Radio 3 Drama, 1985
Compiled by Ian Johns
Main source of information is the BBC Genome scanned pages of Radio Times with entries edited, added to and amended for clarity and context. Also listed separately are drama-related documentaries and selected readings and short stories.
I.J.
2 January 1985:
Vieux Carre
By Tennessee Williams. The playwright’s 1977 play draws on his experiences as a young writer in 1938, living in a dilapidated rooming-house filled with the eccentric, ill and destitute in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Also produced on Radio 3 (25 May 2003) with Brendan Fraser and Alfred Molina. Jane: Sheila Gish, Mrs Wire: Margaret Robertson, Nightingale: James Maxwell, Tye: David Baxt, Nursie: Carole Boyd, The Writer: Mark Rolston, Mary Maud: Margot Boyd, Miss Carrie: Hilda Schroder, T Hamilton-Biggs: Geoffrey Collins, Sky: Brad Lavelle, Judge: Jerry Harte. Director: Martin Jenkins. (Repeated on 16 May 1986)
6 January 1985:
A Woman Killed with Kindness
By Thomas Heywood, adapt. Penny Gold. Heywood’s 1603 drama of property and marriage, adultery and revenge features a newly married wife, brought down by an affair with her husband’s new acquaintance, and an impoverished aristocrat preparing to prostitute his sister to his enemy to redeem his debts. Frankford: Tom Wilkinson, Anne: Paola Dionisotti, Wendoll: James Laurenson, Sir Charles Mountford: Nigel Anthony, Susan: Maggie McCarthy, Sir Francis Acton: Colin Jeavons, Nicholas: Bill Monks, Jenkin: Michael Jenner, Shafton: Bernard Brown, Cranwell: Brett Usher, Keeper: Edward Kelsey, Sheriff: William Eedle, Sergeant: Clive Panto, Maidservant: Helena Breck. Director: Penny Gold. (Repeated on 15 January 1986)
9 January 1985:
The Gaudy
By John Hall. For three particular ageing participants at an Old Boys’ night at St Good’s College, Oxford – Gaudy Night – disaster looms large. Josh: Clive Panto, Harold: Peter Acre, Ned: Colin Starkey, Patrolman Fellows: Jerold Wells, Pooh: Alan Dudley, Go-Go: Moray Watson, Heron: Victor Lucas, Mollie: Moira Redmond, Dollie: Eleanor Summerfield, The Dean: Arnold Diamond, Potter: Nat Brenner, Master of Music: Paul Nicholson. Director: Brian Miller (BBC Bristol)
10 January 1985:
A Changeable Report
By Gabriel Josipovici. A soliloquy performed by Paul Scofield in which the events in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night are reviewed from the perspective of Malvolio. Also performed by Nicholas Woodeson for the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford in November 1986. Director: John Theocharis. (Repeated on 11 March 1986)
13 January 1985:
Swansong for Seven Voices
By Nigel Dennis. A play by the English author, critic and playwright (1912-1989), best known for his satirical novel Cards of Identity (1955).
Husbands must come back when there’s no hope for them and Mrs Stebbing understands what courage she will need to bring Willie’s life to an orderly end. Tania: Jane Wenham, Willie: Roger Hammond, Mrs Stebbing: Jill Bennett, Dr Wellworthy: Norman Rodway, Nurse Dorrit: Merelina Kendall, Laura: Julia McKenzie. Music: Stephen Oliver. Pianist: John Owen Edwards. Director: Michael Heffernan. (Repeated on 10 July 1985)
16 January 1985
No One is Evil and No One is Good
By Rainer Werner Fassbinder, trans. Anthony Vivis. “An experiment in science fiction” by the German director. Set in In a time when sight, smell and love are only dimly remembered, Petrov and Elvira await the end of the world as the play wonders if the moment before a nuclear holocaust can be a time for hope. Elvira: Fiona Walker, Petrov: Nigel Anthony, Narrator: Alan Dudley, Jeanne: Annabel Lanyon, Christoph: Damian Frankun, Grandfather/First Man: Michael Bilton, Second Man: Mark Jones, Operator: Eileen Tully. Greek: Steve Plytas, Arab: Ali Refaie. Director: Jeremy Mortimer. (Repeat from 22 April 1984)
19 January 1985:
Menocchio
By James Saunders. A monologue, performed by Freddie Jones, in which Domenico Scandella (known as Menocchio), an uneducated miller in 16th-century Italy, challenges the prescribed teaching of the Church and is convicted by the Inquisition for heresy. Director: Richard Wortley. (Repeated on 11 September 1985)
20 January 1985:
Of Thee I Sing
A musical comedy by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind. Lyrics by
