Radio 3 Drama, 1974

8 January 1974:
Drama Now: Rudkin’s Dream
By Don Taylor. An English businessman is tortured by a recurrent dream, in which he is in a Soviet prison in the 1930s. Rudkin: Marius Goring, Interrogator: Haydn Jones, Vera: Freda Dowie, Claire: Sheila Allen, Headwaiter: William Fox. Producer: Martin Esslin. (Repeat from 22 April 1973)

13 January 1974:
The Cat Game
By Istvan Orkeny, translated form the Hungarian by Mari Kuttna, adapted for radio by Martin Esslin. In this tragicomedy by the Hungarian writer (1912-1979), two elderly ladies are involved in a series of emotional upheavals about love, food and the past. Mrs Bela Orban: Joan Miller, Giza, her sister, who lives in West Germany: Margaret Rawlings, Mrs Paula Kausz, an old friend: Coral Browne, Mousey, her neighbour: Miriam Margolyes, Ilona, her daughter: Diana Bishop, Jozsi, her son-in-law: Terry Scully, Viktor Csermlenyi, an ex-opera singer: Victor Lucas, Adelaide Csermlenyi his mother: Gladys Spencer, Waiter: Brian Haines. Producer: Martin Esslin. (Repeat from 31 July 1973)

13, 20 January, 3, 10, 17, 24 February 1974
The Far Off and the Near
By Virginia Browne. An English family saga in six parts, based on unpublished letters between 1683 and 1883. Narrator: Robert Hardy. Music: Jeremy Lubbock. Sung by Linda Hurst. Played by Patrick Gowers (keyboard), Duncan Lamont (flute), Roy Carter (oboe), Marcia van Kampen (violin), Janet Schlapp (viola), Nick Hill (horn), Christopher van Kampen (cello), John Dean (percussion) and Skaila Kanga (harp). Producer: Christopher Venning. (Repeated on 20, 27 December 1975)

1: England to America, 1674-1744 William Pepperrell I: Timothy Bateson, William Pepperrell II: John Glen, Nathaniel Sparhawk: Tony Anholt, Elizabeth: Sarah Brackett, Margery Bray: Eleanor Bron, Commodore Warren: Carl Forgione, Duke of Newcastle: Alan Rowe, Governor, Shirley: Peter Howell, Ben Franklin: Haydn Jones, Boston Franklin: Blain Fairman, Captain John Smith: Terry Scully. With Kerry Francis, Steven Dawson, Neville Jason, Geoffrey Matthews and Sam Dastor

2: Louisburg – and after, 1745-1759 William Pepperrell II: John Glen, Nathaniel Sparhawk: Tony Anholt, Elizabeth: Sarah Brackett, Commodore Warren: Carl Forgione, Boston Franklin: Blain Fairman, Colonel Waldo: Paul Maxwell, Governor Shirley: Peter Howell, English Merchant: Anthony Hall, Boston Merchant: Brian Haines, Colonel Vaughan: Sion Probert, French Officers: Andre Maranne, Sam Dastor, Neville Jason, Lord Chesterfield: Godfrey Kenton. With Alan Rowe, Steven Dawson, Garrick Hagon, Stephen Thorne and Bonnie Hurren

3: America to England, 1767-1776. William Pepperrell III: Peter Marinker, Elizabeth: Sarah Brackett, Betsy: Liza Ross, Catherine: Jill Balcon, Thomas Palmer: Barrie Cookson, Ben Franklin: Neville Jason, Borlum Macintosh: Kenneth McClellan, Josiah Tucker: Martin Matthews, Dr Johnson: Stephen Thorne, James Otis: Geoffrey Collins, Caroline: Liza Ross. With Bonnie Hurren, Hayne Ryan, Sion Probert and Steven Dawson

4: England, 1776-1842 William Pepperrell III: Peter Marinker, Elizabeth: Sarah Brackett, Catherine: Jill Balcon, Harriot: Elizabeth Proud, Thomas Palmer III: Haydn Jones, Caroline (as a girl): Dorothy Wojtulewicz, Caroline (grown-up): Betty Hardy, Sacey: Prunella Scales, Sophia Marriott: Barbara Lott, Dorcas: Hilda Schroder, Sarah: Joy Parker, Robert/Humphry: Neville Jason, Biographer/Nat: Sion Probert, Harriot’s Friend: Rosemary Leach, Monk: Haydn Jones, Mrs Davies: Penelope Lee, William Cobbett: Stephen Thorne, Commissioner: Alan Rowe, Young Betsy: Bonnie Hurren, Mary Anne: Marjorie Westbury

5: New Zealand, 1850-1867 Caroline: Betty Hardy, Sacey: Prunella Scales, Sophia Marriott: Barbara Lott, Charles Abraham: Geoffrey Bayldon, Coleridge Patteson: Richard Kay, Wellington Furse: James Thomason, Mary Anne: Marjorie Westbury, George Selwyn: Michael Shannon, Island Chief: Peter France, Daddy: Nicolette McKenzie, Cook: Penelope Lee, Pitt: Sion Probert, Etonians: Angus Mackay, Sam Dastor, Charlotte Godley: Penelope Lee, Settler: Gareth Armstrong

6: England and After, 1897-1974 Caroline: Betty Hardy, Sacey: Prunella Scales, Coleridge Patteson: Richard Kay, Charles Abraham: Geoffrey Bayldon, Charlie (as a boy): Simon Gipps-Kent, Charlie (grown-up): David Timson, Mary: Ciaran Madden, Harry: Sion Probert, George Selwyn: Michael Shannon, Wellington Furse: James Thomason, Lady Martin: Marjorie Westbury, Billy Johnson: Tenniel Evans, New Zealand ladies: Paddy Frost and Nicolette McKenzie, Jeanie Furse: Jill Balcon, Bessie: Nicolette McKenzie, Harriet Crowe: Shelagh Wilcocks

15 January 1974:
Danger
By Richard Hughes. A 50th anniversary production marking the BBC’s first play written specially for radio by the then 23-year-old Hughes. Broadcast on 15 January 1924 under the title A Comedy of Danger, it’s about a group of people trapped in a coal mine. As Hughes (1900-1976) recalled on the BBC Home Service in 1956: “We thought of using a narrator, but agreed it would be a confession of failure. No, we must rely on dramatic speech and sounds entirely... and it had never been done before.” (Also produced on Radio 4 on 2 October 1982.) Jack: Christopher Good, Mary: Carol Marsh, Mr Bax: Carleton Hobbs, Welsh miners: John Atterbury, Henry Davies, Richard Parry, John Rebs and Eilian Wyn. Producer: Raymond Raikes. (Repeat from 1 October 1973)

20 January 1974:
Drama Now: Random Moments in a May Garden
By James Saunders. A middle-aged couple give a dinner party to celebrate the purchase of their new cottage, where the discovery of an old photograph prompts the hostess, Sylvia, to consider her mortality and sense of fulfilment. (Also seen as a TV adaptation on BBC2 on 22 May 1981.) Sophie: Barbara Jefford, David: Peter Jeffrey, Anne: Julie Hallam, Katie: Helen Worth, Photographer: Anthony Hall, Surveyor: Vernon Joyner, Digby: Denys Hawthorne, Ann: Elizabeth Morgan, Mark: Hugh Dickson, Katherine: Ellen Sheean. Director: Richard Wortley. (Repeated on 9 March 1975)

22 January 1974:
Drama Now: Metamorphosis
By Rosalind Belben. A play by a writer better known as an experimental novelist who uses elliptical, staccato-like dialogue. Middle-aged, middle-class Hampstead couple Robert and Alice are looking for a weekend cottage in the country, but their relationship is not so clear. Robert: Stephen Murray, Alice: Sheila Grant. Special sound by Dick Mills, BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Producer: Charles Lefeaux.

27 January 1974:
Tales from Landshut
By Martin Sperr, translated from the German by Anthony Vivis, adapted for radio by Martin Esslin. This 1967 play by the German actor and playwright (1944-2002) reflects the debate in postwar Germany over Nazism and its reverberations. Set in 1958 Bavaria, the drama focuses on two successful Germans who work in construction. One businessman, still a fervent supporter of Nazism, has a son engaged to the daughter of another businessman, but is unaware (as is the daughter) that her mother had died under the Nazi regime as a Jewish deportee. Narrator: Vernon Joyner, Otto Laiper, a builder: Norman Shelley, Marha, his wife: Miriam Margolyes, Sorm his elder son: Kerry Francis, Glasp, his younger son: Sion Probert, Robert Groetzinger, a rival builder: Rupert Davies, Sieglinde Groetzinger, his daughter, engaged to Sorm: Diana Bishop, Veit, Marha Laiper's brother: Terry Scully, Mrs Ringswandel, the landlady of the local inn: Hilda Schroder, Pfanzelt, Groetzinger's foreman: Brian Haines, Haertl, Laiper's foreman: William Sleigh, Fuhrmann, a building labourer: Anthony Hall, Doctor: Rolf Lefebvre, Rita, a hairdresser: Sandra Clark. Producer: Martin Esslin

29 January 1974:
Drama Now: Folie a Deux
By David Mercer. “A story for two voices” in which a cleric admits lustful thoughts. A rare original radio play by the acclaimed playwright and television dramatist.With Michael Hordern and Kate Binchy. Director: Alfred Bradley (BBC Manchester). (Repeated on 9 December 1976. Also on 16 February 1981)

3 February 1974:
Drama Now: The Mystery
By Bill Naughton. Writer Edward Grock is ordered by his rich wife to take the cat and dog to the vet to be neutered. He has some sympathy with their predicament. (Winner of the 1974 Italia Prize.) Edward: Norman Rodway, Edith: Irene Sutcliffe, Mrs Atkins: Ann Morrish, Mrs Kite: Peggy Aitchison, Alice: Julie Hallam, Henn: Fraser Kerr, Dingle: Anthony Jay, Peter: Sam Dastor, Poodle Owner: Diana Bishop, Vet: Leonard Fenton, Cat Owner: Doreen Andrew. Pianist: Winifred Davey. Producer: Guy Vaesen. (Repeat from 9 October 1973. Also on 25 December 1974, 8 June 1980 and 19 May 1992)

