travellers. The plan was that together, the tales would form a colourful picture of contemporary life.

The writers included Marcy Kahan, Nick Darke, Jeremy Mortimer, Andrew Rissik, Sebastian Baczkiewicz and Gill Adams. A listing of these dramas can be found here:

2000 Tales Dramas

BBC BIAS UPDATE
Letter in DT, 26 Nov:

....Dear Sir ... While listening to the Today programme yesterday morning, I heard with irritation - but no great surprise - yet another BBC attempt to paint Nigel Farage as racist.

Apparently someone who Mr. Farage was at school with 49 years ago has suddenly recalled that he made racist comments. As Mr. Farage pointed out, it was years ago and he may have said many things, lost in the mists of time. However he confirmed that he is not racist and never has been.

The nonsense went on interminably, with attempts to 'prove' what he might have said or thought. A ridiculous, fatuous waste of time. Will someone please get a grip on this organization before it fractures under the weight of its own bigotry and bias.

AL, Liphook, Hants.

22 Nov 25.

Another letter, same day...
Sir - Facing the Commons culture, media and sport select committee , Samir Shah, BBC chairman, repeated ... that the BBC received no complaints after the Panorama broadcast in which Donald Trump's speech was edited.

He seemed to offer this in defence, completely missing the point that viewers expect the BBC to broadcast accurate, unbiased and undoctored output, and would have been unaware that the section was spliced. The overall impression was that the BBC's only mistake was to get caught.

RS, Kirkbride, Cumbria

...and another ...
Sir - If the conclusion of the select committee was that Mr. Shah's evidence was 'wishy-washy', it was a reflection of the flabby level of questioning on all relevant issues.

This follows weeks of utterences from current and past BBC chairman, which illustrate an astonishing level of arrogance, entitlement and complacency at the heart of the BBC.....

28 Nov 25

LISTINGS UPDATES
I'm pleased to report that Ian Johns has now supplied the R3 listings for 1973 and Stephen Shaw has completed the Light Programme listings for 1967. He's now done a complete run from 1950-1967, when Light turned into Radio 2.

22 Nov 25

BBC BIAS - UPDATE
Tim Davie, director-general of the BBC, and Deborah Turness, the chief executive of BBC News, both resigned on Sunday night following a Telegraph investigation into bias on Gaza, Donald Trump and trans issues.

Graham Stringer, a Labour MP, told The Telegraph that the BBC had a history of bias which it was failing to acknowledge.

He added: “You can see all the biases from biological nonsense about men and women, to Hamas and Gaza".

“The BBC needs to realise that they are the problem, their bias is the problem. It’s threatening the future of the BBC.... "

"I've been listening to the Today programme and it's unbelievable. The people they had on were the editor of The Guardian and somebody else from the BBC. They just do not get it; they really don't. They're blaming everybody else."

Neville Teller, prolific (and excellent) radio drama writer for fifty years with the Corporation, has written about this matter in the Jerusalem Post, 10 Nov 2025. His article is well worth reading; too long to put here, but a quick internet search should find it.

10 Nov 25

BBC BIAS - IT MUST STOP
I do not often write about politics; after all, this website is devoted to radio drama. But when there is a danger of the licence fee disappearing, it means that radio drama is under threat; there is no commercial station in the world producing it. And when this is being caused by the sins of the BBC News department, I have no option but to comment.

The Corporation is showing appalling bias in its coverage of certain matters. The Telegraph has just published an exclusive, which I am summarising below:

.....Few things annoy BBC journalists more than the suggestion that the BBC's news output is biased against conservative thought. Yet there is clear evidence that the bias is blatant and deliberate. The BBC's animus towards Donald Trump, for example, is apparent in most of its broadcasts.

A 'Telegraph' investigation has found that a Panorama programme broadcast a week before last year's election doctored a speech by Mr. Trump. It appeared to show that he encouraged the January 6 riot against the Biden election victory by telling supporters he was going to walk to the Capitol with them to fight like hell when in actual fact he said he would accompany them to peacefully and patriotically make their voices heard.

Further scurrilous editing showed flag-wavers marching on the Capitol after Mr. Trump spoke, which gave the impression that they had taken up his call to arms. In fact the footage was shot hours earlier.

