2000 Radio Plays

TOAD....2000
By Pat Rowe. 15 Dec 00. Minnie, an elderly Polish wartime emigre, begins a new friendship with a little toad which skips in from the garden and offers her a delightful way back into her romantic memories of the past. But for her daughter Sylvia, this is the last straw - Minnie seems to be going mad. With Ruth Posner, Imelda Staunton, Rachel Gaffin and Nitzan Sharron. Directed by Penny Gold. 45 min.

RECONSTRUCTING LOUIS....2000
By John Sessions; Saturday Play 11 Nov 00. Robert Louis Stevenson attempts to dispel some of the more romantic notions which have built up around him as he looks back over his life and the people who have meant most to him. The setting is Vailima, the home of Stevenson in Western Samoa, and the play marks the 150th anniversary of his birth. With John Sessions [Robert Louis Stevenson], Phyllis Logan [Fanny Vandegrift Osbourne], Paul Young [Thomas Stevenson, Robert's Father], Sheila Donald ['Maggie' (Margaret Isabella Balfour) Stevenson], Nora Elwell-Sutton ['Belle' (Isobel) Osbourne, Fanny's Daughter from her 1st Marriage], Henry Ian Cusick [(Samuel) Lloyd Osbourne, Fanny's Son from her 1st Marriage / Bob Stevenson, Robert's Cousin], James Quintal-Norris [Young Louis / Young Lloyd], and Michael Mackenzie [W. E. (William Ernest) Henley, a Poet, Playwright, Journalist, Critic, Editor and Friend to Robert]. Other parts were played by members of the cast. Producer Bruce Young, in Edinburgh. Rpt. 1 Jun 02.

VHF....2000
By Nigel KariKari. 10 Oct 00. Leo, in hospital with a fractured skull, comes round from anaesthetic to find he has a metal plate in his head which picks up radio waves. Cast: Maynard Eziashi [Leo], Claudette Williams [Grace], Suzanna Hamilton [Dr Samuels], Terence Edmond [Mitchell], Ben Crowe [Corliss] and David Thorpe [Jack]. Producer Claire Grove.


THE MONUMENT....2000
R3 October 2000 - exact date nk; produced to celebrate the author's centenary year. By Eduardo De Filippo, adapted by Peter Tinniswood. The play is preceded by a conversation with Isabella De Filippo, the author's widow. An unlikely group of people live in the base of a large statue of some public figure in a big square in a big city. Originally it was Naples but Tinniswood transferred the setting to Liverpool.With Anna Keaveney as Sabrina (great performance by this relatively unknown actress), Tom Georgeson as Ascanio, Michael Mears as Paganini, Chris Darwin as Arthur, Sharon Muircroft as Rita, Ian Brooker as Roberto, Gavin Muir as Guaranscheli, Sunny Ormonde as Teresa, Brian Miller as Salvatore, Stanley Townsend as Agostino, Eileen O'Brien as Maria Rosario, Ben Roberts as inspector Delledonne. Music by Anthea Gomez, performed by Anthea Gomez, David Gregory and Nigel Woodhouse. Producer Sue Wilson.
A FLAME IN YOUR HEART.... 2000
9 Sep 00. By Andrew Grieg and Kathleen Jamie, marking the 60th anniversary of Battle of Britain Day. It is 1940. France has fallen and the war between England and Germany takes to the skies. A young fighter pilot and a nurse meet at a local dance and their love deepens as the war intensifies. With Emma Fielding, Tom Goodman-hill and Crawford Logan. Producer Gaynor Macfarlane.


WALKS OF PROTEST....2000
Series of four afternoon plays; each play 45m, starting 1 Sep 2000..

1 A Woman's Walk Is Never Done....2000
1 Sep 2000; by Alex Ferguson. Jessie Lincoln is left holding the baby when husband Tom joins the Jarrow March. But as Tom marches in one direction, headstrong Jessie marches in another - and takes the road to independence. With Janine Birkett, Trevor Fox, Carol McGuigan, Peggy Shields and Jack McBride. Producer: Lindsay Leonard.