Ira Gershwln. Music by George Gershwin. Adapted by Yuri Rasovsky. A National Radio Theatre of Chicago production of the 1931 satire, set during a US presidential election, in which a would-be candidate, advised to marry a beauty pageant winner to gain votes, falls for a homely campaign secretary instead. John P Wintergreen: John Cullum, Mary: Mary Ernster, Throttlebottom: Edgar Meyer, Diana Devereaux: Jan Curtis, Fulton: Ward Ohrman, French Ambassador: Tim Harms, Gilhooley: David-Cameron Anderson, Lippman: Glenn Kovacevich, Senator Jones: William Brown, Lyons: Charles Shallenberg. Musical producer and conductor: Newton Wayland. The Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus. Director: Yuri Rasovsky. (Repeated on Radio 4 on 4 July 1985 and Radio 3 on 2 November 1992)
23 January 1985:
1985
By Guy Meredith, based on the novella by Anthony Burgess. In a heavily unionised state dominated by industrial disputes, social unrest and surveillance, former history lecturer turned factory worker Bev Jones wants to kick back at a society that saw his wife die in a hospital fire that striking firemen refused to put out. Bev: Nigel Anthony, Bessie: Pauline Quirke, Pettigrew: John Forrest, Marion: Maggie McCarthy, Prof Reynolds: Peter Woodthorpe, Col Lawrence: Philip Voss, Magistrate: Allan McClelland, Faulkner: Crawford Logan, Devlin: Harry Webster, Fowler: Clive Panto, Abdul: Abi Gouhad, Redzwan: Alix Refaie, Protheroe: John Rye, King Charles III: David Tate, Supermarket Manager: Margot Boyd, Matron: Monica Grey, Tod: Jon Strickland, Headmaster: Mark Straker, Szigeti: Mark Rolston, Wilfred: Scott Cherry, Derek: Michael Jenner, Dr Kilburn: Carole Boyd, Ellie: Ellen McIntosh, Reformed Worker: Anthony Hall, Army Lieutenant: Mark Jones, Gypsy Girl: Eileen Tully. Director: Michael Heffernan. (Repeated on 1 July 1986)
27 January 1985:
Luther
By John Osborne. The playwright’s 1961 play charts the 16th-cenutury rebellious priest’s life of defiance from his earliest days in an Augustinian monastery to his protest against the corruption of the Church and excommunication. Clive Merrison received the 1984 Sony Radio Award for Best Performance by an Actor. Luther: Clive Merrison, Prior: James Kerry, Hans, Martin’s father: Geoffrey Matthews, Lucas: John Hollis, Brother Weinand: Eric Allan, John Tetzel: Peter Bull, Johann von Staupitz: Cyril Luckham, Cajetan: Timothy Bateson, Pope Leo X: Scott Cherry, Karl von Miltitz: John Rye, Johann von Eck: James Bryce, Knight: Kerry Francis, Katherine von Bora: Eileen Tully. Director: John Tydeman. (Repeat from 6 November 1983. Also on Radio 4 on 9 January 1994)
30 January 1985:
The Traveller
By Stewart Parker. Inspired by Dante’s Inferno, Parker’s play sees Sweeney, a famous traveller, journey through a personal Hell as he probes his psyche and ends up on the Circle Line of the London Underground. Sweeney: Donal McCann, Merriman: Derek Halligan, Alfred/Guard: Christian Rodska, Caroline: Eleanor Bron, Rex: Alan Rothwell, Vera: Carole Nimmons, Bellamy: Paul Webster, Mrs P: Lesley Nicol, Tully: Hugh Ross, Gerry/Soldier: Malcolm Raeburn, Mr P: Dennis Blanch, Olive: Judith Barker, Dill: Philip George, The Survivor: Davld Ross, Drunken Scotsman/Sergeant: Robert Keegan, Woman on the Boat: Valerie Ulley, Security Man: Walter McMonagle, Prison Warder: Trevor Moore, Man with the Glass Eye: Daragh O’Malley, Dennis Hackett: Ian McElhinney, Stitt: Denys Hawthorne, Taxi Driver: Colum Convey, Vera’s Mother: Leila Webster. Director: Robert Cooper (BBC Manchester). (Repeated on 6 October 1985)
3 February 1985:
The Theban Plays: Oedipus the King
By Sophocles, trans. Robert Fagles. Oedipus will not rest until he has found the killer of the former king, but his arrogance and self-importance blind him to the shocking truth that brings destruction upon himself and his family. Oedipus: Tim Pigott Smith, Jocasta: Sian Phillips, Creon: Patrick Stewart, Tiresias: Robert Eddison, Messenger: David Collings, Priest: David March, Shepherd: Arthur Hewlett, Shepherd from Corinth: Alan Dudley, Chorus Leader: David Timson, Chorus: Peter Acre, Stephen Boxer, James Bryce, Scott Cherry, Alan Dudley, David March, Peter Rumney, Colin Starkey. Music: Christos Pittas. Director: David Spenser. (Repeated on 3 February 1987)
6 February 1985:
Rameau’s Nephew
By Denis Diderot, translated and adapted by John Hope Mason. The 18th-century philosopher’s celebrated dialogue, between a philosopher and his lazy, conniving, and morally and ethically questionable nephew, questions whether the morally undesirable can be creatively fruitful and truth can cause more trouble than benefit. The Nephew: Peter Woodthorpe, Diderot: Patrick Allen. Director: John Theocharis. (Repeat from 31 July 1984)
10 February 1985:
The Theban Plays: Oedipus at Colonus