A leaked 19-page dossier on BBC bias compiled by a recent member of the BBC's independent standards committee further accuses the BBC Arabic Service of bias in its coverage of the Gaza war and of effective censorship of its transgender debate coverage.

Under the BBC Charter, it is necessary that news coverage is impartial. The document raises serious questions about the culture inside the Corporation where so many subscribe to an anti-conservative agenda. The reports says that senior executives and the BBC chairman ignored and dismissed a string of serious complaints raised by the watchdog.

Tim Davie, the D-G, needs to deal with this bias decisively. He could begin by admitting that these are not isolated incidents, that corrective action is needed, and that he will make sure that it happens.

Here are the two clips, taken from the Sky News Australia broadcast on 4 Nov 2025:
Trump clips

How can we trust an organization which falsifies its news? This is the BBC lying; it's criminal deception and is absolutely appalling.

Addition by Boris Johnson, 7 Nov:
The BBC has been caught red-handed in multiple acts of left-wing bias. They have grotesquely doctored a speech by Donald Trump. They have taken the words of Hamas as gospel. They have suppressed debate about the trans issue ... Tim Davie must either explain or resign.

HARRY TURNBULL RADIO REVIEWS
Our friend Harry Turnbull has sent a new batch of radio reviews, several of which are on the BBC's recent theme of immigratiion. Well worth a read. Link is on the main radio page.

31 Oct 25

RADIO 2 NEARLY COMPLETE
Stephen Shaw has continued to work on the drama listings for the Light Programme (which became Radio 2) and has just completed 1966; we now have a complete run from 1950 to 1966. One more year to go.

30 Oct 25

THE CHARTERHOUSE OF PARMA AND H.G.WELLS
Radio 4 Extra have asked me for a recording of the 2002 production; this has been sent. I remember it stars Richard Griffiths and Emilie Fox amongst others. One other matter - I am surprised to see that R4X has just broadcast a very early production of a story by H.G.Wells, from 1951, off a TS disc, adapted by Lance Sieveking. This is now available on BBC Sounds. The title is 'Mr. Ledbetter's Vacation', and it has a great twist at the end. I obtained it some years ago, from an overseas broadcast, along with others in the same series which could be aired - "The Chain" is a charming, old-fashioned story worth hearing.

12 Sep 25

BRADLEY AWARD
The Bradley Award page has been completed (at last) and updated. It now covers all of the years when the Award has been operating.

10 Sep 25

MORE RADIO 2 LISTINGS
Stephen Shaw is continuing with the Radio 2 / Light programme listings of radio drama. He has just added 1964 and 1965 . As I've said before, these lists are well worth reading; they are extremely detailed and contain a lot of background information on some of the writers and productions. I even spotted a thriller serial involving 'actor' David Jacobs, who presented 'Any Questions' for years.

7 Sep 25

Stephen adds...

I found your news item mention of David Jacobs quite touching. We met David many many years ago. His numerous musical programmes were his "day job" and barely of interest to him. (Eurovision Song Contest, Juke Box Jury, Pick of the Pops, Top of the Pops and so on. He was still presenting music on the radio in his final years).

What he wanted to chat about was his acting, his radio drama. He would like to have done more.

He played many roles over the run of "Journey Into Space" (91 episodes including a remake) . Years after we had met him the BBC rewarded him with a R4 one off special "Frozen in Time" (12th April 2008) in which he got to play the lead, Captain "Jet" Morgan. (By then David was well past "retirement age"!). I preferred the audio mix of the 1950s programmes...

For the 2009 final programme of Journey Into Space "The Host", David was "demoted" to playing the baddie, The Host.

David recorded an introduction to the show (R4 11th March 2000) and most of the stories about the show come from David.

I'd love to list his radio drama appearances, but they are rather drowned out by the 5000 plus musical programmes.... a small sample...

20 Sept 1950- narrator in "Before the Party"
26 Dec 1950 - Prince Charming in Cinderella
16 June 1955- Conseil in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
21st Dec 1955 - Lt Allen in The Last Frontier
91 eps of Journey Into Space over 56 years...

S.S.