5 February 1974:
Drama Now: East-West
By Andrei Amalrik, translated by Daniel Weissbort. The plays of Russian writer and dissident Andrei Amalrik (1938-1980) were influenced by the absurdist sensibilities of Ionesco and Samuel Beckett. This play, described as a “grotesque fantasy”, reflects the disorientation and fear of 1970s everyday life in the Soviet Union. Manageress: Diana Olsson, Mistress: Barbara Mitchell, Student: Sam Dastor, Ivanov: David Markham, Girl: Kate Binchy, Overseer: Brian Haines, First Radio Voice: John Samson, Second Radio Voice: Rolf Lefebvre. Producer: Martin Esslin. (Repeat from 8 May 1973)

10 February 1974:
Drama Now: The Anomaly
By Jonathan Raban. “I’m not a dragon-killer. I’m always in the wrong place at the wrong time. I’m an anomaly.” Thomas England: Richard Briers, Lady Pamela: Prunella Scales, Rev Henry England: Stephen Thorne, Mrs England: Margot Boyd, A Boy: Judy Bennett, Thomas Monitor: Sam Dastor, Public Schoolboy: Anthony Daniels, Master: Michael Deacon, Julia: Elizabeth Proud, Girl Student: Bonnie Hurren. Director: Richard Wortley. (Repeated on 28 April 1974 and 2 March 1975)

12 February 1974:
Drama Now: Barcroft, Todd and Spaghetti
By Brian Clear. “We, the inmates, or patients as we prefer to be called, think of this institution as Headsville. An anonymous American city inside our heads. I'm not allowed any medals here, for medals have pins. pointed ends that can pick holes in wrists… Captain John Westover Barcroft ... I had a distinguished Army record, you know. Is ‘had’ right, should it be the present tense, ‘have’? Do I still have my distinguished Army record or have they taken it away from me since I came to Headsville?... Cancelled due to madness?” Barcroft: Nigel Stock, McNab: Henry Stamper, Doctor: Paul Nicholson, Mrs Barcroft: Daphne Heard, Matron: Richenda Carey, Spaghetti: Henry Woolf, Todd: David Jackson, Andy: Geoffrey Matthews, Nurse Gimson: Elizabeth Boxer. Other parts played by Henry Carter, Charles Mander, Roger Gartland, Paul Moriarty, David Hyde and Neil Seiler. Producer: Brian Miller (Bristol). (Repeated on 3 November 1974)

17 February 1974:
The Rescue
By Edward Sackville-West. This “melodrama for broadcasting”, first produced by Val Gielgud on the BBC Home Service (25 November 1943), is based on Homer’s Odyssey. This production features Benjamin Britten’s original 1943 score. The Goddess Athene: Jill Balcon, Mentor: George Hagan, Phemius: Marius Goring, Eurymachus: Vernon Joyner, Halitherses: Haydn Jones, His Wife: Katherine Parr, Callidice: Bonnie Hurren, Irus: Leslie French, Leodes: David Timson, Penelope: Rachel Gurney, Eurynome: Diana Bishop, Telemachus: Hugh Dickson, Euryclea: Wynne Clark, A coxswain: Robin Browne, Two sailors: Haydn Jones, Fraser Kerr, Odysseus: Stephen Murray, Eumaeus: Will Leighton, Antinous: Clive Swift, Peisander: Fraser Kerr, Agelaus: Peter Williams, Amphinomus: John Forrest, Mourners, naiads and sirens: Marion Dodd, Yvonne Newman, Veronica Lucas, Leonie Henshilwood. Music: Benjamin Britten played by Sinfonia of London, conducted by Rae Jenkins. Producer: Raymond Raikes. (Repeat from 22 July 1973)

19 February 1974:
Drama Now: Words
By Gabriel Josipovici, adapted by Guy Vaesen from the author’s 1971 novel. Louis and Helen’s marriage is unsettled when Jo, Louis’s old flame, visits with her brooding daughter. Louis: Brian Bedford, Helen: Mary Miller, Peter: Peter Baldwin, Tina: Fern Warner, Jo: Vivien Merchant, Gillian: Helen Worth, Ronny: Nicholas Dillane, Sue: Julie Hallam. Producer: Guy Vaesen. (Repeat from 22 May 1973)

24 February 1974:
The Goldfish (or My Dad's a Great Man)
By Jean Anouilh, translated by Lucienne Hill, adapted for radio by Raymond Raikes. In this 1970 play, a dramatist takes stock of his life by conjuring up in his mind the unpleasant experiences and people he has endured in his lifetime. Antoine de Saint-Flour, a playwright: Alec McCowen, His grandmother: Miriam Margolyes, Charlotte, his wife: Prunella Scales, Surette (Sourgrapes), his schoolfriend: John Shrapnel, Madame Prudent, his mother-in-law: Betty Hardy. Visitors to his home – Josyane: Mary Law, Gabrielle: Hilda Schroder, Toto, his son, aged 8: Barnaby Williams, Edwiga Pataquès, his mistress: Carol Marsh, Camomille, his daughter, aged 15: Elizabeth Proud, A Hunchback Doctor: Malcolm Hayes, A Dressmaker: Betty Huntley-Wright, Producer: Raymond Raikes. (Repeated on 7 July 1974)

26 February 1974:
On the Road
By Anton Chekhov, translated by Basil Ashmore. An ill-assorted group of pilgrims and tramps pass the night in a run-down inn. Two of them are haunted by dreams and memories. Efimova, an elderly woman pilgrim: Hilda Kriseman, Nazarovna, her companion: Hilda Schroder, Savva, a very old pilgrim: John Ruddock, Fedya, a smart-alec labourer: Terry Scully, Bortsov, a ruined landowner: Fulton MacKay, Tihon, the landlord: Brian Haines, Merik, a tramp: Michael Spice, Kuzma, a driver: Sion Probert, Marya: Jane Knowles, Dennis, a coachman: Gareth Armstrong. Producer: Martin Jenkins. (Repeated on December 23 1974)

3 March 1974:
The Dark Tower
By Louis MacNiece. The celebrated poet (1907-1963) also worked as a producer at the BBC from 1940, creating a series of remarkable radio features. His most celebrated work is this “parable play” exploring the ancient theme of the Quest, suggested by Robert Browning’s poem Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came. First heard on the BBC Home Service on 21 January 1946 with music specially composed by Benjamin Britten, it was produced again in 1956 with Richard Burton (14 May 1956) and in subsequent years. Presenter: Margaret Gordon, Sergeant Trumpeter: John Laurie, Gavin: Robin Browne, Roland: Denys Hawthorne, Mother: Mary Wimbush, Tutor: Mark Dignam, Sylvie: Kate Binchy, Blind Peter: John Hollis, Soak-Solipsist: David March, Barmaid: Lynn Carson, Stentor: Wolfe Morris, Steward: Haydn Jones, Officer: William Fox, Neaera: Cecile Chevreau, Passenger: Alan Lawrence, Tout: Nigel Anthony, Priest: Gerald Cross, Father: Anthony Jacobs, Parrot: Julia Lang, Raven: Duncan McIntyre, Clock Voice: Brian Haines, Child's Voice: Diana Robson. Music: Benjamin Britten, played by John Wilbraham (trumpet) and the BBC Northern Ireland orchestra conducted by Frederick Marshall. Producer: R.D. Smith. (Repeat from 25 November 1973).

5 March 1974:
Drama Now: She Would Tell Him on the Island
By Francoise Xenakis, translated from the French by Barbara Wright. This drama, by the French novelist and journalist (1930-2018), is based on her 1971 novel The Fig Tree. Set on an island in the 1960s used by the then Greek military junta as a penal colony for dissidents, it shows a prisoner brutalized by the guards while on the mainland his young wife hopes to reconnect with her husband on her one permitted visit after years apart. Woman: Dorothy Tutin, Political Prisoner: Colin Blakely, Man of the Island: Cyril Shaps, Man of the Town: Peter Jeffrey. Other parts played by William Sleigh, David Gooderson, Peter Williams, John Samson, John Forrest and Nigel Graham. Sound sequences: David Cain. Producer: John Theocharis. (Repeat from 10 July 1973)

10 March 1974:
Wandering in Eden
By John Fletcher. This first radio play by the prolific dramatist imagines what would happen if the people of England were left to themselves to construct the world they wanted. The Free Family of Shakers, Quakers, Rockers and Ranters. Cotswold Chapter, set off to enjoy and taste the 21st century. Moses: Willian Eedle, Peter: John Rowe, Andy: Derek Seaton, Joan: Katherine Parr, Nathaniel: Timothy Bateson, Rachel: Sandra Clark, Aunt Edie: Kathleen Helme, Nicholas/Thomas Longcock: Nigel Graham, Vicar/George: Stephen Thorne, Deirdre: Eva Stuart, Archibald: David March, Farmer: John Hollis, Israel: Charles E Stidwill, Historian: Rolf Lefebvre. Music: Ron Geesin. Producer: Richard Wortley. (Repeated on 6 October 1974)

12 March 1974:
The Slow Stain
By Alan Plater. When Clare’s children talk about a run-over cat on the car ride to school. it opens up parts of her mind that had been undisturbed since she read Shelley's line “The contagion of the world’s slow stain”. The play was commissioned by BBC Radio Brighton for the 1973 Brighton Festival. Clare: Vivien Merchant. With the voices of Peter Allcorn, Gareth Armstrong, John Bull, David Collings, Pamela Grace, Rolf Lefebvre, Renu Setna, Terry Scully, Nigel Rathbone, Susan Drouet and Brian Hudson. Music: Larry Adler. Producer: Keith Slade

17 March 1974:
Drama Now: The Latter Days of Lucy Trenchard
By David Cregan. The author subtitles his play “The Changing Unacceptable-ness of Capitalism” or some permutation on that theme. Lucy Trenchard: Mary Wimbush, Arnold, a broker: Cyril Shaps, George Trenchard: David March, Angela Trenchard: Sheila Grant, Philip, Angela’s husband: John Humphrey, Bruno Trenchard: Godfrey Kenton , Rupert Trenchard: Manning Wilson, Jocelyn Trenchard: Rolf Lefebvre, Tommy Trenchard: David Timson, Emelda, Lady Starchwood: Gudrun Ure, Gloria Trenchard: Margaret Robertson. Producer: John Tydeman. (Repeated on 13 October 1974)

18 March 1974:
The Inheritance
By Harry Guest. A “poem play for four voices” by the Glamorgan-born poet (1932-2021), who produced 14 collections of his work. The aim of this piece, he wrote, is “to examine a human triangle in such a way that the presentation plays as important a part as the situation presented”. Author/Presenter: Harry Guest, Stage Directions: Hugh Dickson, Son: Gary Watson, Sister: Frances Horovitz, Young Man: Peter Craze. Producer: George Macbeth

