Philip Martin, radio producer
Guardian obituary: https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/jan/25/philip-martin-obituary
Philip Charles Martin, writer and actor, born 3 July 1938; died 13 December 2020. He worked in film, television, theatre and radio as an actor, writer, director and producer.
In the 1980s he became a radio drama producer for the BBC at Pebble Mill, working with established figures including David Rudkin and David Edgar, and emerging writers. He worked on drama and serialisations for both Radio 4 and Radio 3. In 1990 his production of Guernica won him the Radio Festival of New York award for best director. He had previously won a Sony Award for his script for Dead Soldiers (Radio 3, 1976).
He also did adaptations for Radio 4 and 3 of Ibsen, Nicolas Freeling, Mike Leigh and David Halliwell. He had a long association with the television series Dr. Who.
I began to list his radio work but soon realised there was too much of it. I have just made notes on selected works. BBC Genome is the source to go to for his radio work from the early 1980s up to 2009.
NOTES ON SOME OF THE RADIO WORK
DEAD SOLDIERS… 1976
Drama Now Tuesday 27 1976 Commuting home by London Underground. Michael Mallory meets a drunken pseudo-Scotsman. with some apocalyptic results.
Produced and directed by Richard Wortley.
LOVEKILL... 1983
SNT 24 Sep 1983
Bryan Falco, debauched and degenerate husband of the famous novelist
Naomi Dare , has wrecked their home In a drunken orgy. But what else has he done? The intrepid Scottish detective
Alastair Knox suspects a dreadful, dark and dirty deed ...
Directed by CAROLINE SMITH.
ON BLACKPOOL TOWER... 1983
AT 20 Oct 1983 An impulse leads Dena to abandon both her hair appointment and her middle age. She leaves the Lancaster train to sample the delights of the Blackpool Tower. An unexpected encounter there with a figure from her past leads to some shedding of romantic illusions and, through a series of comic twists, Dena learns some surprising facts about her old flame.
THE MAROON CORTINA...1984
SNT 27 Oct 1984 A few domestic problems mar the birthday celebrations of Janice Clark - such as the persistent belief the police seem to have that her son,
Alan, murdered his girlfriend. Of course nobody really believes that, certainly not Barry, her husband, who insists it's all a plot to hit back at him. Then her best friend Pauline seems to suspect Janice of playing around with her husband. Ron. and on top of all that none of her guests seem to fancy pizza.
Written by Peter Whalley.
SNOOPER… 1985
AT Tuesday 21 Jan 1985 Will DHSS Burrows become 'Snooper of the Year' by proving cohabitation exists between a widow and a sewage supervisor, or is there another explanation for the pipe tobacco and Mechanics' Weekly delivered regularly to her address?
Written by Jim O’Connor.
JACK SQUALER’S TIME…1985
AP Thursday 7 March 1985 Tony and his girlfriend visit his grandad Harry with a request to borrow enough money to allow them to marry and move away. This is disturbing news for the old man when he discovers the girl is related to an old enemy.
Written by Nick McCarty.
THE HEALING HAMMER… 1985
Thirty Minute Theatre Tuesday 25 June 1985 Having placed their son into care, Adrian and Jean find their first evening without him one of surprising revelations.
Written by Paul Webb.
A MILLION TO ONE CHANCE...1985
Thirty Minute Theatre Tuesday 23 July 1985 When Tim loses a safe seat in a by-election, his mother, Sarah, threatens to disinherit him.Goaded by constant misfortune, Tim challenges fate by planning to get rid of his jinx and his mother at the same time.
Writer Keith Devlin.
HUMAN STUDIES...1985
AP Thursday 8 August 1985 Janek, Head of Polytechnic Human Studies, believes his department is about to be axed in favour of Computer Science. This threat he compares to the Nazi invasion of Poland and organises his resistance forces accordingly.
Written by Ken Blakemore.
NONE SO RARE...1985
AP Thursday 26 Sep 1985 Andrew looks back to the summer of 1959 when his faltering steps into manhood were hampered by giant cricket pads and the attentions of the wanton Abigail.
Written by Alan Meadows.
NO LARGER THAN LIFE: THE REAL ROBINSON CRUSOE...1985
The Saturday Feature Saturday 5 Oct 1985 Robinson Crusoe was on his island for 30 years while the man who was the inspiration for the novel suffered isolation for four years, three months, 22 days. Who was Selkirk and how did Defoe transmute his adventures into a story that has remained popular for more than 250 years?