9 Sep 25

HARRY TURNBULL REVIEWS
I'm pleased to report that Harry Turnbull's reviews are back, after a brief summer lull caused by two computers not speaking to each other (a situation now happily resolved). His latest reviews can be found at Reviews 2025 .

1 Sep 25

A.J.ALAN'S SHORT STORIES
Stephen has restructured and updated the A.J.Alan page, including a list of later performances of his excellent short stories by Ian Carmichael and other readers. These can be found at A.J.Alan - list of known recordings .

1 Sep 25

JUST BEFORE MIDNIGHT
I often get messages about this groundbreaking series, which was instigated by the late Richard Imison and ran from 1964 to 1980. Stephen Shaw has restructured the page and added a chronological list. You find the page at jbm.html .

21 Jul 25

BILL DARE PLAY
I'm pleased to report that the Bill Dare radio play we sent to Radio 4 Extra: 'Barker, Belgrave and Bigweed' went out on 14 June, 10pm. Great to see this repeated. It's quirky and amusing.

OLDER BBC PLAYS
My friend Dave W has pointed out an interesting website containing an enormous number of plays, including some from the BBC, most of which were broadcast well before the millennium: RadioEchoes.com - well worth a visit. Not sure about the copyright situation, but most of the BBC material I saw there was from the 60s and 70s.

20 Jul 25

WHAT DOES A SOUND ENGINEER DO?
I often underestimate the amount of work put into the sound design of a radio play, so I was delighted to find a short online illustration of 'the art of the sound designer' by Pete Ringrose, who has worked on over a thousand radio plays. You can access this on this page to find out more. It is reproduced with Pete's permission.

19 Jul 25

CURRENT AND COMING UP
The new Ed Reardon series is up and running; we've reached episode 3; first-class comedy drama and a bit different from the previous series. Orbit One Zero is under way on Radio 4 Extra from about 50 years ago - can't remember whether this is one of our recordings. No news yet on The Mars Project or the Bill Dare play. Don't miss the Beatles play from 12 June, still on BBC Sounds; a first-class production from Carl Prekopp. The title is 'Mona Best and The Beatles' when you search for it.

16 Jul 25

RADIO DRAMA LISTINGS
I have now compiled the 2025 page for radio 3 (Jan-Apr); probably the last-ever listing for R3. The historical R3 pages are also in progress, courtesy of Alistair Wyper and Stephen Shaw. Alistair is also working on a page about the Welsh radio drama producer Philip Burton (look him up).

12 Jul 25

Note from ANDY JORDAN; EDINBURGH FRINGE

Dear Friends,

It’s that time of year again when I let you know what we are doing at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe. If you are planning to visit EdFringe do please consider coming to see at least one of our two shows. Better still, why not see both?! If you do make it please come say hello? And to make it easier for people, we are only doing two shows this year, and they are in the same theatre and performing back to back!

You will find information about the plays below. Please pass on the word.

All best wishes,

Andy x

TILLY NO-BODY
Solo play written and performed by actor and author Bella Merlin. In a deserted circus setting, she weaves drama, humour, music, puppetry and songs – plus a little magic – to tell the true story of actress Tilly Wedekind and her controlling husband, the playwright Frank Wedekind. The performance confronts vital questions about toxic relationships, co-dependency and the silencing of women's voices. Bella Merlin brings her own experience of being trapped in a coercive, violent relationship: “When we share personal stories we empower our audiences to share theirs".

30 Jul – 24 Aug, Gilded Balloon, Appleton Tower, Bramley@3.00pm, 60 min
-GB Tilly Booking Page: https://tickets.gildedballoon.co.uk/event/14:5599/
-EdFringe Tilly Booking Page: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/tilly-no-body

DREAMSCAPE
Hip Hop theater to the beat of 12 bullets. A powerful, clear-eyed look at the relationship between race, the body and violence. This electrifying fusion of beatboxing, spoken word and hip-hop dance is set to challenge and provoke. Inspired by the shocking true story of 19-year-old black woman Tyisha Miller, who was shot dead by four California police officers while she lay unconscious in a car, Dreamscape reimagines her final living moments. The play is written and directed by Rickerby Hinds, one of the pioneers of hip-hop theater in the USA.

