Other Radio Plays - 1979

Burglar's Bargains
By Wally K. Daly 15.12.1979. SNT.(Saturday Night Theatre)- Peter Jones/Lockwood West/Bernard Bresslaw/Charles Hawtrey. This time, the gang have a go at robbing Harrod's. 90m comedy. Recording from Penny Fabb - thanks Penny.

Alibi For A Judge
By Henry Cecil 1.12.1979. SNT. Andrew Cruickshank/Amanda Grinling/Aubrey Woods.


CAIAPHAS THE PRIEST....1979
8 Oct 79., rpt. 1984. By Josef Bor, translated and adapted by Carey Harrison, with Lee Montague as Caiaphas, Anthony Bate as Pontius Pilate and Sean Barrett as Judas Iscariot. An interpretation of Jesus' trial seen through the eyes of Caiaphas the High Priest. Forced to fill a crucifixion quota, he finds himself obliged to choose between a Jewish nationalist freedom fighter and the latest self-proclaimed messiah. Woman ............. Maureen O'Brien, Corporal ........... Peter Baldwin, Barabbas .......... Stanley Lebor, Enom ................ Wiliam Eedle, Ariel .................. Philip Voss. Members of the Great Council of the Temple: Aeneas ......... Godfrey Kenton, Boaz ............. Anthony Newlands, Gerson .......... Peter Welch, Achiman ....... Martin Friend, Jabin ............. John Church, Servant .......... Michael McStay, Legionary ...... Gordon Dulieu. Directed by John Theocharis. (...'A serious play, treating Christianity with reverence....' (The Guardian)

Sins Of The Father
By Bill Lyons 22.9.1979. SNT. Douglas Livingstone/Nigel Hawthorne/Diana Bishop

THE DAISY CHAIN....1979
11 Sep 79; 30m play by Lesley Clive about the last part of Catherine Howard's life. Catherine Howard was the fifth wife of Henry VIII; the king was about twice her age and suffering from venereal disease. Her time with him was short... no casting or producer details.

The Happiest Days Of Your Life
By John Dighton 25.8.1979. SNT. Roger Hammond/Adam Godley/Philip Voss/Gordon Dulieu. Radio play of the film. Well-known comedy.

Cold Bath Fields
By Christopher Russell 7.7.1979. SNT. Michael Harbour/Peter Pacey

Present Laughter
By Noel Coward 30.6.1979. SNT. Paul Scofield/Fenella Fielding/Patricia Routledge. Very good production of Coward's well-known comedy. 90m.

A HA'PENNY FROM HELL....1979
24 Jul 79; Four famous libel cases which captured the imagination of the public. No. 4: by Eric Ewens. In 1964 Leon Uris was sued by Dr Dering for comments made about him in his book 'Exodus'. The trial was to prove one of the most harrowing ever heard in a British court. Narrated by Michael Tudor Barnes; Lord Gardiner - MALCOLM HAYES, Colin Duncan, QC - DAVID GARTH, Dr Clauberg - JOHN JUSTIN, Judge - GODFREY KENTON, Dr Dering - GEORGE PRAVDA, Woman patient - IRČNE PRADOR, Dr Brewda - PRUNELLA SCALES, Dr Hautval - HILDA KRISEMAN, Reader/Foreman - DANNY SCHILLER, Court Official - BRIAN CARROLL, Produced by CHRISTOPHER VENNING.

GETTING AHEAD....1979
By Elizabeth Kay. Just Before Midnight, 1 June 1979; 23:55hrs. 15m. A nasty theatre critic sends his long-suffering wife to a new hairdresser. Cast: Hugh Dickson [The Critic], Thelma Whiteley [His Wife] and John Rye [The Hairdresser]. Directed by Cherry Cookson.
(programme note by GL, and recording from John Andrews - many thanks)


TROUBLE AT HIVE NINE....1979
by Mike Parker; produced by Cherry Cookson. 22nd May 1979, Thirty Minute Theatre. Comedy about political machinations inside a beehive. When the Queen Bee (Thora Hird) discovers that one of her worker bees is not working, she plans to sack him. Will it provoke a revolution?

Cast:
Queen Bee.....................Thora Hird
Equerry......................Philip Voss
Albert.....................Peter Baldwin
Arthur.......................John Hollis
Fred.....................Gordon Gostelow
Sydney........................Bill Monks
Einstein....................Gerald Cross

Creepers
By Frederick Bradnum 5.5.1979. SNT. Ian Holm/Jack May


THE SLENDER VOICE....1979
1 May 79. By Leszel Prorok. 30 minute theatre. A sapper working on clearing mines steps on one ... and loses his sight.

Some time later he spends some time with a bunch of blind canoeists. He goes missing. As the search for him mounts, he comes across a woman in the reeds ...

With John Shrapnel [Frank Lapinski], Kate Binchy [The Girl], Eric Allan [The Instructor], Manning Wilson [The Director], and Peter Craze [Norman].

More information on the review page. Notes sent by Jim; many thanks.