By Sophocles, trans. Robert Fagles. Oedipus wanders the land in self-imposed exile. With his daughter Antigone, he seeks sanctuary at Colonus, to the initial fear of local people. Oedipus: Tim Pigott Smith, Antigone: Lucy Gutteridge, Theseus: Nicky Henson, Creon: Patrick Stewart, Polynices: Scott Cherry, Messenger: David Collings, lsmene: Moir Leslie, Citizen of Colonus: David Timson, Chorus Leader: David March, Chorus: Stephen Boxer, Scott Cherry, James Bryce, Alan Dudley, Peter Rumney, David Sinclair, David Timson. Music: Christos Pittas. Director: David Spenser. (Repeated on 6 February 1987)
12 February 1985:
The Snake Eater
By Vazha Pshavela, trans. Donald Rayfield. The Georgian poet Pshavela (1861-1915), who lived the tough life of a Georgian peasant, based this dramatic poem on the legend of the warrior Mindia who, while in captivity, ate snake flesh and acquired superhuman powers. The Poet: Fraser Kerr, Mindia: Jack McKenzie, Mzia: Sandra Clark, Chalkia: James Kerry, Beraia: Brett Usher. Other parts played by Scott Cherry, Moir Leslie and Clive Panto. Director: John Theocharis. (Repeat from 15 June 1984)
13 February 1985:
A Month in the Country
By Ivan Turgenev, trans. Isaiah Berlin. In Turgenev’s 1855 comedy, the fresh young presence of a student as temporary tutor to Natalaya Petrovna’s son disturbs the fragile balance of her house in the country. Aleksei Nikolayevich Belyaev: Gerard Murphy, Natalaya Petrovna: Maureen O’Brien, Mikhail Aleksandrovich Rakitin: Mike Gwilym, Vera Aleksandrovna: Sylvestra Le Touzel, Ignati Ilyich Shpigelsky: Benjamin Whitrow, Arkadi Sergeyevich Islayev: Gabriel Woolf, Anna Semyonovna Islayeva: Jill Balcon, Afanasi Ivanovich Bolshintsov: Roger Hammond, Kolya: Jill Udstone, Lizaveta Bogdanovna: Maggie McCarthy, Adam Ivanovich Schaaf: Danny Schiller, Matvei: Clive Panto, Katya: Pauline Siddle, Music: Max Early. Director: David Spenser. (Repeat from 21 August 1983)
17 February 1985:
The Theban Plays: Antigone
By Sophocles, trans. Robert Fagles. With Oedipus’ sons dead, Creon rules supreme in Thebes. As a warning to any future rebel, he decrees that anyone who tries to bury the body of Polynices, who attacked the city, will be executed. Antigone, the dead man's sister, decides to defy the decree. Antigone: Lucy Gutteridge, Creon: Patrick Stewart, Haemon: Anton Lesser, Tiresias: Robert Eddison, Ismene: Moir Leslie, Messenger: David Collings, Sentry: Stephen Boxer, Eurydice: Ellen McIntosh, Chorus Leader: Alan Dudley, Peter Acre, Stephen Boxer, James Bryce, Scott Cherry, Geoffrey Collins, David March, Peter Rumney. Music: Christos Pittas. Director: David Spenser. (Repeated on 10 February 1987)
19 February 1985:
Hiss
By Brian McCabe. Monologue, performed by Peter Kelly. “It's by no means easy to identify what this hiss is, where this hiss is coming from, what the source of this hiss is... It isn't coming from you, is it?” Producer: Patrick Rayner (BBC Scotland). (Repeated on 26 September 1985)
20 February 1985:
The Death of Humpty Dumpty
By Graham Reid. In this first play by the Northern Irish playwright, first produced at Dublin’s Abbey Theatre in 1979, an innocent teacher is left paralysed after accidentally falling foul of a paramilitary assassination squad. Gerard Doyle: John Keegan, Mary Sampson: Caroline Reid, David Sampson: Trevor Moore, Heather Sampson: Valerie Lilley, George Sampson: Donal McCann, Judith Sampson: Fay Howard, Caroline Wilson: Eileen Pollock, Martin Ferguson: Allan McClelland, Sister Thompson: Maggie Shevlin, Willy John: Adrian Dunbar, Radio Announcer: Linda Wray. Director: Robert Cooper (BBC Northern Ireland). (Repeat from 2 February 1984)
23 February 1985:
The Waterman
By Keith Harrison. In Minnesota just after the Second World War, an old farmer, Evert Everstrud, creates a cycle of horror for his family after killing himself and his grandsons in a car accident. Narrator: Rex Holdsworth, Evert Everstrud: Phil Brown, Roxanne: Kate Harper, Jacob: Robert Vowles, Jason: William Hootkins, Lucy: Adeen Fogle, Roger: Sonia Ritter, First Foreman: Hal Jeayes, Second Foreman: Bill Hutchinson. Director: Brian Miller (BBC Bristol)
24 February 1985:
The Duck Shoot
By Alexander Vampilov, translated and adapted for radio by Peter Tegel.
In this play by the Siberian playwright (who died in 1972 when his boat capsized on a lake in southern Siberia), a series of flashbacks weaves past and present as Zilov, a charming but selfish cynic, ponders how he drifted away from family and friends into a self-centred existence. Zilov: Gawn Grainger, Galina: Carole Boyd, Kushak: David March, Dima: Mark Straker, Sayapin: Phillip Sully, Kusakov: David Sinclair, Valeria: Karen Archer, Vera: Rosalind Adams, Irina: Emily Morgan, Boy: Alasdair Cameron, Voice: Bernard Brown. Music Jim Parker. Director: David Spenser
27 February 1985:
Sir Thomas More.