2 The Salt March....2000
8 Sep 2000. By Nasser Memarzia. On 12 March 1930, Gandhi and 78 volunteers set out from Sabarmati Ashram to walk the 240 miles to Dandi in protest at the British-imposed salt laws. This bid to unite the INDIAn independence movement meant some difficult decisions for those in the villages en route. With Paul Bhattacharjee, Josephine Welcome and Kulvinder Ghir. Producer: Toby Swift.

3 The Dead House At Para ....2000
15 Sep 2000. By Michael Hastings. A poor Brazilian family joins a peasant march to reclaim unused farm land. But can they occupy a haunted house? With Jim Norton and Jonathan Meades. Producer: Peter Kavanagh.

4 Walk Against Fear ....2000
22 Sep 2000; by Sol B River. James Meredith believed he should enjoy the same rights as everyone else in Mississippi, and his long walk on Highway 51 was a simple statement of freedom that even bullets couldn't stop. With Clarke Peters, Don Gilet and Geoff Burton.

JUST THE WAY YOU ARE....2000
11 Aug 00. 55m, Friday play. By Tina Pepler. A quirky story about people who want babies, people who don't, and Dolly, the cloned sheep.

THE FAST GENTLEMAN....2000
By K. Howard, 10 Aug 00. 1950s style farce, based on a boat. Adapted for radio by Jeremy Nicholas. 45m, afternoon play.

THE GROWING SUMMER....2000
By Noel Streatfield, 9 Aug 00, 45m. With father ill, a family of young children has to go to stay with a dotty aunt in Ireland. Excellent radio.

THE LADY VANISHES....2000
7 Aug 99, R4, 55m. By E.L.White.

JEFF'S KINGDOM....2000
By Martin Smith, 2 Aug 00. Excellent play about a manager past his best. His demise is accompanied by a Greek chorus of office cleaners. 45m. (surprisingly, on R4, not R3)

THE RIVER....2000
By Rumer Godden, 15 Jul 00, 55m, Saturday play. This is her autobiographical novel. Harriet writes poems about her childhood in India, but Captain John comes to stay.

CHILD OF OUR TIME....2000

Comment by Dave Sexton in the "Sunday Telegraph" of 9 July, commenting on the drama series "Child Of Our Time" which ran from Jun-July 2000

"This disastrous series finished on Monday with another piece by Lee ("Spoonface") Hall, directed by Kate Rowland, Head of Drama. It turned out to be a complete dud. In this dismal conclusion, "Children of the Rain", genuine British schoolchildren attempted to answer grotesquely loaded and politically pointed questions : "How much does a polio vaccination cost? How much does each nuclear warhead cost Britain each year? What sort of differences do you think there are between your life and the life of a child in Sierra Leone?" and so on. Whoever asked these questions originally had been edited out and replaced by winsomely lisping child actors for extra pathos. These cuties also intoned various alarming Guinness Book of Record-style statistics - "there are 4 guns for every child under 5 in Texas......1.2 billion people in the world live in poverty" over plangent music...... and that was it, for 45 minutes. The only consolation if this crass production was intended for the indoctrination of chuildren into global guilt, it will fail, for they'll find it insupportable too".

THE BLUE MAN....2000
By Gillian Clarke. A young Welsh woman struggles to escape the limited horizons of her mother. She meets three elderly sisters who change her life. Afternoon play, 17 Apr 00; 45m. The "blue man" of the title is an ancient statuette.

BEYOND THE CANVAS....2000
Three dramas about the creation of paintings. 2: 28 Mar 00, `Nocturne in Blue and Gold' by Geoffrey Beevers. Whistler's painting of Old Battersea Bridge prompted Ruskin to accuse the artist of `flinging a pot of paint in the face of the public'. A libel case ensued which many believe changed the course of art history. With James Jordan, Ian Brooker, David Timson and David Holt. Richard Dorment examines the painting.

GASTON DU VALLON-CHANNEL SWIMMER....2000
By Stephen Fielding. 15 Feb 00, R4 Afternoon Play. A mysterious swimmer emerges out of the sea to make waves in the heart of a teenage girl. With Douglas Hodge, Ellie Bevan and Tom George. Producer Claire Grove. 45m.

Nigel Deacon / Diversity website

Above plays known to exist in VRPCC collections

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