Written by Peter Mackie.
DUST...1986
The Monday Play 12 May 1986 Ray Stock is a 'go-getter' who sets up a private refuse collection for cost-cutting local councils. His methods in business are ruthless and effective but will the same tactics work in his private life?
Written by Rib Davis.
A CONFIDENTIAL AGENT...1986
AP Thursday 5 June 1986 Liz Parker is secretary to a small-time detective agency on the mean streets of Birmingham. Unasked, she decides to investigate the affairs of an old flame, and discovers it's not hard to uncover a secret - the heartache comes if you have to reveal it.
Written by Nick McCarty.
SHADOWS IN THE SUN...1986
SNT 19 July 1986 Two weeks of pleasure in the foreign city of Athens are what Bob, Ada, Norman and Mavis are seeking from their package holiday.... But the young man travelling with them has a more sinister motive for returning to Greece.
Written by J R Devlin.
DO-IT-YOURSELF...1986
SNT 16 August 1986 The rich, successful and blissfully married Marcus Lithgow receives a strange package which, when opened, causes him serious injury.
Without any obvious enemies to investigate, the police are further baffled by evidence that Marcus Lithgow must have sent the bomb to himself.
Written by David Halliwell.
DEATH OF A TEENAGER...1986
Thursday 4 Sep 1986 In 1977 Jill Hoey, a working-class girl of 19, took her own life, her promising talent for poetry and songwriting unrecognised. Based on journals kept by her mother, Mary, the story of Jill's short, tragic life is illustrated by poems and songs discovered after her death.
A dramatised documentary by Jeremy Sandford and Philippa Finnis.
GOOD LADS AT HEART...1986
Saturday 6 Sep 1986 A group of young offenders attend a session with two inexperienced drama teachers. For some of the lads it is just an amusing way to pass a Saturday morning, but the class turns out to have unexpected and dramatic results.
Written by Peter Terson.
THE DWARFS...1986
AP Thursday 6 Nov 1986 Chapter 13 of Crome Yellow by Aldous Huxley, dramatised by Peter Mackie. Sir Hercules and his wife Filomena are dwarfs who have turned their country estate into a haven for others like themselves. This world of peace and harmony exists for many years until it becomes threatened from a most unexpected quarter.
FAMILY MEMBERSHIP...1987
AP Thursday 8 Jan 1987 Pearl, 16, black, having lived in children's homes all her life, agrees to being advertised in the hope of finding foster parents. Jess, 40, white, and with a 16-year-old daughter, Beth, reads the advertisement....
Written by Hilary Burford.
MR PEABODY AND THE BEAST...1987
Thirty Minute Theatre Tuesday 3 Feb 1987 Mrs Peabody believes that her husband has a responsible position in an office. Why then does Mr Peabody carry a briefcase to work containing leotard, mask and boots?
Written by Ray Jones.
THE PAST BECOME THE PRESENT...1987
AP Thursday 26 March 1987 At the age of 6, Kate lost her friend Jackie in harrowing circumstances - an event that 30 years later begins to have disturbing repercussions.
Written by Sally Warboyes.
THE NIGHT THEY STOLE THE FA CUP...1987
SNT 9 May 1987 On the night of 11 September 1895, the FA Cup was stolen from a Birmingham shop window. In 1957 an old man confessed to his part in the robbery and told of the fate of the missing trophy.
Written by Edwin Pearce.
GUERNICA… 1989
Drama Now Tuesday 12 Sep 1989 Picasso has unenthusiastically agreed to paint a picture in aid of the Spanish Republican cause. Unable to decide on a subject, he becomes increasingly haunted by voices that are linked to the devastation of the Spanish town of Guernica.
Directed by PHILIP MARTIN BBC Pebble Mill
Written by Elisabeth Bond and Peter Warde.
GUN BEFORE BUTTER... 1993
SNT 19 Jan 1993 The last of three dramatisations of Gold and Silver Dagger Award-winning novels. Nicolas Freeling 's story tells of a body, an abandoned Mercedes coupe and the daughter of a dead conductor.
Inspector Van der Valk is not sure what he is investigating.
Adapted and directed by Philip Martin.
Alistair Wyper, February 2021.