19 March 1974:
Drama Now: A Perfect Relationship
By William Trevor. Mr Hambro: “I was thinking as I was coming here: isn't it an extraordinary thing to be visiting a business girl week after week?” Sylvia: “No offence taken. There's men that visit a business girl and men that don’t.” Mr Hambro: Maurice Denham, Sylvia: Barbara Jefford. Producer: John Tydeman. (Repeat from 5 June 1973)

24 March 1974:
The Tempest
By William Shakespeare. This production was the first Shakespeare play to be recorded in quadraphonic sound. Prospero, the right Duke of Milan: Paul Scofield, Miranda, his daughter: Jane Knowles, Ariel, an airy spirit: Ronnie Stevens, Caliban, a savage and deformed slave: Patrick Stewart, Iris: Patricia Hooper, Ceres: Prudence Lloyd, Juno: Doreen Walker, Alonso, King of Naples: John Justin, Sebastian, his brother: Charles Kay, Antonio, brother to Prospero, the usurping Duke of Milan: Michael Spice, Ferdinand, son to the King of Naples: Richard Kay, Gonzalo, an honest old lord: Timothy Bateson, Adrian: Anthony Daniels, Francisco: Alan Rowe, Trinculo, a jester: Terry Scully, Stephano, a drunken butler: Roy Kinnear, Master of a Ship: Alan Rowe, Boatswain: William Sleigh. Music: David Cain, performed by Mike Westbrook, Clive Heath, Christopher Hogwood, Brian Godding, Roger Potter, John Royston Mitchell and Tristan Fry, conducted by the composer. Recorded in quadraphonic sound by Adrian Revill. Director: Ian Cotterell. (Repeated on 17 November 1974. Also on 2 May 1977 and 3 December 1981)

26 March 1974:
Drama Now: A Life
By Gabriel Josipovici. “Petra. that means stone. Sometimes I feel I could sink to the bottom. Help me, please. I’m asking you. From deep down. Help me!” James: Robert Swann, Petra: Frances Jeater, Han: Nicholas Dillane, Mrs Reynolds: Betty Huntley-Wright, Alfred: Sam Dastor. Other parts played by Judy Bennett, Diana Bishop, Sandra Clark, Sam Dastor, Vernon Joyner, Fraser Kerr, Rolf Lefebvre and Jo Manning Wilson. Producer: Guy Vaesen. (Repeated on 12 November 1974)

31 March 1974:
Drama Now: The Cold Country
By Susan Hill. Four explorers are snowed up near the South Pole with no hope of escape or rescue, As time passes, their situation and relationships deteriorate. Chip: Terry Scully, Ossie: Jon Rollason, Jo: Ian Richardson, Barney: Sean Barrett, Barney's Mother: Kate Binchy, Young Jo: Jane Knowles, Jo's Sister: Helen Worth. Music: Geoffrey Burgon, sung by Kevin Smith, mouth-organ played by Alfie Kahn. Producer: Guy Vaesen. (Repeat from 3 October 1972. Also on 6 May 1973)

2 April 1974:
Drama Now: Statements After an Arrest Under the Immorality Act
By Athol Fugard. In Fugard’s 1972 play set in apartheid-era South Africa, where relationships across the colour bar were a criminal offence, a black man and white woman meet secretly in the library where the woman works to make love and share their hopes and fears. Frieda Joubert: Yvonne Bryceland, Errol Philander: Ben Kingsley, Detective Sergeant: Wilson Dunster, Interrogator: Sean Barrett. Producer: Christopher Venning. (Repeated on 19 November 1974)

7 April 1974:
Drama Now: Housebreaker
By Fay Weldon. Rose always seems to cope with a growing multitude of things – the generation gap, drugs, summer visitors, wild cats, male menopause – until one final, silent, terrifying straw that breaks the camel’s back. Rose: Miriam Margolyes, Colin: Haydn Jones, Clare, their daughter: Jane Knowles, Bus Conductor: Fraser Kerr, Bus Driver: Anthony Hall, Doll: Betty Huntley-Wright, Marge: Diana Bishop, Audrey: Kathleen Helme, Arthur: John Hollis, Gavin: Eric Allan. Director: Richard Wortley. (Repeated on 5 January 1975)

14 April 1974:
Drama Now: Infancy and Childhood
By Thornton Wilder. Two 1962 plays taken from his play cycle The Seven Ages of Man. Narrator: Cormac Rigby. Producer: Guy Vaesen. (Repeat from 26 December 1972)

Infancy
In this comedy, babies act like grown-ups and grown-ups act like babies as two women meet in Central Park while their offspring compare notes about their parents’ bad behaviour and lack of understanding. Avonzino: Leonard Fenton, Millie: Toby Robins, Tommy: Peter Marinker, Mrs Boker: Carole Allen, Moe: Rick Le Parmentier

Childhood
In this dark comedy, a father, mother and their three children play a revealing game of make-believe in which the children pretend to be orphans. Caroline: Bridget Brice, Dodie: Emily Richards, Billee: Jean England, Mother: Elizabeth Lynne, Father: Paul Maxwell

16 April 1974:
Drama Now: The Castaways
By Mary Benson, based on the 1972 novel by Sheila Fugard. Actor and playwright Athol Fugard stars in this adaptation of his wife’s novel as a patient who has escaped from a psychiatric hospital and whose mind now drifts between past and present as he contemplates his adrift state as a white liberal South African. Christiaan Jordan: Athol Fugard, Jonas Choma: Alton Kumalo, Wattling: Sean Barrett, Ward Sister: Hilda Kriseman, Dr Mercer: Rolf Lefebvre, Nurse de Preez: Diana Bishop, Gladys: Carolyn Sacks, Capt Middleton: Stephen Thorne, Perels, the Malay: Anthony Hall, Richard Rowntree: William Sleigh, Historian: Alan Rowe. Radiophonic Treatment: Paddy Kingsland. Producer: Christopher Venning. (Repeated on 22 October 1974)

21 April 1974:
I’ve Got a Beautiful Collection of Knives
By Timoteusz Karpowicz, translated from the Polish by Nicholas Bethell. This drama is by a leading Polish playwright and poet (1921-2005). A judge and a pedlar, travelling to the funeral of a mutual friend, each recall memories of the deceased that lead to horrifying results. Judge: Maurice Denham, Pedlar: Alan Dobie, Questioner: William Sleigh. Producer: Martin Jenkins. (Repeat from 14 August 1973)

2 May 1974:
Workshop: Jarry
By John Anthony West. In the Radio 3 slot for dramas conceived with stereo in mind, this programme celebrates the centenary of the birth of the French writer Alfred Jarry (1873-1907), often regarded as the forerunner to 1920s and 1930s surrealism. Alfred Jarry: Henry Woolf, Pere Ubu: Clive Swift, Mere Ubu: Marika Rivera, Jarry’s Muse: Catherine Dolan. Other parts played by Nigel Anthony, Peter Bartlett, Nigel Graham, Betty Huntley-Wright, John Hollis, Fraser Kerr, Rolf Lefebvre, Elizabeth Morgan, Diana Olsson, John Samson, Jonathan Scott, Douglas Storm and David Timson. Technical Assistants: Jock Farrell, Marsail MacCuish and David Greenwood. Edited at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop by Lloyd Silverthorne. Producer: John Tydeman. (Repeat from 8 September 1973)

5 May 1974:
World Drama: Titus Andronicus
By William Shakespeare. In this full-blooded revenge tragedy, the Andronici family become involved in an increasingly murderous feud with the Roman Emperor Saturninus and his wife Tamora and her sons. Saturninus, Emperor of Rome: John Rowe, Bassianus, his brother: Sam Dastor, Titus Andronicus: Michael Aldridge, Lucius, his son: Sean Barrett, Quintus, his son: Nigel Graham, Martius, his son: William Sleigh, Mutius, his son: Neville Jason, Lavinia, his daughter: Frances Jeater, Young Lucius, his grandson: Crispin Gillbard, Marcus, his brother: Alan Webb, Tamora, Queen of the Goths: Barbara Jefford, Demetrius, her son: David Timson, Chiron, her son: Colin Baker, Aaron, a Black Moor and Tamora's lover: Julian Glover, Publius: Nigel Graham, Aemilius: Brian Haines, Captain/First Goth: Fraser Kerr, Second Goth: Neville Jason, Clown: Timothy Bateson, Messenger: William Sleigh. Music: David Cain, played by Martin Nicholls, Colin Sheen, Roger Brenner, Terence Emery, George Khan and Paul Rutherford. Producer: Martin Jenkins. (Repeat from 28 October 1973)

12 May 1974:
World Drama: Mourning Becomes Electra
By Eugene O’Neill. Set in a New England mansion at the end of the American Civil War, O’Neill’s melodramatic retelling of the Greek tragedy from The Oresteia sees war-hero Ezra Mannon return home only to be poisoned by his adulterous wife, Christine, and avenged by his daughter Lavinia and neurotic son, Orin. Brigadier-General Ezra Mannon: Nigel Stock, Christine Mannon: Barbara Jefford, Lavinia: Sarah Badel, Orin: Peter Marinker, Capt Adam Brant: John Turner, Capt Peter Niles: Kerry Francis, Hazel Niles, his sister: Jane Knowles, Seth Beckwith: Brian Haines, Amos Ames: Peter Carlisle, Louisa, his wife: Diana Olsson, Minnie, her cousin: Hilda Schroder, Josiah Borden, shipping company manager: Peter Carlisle, Emma, his wife: Hilda Schroder, Everett Hills, a minister: Manning Wilson, Mrs Hills: Diana Olsson, Dr Joseph Blake: Terry Scully, Chantyman: Ramsay Williams, Ira Mackel: Manning Wilson, Joe Silva: Ramsay Williams, Abner Small: Terry Scully. Director: Martin Jenkins. (Repeated on 8 June 1975)

14 May 1974:
World Drama: Minna von Barnhelm
By Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, translated by Kenneth J. Northcott. This 1767 play is regarded as marking the birth of classical German comedy. In 18th-century Prussia, a major impoverished by war feels he cannot marry his beloved Minna in poverty. In pretending to be penniless too, Minna challenges the Prussian code of honour and breaks free of the societal conventions of marriage. Major von Tellheim: Julian Glover, Just, Tellheim’s servant: Sion Probert, Minna von Barnhelm: Sarah Badel, Franziska, her maid: Julie Hallam, Count of Bruchsal, her uncle: Geoffrey Matthews, Paul Werner: Eric Allan, Landlord: Brian Haines, Riccaut de la Marliniere: Geoffrey Matthews, Servant/Orderly: David Freedman. Director: Martin Jenkins. (Repeated on 4 May 1975)