30 Jul – 24 Aug, Gilded Balloon, Appleton Tower, Bramley@1.30pm, 60 min
-GB Dreamscape Booking Page: https://tickets.gildedballoon.co.uk/event/14:5557/
-EdFringe Booking Page: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/dreamscape

Andy Jordan Productions Ltd and Hindsight Productions

12 Jul 25

RADIO 4 LISTINGS
Radio 4 drama for 2025 is now listed up to the end of June .

11 Jul 25

RADIO 2 LISTINGS
Stephen Shaw is continuing with the Radio 2 / Light programme listings of radio drama. He's just added 1962 and 1963 . These lists are well worth reading; they are extremely detailed and contain a lot of background information on some of the writers and productions.

11 Jul 25

LETTER FROM NEVILLE TELLER
I was interested to read a letter in the DT a few days ago, from our friend Neville Teller, a contributor to BBC Radio Drama for many years and now living in Israel. In addition to his radio work, Neville had a varied career (see his website) and he has been a commentator on Middle Eastern politics for over thirty years. This website isn't political, but in view of the amount of heat being generated in the media and elsewhere by the Israel Gaza situation, his letter is well worth reading:

SIR - Philip Crowe writes that “the suffering inflicted upon the innocent is unacceptable.” War is unacceptable, but it is sometimes forced on a nation, as it was forced on Israel on October 7, 2023. Hamas, backed by Iran, is openly engaged in an attempt to eliminate Israel as a sovereign nation, killing as many Jews in the process as possible. Its spokesmen have threatened to repeat the massacre of 7 October “again and again.” That is why Israel is seeking total victory over Hamas, and its disempowerment. It also explains why calls for a ceasefire that allows Hamas to remain in control in Gaza is unacceptable to those responsible for the protection of Israel and its citizens.

Neville Teller

10 Jun 25

THE ART AND CRAFT OF RADIO DRAMA
After some positive feedback about our radio presentations at the Soho Poly, I am putting a recording of one of them online. A brief introduction plus the recording can be accessed here; it lasts 75 minutes and includes extracts from classic radio productions.

10 May 25

BILL DARE'S RADIO PLAY
Readers will be aware of the recent death of Bill Dare in a car accident; taken from us much too soon.

Jon Culshawe and Jan Ravens gave a short tribute to Bill at the Audio Drama Awards on 31 March at the Radio Theatre. It was a devastating shock to lose him. He had a stunning creative talent, especially for radio, and devised many comedy shows including The Now Show, Secret World and Dead Ringers.

He channelled his sense of outrage into his comedy, to make it bite. He also devised the popular radio show 'I've Never Seen Star Wars', where the guest has missed and experience familiar to the rest of us. In Jon Culshaw's words: "We salute you, Bill. Taken from us much too soon; our wisest comic alchemist."

I have just been asked for (and have supplied) a copy of Bill's only radio play to Radio 4 Extra. It's from 1987 and is entitled 'Barker, Belgrave and Bigweed'. I am hoping this will find its way into the R4X schedule soon.

1 Apr 25

RADIO 3 AND LONGER DRAMA
The radio 3 petition, objecting to the axing of experimental and longer drama on that network, has had some success. At the Audio Drama Awards, Charlotte Moore, the chief content officer of the BBC, indicated that they'd had a re-think, prompted by the unexpectedly high level of support for the radio 3 slot, and that some action would be taken.

The result was that a new slot of twelve longer-form dramas per year (ie one a month) would be introduced. This would feature new 90m original work and adaptations as well as classics.

In view of the financial pressures being experienced by the BBC, this seems to me to be about the best outcome that could have been expected. Thank you to all of those who expressed their support by writing letters to Tim Davie and for signing the petition.

31 Mar 25

AUDIO DRAMA FESTIVAL
Details about the festival mentioned below can be found on the 2025 festival page. It was a fascinating and stimulating week; we had participants from many countries including Romania, Georgia, UK, Italy and Holland. The winners of the awards can be found on that page, along with descriptions of the action and a full programme of what we heard.