By William Shakespeare (presumed), Anthony Munday, Henry Chettle, Thomas Heywood and Thomas Dekker. Radio version by Penny Gold. The play, written between about 1596 and 1604, champions the plight of refugees and depicts the May Day Riots of 1517 and the eventual demise of Thomas More. Sir Thomas More: Ian McKellen, Betts/Witt: Stuart Organ, Lincoln/Butler: Eric Allan, Doll Williamson: Carole Boyd, De Barde/Erasmus: Michael Shannon, Williamson: Brett Usher, Caveler/William Roper: Alex Jennings, Sherwin: Michael Bilton, Lord Mayor: John Hollis, Suresby: Bernard Brown, Smart/First Player: Clive Panto, Lifter: Haydn Jones, Shrewsbury: Cyril Luckham, Surrey: David Gooderson, Palmer: Geoffrey Collins, Catesby: John Webb, Clown/Horsekeeper: James Bryce, John Munday/Brewer: Timothy Bateson, Downes: David Peart, Sheriff/Warder: Peter Tuddenham, Boy Player: Richard Huw, Lady More: Jean Trend, Lady Mayoress: Madi Hedd, Bishop of Rochester: Godfrey Kenton, Mistress Roper: Fiona Walker, Lieutenant of the Tower: Michael Spice. Music: Philip Lane. Director: Martin Jenkins. (Repeat from 25 December 1983)
28 February 1985
Reading Faulkner
By Igor Pomerantsev, trans. Frank Williams. A monologue in which a Russian student, writing a thesis on the novels of William Faulkner, becomes steeped in the character and atmosphere of these stories to the point where they intensify his whole vision of life. Performed by Ronald Pickup. Producer: Cherry Cookson. (Repeat from 2 August 1984)
3 March 1985:
A Kind of Hallowe’en
By Gerry Jones. A man awakens beside the grave of Dylan Thomas. He walks into the local pub and meets one of the characters out of Under Milk Wood. Who is he and what is he doing? Winner of the Society of Authors’ 1985 Sony Award for Best New Radio Script. Man: Ray Smith, Psychiatrist: Peter Jeffrey, Orderly: Sean Barrett, Welshman/Policeman: Haydn Jones, Fisherman: Christopher Douglas, Barman/Doctor: David Garth, Old Blind Man: Cyril Shaps, Landlord: Brian Carroll, American Man: William Hope, American Woman: Maggie McCarthy. Director: Martin Jenkins. (Repeated on 31 July 1985 and on Radio 4 on 27 July 1986)
6 March 1985:
The Scientists of the Strange
By Peter Redgrove. A power emanating from a haunted house in Cornwall attracts a group of self-appointed “ghosthunters”, together with their millionaire patron, who is determined to record the unrecordable on videotape. Highsticker, the millionaire: Conrad Phillips, Diana: Sarah-Jane Bickerton, Bernard: Nat Brenner, Esther: Susan Engel, Adrian: Alan Moore, Sally: Amanda Murray, Dentist: Matthew Adams. Music: Sidney Sager. Director: Brian Miller (BBC Bristol). (Repeat from 24 June 1984)
10 March 1985:
King Canute
By Barry Collins. When Harold blows his redundancy money on a horse called King Canute, his wife finds him on the beach at Redcar early in the morning blowing his trombone and convinced he can turn the tide. A Giles Cooper Award winner for Best Radio Play of 1985. Harold Smith: Bernard Hill, Maureen: Judith Barker, Landlady: Rosalie Williams, Sister/Samaritan: Sally Edwards, Doctor/Inspector: Paul Webster, Racing Announcer/Radio Presenter: Peter Wheeler. Brass Music by Besses o’ th’ Barn Band. Trombonist: Derek Southcott. Director: Alfred Bradley (BBC Manchester). (Repeated on 28 August 1985 and on Radio 4 on 20 July 1986)
12, 15, 19, 22, 26 March 1985:
Heyday’s
By Chris Miller. Six visits to the celebrated London wine-bar, introduced by Mr Leo Heyday, its owner. Leo Heyday: Cyril Cusack. Producer: Louise Purslow. (Repeat from 8, 15, 22, 29 November, 6, 13 December 1983)
1. Called to the Bar
Will Heyday’s, renowned for both its wine and its wit, be chosen as Wine Bar of Year? Not if one man has any say in the matter. Su: Fiona Walker, Kaye: Alison Skilbeck, Loader: Clive Merrison, Boodle: Richard Pasco
2. One Man’s Meat
“Why do we eat?” may seem an odd question. Mr Heyday’s customers come up with some odd answers. Peggy/Janey: Alison Skilbeck, Franny: Fiona Walker, Anders: Clive Merrison, Boodle: Richard Pasco, Motley: Hugh Walters
3. Idle Hands
Lunchtime. A union leader, a businessman, a feminist and two information technologists look at the future of work. Kaye: Allson Skilbeck, Franny: Fiona Walker, Motley: Hugh Walters, Crunt: Richard Pasco, Quidsin: Clive Merrison
4. Duty Free Speech
After an election, are the Tories now to be considered the natural party of misgovernment? The customers decide. Anders: Clive Merrison, Boodle: Richard Pasco, Su: Fiona Walker, Baclogh: Hugh Walters, Peggy: Alison Skilbeck
5. God’s Lot
Su: Fiona Walker, Voddle: Richard Pasco, Anders: Clive Merrison, Janey: Alison Skilbeck, Thrush: Hugh Walters
6. Ladies Last
The bar is invaded by feminists. Kaye/Peggy: Alison Skilbeck, Loader: Clive Merrison, Motley: Hugh Walters, Franny: Fiona Walker