19 May 1974:
Drama Now: The Final Solution
By Frederick Bradnum. In this “modern morality tale for radio”, millionaire property tycoon Sir Fred Blagg expresses himself almost poetically: “People, people, people! Why do my properties have to have people? Decent, struggling, colourless people who haven’t the money to pay.” Osbert Upfield, a broadcaster: Sam Dastor, Sir Fred Blagg the Chairman: Robert Lang, Miss Alday, a secretary: Elizabeth Morgan, Jervis, the General Manager: Rolf Lefebvre, Grove, the accountant: Fraser Kerr, Girl in an Office: Diana Bishop, Lady Blagg: Irene Prador, Wilkinson-Say, the Rent Officer: Graham Armitage, Dove, the architect: Nigel Graham, Thoroughgood, the shareholder: John Sharp, Clare Arbuthnot: Jill Balcon, Simon Blagg, Sir Fred's son: David Timson, Rosemary Blagg, Sir Fred's daughter: Kate Coleridge, Len Smith, a tenant: Haydn Jones, Jane Smith, his wife: Diana Olsson. Producer: John Tydeman. (Repeat from 12 August 1973)

21 May 1974:
Two Cornish Plays: Fish Street and Croust
By Dave Humphries. Two plays by the writer (1944-2001), who was also busy on TV with such series as London’s Burning and Minder, as well as the screenplay for Quadrophenia. In Croust (a Cornish dialect word for a work-break), a building site lunch break turns into an argument. (Also adapted for TV on BBC2 on 19 April 1973). Willie Bacon: John Hollis, Arthur Godsave: Charles Lamb, Mrs Rowe: Molly Rankin, Mr Rowe: John Witty, Ella Rowe: Prudence Brimacombe, Landlord/Skipper/PC Fletcher: David Shaw, Young Jack: Charles Lamb, Little Tom: Jimmy Gardner, Bill: David Shaw, Leonard: Patrick Westwood. Producer: Terence Tiller

26 May 1974:
World Drama: Mithridates
By Jean Racine (1639-1699), translated by Samuel Solomon. Set around 70BC in the Black sea port of Nymphaeum, news arrives of the death in battle of Mithridates, the Pontine king who has been fighting Rome for 40 years. Mithridates, King of Pontus: Marius Goring, Monima, engaged to Mithridates and already proclaimed Queen: Geraldine McEwan, Sons of Mithridates by different mothers – Pharnaces: Clifford Norgate, Xiphares: Martin Jarvis. Arbates, Governor of Nymphaeum fort: William Fox, Phaedima, lady-in-waiting to Monima: Joan Haythorne, Arcas, Squire to Mithridates: John Forrest. Percussion sequences composed and played by James Blades. Producer: Archie Campbell. (Repeat from 15 April 1973)

2 June 1974:
Drama Now: Sweet Talk
By Michael Abbensetts. The most popular play of the Caribbean playwright (1938-2016) explores the pressures on the marriage of a young West Indian couple in a small room with one unseen, unwanted child, and another on the way. (First seen in 1973 with Don Warrington as Tony and Mona Hammond as Rita at London’s Royal Court, where Abbensetts became resident dramatist the following year.) Tony: Ram John Holder, Rita: Mona Hammond, Dennis: Frank Cousins, Yvonne: Valerie Murray, Sandra: Carole Boyd, Oscar: Gordon Woolford. Director: Betty Davies. (Repeated on 26 January 1975)

9 June 1974:
Drama Now: A Window on the World
By Susan Hill. Two first year students share a hostel room. Life to them is all theory and gazing through their “window on the world” until one of them makes a positive move to alter the situation. Nell: Patricia Gallimore, Jess: Julie Hallam. Director: Richard Wortley. (Repeated on 12 August 1975)

11 June 1974:
Henry’s Past
By Caryl Churchill. In the past, Henry attacked and maimed Geoffrey, who is now confined to a wheelchair and has married Henry's ex-wife. Paulina: Pauline Letts, Sylvy: Jane Knowles, Henry: Michael Bryant, Alice: Sheila Allen, Geoffrey: John Carson, Lydia: Helen Worth. Director: John Tydeman. (Repeat from 5 Dec 1972. Also heard as Radio 4’s Afternoon Play on 22 June 1986.)

16 June 1974:
Bloomsday
By Allan McClelland, based on his stage version of excerpts from James Joyce’s novel Ulysses, set on 16 June 1904. Buck Mulligan: Ronald Walsh, Stephen Dedalus: Denys Hawthorne, Leopold Bloom: Eamonn Keane, Molly Bloom: Eithne Dunne, Simon Dedalus: Dermot MacDowell, Blazes Boylan: Liam Gaffney, Haines: Charles Hodgson, Mr Deasy: Allan McClelland, The Citizen: Declan Mulholland, Gertie MacDowell: Patricia Leventon. Dubliners: Wilfrid Brambell, Sheila Brennan, Harry Hutchinson, Jan Kenny, Patrick McAlinney, Robert Mooney, Julian Somers, P.G. Stephens, Harry Towb, Sally Travers. Singer: Dominic Behan. Music: Humphrey Searle, played by Sinfonia of London. Producer: Michael Bakewell

23 June 1974:
Drama Now: Hans Kohlhass
By James Saunders from the story by Heinrich von Kleist, translated by Martin Greenberg. First staged in 1972 at the Questors Theatre in Ealing, West London, Saunders presents a Brechtian fable in which a betrayed 16th-century horse dealer seeks justice and leads a peasants’ revolt before facing execution. Hans Kohlhass: Barry Foster, Narrators: Nigel Graham, Terry Scully, Ellen Sheean, Stephen Thorne, Tollkeeper: Ronald Herdman, Steward: John Rye, Junker Wenzel von Tronka: John Rowe, Stable Boy: Ellen Sheean, Elisabeth: Wendy Williams, Sternbald: Stephen Thorne, Lawyer: Rolf Lefebvre, Count Kallheim: William Eedle, Heinrich von Geusau: William Fox, Henkel: Haydn Jones, Minister: Terry Scully, Sheriff of Wittenberg: Ronald Herdman, Martin Luther: David March, Elector of Saxony: Clifford Rose, Prince of Meissen: Nicholas Courtney, Count Wrede: Brian Haines, Hinz von Tronka: Leonard Fenton, Kunz von Tronka: Jonathan Scott, Knacker of Dobbeln: John Hollis. Music: Hans Heimler, played by Kenneth Heath (cello), Harold Nash (alto trombone), Eric Crees (tenor trombone), Peter Harvey (bass trombone), John Smith (tuba), Anne Collis (percussion) and Hans Heimler (harpsichord and chamber organ). Director: Richard Wortley. (Repeat from 24 June 1973)

25 June 1974:
Graphomaniacs
By Nicholas Bethell, adapted from his translation of a 1960 story by Abram Tertz (pen-name of the Soviet writer Andrei Sinyavsky, 1925-1977). This satirises the compulsive writer (or graphomaniac) in Russian culture through the frustrations of an author who faces yet another rejection of his novel at a publishing house. (Also produced on Radio 3 on 5 January 1968 with Paul Daneman and Peter Woodthorpe.) Paul Straustin, the novelist: Noel Johnson, Simon Galkin, the poet: Kerry Francis, Zinaida Straustin: Hilda Schroder, Editor: David Sinclair, Secretary: Sandra Clark, Colonel: Timothy Bateson, Lilia: Sheila Grant. Director: Norman Wright. (Repeated on 3 March 1977)

30 June 1974:
The Search for Hamilton Stiggs
By Peter Cator. The play is a quest for Stiggs. But who is he? Does he in fact exist? (Winner of the 1974 Radio Times Drama Award for a radio playwright.) Sanders: Ronald Pickup, Henderson: Dinsdale Landen, Biles: John Rye, Thompstone: Gerald Cross, Amanda: Amanda Reiss, Maggie: Elizabeth Proud, Schlunk: Malcolm Hayes. Himself: Roy Plomley. With Elizabeth Morgan, David Sinclair, Peter Pacey and Nigel Graham. Technical Assistants: Jock Farrell, David Greenwood and Janet Mitchell. Director: John Tydeman. (Repeated on 9 February 1975)

2 July 1974:
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
By Edward Albee. In Albee’s celebrated 1962 play, New England professor George and his wife Martha take advantage of their guests for an all-night battle of mind games, sexual intrigue and recriminations. Martha: Elaine Stritch, George: Ray McAnally, Nick: Blain Fairman, Honey: Pinkie Johnstone. Director: Glyn Dearman. (Repeated on 16 February 1975)

9 July 1974:
The People
By Jon Silkin (1930-1997). In this dramatic poem, the marriage of Finn and Kye begins to crack after the death of their baby while Buchenwald survivor Stein tries to offer comfort by reflecting on his own experiences. Written by one of Britain’s most prolific and influential postwar British poets, who also founded and edited the poetry magazine Stand. Performed by Nigel Anthony, Miriam Margolyes and John Rowe. Producer: John Scotney. (Repeated on 17 August 1975)

14 July 1974:
Drama Now: Lord Nelson Lives in Liverpool 8
By Philip Martin. Although best known for his groundbreaking TV series Gangsters (1976-78), Martin (1938-2020) also wrote for radio and was a radio drama producer at BBC Pebble Mill in the 1980s. This play, about a young black man given the birch by a sadistic policeman after being accused of intent to cause malicious wounding to a gang leader, was later staged at the Liverpool Playhouse and London’s Royal Court. Nelson Kennard: David Lincoln, Dalton: Anthony Hall, Magistrate: Godfrey Kenton, Lord Nelson: Neville Jason, Andrew: Anthony Daniels, Pam: Carole Hayman, Franno: Nigel Anthony, Doctor: Jonathan Scott, Mags: Peter Kinley. Director: Richard Wortley. (Repeated on 18 March 1975)

16 July 1974:
Perfect Happiness
By Caryl Churchill. When her husband does not come home, a wife invites two of his girlfriends over to find out where he might be. Felicity: Jill Bennett, Leanne: Angela Pleasence, Margo: Pamela Moiseiwitsch. Producer: John Tydeman. (Repeat from 30 Sept 1973)

21 July 1974:
The Open Boat
By Ian Rodger, freely adapted from a short story by Stephen Crane. Originally broadcast on Network Three on 18 December 1964, this recreates the time in 1896 when novelist and war correspondent Stephen Crane (The Red Badge of Courage) struggled for 50 hours on the open sea after a ship sank. Broadcast as a tribute to radio and TV producer John Gibson (1925-1974). Narrator: John Glen, Captain: Barry Keegan, Billy: Stephen W Scott, Writer: John Hollis, Cook: Hal Galili, First Voice: Jon Farrell, Second Voice: Glyn Dearman, Third Voice: Gordon Faith, Fourth Voice: Peter Humphreys. Music: John Buckland. Producer: John Gibson. (Also on 3 Jan 1965)

23 July 1974:
Sketches for Radio
By NF Simpson. Specially commissioned short sketches by Simpson (1919-2011), author of One-Way Pendulum and A Resounding Tinkle. With Kathleen Helme, Miriam Margolyes, Prunella Scales, Carleton Hobbs, Charles Hodgson and Geoffrey Matthews.

