1983 - Other Radio Plays

MADEMOISELLE PEARL....1983
By Guy de Maupassant, afternoon play 21 Dec 83. Translated and adapted by Sue Glover. "It's the most intriguing story I ever heard. Imagine coming into the world like that! Imagine such a boring family having such a wonderful secret."

Mademoiselle Pearl ..................... Claire Nielson
Henri Chantal ........................ Frank Middlemass
Gaston .................................. David Rintoul
Gaston's Father ....................... Timothy Bateson
Charlotte Chantal ...................... Hilda Schroder
Pauline Chantal ........................... Moir Leslie
Louise Chantal .......................... Jill Lidstone
Carol singing by the girls of St Margaret's Girls School, Edinburgh
Directed by Marilyn Imrie.
Produced by Marilyn Ireland.


That Bread Should Be So Dear....1983
By Olwynne Macrae. 19.11.1983, with Fiona Walker/John Rowe. A marriage rapidly approaches the rocks .... recording sent by Merrily Willis, Australia; many thanks.



OUR MAN IN HAVANA....1983
From the novel by Graham Greene, dramatised for radio in 3 parts by Gregory Evans. Produced by Brian Miller. Originally broadcast 23 Oct, 30 Oct and 6 Nov 83

A black comedy set in Cuba during the Batista regime. James Wormold, a vacuum cleaner retailer, is approached by Hawthorne, who offers him work for the British secret service. Wormold's wife had divorced him and now he lives with his sixteen year-old devoutly Catholic daughter Milly. Since Wormold does not make enough money to pay Milly's extravagances, he accepts the offer. Because he has no information to send to London, Wormold fakes his reports using information found in newspapers and invents a fictitious network of agents. Complications ensue.

Cast list on the Gregory Evans page.

Logic & Futility
Christopher Russell,15.10.1983/2030,David Buck/Richard Hurndall - highly stylised play about Babbage's calculating engine - arguably the first computer.

Coffin, Scarcely Used
Colin Watson,1.10.1983/2030,Peter Jeffrey/William Fox/Sean Barrett

The Return of Uncle Arthur
21 Sep 83. By Victor Canning, 45m. A recently deceased grandfather leaves an unorthodox will; a series of tapes designed to get two young people out of a rut. If they don't follow his instructions, the money goes to people more in need than them. Producer: Graham Gauld. With Chrys Salt, Gareth Armstrong, Richard Warner.

Towards The End Of The Morning
Michael Frayn,17.9.1983/2030,Martin Jarvis/Rosalind Ayres/Fenella Fielding/Sion Probert. Comic play about a writer who wants exposure on the radio and TV.

The Cricket Match
Hugh de Selincourt,27.8.1983/2030,Stephen Macdonald/Stephen Thorne/Roger Hammond/Eric Allan. Classic tale of a village cricket match.

A Quiet Place In The Country
Max Williams, 13.8.1983/2030,Jack Carr/Andy Rashleigh/Dennis Blanch. Excellent comedy involving a drunken rugby team, a lecher, and a shady antiques dealer.

The Gortys Triangle
Rod Beacham,30.7.1983/2030,Patrick Mower/David March/Neville Jason. Thriller, 90m.


SCOUTING FOR BOYS....1985
By Martyn Read, 27 Jun 83 Mon Play; rpt. 1 Sep 85 Afternoon Play.

Tiger Timms, an old Scout leader, takes his pack to a place that seems vaguely familiar. He soon discovers it is located near an old pile where he’d served as butler to a colonel (for whom he’d previously been batman), his wife, and two ungovernable children. The colonel wished his children to be raised according to the precepts of 'Scouting For Boys', but Timms was more inclined toward 'The Communist Manifesto'.

As the offbeat 'dramedy' unfolds, it jumps back and forth between the present of the camping expedition and the past in which the unsuitable Timms found himself in constant conflict with the eccentric family he served.

This multi-layered play explores issues of male bonding, class distinctions and mental illness. Winner of a Giles Cooper Award.

Cast: Tiger Timms.........Nigel Stock, Coop.......Alex Jennings, Georgina......Alison Steadman, Miles.......Jeremy Child, The Colonel.........Michael Spice, Spider......Spencer Banks, Young Miles.........Elizabeth Lindsay, Young Georgina...........Jill Lidstone, Young Scouts...Lloyd Charlton/Jason Cooper/Adam Rhodes/Timothy Ward. Produced by David Spenser. (.....GL)

The Cleverest Man At Oxford
Geoffrey Parkinson,11.6.1983/2030,Geoffrey Beevers/Peter Copley/Nigel Anthony Very humorous play with Geoffrey Beevers as the fall guy. See Geoffrey Parkinson's page.

A TRAIL OF BLOOD...1983
30 May 83; by Jeremy Potter. A surprising resolution to the tale of the two Princes in the Tower, set in a remote Abbey. Jack May, Michael Kitchen, Preston Lockwood. 90m. Produced by Jane Morgan.

RT: "The Princes in the Tower were murdered by their wicked uncle Richard III , or so the Tudors would have us believe. But there are no contemporary accounts of their death, and 50 years later a lay brother at one of the monasteries Henry VIII sought to destroy investigates whether the princes survived the Tower. The King's men and the Yorkist rebels both have an interest in the quest.

BBC blurb: Religion, booze, sex, macho men, brotherhood, gypsies, singing and dancing - all those things came into it, but for the four English people who went on the pilgrimage to this tiny place in the south of Spain, it was difficult to find out why it meant so much to the Spaniards. Perhaps it was something to do with a face.