13 March 1985:
Inheritance
By Don Howorth. An elderly farmer, struggling to run his farm in the Lancashire hills, contemplates selling to a larger neighbour, but what would be the cost of losing his family home for himself and those of past generations? Robin Souter: John Bott, Jane Souter: Kathleen Helme, James Souter: Stephen Thorne, The Witch: Maggie McCarthy, Vicar: Leonard Fenton, Anne: Kate Lock, Crusader: Mlchael Jenner, Farmwife: Jane Wenham, Master/Peasant: Bernard Brown, Mistress: Narissa Knights, Tom/Young Farmer: Mark Straker, Century/Clergyman: Colin Starkey, Navvy/Policeman: Jon Strickland. Director: Richard Wortley. (Repeated on 3 November 1985)
17 March 1985:
Players
Written and narrated by Harold Pinter. Pinter’s personal recollections of two great “players” from the worlds of theatre and cricket: Anew Mcmaster (1891-1962), in whose repertory company Pinter toured during 1951-52, and bowling all-rounder and heavy hitter Arthur Wellard (1902-1980). With Edward de Souza. Director: Cherry Cookson. (Repeated on Radio 4 on 24 October 1985 and Radio 3 on 7 October 1990)
20 March 1985:
Boney Jan and the Flying Man
By Nigel Baldwin. A British military aircraft apparently ditches in the North Sea. A field officer working for a charity in Africa, who was acquainted with the pilot, is interrogated by the authorities. Jan: Charlotte Cornwell, Kelly: Tom Wilkinson, Kate: Susan Wooldridge, Tyler: Crawford Logan, Charles: Richard Hurndall, Rousseau: Brett Usher, Wagner: Ed Bishop, Amanda: Pauline Siddle, Roberts: Kerry Francis, Colin: Clive Panto, CO: James Kerry, Army Captain: David Peart. Organ played by Alec Leader. Director: Richard Wortley. (Repeat from 15 April 1984)
24 March 1985:
In the Ruins
By Nick Dear. Alone in his empty rooms at Windsor Castle in 1817, the year before his death, a now old, mad, deaf and blind George III reviews his past life through a series of audiences held with his imaginary court. Subsequently staged at the Bristol Old Vic in 1989 with Patrick Malahide as the king. George III: Nigel Stock. Harpsichord played by Ilona Sekacz. Director: Richard Wortley. (Repeat from 3 June 1984)
27 March 1985:
Oblomov
By Ivan Goncharov, dramatised by Matthew Walters from a translation by Ann Dunnigan. St Petersburg, 1 May 1850. The landowner Oblomov lies in bed pondering the great question of life –should he get up? The Narrator: Alan Bennett, Oblomov: James Fox, Stolz: Nicky Henson, Zakhar: John Baddeley, Olga: Moir Leslie, Agafya: Auriol Smith, Tarantyev: Eric Allan, Ivan: Nigel Graham, Volkinsky: Brett Usher. Piano played by Dave Watts. Director: Matthew Walters. (Repeat from Radio 4 Monday Play on 11 July 1983)
29 March 1985:
A Self-Made Man
By Angela Carter. An exploration for radio of the life and character of the Edwardian novelist Ronald Firbank (1886-1926, whose work was championed by E.M. Forster and Evelyn Waugh. Firbank: Lewis Fiander, The Female Narrator: Frances Jeater, The Male Narrator: John Westbrook, Lord Bemers: Timothy Bateson, Nancy Cunard: Liza Goddard, Sir Osbert Sitwell: John Webb, Sewell Stokes: Geoffrey Collins, Baba: Kate Binchy, Joseph Firbank: James Garbutt, Sir Thomas Firbank: Peter Tuddenham, Augustus John: James Bryce, Evan Morgan: Clive Panto, Grant Richards: Eric Allan, Wyndham Lewis: Kerry Francis, Harold Nicholson: Brett Usher, Oscar Wilde: James Kerry, Forrest Reid: Tom Hunsinger, Duncan Grant: Michael Spice. Director: Glyn Dearman. (Repeat from 4 May 1984)
31 March 1985:
Dead Men
By Mike Stott. In 1870 Sergei Nechaev, a young fanatic described by Lenin as the first “real” Communist, turned up at the Swiss home of Prince Michael Bakunin, at that time considered to be the most famous Russian revolutionary at liberty. Bakunin, content to dream of revolution and write the odd radical pamphlet, is brought face to face with an advocate of mass terror. Stott’s play was staged at Birmingham Repertory Theatre in 1985. Bakunin: Freddie Jones, Anna: Kate Lee, Natalya: Sarah Neville, Postnikov: John Arthur, Antonia: Vivienne Dixon, Ogarev: Cyril Shaps, Nechaev: Adam Kotz. Director: Alfred Bradley (BBC Manchester). (Repeated on 21 October 1986)
3 April 1985:
Transfigured Night
By Robert Ferguson. A man tries to tell the story of a moment in the past when, in the shadow of a mountain, by a quickly flowing river, he saw a girl whose presence moved him. A Giles Cooper Award winner for Best Radio Plays of 1984. The Man: Clive Francis. Other parts played by Anthony Hall, Moir Leslie and Mark Rolston. Director: John Tydeman. (Repeat from 28 October 1984)
5 April 1985:
The True Tale of Margery Kempe