28 July 1974:
Drama Now: Monkeys: A Love Story
By Jan Gudmundsson, translated from the Swedish by Ian Rodger. Inspired by true events, this tells the story of two monkeys in a Scandinavian zoo who loved each other, but the crowds who came to visit them were offended. Lotta: Fenella Fielding, Laban: Norman Rodway. Other parts played by Timothy Bateson, Anthony Hall, Rolf Lefebvre, Betty Huntley-Wright, Elizabeth Morgan and Diana Olsson. Director: John Tydeman. (Repeated on 20 May 1975)

30 July 1974:
Double “Attack”
By Charles C Umeh. Praised by Wole Soyinka, this drama by the Nigerian educationist and playwright (1939-2019) deals with the “Attack” trade during the Biafra war, which entails smuggling fuel across enemy lines. The protagonist, Chief Enyimba, is horrified when he discovers that 10 drums of smuggled petrol contain only water. Joint winner of the fourth prize in the African Radio Playwriting competition. Paul: Lionel Ngakane, Chief Enyimba: Yemi Ajibade, Mrs Oriaku Enyimba: Jeillo Edwards, Attack 1: Ilario Pedro, Attack 2: Alton Kumalo, Captain Chike Enyimba: Alex Tetteh-Lartey. Producer: Charles Lefeaux. (Repeat from 6 Nov 1973)

4 August 1974:
World Drama: John Gabriel Borkman
By Henrik Ibsen, translated by William Archer, edited by Charles Lefeaux. Ralph Richardson takes the title role, which he also performed at the National Theatre in 1974, in Ibsen’s penultimate play. Disgraced banker Borkman, out of prison, prowls his upstairs room like “a sick wolf in a cage” while his wife tries to turn their son against him. John Gabriel Borkman: Ralph Richardson, Ella Rentheim: Irene Worth, Gunhild Borkman: Sylvia Coleridge, Frances Wilton: Prunella Scales, Malena the maid: Sandra Clark, Erhart Borkman: Richard Kay, Frida Foldal: Julie Hallam, William Foldal: Timothy Bateson. Pianist: Mary Nash. Director: Charles Lefeaux. (Repeated on 1 June 1975. Also on Radio 4 on 13 November 1983)

7 August 1974:
Damage
By Rosalind Belben. An “absurdist black comedy” in which guilt conjures up delusions about motherhood for one woman. Mother: Sheila Grant, Woman: Katherine Parr, Receptionist: Elizabeth Morgan, Doctor: Timothy Bateson, Good Friend: Eva Stuart, Gossips: Sandra Clark, Julie Hallam, Diana Olsson, Hilda Schroder. Special sound by Dick Mills of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Director: Charles Lefeaux. (Repeat from 20 Nov 1973)

11 August 1974:
Drama Now: Consider the Lillies
By Susan Hill. Haunted by the drowning of his sister decades ago and Blakean visions of angels, 53-year-old bachelor Charles Bowman is drawn to a dying girl, Susannah, who likes to visit the botanical gardens he oversees. Charles Bowman: Tony Britton, Lesage: Vernon Joyner, Mrs Lesage: Betty Huntley-Wright, Young Charles: Nicholas Dillane, Lottie: Julie Hallam, Susannah’s Nurse: Diana Olsson, Susannah: Helen Worth, Doctor: Clive Swift. Music: Geoffrey Burgon, performed by Doreen Price (soprano), John York Skinner (counter-tenor), Nona Liddell (violin), Geoffrey Burgon (celeste), David Corkhill (vibraphone) and John Marson (harp). Producer: Guy Vaesen. (Repeat from 18 September 1973. Also on Radio 4 Extra on 29 June 2009)

13 August 1974:
Drama Now: Mr Fox and Mr First
By Fay Weldon. This “surrealist comedy” is the third play for Radio 3 by Weldon. “What a pretty ring you are wearing, Elsa. I love rings. But I have a damaged hand, you know. As well as paralysed legs. Well, nothing is for nothing, in this world. Give and take, you know. give and take. Had you noticed my hand?” Mr Fox: Henry Woolf, Mr First: Nigel Stock, Gemma: Miriam Margolyes, Bruce: Sion Probert, Elsa: Helen Worth, Miss Hilary: Diana Olsson, Marion: Jane Knowles, Arthur: William Eedle, Audrey: Eva Stuart. Director: Richard Wortley. (Repeated on 22 April 1975)

18 August 1974:
Drama Now: Catholics
By Brian Moore from his 1972 novel. A modernising young American priest pits his wits against those of a cynical abbot when the former visits an isolated island monastery off the coast of Kerry, Ireland, where they are defying the Catholic leadership by still saying Mass in Latin. (Also dramatised by Bill Taylor for Radio 4’s Saturday Play on 15 January 2000.) Abbot: Joseph O'Conor, Fr Kinsella: Peter Marinker, Librarian: William Sleigh, Fr General: Rolf Lefebvre, Padraig: William Sleigh, Brother Kevin: Fraser Kerr, Brother Paul: Harry Webster, Brother Martin: Maurice Good, Fr Manus: Denys Hawthorne, Fr Matthew: Kevin Flood, Fr Walter: Harry Webster. Producer: Richard Imison. (Repeat from 2 December 1973)

20 August 1974:
Drama Now: Eight Ball
By Richard Wesley. Earl, an older man, and Eddie, a college student in his twenties, meet over a game of pool where it gradually emerges that Earl is the father who abandoned Eddie many years before. Wesley reworked the play in 1975 as The Past is the Past. Voice: John Rye, Earl Davis: Ed Bishop, Eddie Green: Weston Gavin. Special effects: David Greenwood. Technical presentation: Gordon Bowen. Director: David Spenser. (Repeated on 22 June 1975)

25 August 1974:
Workshop: The Origins of Capital and the Descent of Power: A Circus Piece for Two Sound Sources
By Philip Oxman. An experimental piece creating imagery through a mix of words and sound in which a poor circus family have to butcher their own performing animals. At a BBC programme review board, Martin Esslin described this piece as “one of the most way-out and daring things we have ever done”. Mugg: Miriam Margolyes, Neb: Geoffrey Matthews, Laffy: Sean Barrett, Dodders: Cyril Shaps, Oarno: David March, Cocky: Peter Marinker, Gideon: Cy Grant, Narrator: Philip Oxman. Music: Malcolm Clarke, realised at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop by Malcolm Clarke and Philip Oxman. Director: Martin Esslin. (Repeated on 5 August 1975)

27 August 1974:
Eastward Ho!
By Ben Jonson, George Chapman, John Marston and Peter Barnes. This 1605 comedy by three Jacobean dramatists weaves money, sex and class into a plot involving a goldsmith in London’s Cheapside and his apprentices and two daughters. Peter Barnes (1931-2004) regarded his contribution here as a collaborator rather than adapter. Touchstone, a goldsmith: David Neal, Mistress Touchstone, his wife: Ann Heffernan, His apprentices – Quicksilver: Joe Melia, Golding: Peter Craze. His daughters – Gertrude: Dilys Laye, Mildred: Sandra Clark. Bettrice, Gertrude's maid: Bonnie Hurren, Poldavy, a tailor: Anthony Hall. Sir Petronel Flash, a knight: Norman Rodway, Security, a moneylender: Cyril Shaps, Winnie, his wife: Hilda Schroder, Seagull, a mariner: Brian Haines. Other parts played by Peter Williams, Anthony Daniels, Vernon Joyner, Timothy Bateson, Godfrey Kenton, Rolf Lefebvre, Nigel Graham, Fraser Kerr, William Sleigh, David Sinclair, Jan Edwards. Music: Christopher Whelen. Producer: Martin Esslin. (Repeat from 21 October 1973)

1 September 1974:
Drama Now: Tripe: The Word is ? Flesh!
By Lexie Micallef. An “absurd play for radio”. Mrs Frank: Elizabeth Sprlggs, Mr Merde: Aubrey Woods, Frank Sprlggs: Harold Kasket, A Girl: Rosalind Adams, A Butcher: Sion Probert. With Timothy Bateson, Sandra Clark, Hazel Coppin, Sam Dastor, Jumoke Derayo and Elizabeth Morgan. Technical assistants: Jock Farrell, David Greenwood and Lloyd Silverthorne. Director: John Tydeman. (Repeated on 26 August 1975)

8 September 1974:
Drama Now: Pardon Monsieur
By Jeannine Worms, translated by Barbara Wright. In this black comedy by the French writer (1923-2006), two middle-aged gentlemen bump into each other and, in the ensuing conversation, discover a significant link between them. First Gentleman: Michael Hordern, Second Gentleman: David March. Producer: Martin Esslin. (Repeat from 18 December 1973)

15 September 1974:
The Well of Saints
By John Millington Synge. This 1971 World Theatre production was made to mark the 100th anniversary of Synge’s birth. A saint restores the sight of two blind beggars, which exposes the cruelty of their neighbours. Martin Doul: Cyril Cusack, Mary Doul: Marie Kean, Timmy: Kevin Flood, Molly Byrne: Kate Binchy, Bride: Rosalind Shanks, Mat Simon: Alan Barry, The Saint: Martin Dempsey, Reader: Denys Hawthorne. Producer: John Scotney. (Repeat from 13 September 1971)