30 Mar 25

UK INTERNATIONAL AUDIO DRAMA FESTIVAL, CANTERBURY
This takes place in a few days: 24-28 March, Canterbury. A flavour of the event can be seen in this youtube video done a couple of years ago by one of our participants:

Festival video

17 Mar 25

RADIO 3 DRAMA, DAILY TELEGRAPH RADIO CHOICE 26 Feb 25
Chris Bennion writes about the loss of Radio 3 drama in today's Daily Telegraph. He says that radio listening is at an all-time high (32 million listen to the BBC each week) and BBC Sounds is doing well. However, one area where the Corporation struggles to avoid criticism is its arts and culture offering. "The decline of BBC Radio Drama is well-chronicled, with the Radio 3 90-minute Sunday evening slot the latest to get the chop. This has prompted outcry from the Writers' Guild, Equity and the Society of Authors. In a statement urging the BBC to reconsider, the organizations said that removing the long-form drama was akin to shutting "the National Theatre of the Airwaves".

As Charles points out, there's no doubt that the BBC needs to think carefully about how to champion its audio drama in a rapidly-evolving landscape where podcasts are on the rise. Axing what it does best is not good. It's easily the world's best (and most prolific) producer of radio drama and it must capitalize on it.

27 Feb 25

THE MARS PROJECT
We've sent this in response to a request from Radio 4 Extra. It's a sci-fi serial from several decades ago. The sound isn't brilliant but it should restore well enough to be broadcastable. Fingers crossed...

24 Feb 25

HELP SAVE RADIO DRAMA
Theo Jones of the Society of Authors has been in touch about the axing of radio 3 Drama. He has compiled an interesting 45-minute piece with colleague Johanna Clarke where he talks to some well-known radio writers about what makes the form so special, and why abandoning full-length drama is seriously unwise.

Theo's podcast is here, on Spotify: Throw Us a Line: help Save Audio Drama .

The writers featured are Linda Marshall Griffiths, Paterson Joseph, Nell Leyson, Andrew MacCaldon, Timberlake Wertenbaker, Rhiannon Tise, David Morley and Hannah Silva.

I'll also remind you of the R3 petition again : it's here .

The podcast has been paid for by the Authors' Licensing & Collecting Society: ALCS.

25 Feb 25

NADIA MOLINARI
Nadia's page is now online. The 'notes' section is in progress, and I've not yet tackled radio 3. I'm also pleased to report that Nadia has three more plays going out this month (Feb):

Saint Joan of the Anthropocene (reimagining of Bernard Shaw’s Saint Joan by Linda Marshall Griffiths) going out on Drama on 3 on Sunday 9th,

Undercover The Fury series 2 by Rachel Smith 18th/19th/20th Feb on Radio 4

Messiaen and the Birds by Michael Symmons Roberts for Drama on 3 23rd Feb

28 Jan 25

MARION NANCARROW - WHY RADIO 3 DRAMA SHOULD NOT DISAPPEAR
We know the BBC is under intense pressure to make cuts and, whilst we sympathise, it’s tantamount to cultural vandalism to keep reducing and then lose something like Audio Drama. Not only is it at the heart of the BBC’s core values for both audiences and talent, it’s also a cultural training ground for actors, writers, producers, technicians etc. Cutting what’s left of Drama on 3 makes a comparatively tiny financial saving, but halts a long history and tradition of writers and actors who are now at the heart of the most popular TV and film having worked in radio early in their careers - and returning because they love the medium and the chance to be original and use their voice. Drama on 3 is one of the few remaining audio slots for plays over an hour in length, giving a unique opportunity for voices from across the world to explore the way we live now, with the depth and insight 90 minutes allows, at a time when it’s never been needed more. We lose it at our peril. Please reverse this short-sighted decision.
Marion Nancarrow

28 Jan 25

PETITION


ALEC REID
Many of you will be familiar with the work of radio producer and writer Alec Reid. I am pleased to report that a number of his recent productions are available on the 'audiotera' website, which you can find here. The selection includes a very engaging drama about horse-racing, recorded for the BBC but never broadcast, entitled 'Goose'. I have listed details on Alec's page, which can be found on the PRODUCERS index page.