By Eva Figes. How she saw Christ, spoke all manner of truth, was taken for a mad woman and went to Jerusalem as told in the year of our Lord 1436. Margery: Vivian Pickles, Jesus: Christopher Scoular, Priests, Hermits and People: Peter Acre, John Baker, Peter Davidson, Christopher Douglas, David Garth, Guy Holden, Anne Jameson, Mia Soteriou, Alan Thompson and Tessa Worsley. Producer: Piers Plowright. (Repeated on 8 May 1986)
7 April 1985:
A Man Worth Knowing
By Melissa Bakewell. A portrait of the 19th-century English essayist and poet James Henry Leigh Hunt. Leigh Hunt: David Collings, Charles Dickens: Sean Barratt, Lord Byron: Trevor Nichols, Percy Bysshe Shelley: John Webb, John Keats: Simon Hewitt, John Forster: Brian Smith, Charles MacReady: William Eedle, 'Manchester Examiner': David Garth, 'Blackwood’s Magazine': Michael McClain, John Murray: David Sinclair, Samuel Coates: Graham Blockey, Mrs Hunt: Tessa Worsley, Mary Shelley: Melinda Walker, Elizabeth Barrett Browning: Anne Jameson. Music arranged and conducted by Michael Hurd, Flute: Ingrid Culliford, Piano: Martyn Parry. Director Piers Plowright. (Repeated on 31 July 1985)
7 April 1985:
Voices
By Susan Griffin. Five American women, who have all experienced feelings of isolation and emptiness, tell the story of their lives. Kate is an elderly distinguished actress; Grace’s life has revolved around her children; Maya is into politics and academic study; Erin is obsessed by her brother's suicide; Rosalinde is young and carefree. Kate: Faith Brook, Grace: Doreen Mantle, Erin: Anna Nygh, Maya: Karen Bowen, Rosalinde: Colette Hiller. Director: Cherry Cookson. (Repeated on 19 February 1986)
10 April 1985:
The Road from Kymmendo Bay
By Michael Stirling. In 1875, the dramatist August Strindberg met Siri von Essen, the wife of a guards’ officer, Baron Wrangel, and married her in 1877. They remained married, nominally, for 14 years, during which Strindberg increasingly fell prey to bizarre jealousies, and Siri met Marie, a socialist and lesbian. Strindberg: Ian Hogg, Siri: Lorna Heilbron, Wrangel: Philip Voss, Marie: Miriam Margolyes, Detectives: Clive Panto, Gerald Blackmore, Karin: Carole Boyd. Other parts played by Geoffrey Collins, Helen Atkinson Wood, Arnold Diamond, Mark Rolston, William Eedle, Ellen McIntosh and Jane Wenham. Director: Michael Heffernan. (Repeated on 27 October 1985)
14 April 1985:
Sir John Oldcastle
By Michael Drayton, Anthony Munday, Richard Hathwaye and Robert Wilson in a version by Brett Usher. Oldcastle, on whom Shakespeare based his character Falstaff, was a distinguished soldier and leader of the Lollards, a late medieval English sect, and hanged as a traitor in 1417. Later, Shakespeare’s rivals, the Admiral’s Men, commissioned this play, which was to be “a true and honourable history of Sir John Oldcastle” as a counterblast to Shakespeare’s portrayal. Sir John Oldcastle, the Lord Cobham Bernard Hepton, Sir John of Wrotham: Joss Ackland, Henry V: Anton Lesser, Lady Cobham: Hilda Schroder, The Bishop of Rochester: Hugh Dickson, Powis/Aleman: John Bott, Herbert/Cromer/Mayor: Stephen Thorne, Suffolk: Geoffrey Collins, Butler: Mark Straker, Bourn/Soldier/Jailer: Michael Jenner, Harpool: Gordon Reid, Sumner/Scroop: Adrian Egan, Acton/Constable: Jon Strickland, Murley/Judge: Timothy Bateson, Priest/McShane: Sean Barrett, Beverley/Sir Richard Lee: Bernard Brown, Doll: Carole Boyd, Grey/Tom: Paul Ridley, Cambridge/dick: Gareth Armstrong, Lady Powis: Margot Boyd, Prologue/Huntingdon: Brett Usher. Chartres/Lieutenant of the Tower: David Garth. Director: Martin Jenkins. (Repeated on 4 December 1985)
17 April 1985:
Visitors
By Terence Hards. A play by author and poet Hards (1929-1991), a friend of Robert Graves. James Grimling has lived his life sticking to the rules and feeling that there was no freedom of choice for him, yet finds you can still make choices right up to the end – if you have the courage. James Grimling: Harry Andrews, Dolly Grimling: Rosalind Ayres, Lorna Wainwright: Janet Dale, Jan Peeble: Pauline Siddle, Mrs Clements: Christine Hargreaves, Mrs Brown: Maggie McCarthy, Capt Tobias: Bruce Purchase, Quack Cargill: Jon Strickland, Patients: Margot Boyd, Mark Jones and Michael Goldie. Director: Jane Morgan. (Repeat from 19 August 1984. Also on 14 April 1992)
21 April 1985:
The Picnic
By Anthony Horowitz. In September 1981, the KGB raid an innocent picnic held by a party of Jews in the Forest of Ovransky. A woman is taken away for interrogation. Play was chosen as part of Miriam Margolyes’ Adventures in Radio on 4 Extra (27 August 2016). Cast: Miriam Margolyes, Timothy West. Director: John Tydeman. (Repeated on 29 January 1986)
21 April 1985:
Medea
By Jiri Antonin Benda and Friedrich Wilhelm Gotter with English text by Richard Luckett. A 1775 melodrama in one act, by the Czech composer and German librettist, about the revenge of the dispossessed Queen of Corinth.