17 September 1974:
Drama Now: Birds in a Gilded Cage
By Jeremy Seabrook and Michael O’Neill. A tragi-comedy in which a working class family struggles to adjust to life on a new estate. Gracie: Hazel Coppen, Norm: Timothy Bateson, Darryl: John Bull, Donna: Helen Worth, First Woman: Eva Stuart, Second Woman: Elizabeth Morgan, Third Woman: Norma Griffin, Fourth Woman: Carole Boyd, Kipper: David Howe, Ford: Stephen Pacey, Phantom: Willlam Relton, Sal: Diana Olsson, Jean: Eva Smart, Dictaphone Voice: Paul Gaymon, Jen: Judy Bennett, Bev: Carole Boyd, Nan: Katherine Parr, Doctor: Nigel Graham. Producer: Richard Wortley. (Repeated on 22 December 1974)

22 September 1974:
Drama Now: Ellen Cassidy
By Bill Morrison. The title character is a Northern Irishwoman living in London who seeks to break free from “the old days of pain”. Morrison (1940- 2011) was a Northern Irish actor turned playwright, who was also a BBC Radio drama producer in Belfast (1975-76), resident writer at the Liverpool Everyman (1977-1979) and drama producer at Liverpool’s Radio City (1979-1980). Ellen Cassidy: Kate Binchv, Gorman: Allan McClelland, Chris: Nigel Anthony, Brian: Stephen Rea. Director: John Tydeman. (Repeated on 17 June 1975)

22 September 1974:
What a Hysterical Girl
By Arthur Schnitzler. A 10-minute “playlet” by the Austrian dramatist (1862-1931). She: Carole Boyd, He: John Rye, Narrator: Vernon Joyner. Director: Martin Esslin. (Repeated on 22 January 1976)

24 September 1974:
And was Jerusalem Builded Here?
By Barry Collins. This first play by the Halifax-born dramatist, first seen at Leeds Playhouse in 1972, features the Luddites protesting against the mechanisation of the weaving industry in 1812 Yorkshire. Narrator: Robert Powell, Booth: Martin Jarvis, Anna: Pamela Craig, Mary: Carole Turner, Hartley: Jim Whelan, Mellor: Malcolm Terris, Walker: Peter Ellis, Lackleg: Anthony Collin, Thorpe: Edward Peel, Smith: David Hatton, Roberson: David Mahlowe, Sergeant: Ken Farrington, Father: John Franklyn-Robbins, Midwife: Lorraine Peters. Music: William Southgate. Producer: Tony Cliff (Leeds). (Repeat from 9 December 1973)

29 September 1974:
Drama Now: Cyril’s Symposium
By Liane Aukin. “There is no giving, no taking, no owning, no sharing. There is only the unknown whole. My world, your world, the same world.” Martha: Liane Aukin, Cyril: John Rowe, Delia: Rosalie Crutchley, Bill: Martin Friend, Peter: John Baddeley, Ismene: Linda Gardner, Man: George Woolley. Director: Anthony Cornish. (Repeated on 29 June 1975)

1 October 1974:
Workshop: Bye Bye Blues
By James Saunders. Exploring the nature of coincidence, this play by the prolific Saunders (1925-2004) finds three couples questioning their relationships and sense of freedom after a car accident. Originally written in 1973 for the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond, Surrey. Woman 1: Elizabeth Proud, Woman 2: Kate Coleridge, Man 2: Jon Rollason, Woman 3: Barbara Jefford, Man 3: Denys Hawthorne, Man 1: Peter Pacey. Producer: Richard Wortley

8 October 1974:
Ma’aruf the Cobbler
By Terence Tiller, freely adapted from The Thousand and One Nights, translated by N.J. Dawood. A poor cobbler leaves his pestering wife and, on meeting a powerful Djinn, is transported to a distant land for various adventures. Shahrazad: Nicolette Bernard, Fatimah: Carole Boyd, Ma’aruf: Garard Green, Pastrycook/Ploughman: Vernon Joyner, A Jinnee/Beggar: Denis McCarthy, Ali/First Guard: John Rye, First Merchant/First Native: Nigel Graham, Second Merchant/Second Native: William Eedle, Third Merchant/Third Native: Godfrey Kenton, The King: Charles Simon, The Vizier/Cadi: Peter Williams, Slave/Eunuch/Second Guard: Kerry Francis, Zeinab: Elizabeth Proud. Director: Terence Tiller. (Repeated on 13 May 1975)

12 October 1974:
World Drama: The Non-Divine Comedy
By Zygmunt Krasinski, adapted by Stuart Griffiths from M.W. Cook’s translation. Krasinski (1812-1859) is regarded as one of the great Byronic poets of 19th-century Polish literature. In his 1833 play, informed by the French Revolution and the power struggle between the Jacobins, the traditional Christian hierarchy enjoyed by a baron ? a conflicted poet ? is besieged by democratic and revolutionary movements. Narrator: Stephen Murray, Count Henry: Gabriel Woolf, Mary, his wife: Rosalind Shanks, George, their son: Judy Bennet, Pancras, revolutionary leader: David March, Leonard, second-in-command to Pancras: Mike Gwilym, Count Henry’s Demon: Mary Morris. With the voices of Pauline Letts, Betty Huntley-Wright, John Bull, Jack Carr, Michael Deacon, Trader Faulkner, Paul Gaymon, Nigel Lambert, Sion Probert, Hector Ross, David Sinclair and Peter Williamson. Music: Hans Heimler. Producers: Stuart Griffiths and Martin Esslin. (Repeated on 20 June 1976)

20 October 1974:
Drama Now: Spared
By Israel Horovitz. Carleton Hobbs performs this monologue by the American playwright, director and actor (1939-2020). An old man, who tried to commit suicide more than 60 times, but was always miraculously spared, reflects on the good and bad of an eventful life that at its heart seems empty. Director: Martin Esslin. (Repeated on 13 July 1975)

27 October 1974:
The Bacchae
By Euripides, translated by D.W. Lucas and arranged for radio by Raymond Raikes. The god Dionysus, disguised as a priest, finds Pentheus, the newly appointed ruler of Thebes, resistant to the god’s frenzied, worshipping cult in this Greek tragedy written towards the end of Euripides’ life. Narrator: Gabriel Woolf, Dionysus (as a god, son of Zeus): Ian Partridge, Dionysus (as a man, son of Semele): Geoffrey Collins, Leader of the Chorus of Eastern Women: Marjorie Westbury, Teiresias, prophet of Apollo in Thebes: Carleton Hobbs, Cadmus, former King of Thebes, father of Agave and Semele: Norman Shelley, Pentheus, his grandson, present King of Thebes: Malcolm Hayes, A soldier, one of Pentheus' bodyguards: Hector Ross, An old slave, from the palace of Pentheus: Stephen Murray, A herdsman from Mount Cithaeron: Haydn Jones, Agave, daughter of Cadmus, mother of Pentheus: Mary Wimbush. Chorus of Eastern Worshippers of Dionysus: BBC Singers with Philomusica of London conducted by Rae Jenkins. Music: Anthony Bernard. Producer: Raymond Raikes

5 November 1974:
Drama Now: Stones
By Shirley Gee. As the caretaker of a cemetery undertakes his rounds, children play ancient and unending games among the graves while voices of the dead rise from under the stone. This debut radio play by Gee (1932-2016) was runner-up in the 1974 Radio Times Bursary Award. Wilfred: Sam Kydd. Narrators: John Westbrook, Rolf Lefebvre. Voices: Jack Carr, Kate Coleridge, Donald Gee, Madi Hedd, Pauline Letts, Peter Williams. Children: Angela Gale, Joanne Hannington, Nicholas Lyndhurst, Earl Rhodes, Ian Sharrock, Alexander Tusa, Francis Tusa. Producer: David Spenser. (Repeated on 8 July 1975)

24 November 1974:
World Drama: The Virgin Bride
By August Strindberg, translated by Michael Meyer. In this 1901 play, a wedding could end the rivalry between two bitterly opposed families, but the bride must wear a crown indicating that she is a virgin. If she cannot, will divisions deepen or lead to peace and reconciliation? Kersti’s mother: Pauline Letts, Kersti: Sarah Badel, Mats: Martin Jarvis, The River God: Alan Dudley, The Midwife: Sheila Grant, Brita, Mats’s sister: Frances Jeater, Lill-Anna, Mats’s sister: Emily Richard, Lill-Mats, Mats’s brother: Judy Bennett, Mats’s father: Manning Wilson. Mats’s mother: Norma Ronald. Mats’s grandmother: Hilda Schroder, Mats’s grandfather: Timothy Bateson, Stig Mattsson, the Parish Justice: Colin Douglas, The Verger, Kersti’s grandfather: Cyril Luckham, The Soldier, Kersti’s father: John Hollis, The White Child/The Meuling: Judy Bennett, The Pastor: Alan Rowe, The Fisherman: Sion Probert. Music: (some by Strindberg himself) arranged by Peter Hope, played by Lionel Bentley and Anthony Catterick. Director: Martin Jenkins. (Repeated on 14 September 1975)

26 November 1974:
World Drama: Don Juan in Hell
By George Bernard Shaw. Originally part of Bernard Shaw’s Man and Superman (Act III, Scene 2) as a dream scene, this features Don Juan in conversation with several characters as they debate the nature of Heaven, Hell and what makes us human. Don Juan: Alec McCowen, The Statue: Michael Denison, Ana: Anna Massey, The Devil: Norman Rodway. Music: Humphrey Searle (after Mozart, Gounod, Wagner and others), played by members of the Sinfonia of London. Producer: John Tydeman

1 December 1974:
Drama Now: Strip Jack Naked
By Susan Hill. James, a sick recluse looked after by Randal, is shaken out of his austere existence by a visit from his estranged wife. James: Ian Richardson, Diana: Sian Phillips, Randal: Dinsdale Landen. Director: Richard Wortley. (Repeated on 6 April 1975)

8 December 1974:
Drama Now: A Dream Journey
By James Hanley, adapted from his 1943 novel No Directions. In this play by the Irish novelist and playwright (1897-1985), we sense the lives of those in a London boarding house during the Blitz. Hanley later used No Directions to form the middle section of his 1976 novel also called A Dream Journey. Clem Stevens: David March, Lena Stevens: Ellen McIntosh, Warden/Kenton: Peter Pacey, Sailor: John Sharp, Cis: Frances White, Richard Hughes: Anthony Hall, Gwyn Hughes: Megs Jenkins, Mr Robinson: Denys Hawthorne, Emily Fraser: Betty Hardy, Ducksie: Carole Boyd, Mr Fraser: Rolf Lefebvre. Director: Ronald Mason. (Repeated on 23 September 1975)