NIGEL DEACON - WHY R3 DRAMA SHOULD NOT DISAPPEAR
Since 2017 the commissioning hours for radio
drama have been cut from 600 hours per year
to 300. Now we are told that drama must end on
radio 3 - a place for fostering new writing and
acting talent. There are around 20 commissions
of drama per year on radio 3, of which half are
new writing and adaptations, providing key
opportunities for creative talent; actors, audio
artists and writers plus the production teams
making these works. This is a cultural disaster.
The BBC should be encouraging and supporting
British talent, not closing it down.
N.D.

23 Jan 25

MARCY KAHAN - WHY R3 DRAMA SHOULD NOT DISAPPEAR
I am a playwright. Forty years ago I had my first
BBC commission: a 30-minute play for Radio 3
- The Contemplative Life - starring Alan Rickman
as a homicidal Benedictine monk. In 2017 I wrote
a R3 drama - Ninety Minutes With Stanislavski -
which dramatised the debates of New York's Group
Theatre. Last Sunday I listened to Roy William's
stupendous re-imagining of The Great Gatsby -
re-set during the Harlem Renaissance. The R3
Sunday evening drama is irreplaceable. The BBC
shouldn't be eradicating it; they should be promoting
it to our nation and to the world.
Marcy Kahan

22 Jan 25

THOUGHTS ON THE RADIO DRAMA PETITION
In a way, I'm concerned that the Equity campaign is to 'Save Drama on 3", when perhaps it should be the wider call, 'Hands off radio drama". The fact that it isn't lends weight to the idea that perhaps this is all choreographed: Radio 3 drama will be 'rescued' in a blaze of publicity whilst radio 4 drama continues to be allowed to melt slowly like an ice cube in a glass.

Is the radio 3 cut a red herring?

22 Jan 25

RADIO DRAMA PETITION
Readers may be aware that after the recent draconian cuts to Radio 4 Drama, the BBC has announced that all drama on Radio 3 is to be axed. This is a cultural disaster. At a time when the BBC has been telling the world how much it values radio drama, it has been planning these cuts.

At the end of 2024, the BBC confidentially informed three creative unions (Equity, Writers Guild of Great Britain and the Society of Authors) that it would be cutting all drama programming on BBC Radio 3. The BBC stated that it hasbeen rebranding Radio 3 as a classical music network.

In a letter to the unions, the BBC acknowledged that BBC Radio 3 is a place for fostering new writing and acting talent. There are around 20 commissions of drama per year, of which half are new writing and adaptations, providing key opportunities for creative talent; actors, audio artists and writers plus the the production teams making these works.

Commenting, Shannon Sailing (Equity) said that removing audio drama from Radio 3 with no accountable commitment to moving the commissions elsewhere is a devastating blow to the creative community.

My own view is that this latest cut is a much bigger loss than the 30-odd hours it represents, because it's the slot where more unusual and experimental dramas are aired; therefore it marks a significant reduction in the scope and breadth of what BBC Radio Drama can offer. It also means that there are 20 fewer opportunities for new writers to shine.

The BBC has promised that it will use Radio 4 as a platform for audio drama, but this is too vague. Firm commitments are needed, with figures as to how many hours of audio drama will be commited to commissioning.

We are not willing to sit back and watch idly as audio drama is wiped from the slate of the BBC.

Please write a letter to the Director-General, Tim Davie, c/o/ BBC Broadcasting House, London, W1A 1AA.

If you can't do that, sign the petition. Even that is better than nothing.

PETITION

16 Jan 25

RADIO DRAMA PRESENTATIONS, SOHO POLY THEATRE

Our radio drama presentations took place on 14 Jan, after setting up on the previous day. Soho Poly Theatre is a pleasant venue with historic connections; it nurtured a lot of cutting-edge drama talent in the 70s and 80s (Caryl Churchill, John Hurt, Hanif Kureishi, Barry Keeffe, Pam Gems and a host of others) and has now become a thriving community hub where varied events (including drama) take place.

There was a short review on the Soho Poly website, which I'm reproducing below. Click on the thumbnails for better pictures.

...

"What a delight this was yesterday - Nigel and Alison
Deacon (www.suttonelms.org.uk) talking so expertly
about the art and craft of radio drama and the medium's
ability to #DisruptYour Everyday. Thanks to
@yourdadsgayuk and Nicola Baldwin for organising,
and all who came along".

15 Jan 25

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