This musical form of “melodrama” features highly descriptive music, which anticipates or unfolds simultaneously with speeches. Narrator: John Livesey, Medea: Barbara Jefford, Jason: John Turner, Children: Jane Knowles, Christine Absalom, Tutor: John Rye. Music: Jiri Antonin Benda. Academy of Ancient Music. Music leader: Catherine Mackintosh. Conductor: Christopher Hogwood. Producers: Clive Bennett and Ian Cotterell. (Repeat from 12 August 1981. Also on 20 March 1982)
24 April 1985:
Opium Eater
By Andrew Dallmeyer. Edinburgh, 1820: as starving writer Thomas de Quincey struggles to finish an essay, his manservant Willy arrives with bread and laudanum. Also produced with Paul Rhys and Peter Mullan on BBC2 (18 July 1993). Thomas De Quincey: Neil Cunningham, Willy: Russell Hunter. Director: Stewart Conn. (Repeat from 11 November 1984)
28 April 1985:
Prometheus Mismatched
By Andre Gide, translated and adapted for radio by Patrick Pollard. Gide’s novella finds Prometheus going to Paris, accompanied by his scrawny eagle, where a waiter puts him in touch with a god-like millionaire who dispenses pleasure and pain. Prometheus: Denis Quilley, Author: William Eedle, Waiter: Mark Straker, Cocles: Robin Summers, Damocles: Brian Smith, Millionaire: Bernard Brown, Tityrus: Arnold Diamond, Angela: Helena Breck, Meliboeus: Christopher Douglas. Other parts played by David Garth, Narissa Knights and Ellen McIntosh. Director: John Theocharis. (Repeated on 5 February 1988)
1 May 1985:
Scenes from an Execution
By Howard Barker. The action is set in Venice, where the (fictional) artist Galactia struggles to portray the grim reality of a 16th-century battle against the wishes of her patron, the Doge of Venice. The play was first staged at London’s Almeida Theatre in 1990. Galactia: Glenda Jackson, The Doge of Venice: Freddie Jones, Carpeta: Clive Merrison, The Admiral Suffici: Clifford Rose, The Cardinal Ostensile: Peter Howell, Gina Rivera: Darlene Johnson, The Sketchbook: Brett Usher, Prodo: David Sinclair, Supporta: Elizabeth Rider, Dementia: Helena Breck, Sordo: Anthony Hall, Official: Peter Acre, Lasagna: Mark Straker, Pistaccio: Brett Usher, First Sailor: Anthony Hall, Second Sailor: Mark Straker, Third Sailor: David Sinclair, Man in next cell: Jon Strickland. Director: Richard Wortley. (Repeat from 14 October 1984. Also on 9 October 1985 and on Radio 4 on 17 November 1986)
3 May 1985:
The Family Lives Here
By Priscilla Allen. A portrait of the novelist’s life in a large, chaotic household, which inspired her fiction about life among the late Victorian and Edwardian upper middle class. `Ivy Compton-Burnett: Hilda Schroder. The Family: Peter Acre, Roslaind Adler, Helen Atkinson Wood, Timothy Bateson, Arnold Diamond, William Eedle, Narissa Knights, Moir Leslie, Ellen Pollock, David Sinclair, Mark Straker and Margaret Wolfit. The Observers: Helen McNeill, Peter Mellor and Alison Waley. Director: Piers Plowright. (Repeat from 5 June 1984)
5 May 1985:
Dissonance
By Sandra Freeman. Several years before his mental collapse in 1899 aged 44, the German philosopher and writer Nietzsche is in an emotionally charged ménage a trois with a woman student and a close friend. Friedrich Nietzsche: Mike Gwilym, Lou Salome: Maureen O’Brien, Lisbeth Nietzsche: Susan Engel, Paul Ree: Michael Tudor Barnes. Music: Ilona Sekacz with Sekacz (piano) and John Leach (zither). Technical Presentation: Marsail MacCuish. Director: Cherry Cookson. (Repeat from 10 October 1984)
8 May 1985:
Outpatient
By Rhys Adrian. A comedy set in the outpatients' waiting-room of a large hospital. Two men awaiting their regular check-ups try to keep their spirits up while a nurse loses her patients and the Tannoy makes unintelligible announcements. Edward Gerety: Michael Aldridge, Martin Smith: Andrew Sachs, Mrs Jenkins: Sylvia Coleridge, The Nurse: Margot Boyd. Director: John Tydeman. (Repeated on Radio 4 on 2 July 1986)
12 May 1985:
Gulliver Five
By Brian Wright. In this play, a fifth voyage has been created for Jonathan Swift’s hero, Lemuel Gulliver, in which he is followed and harassed by a motley crew of Politicians, Lawyers, Secret Agents, Scientists and Sea Captains. Captain Lemuel Gulliver: Freddie Jones, Mary Gulliver: Dilys Laye, Richard Sympson: John Warner, Abel Root: Mark Straker, Dr Pater: Aubrey Woods, Will Grawn: Brian Glover, Molly Grawn: Catherine Clarke, Captain Transom: John Turner, Corporal Cleat: Robin Summers. Director: Ian Cotterell. (Repeated on 20 May 1986)
15 May 1985:
Three Attempted Acts
By Martin Crimp. Three short plays with associated themes and preoccupations. A Giles Cooper Award winner for Best Radio Play of 1985,
it was staged at Richmond’s Orange Tree theatre in Surrey in 1984 with a fourth play entitled Taking Leave. Mr Lebrun/Mr De A/Dr Lebrun: Alec McCowen, Mrs Cook / Mrs Lebrun / Mrs De A, Phyllida Law, Billy: Mark Straker. Piano: Martin Goldstein. Director: John Tydeman. (Repeated on 13 October 1985)
1: The Appreciation of Music
A Mr Lebrun demonstrates to a Mrs Cook how a laboratory guinea pig can be trained through “trial and error”.
2: Making Love
Mr De A gives dental treatment to Mrs LeBrun while his assistant, Lucy, half-heartedly attempts some physical exercise.
3: Suicide
Mrs De A shows off her self-destructive daughter Yvonne’s inept musical aptitude to a Dr Lebrun.