ENEMIES....1983
By Maxim Gorky. R4, Monday Play, 23 May 83. ...notes by Jim... 1905. Russia is at a turning point, Zakhar Bardin, liberal minded and from the landowning class, is now the uneasy owner of a factory. His managing director is determined to face down militant workers on a point of principle as they are threatening to strike. But the decision to shut down the business to starve the workers back in line has tragic consequences for everyone concerned.

Gorky's extraordinary play was written in exile in 1906, immediately after the failed Revolution of 1905 and premiered in Bedryansk in 1907 despite being banned from production. "Enemies" presents a panoramic view of a restless society, with a bourgeoisie no longer sure of its own values, and a working class steadily facing up to the terrifying sacrifices ahead. Described by Ronald Bryden in the Observer in 1971 as 'a real discovery . . . the missing link between Chekhov and the Russian revolution', "Enemies" has a dramatic breadth, humour and ambition unique to Gorky.

Adapted by Liane Aukin from a translation by Kitty Hunter-Blair and Jeremy Brooks of Maxim Gorky's 1906 play, "Enemies". Allan McClelland ............... Zakhar Bardin, Owner of the Factory, Jane Wenham .................... Polina Bardin, Wife of Zakhar , Norman Rodway .................. Yakov Bardin, Brother to Zakhar, Jennie Stoller ................. Tatyana, Yakov's Wife - an Actress , Amanda Kirby ................... Nadya, Polina's Niece, Graham Crowden ................. General Pechenegov, Uncle to the Bardins, Timothy Bateson ................ Mikhail Skrobotov, Managing Director, Partner to the Bardins Barbara Leigh-Hunt ............. Kleopatra Skrobotov, Mikhail's Wife, Ronald Pickup .................. Nikolai Skrobotov, Mikhail's Brother, Lawyer, Assistant Prosecutor Michael Bilton ................. Kon, a Retired Soldier, Carole Boyd .................... Grusha , Peter Woodthorpe ............... Levshin, a Worker, Roger Hammond .................. Captain Boboyedov, Clive Panto .................... Sintsov, a Clerk, Stuart Organ ................... Pologii, a Clerk , Alex Jennings .................. Grekov, a Worker, Eric Allan ..................... Yagodin, a Worker, Brett Usher .................... The Inspector / Liet , James Bryce .................... Kvach, a Soldier, Richard Huw .................... Ryabtsov, a Soldier / Policeman, Michael Jenner ................. Akimov, a Worker. Directed by Michael Heffernan.

Captain Of Heretics
Anthony Read,30.4.1983/2030,Charles Kay/Clifford Rose/Hugh Dickson/Sheila Grant. William Tyndall, I think ..... printing the bible in English.

The Price Of Silence....1983
Stephen Barlay 9 epsodes, R4, 24.4.1983 - 19.6.1983. Ian Hendry/Toby Robins/George Coulouris/Paul Hardwick/Alan Tilvern. Cold War thriller about the early warning system and Russian attmepts to penetrate it. My recording is in three one-hour episodes so has presumably been edited down from the original broadcasts. recording from Hans Kieft - many thanks

Dragon
Don Haworth23.4.1983/2010,Robert Stephens/Alan Bennett/Cyril Shaps/Pauline Letts

Skyhooks
Alan Plater, 9.4.1983/2030,see Alan Plater's page. Semi - autobiographical play (and very funny) about working in an architect's office.

Lady Audley's Secret
Mary E. Braddon,12.3.1983/2030,Nigel Havers/Nicholas Gecks/Nigel Stock

Gliding With Mr. Gleeson
Bernard Farrell,19.2.1983/2030,Alan Barry/Doreen Hepburn. See Bernard Farrell's page. How a man coped with a lazy son, a disobedient daughter, and the mother -in - law from hell.

THE WAR FOR CHANTRY FIELDS....1983
By John Kirkmorris. Recording recently found by VRPCC. Five centuries ago, the Chantry Fields were left in perpetuity for the people of the town to use and enjoy. Now there's a planning development and some crooked dealing. Stephen Thorne plays the baddie. 55m; produced by Cherry Cookson, with Michael Jayston, Jane knowles, Trevor Martin, Peter Baldwin, Frances Jeater, Henry Stamper, Jill Lidstone. Afternoon theatre.

The Honourable Schoolboy (part 2)
John Le Carre,15.1.1983/2030,Martin Jarvis/Peter Vaughan. Classic spy/cold war tale.


BARNSDALE WAKE....1983
10 Jan 83. Monday Play.A ballad play of the life and times of Robin Hood by David Buck. In the heart of an English forest, King Richard I is encamped with a group of soldiers, prior to moving against a hunted enemy. To entertain his men, he orders two of his ballad singers to recount the tales and legends of Robin Hood. Robin Hood ........ Bernard Hill, King Richard ....... Julian Glover, Prentis ........ David Timson, Sergeant ...... John Hollis, Blundel ........ Denis Quilley, Boy ........... Simon Hunt, Little John ..... Nigel Graham, Will Scarlock .... Henry Stamper, Alan A-Dale ..... Nigel Anthony, Friar ........ Alan Dudley, Much ....... Timothy Bateson. Characters in the ballads: Bishop of Hereford .... Timothy Bateson, Bishop of Pontefract ... Steve Hodson, Scarlock ...... David Peart, Much ....... James Bryce, Sherrif ...... Michael Bilton, Monk/Foster .... Peter Tuddenham, Prioress ..... Simon Hunt. Music by Jim Parker. Musicians: Francis Baines, Philip Thorby, Christopher Wilson. Directed by Martin Jenkins.

The Honourable Schoolboy (part 1) John Le Carre, 8.1.1983/2030,Martin Jarvis/Peter Vaughan/Natasha Pyne Classic spy/cold war tale.

Nigel Deacon / Diversity website

Above plays known to exist in VRPCC collections

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