The Last Witch
By Christopher Russell 28.4.1979. SNT. Sylvia Coleridge/Jennifer Piercy/Gerald Cross. Rather surprising tale (based on fact) about events in rural Ireland at the end of the 1800s. DISASTER COURSE....1979 11 Apr 79. By Michael Kittermaster. Afternoon Theatre. 45m. The investigation following an air crash, where the pilot was killed along with the passengers and the rest of the crew. Cast:Frances dela Tour, Charles Grey, John Graham, Audrey Muir, Heather Tobias, Fred Bryant, Hilda Kriseman, Alison Draper, Diana Olssohn, Petra Davies, Joan Matheson. Producer Penny Gold.

The Diary Of A Scoundrel....1979
by Alexander Ostrovsky, adapted by Rodney Ackland. Produced by Glyn Dearman, with James Aubrey, Fenella Fielding and Maurice Denham. 31 Mar79 (Saturday Night Theatre).

Comedy in two acts, adapted by Rodney Ackland from Alexander Ostrovsky's Enough Stupidity in Every Wise Man

Gloumov, a young man of meager means and abundant imagination, sets out to con his way into the inner circle of Moscow society. He does this by pampering the various egos that comprise that circle.

Alexander Ostrovsky wrote at the same time as Turgenev, Dostoevsky and Tolstoy. He is considered the greatest dramatist of the Russian Realistic School. Although Ostrovsky is relatively unknown to English and American audiences, his 40 plays are still performed regularly in Russia.

Yegor Gloumov....................James Aubrey
Kleopatra Manaeva............Fenella Fielding
Noel Mamaev..................Anthony Newlands
Anton Kroutitzky...............Maurice Denham
Sophia Tourousina...............Maxine Audley
Glafira Gloumova..................Patsy Smart
Mashenka........................Tammy Ustinov
Ivan Gorodonlin.............Kenneth Fortescue
Madame Maniefa....................Margot Boyd
Dmitri Kourchaev.................Philip Sully
Alexander Golutvin..............Andrew Branch
Matriosha.........................Brenda Kaye
Lubinka........................Hilda Kriseman
Styopka............................Bill Monks
Grigori.........................Gordon Dulieu

STANDARD PROCEDURE....1979
28 Mar 79. Afternoon Theatre, 45m, by Michael Wilcox. A teacher feels sorry for a youth who has absconded from school and foolishly gives him shelter. Cast: John Wheatley, Derek Gilbert, Ronald Herdman, Anne Rye, Christopher Ravenscroft, Ronald Baddeley. Producer Alfred Bradley, Manchester.

The Humane Solution....1979
By Steve Gallagher. 17 Mar 79. With Patrick Mower, Peter Pacey, Malcolm Hayes, Anthony Hall. Saturday Night Theatre, 90 minutes. Thriller involving a hi-jacked aeroplane at an airport; there's thick fog and nothing can take off. Producer John Tydeman.

A DREAM OF MURDER ....1979
By James (J.C.W.) Brook. Radiophonic sound by Paddy Kingsland. Produced by Ian Cotterell. R4 03-Mar-1979. With Nigel Anthony, Sean Barrett, Sheila Grant, Alan MacNaughtan, Rosalind Shanks, Tammy Ustinov, Alison Draper, Josie Kidd, Fred Bryant. Creepy supernatural play about a man who dreams about .... well - look at the title! Recording sent by Paul Collins - many thanks.

The Silent Scream
By Wally K. Daly 17.2.1979. SNT. James Laurenson/Hannah Gordon/Colin Douglas/Donald Hewlett. Science fiction - part of trilogy.

The Lackey's Daughter
By Ken Whitmore 3.2.1979. SNT. Elizabeth Bell/Derrick Gilbert/Christine Welch

Other Paths To Glory
By Anthony Price 27.1.1979. SNT. Martin Jarvis/Tony Britton. Exciting Second World War story - see War and Conflict page.

CITY SUGAR....1979
Radio 3. 21 Jan 79. By Stephen Poliakoff. A disc jockey is becoming increasingly fed up with his job as he manipulates the fantasies of his teenage listeners. He tries to force a contestant in an imbecilic competition realising the stupidity of it all. Adapted for radio by Dickon Reid from Stephen Poliakoff's 1975 play of the same name.

Cast: John Shrapnel, Julie Covington, Michael Feast, Katherine Kessler, and Jean Rogers. Other parts by Tony McEwan and Bruce Beattie. Directed by Dickon Reid

The play is a companion piece to "Hitting Town", Poliakoff's 1975 play about an incestuous relationship between a dropout student and his sister.

British playwright and dramatist Stephen Poliakoff has written for the stage, for television and for film. He was appointed writer in residence at the National Theatre (London) for 1976 and the same year won the Evening Standard's Most Promising Playwright award for "Hitting Town" and "City Sugar". In 1980 he received a BAFTA (British Academy for Film and Television Arts) award for Best Single Play for "Caught on a Train". "Close My Eyes" won the Evening Standard's Best British Film award in 1992, "Blinded by the Sun" won the Critics' Circle Best Play award in 1996 and "Shooting the Past" won the Prix Italia in 1999.

Nigel Deacon / Diversity website

Above plays known to exist in VRPCC collections.

Back to top