10 December 1974:
The Man on the Hill
By Roger Frith. Paul Scofield performs a monologue drawn from the writings of Richard Jeffries (1848-1887), the prose poet and social philosopher, who was noted for his depiction of English rural life in novels, essays and books of natural history. Music: David Cain. Director: Keith Slade. (Repeated on 4 November 1975. Also on 14 July 1982)

12 December 1974:
Dinosaurs
By John Antrobus. A man encounters an attendant at his local museum. “No singing ? definitely no singing, stop that immediately ? the vibrations can get right into them dinosaur bones.” The Attendant: Spike Milligan, The Man: John Antrobus. Director: John Scotney. (Repeated on 27 March 1975)

15 December 1974:
World Drama: King Lear
By William Shakespeare. Alec Guinness never appeared as Lear on stage (though did play the Fool to Laurence Olivier’s troubled monarch in 1946), but gets to play the title role here. Lear: Alec Guinness, Gloucester: Cyril Cusack, The Fool: Ronald Pickup, Goneril: Jill Bennett, Regan: Eileen Atkins, Cordelia: Sarah Badel, Edmund: Norman Rodway, Edgar: Robert Powell, Kent: Trevor Martin, Albany: Julian Curry, Cornwall: Donald Douglas, Oswald: Andrew Sachs, King of France: Michael Deacon, Duke of Burgundy: David Timson, Doctor/Old Man: Rolf Lefebvre, Gentleman: Peter Williams. Other parts: David Ericsson, Payl Gaymon, Peter Pacey and Stephen Thorne. Music: Christopher Whelen. Special effects by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Technical assistants: Jock Farrell, Mary Barrett and Jane Brinsmead. Director: John Tydeman. (Repeated on 20 July 1975)

17 December 1974:
Drama Now: PS: Wish You Were Here
By Elizabeth Troop. A Donald McGill postcard view of the final catastrophe. “To think our dear Edna was the last straw… ending the world. She would have been slightly over-awed, I feel.” Bert: John Slater, Edna: Eva Stuart, Jake: Peter Marinker, Fisherman: John Baddeley, Major: Carleton Hobbs, Gendarme: Paul Gaymon. Director: Richard Wortley. (Repeated on 11 November 1975)

26 December 1974:
The Best Name of Silence
By David Helwig. A verse play about sexual intoxication by the Canadian poet based on the Bluebeard story. Bluebeard: Valentine Dyall, Neighbours: Sheila Grant, Godfrey Kenton, Madi Hedd, Bluebeard's last wife: Rosalind Shanks. Producer: Terence Tiller

29 December 1974:
Drama Now: The Bell Jar
By Sylvia Plath, adapted by Jehane Markham. In Plath’s only novel, first published in 1963, a talented young woman struggles with her identity amidst the social pressures of 1950s New York. Esther Greenwood: Angela Pleasence, Doreen: Bonnie Hurren, Buddy Willard: Christopher Muncke, Lenny: Nigel Anthony, Marco: John Bull, Jaycee: Maggie Riley, Mother: Diana Olsson, Dr Gordon: Don Fellows, Dr Nolan: Margaret Robertson, Valerie: Emily Richard, Joan: Valerie Colgan, Irwin: Peter Marinker, Dr Quinn: Ann Murray. With Sean Arnold, Glenn Beck, Carole Boyd, Jack Carr, Chrissy Iddon and Pat Stark. Producer: Jane Graham. (Repeated on 1 February 1976)

30 December 1974:
The London Cuckolds
By Edward Ravenscroft. A 1681 farce by Ravenscroft (1643-1707), in which the dissolute Ned Ramble is tempted by three wives whose husbands each have different views on what makes a good wife. The Prologue (in the words of Charles Lamb, 1823): Alan Dudley, Alderman Wiseacres: Carleton Hobbs, Alderman Doodle: Norman Shelley, Dashwell, a City Scrivener: Alan Dudley, Eugenia, his wife: Madi Hedd, Arabella, wife to Doodle: Elizabeth Morgan, Engine, her woman: Betty Huntley-Wright, Ned Ramble: David Timson, Frank Townly: David Sinclair, Jane, maid to Eugenia: Carole Boyd, Loveday, a young merchant: Kerry Francis, Peggy, bride to Wiseacres: Emily Richard, Aunt, her governess: Wynne Clark. Music: Stephen Dodgson, performed by the Philomusica of London, conducted by Rae Jenkins. Director: Raymond Raikes. (Repeated on 2 September 1975)

DOCUMENTARIES

14 January 1974:
The Short Campaign of RQMS Brown
By Keith Darvill. At the start of the Second World War, Yorkshire solicitor’s clerk Jack Brown kept a diary as his raw and relatively untrained Territorial battalion was sent to France for eight weeks. It offers a very different picture to that presented by the politicians and press back home. With the voices of Denis McCarthy, Henry Stamper, David Brierley, Nigel Anthony, Betty Baskcomb, William Eedle, Ronald Herdman, Rolf Lefebvre, Edward Kelsey. Songs sung by John Hollis, harmonica played by Alfie Khan. Producer: Maurice Leitch. (Repeated on 18 July 1977)

25 January 1974:
The Faces of Maugham
A radio portrait compiled and narrated by Anthony Curtis to mark the centenary of the birth of W. Somerset Maugham on 25 January 1874. Those taking part include: Harold Acton, Kingsley Amis, Lord Boothby, Lord Clark, Fay Compton, A.S. Frere, R.H. Goodsall, Sir John Gielgud, Lady Jane Kelly, Francis King, John Lehmann, John Pearson, David Pryce-Jones, Raymond Mander, Arthur Marshall, Raymond Mortimer, Sheridan Morley, Joe Mitchenson, Sir Terence Rattigan, George Rylands, C.P. Snow, Raymond Toole Stott, Frank Swinnerton, John Sutro, B.A, Young and the recorded voice of W. Somerset Maugham. Producer: John Tydeman. (Repeated on 28 July 1974)

20 February 1974:
The Chocolate Project
By Antony Hopkins. This explores Verdi’s seven-year collaboration with the poet and musician Arrigo Boito that would culminate in Verdi’s masterpiece Otello, a project the composer only ever referred to as “the chocolate project”. Verdi: Marius Goring, Boito: Barry Foster, Othello: Fraser Kerr, Iago: Lewis Stringer, Emilia: Patricia Leventon, Roderigo: Robin Browne, Montano: William Sleigh, Gentleman: Anthony Hall. Operatic extracts – Emilia: Elaine Blighton (soprano), Emilia: Eileen Shaw (contralto), Otello: Stuart Kale (tenor), Lago: Antony Ransome (baritone). Piano: Antony Hopkins, Producer: Christopher Holme. (Repeat from 11 February 1973)

23 February 1974:
A Mind of Universal Sympathy
By Desmond King-Hele. A portrait of Dr Erasmus Darwin whose ideas on evolution were more radical than his grandson Charles Darwin's. Also a pioneer in meteorology, medicine and industrial technology and once a highly rated poet, he is today virtually forgotten by historians of science. Narrator: Nigel Anthony, Dr Erasmus Darwin: Freddie Jones. With Patricia Leventon, David Brierley, Stephen Thorne, David Gooderson, William Eedle and Fraser Kerr. Producer: John Scotney. (Repeat from 11 September 1973. Also on 30 March 1978)

9 April 1974:
Birth of an Opera: La Traviata
By Hallam Tennyson and Michael Rose. This explores the relationship between Verdi’s opera and the source novel and play by Dumas fils, La Dame aux Camélias. As well as Verdi's life at the time. (Opera extracts taken from the RCA Victor recording with Montserrat Caballe as Violetta, conducted by Georges Pretre.) Narrator: John Rowe, Giuseppe Verdi: David March, Giuseppina Strepponi: Fiona Walker. With the voices of Diana Bishop, Gerald Cross, Vernon Joyner, Sion Probert, Stephen Thorne and Manning Wilson. Producer: Hallam Tennyson

11 April 1974:
The Freud/Jung Letters (1906-1914)
Correspondence between the founding fathers of modern psychology, translated from the German by Ralph Mannheim and R.F.C Hull, which charts their increasingly estranged relationship. Sigmund Freud: Peter Williams, Carl Jung: Michael Deacon, Emma Jung: Kate Nelligan. Producer: Adrian Johnson. (Repeated on 14 Nov 1974)

14 April 1974:
Sir John Gielgud
To mark the actor’s 70th birthday, Richard Bebb uses sound recordings to analyse Gielgud's genius as an actor and to evaluate his contribution to the English theatre of the past 50 years. Producer: Bennett Maxwell.

7 May 1974:
Alas! The Love of Women
By Douglas Cleverdon. Drawing on Volume III of Byron's Letters and Journals, edited by Leslie A. Marchand, this programme focuses on the poet’s life in 1813, when he was writing his Eastern tales in verse and becoming involved with various ladies, from Lady Oxford with her “autumnal charms” to the high-principled Lady Frances Webster. Byron: Denys Hawthorne, Princess Caroline: Betty Huntley-Wright, Lady Caroline Lamb: Hilda Schroder, Lady Frances Webster: Elizabeth Morgan, Wedderburn Webster: Nigel Graham, Annabella Milbanke: Rosalind Shanks. Producer: Douglas Cleverdon

26 May 1974:
The Castaway
By Keri Lewis. A portrait of the English poet and hymn writer William Cowper (1731-1800) compiled from his own writings. William Cowper: Ronald Pickup, Narrator: Mary Wimbush. Producer: Christopher Holme. (Repeat from 20 August 1972. Also on 25 April 1975)

3 July 1974:
The Trial of Eugene Aram
By Rayner Heppenstall, drawing on 18th-century case records of Eugene Aram (1704-1759), a notable scholar, who defended himself after being accused of killing a shoemaker in what became a notorious case and the subject of a famous ballad by Thomas Hood. Eugene Aram: Alan Dudley. With Carole Boyd, Betty Huntley-Wright, Eric Allan, John Bull, Kerry Francis, Vernon Joyner, Godfrey Kenton, Alan Rowe, David Timson and Manning Wilson. Producer: Martin Esslin. (Repeated on 19 March 1975)

25 August 1974:
Dr Johnson Out of Town
By John Wain. A programme reflecting Dr Johnson’s love of travel, not only of the Highlands and islands of Scotland, but also lesser-known trips. Dr Johnson: John Sharp, Boswell: Henry Stamper. Producer: Robert Cradock. (Repeated on 20 June 1976)

26 August 1974:
The Teapot and the Samovar
The Russian novelist and playwright Ivan Turgenev (1818-1893) made several visits to England and found himself surprisingly at home with English writers. April Fitzlyon examines their relationships. Readings by Gary Watson (as Turgenev), Denise Bryer and Garard Green. Producer: Miriam Rapp. (Repeated on 8 December 1975)

4 September 1974:
The Female Messiah
By James Roose-Evans. A feature about Ann Lee (1736-1784), known as Mother Ann, who was the founding leader of the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, or the Shakers. Narrator: James Roose-Evans, Mother Ann: Billie Whitelaw, Whittaker: Terry Scully, E.D. Andrews: Ramsay Williams, Elder Evans: Don Fellows, Nordhoff: Christopher Muncke, Brother Brown: Marvin Kane, Eldress Hocknell: Hilda Schroder, Dickens: Stephen Thorne, Tolstoy: Victor Nossoff. With Carole Boyd, Sandra Clark, Sam Dastor, Kerry Francis, Nigel Graham, Nigel Lambert, Diana Olsson and David Sinclair. Arranger/Conductor of Shaker songs and hymns: Kerry Woodward. Producer: John Theocharis. (Repeated on 27 June 1975)

10 September 1974:
The Moscow Merchants
By Cecil Parrott. The storv of the Moscow merchant class, whose immense wealth in the 19th century had a great influence on the development of Russian music, painting and drama. With the voices of Betty Huntley-Wright Kerry Francis, Nigel Graham, Vernon Joyner, Denis McCarthy, Sion Probert and Hector Ross. Producer: Martin Esslin

12 September 1974:
J.B. Priestley at 80
Paul Bailey presents a portrait of the life and work of J. B. Priestley (1894-1984), which includes a specially recorded interview in which Priestley reflects on his career. Others taking part Include: Phyllis Bentley, Sir Arthur Bliss, Peter Hall, David Hughes, Pamela Hansford Johnson, Henry Moore, Benedict Nightingale, Sir Ralph Richardson and Dame Sybil Thorndike. Producer: Alan Haydock. (Repeated on 19 December 1974)

23 September 1974:
The Good Bohemian Hasek
By Cecil Parrott and Archie Gordon. This programme tells the story of the life of Jaroslav Hasek, author of The Good Soldier Svejk. Narrator: Cecil Parrott. With the voices of Clive Swift, John Forrest, Walter Hall, Leonard Fenton and Denis McCarthy. Producer: Martin Esslin. (Repeat from 31 August 1973)

15 October 1974:
The Young Lady of Midhurst
By Frederick Bradnum. In 1875, Colonel Valentine Baker and a young lady, Kate Rebecca Dickinson, shared a compartment in the train from Petersfield to London. She accused him of assault but only her sworn testimony was given at the trial. This “dramatic feature” speculates on the possible reason for his silence. (This was given a new Radio 3 production by Jane Morgan, with Geoffrey Palmer and Emily Richard, on 12 November 1980.) Colonel Valentine Baker: Nigel Davenport, Kate Rebecca Dickinson: Maria Aitken, Narrator: Rolf Lefebvre. Other parts played by John Bull, Stephen Thorne, David Timson, Michael Deacon and Paul Gaymon. Producer: John Tydeman

10 November 1974:
Actors of Freedom: John Milton
By Peter Yapp. Partly as a result of the Civil Wars, the 1640s in England saw a radical questioning of the foundations of government, which informed the political backdrop to the time John Milton thought and wrote. With Hugh Dickson, William Eedle, John Samson, Michael Harbour, Barbara Bliss, Trader Faulkner, David Brierley, Hector Ross. Alan Lawrance, John Bull and David Sinclair. Singers: Paul Gaymon, Vic Gammon. Producer: John Scotney

9 December 1974:
The Marriage of Freedom and Fate
A sound poem on themes from the life and work of Beethoven drawing on his own words and those of his contemporaries, as well as from T.S. Eliot and Friedrich Heer. Music includes Beethoven, Dufay, Josquin des Pres, Monteverdi, Bach, Handel, Mozart, Haydn, Schubert, Stockhausen and the Gregorian chant of the Roman Catholic liturgy. Beethoven: Anthony Hopkins. Voices of his contemporaries: Gary Watson, Lewis Stringer, Nigel Lambert, Denis Coacher, Sheila Grant, Patricia Gallimore, Carole Boyd. Commentary/Chorus: Jill Balcon and David March. Special sound: Dick Mills of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Production team: David Binney, John Talbot Jones, Peter James and Andrew Musset. Producer: Michael Mason. (Repeated on 20 October 1975)

14 December 1974:
Ionesco in Wales
Hallam Tennyson interviewed Eugene lonesco, one of the founding fathers of the Theatre of the Absurd, when he was awarded the Welsh Arts Council's International Writers' Prize. Originally conducted in French with this edited version offering a translation.

26 December 1974:
When Soft Voices Die
By Roger Frith. The poet and playwright (1936-2008) evokes the tragic story of his own father, baritone Arthur Frith, who could never forget the Christmas fraternisation in the trenches in 1914. Arthur Firth: Ralph Truman, Young Roger: Ian Sharrock, Gladys Frith: Madi Hedd. With the voices of John Bull and David Ericsson. Producer: Hallam Tennyson. (Repeated on Radio 4 on 28 December 1980)

READINGS & SHORT STORIES

1 January 1974:
Dead Gabriel by Arthur Schnitzler (read by Leonard Sachs)
A 1908 short story by the Austrian author (1862-1931). Gabriel has committed suicide after being rejected by a famous actress. His girlfriend wants to meet the actress, little knowing that their common friend Ferdinand is the actress’s new lover and so the cause of Gabriel’s death. Translated by Eric Sutton. Producer: Patricia Brent. (Repeated on 10 November 1975)

26 January 1974:
Works Meeting by Peter Schneider (read by Harvey Hall)
A young intellectual in 1960s Berlin feels alienated from society and his fellow political radicals. This is an extract from Lenz, a story by German author Peter Schneider, which reimagines Georg Buchner’s novel of the same name in modern times. Translated by Peter Palmer. (Repeated on 2 March 1974)

13 February 1974:
Axolotl by Julio Cortazar (read by Robert Eddison)
In this story by Latin American author (1914-1984), the unnamed first-person narrator becomes obsessed with the axolotls (a species of salamander) in the aquarium exhibit of the zoo at the Jardin des Plantes in Paris. Translated by John McDonnell. (Repeat from 28 September 1973)

14 February 1974:
Tokens of Love
Readings by Judi Dench and Michael Williams taken from The War Between Men and Women, an anthology compiled by Patrick Garland. Producer: Christopher Venning. (Repeated on 10 February 1978)

29 March 1974:
In Praise of Women by Denis Diderot (read by Julian Glover)
A 1772 essay by the French philosopher and art critic (1713-1784). Translated by John Fielding. Producer: Patricia Brent. (Repeated on 9 June and 27 December 1974)

30 May 1974:
The Unseemly Old Lady by Bertolt Brecht (read by Julian Glover)
Recently widowed, a 70-year-old lady is determined to have fun, using up her life savings on the way. A story from Brecht’s Tales from the Calendar, translated by Yvonne Kapp. (Repeated on 5 April 1976)

4 June 1974
First Love by Samuel Beckett (read by Patrick Magee)
In Beckett’s 1946 short story, an old man looks back at the only amorous episode in his life, revealing an ironically comic view of all human love. Producer: Martin Esslin. (Repeat from 7 July 1973)

18 June 1974:
Molly Bloom
By James Joyce (read by Siobhan McKenna) The last chapter of Joyce’s novel Ulysses in which Molly Bloom lies in bed with her memories and fantasies. Producer Guy Vaesen. (Repeat from 21 March 1973)

1 September 1974:
Redegonda’s Diary by Arthur Schnitzler (read by Vernon Joyner)
In this 1909 story, a man sits next to the narrator on a park bench and tells how a husband discovered the man’s affair with his wife from her diary. This resulted in a duel in which the man telling the story was killed. Translated by H. Steinhauer and Helen Jessiman. (Repeated on 20 March 1975)

13 September 1974:
A Night Out by Guy de Maupassant (read by David Ryall)
A country solicitor samples the heady delights of Paris, forgetting that bohemians are born, not made. Translated by H.N.P Sloman. (Originally part of Radio 4’s Mornings with Maupassant.) (Repeated on 27 March 1975)

20 October 1974:
A Backward Glance by Edith Wharton (read by Kate Nelligan)
An extract from the autobiography by the American novelist (1862-1937) in which she recalls old New York. (Repeated on 31 December 1974)

9, 16, 23 & 30 November 1974:
Paradise Regain’d by John Milton
In this 1671 sequel to Paradise Lost, the poet focuses on Satan’s temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. Narrator: Hugh Burden, Satan: Carleton Hobbs, God: Vernon Joyner, Christ: Gerald Cross, Mary: Elizabeth Morgan, Andrew/Belial: Kerry Francis. Producer: Terence Tiller. (Repeated on 4, 11, 18 & 25 June 1976)

10 November 1974:
When All Roads Led to France by Roger Frith
A monologue for Armistice Day adapted from poems and diaries of Edward Thomas, who was killed on Easter Monday 1917 at the Battle of Arras. Edward Thomas: Ronald Pickup, Helen Thomas: Mary Wimbush. Producer: Hallam Tennyson (Repeat from 12 November 1972)

25 November 1974:
Flat on his Back by Julio Cortazar (read by David March)
A short story by the Argentine writer (1914-1984), also known as “The Night Face Up”, in which a hospitalised motorcyclist, in a fevered state after an accident, awakes to find he is about to become the sacrificial victim of Aztec priests. Translated from the Spanish by John McDonnell. (Repeated on 10 February 1975)

11 December 1974:
Lolo by Slawomir Mrozek (read by Sean Arnold)
In this short story by the Polish dramatist and satirist (1930-2013), a lab rat’s companion alters its behaviour to get more food while a Polish tourist pretends to be Russian at a party in the hope it will help him gain access to a western film star. Translated by Janina David. (Repeated on 28 February 1975)

2 November 1974:
The Mass Island by Frank O’Connor (read by Sean Arnold)
In the last of several short stories featuring Father Jerry Fogarty, his dying wish to be buried far from his home parish causes conflict. (Repeated on 2 March 1975)

5 December 1974:
Mr Proudham and Mr Sleight by Susan Hill (read by the author)
Two middle-aged men, who live together in a seaside town, are observed by a young woman who lives nearby. Producer: Richard Wortley
===end===








Many thanks to Ian Johns for compiling the entries.

Back to top



Sitemap