19 May 1986:
Species Plantarum
By Sheila Bradley. While Edward Vyner, an English botanist, is studying specialised mountain plants at the Austrian home of Dr Strelitz, his son Teddy is increasingly influenced by Nazi thinking in Hitler’s Austria. Gretel: Jill Bennett, Dr Strelitz: Robert Lang, Mr Vyner: Leonard Fenton, Teddy: Philip Childs, Nurse Fassbender: Sally Edwards. Pianist: Mark Vibrans. Director: Pat Trueman (BBC Manchester). (Repeat from 24 October 1984)
22 May 1985:
Gridlock
By Nigel Gearing. Carrie and Charles meet once a year in a hotel bedroom to consummate their friendship and love. On this particular day. Carrie has a surprise in store. Charles: Alan Rickman, Carrie: Anna Nygh. Director: Cherry Cookson. (Repeated on 23 February 1986)
26 May 1985:
The Gift
By Graham Swannell. A young man, dying of an incurable disease, persuades an old schoolfriend to accompany him on a journey to the sun. Hugh: David Collings, Andrew: Simon Hewitt. Director: John Tydeman. (Repeat from 14 November 1984)
The Figaro Dramas
A trilogy by Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, trans. John Wells.
Music: Carl Davis. Director: Ian Cotterell.
29 May 1985:
1: The Barber of Seville (or All that Trouble for Nothing)
Almaviva, a young count in love with the heroine, Rosina, is helped by the barber Figaro to outwit Rosina’s guardian and win Rosina’s hand in marriage. Count Almaviva: Gary Bond, Figaro: Nickolas Grace, Rosina: Dorothy Tutin, Bartholo: Michael Aldridge, Master Basil: Peter Pratt, The Youth: Michael Bilton, Wideawake: John Wells, Notary: Peter Acre, Alcade: Arnold Diamond. (Repeated on 29 December 1985)
5 June 1985:
2: One Mad Day (or The Marriage of Figaro)
Almaviva, now a philandering husband, tries to seduce Figaro’s fiancée, Suzannah, but is ultimately reunited with his wife after she and Suzanne conspire to trick him into betraying himself to her. Figaro: Nickolas Grace, Suzannah: Alison Steadman, Bartholo: Michael Aldridge, Marcelina: Jean Boht, The Cherub: John McAndrew, Count Almaviva: Gary Bond, Basil: Peter Pratt, The Countess: Dorothy Tutin, Little Fanny: Moir Leslie, Antonio, the gardener: Michael Bilton, Don Guzman: John Wells, Grab, Clerk of the Court/Bridlegoose's Secretary: Peter Acre, Ebenezer: Michael Jenner, The Bridesmaids: Helena Breck, Narissa Knights. (Repeated on 1 January 1986)
12 June 1985:
3: The New Tartuffe (or A Mother's Guilt)
A darker third play, in which Almaviva is a tortured tyrant and his wife is a guilt-scarred religious fanatic. Suzannah: Alison Steadman, Figaro: Nickolas Grace, Major Bejorass: Norman Rodway, Count Almaviva: Gary Bond, Leon: John McAndrew, Floresta: Moir Leslie, Countess Almaviva: Dorothy Tutin, Wilhelm: John Wells, Mr Dim: Arnold Diamond. (Repeated on 5 January 1986)
2 June 1985:
Shanidar
By Robert Forrest. Forty-five year-old David Struthers contemplates on his desk four lilac petals of chrysanthemum, left by his wife, and a revolver.
David Struthers: Peter Kelly, Kirsty: Phyllis Logan, Martin: Russell Hunter, Bun: Finlay Welsh, Sneck: Tony Roper, Colin: Andy Gray, Alec: Stewart Preston, Bill: John Buick, Agnes: Gwyneth Guthrie. Music: Robert Sandall. Director: Patrick Rayner (BBC Scotland). (Repeat from 25 November 1984)
9 June 1985:
Autumn
By Susan Hill. A middle-aged couple attempt to escape from the past by moving house. Eva: June Brown, Tom: Bernard Hepton. Director: Richard Wortley. (Repeated on 29 July 1986)
16 June 1985:
Winter
By Susan Hill. An elderly pair sit in the conservatory of an old folks' home where they fret over the unexpected absence of their colourful companion from upstairs. May: Doreen Mantle, Frank: Cyril Luckham. Director: Richard Wortley. (Repeated on 26 March 1986)
19 June 1985:
Mrs Lynch’s Maggot
By Scoular Anderson (best known as a children’s author and illustrator). A lively fishing party visits the Crown Hotel, owned by the desperately glamorous Mrs Lynch. Mrs Lynch: Eileen McCallum, Uncle William: Finlay Welsh, Rogie: Bill Riddoch, James: Simon Donald, Sandra: Joyce Deans, Mr Lynch: John Buick, Mary: Joyce McBrinn, James's Mother: Monica Brady, James’s Father: Robert Carr. Director: James Runcie (BBC Scotland). (Repeat from 4 November 1984)
23 June 1985:
Antigone
By Jean Anouilh, translated and adapted by Barbara Bray. Written in 1942, when Vichy was the capital of a German-occupied France torn between collaboration under Petain and resistance led by de Gaulle, Anouilh’s play turned Sophocles' tragedy of absolutes into a tragedy of the absurd, where individuals possess neither faith nor hope. Antigone: Jane Asher, Creon: Peter Vaughan, The Chorus: Norman Rodway, Jonas: Nigel Anthony, Haemon: Garycady, Ismene: Kathryn Hurlbutt, Nurse: Margot Boyd, Messenger: Michael: N Harbour, Page: Jill Lidstone, Binns: Robin Summers, Snout: Christopher Douglas. Director: Ronald Mason. (Repeated on 13 October 1989)
26 June 1985:
Bluebeard
By Max Frisch, translated and adapted by Geoffrey Skelton from a dramatisation by Mario Hindermann. Acquitted of the charge of strangling one of his six wives, Zurich physician Dr Schaad can’t help but reflect on his 10 months on remand, the trial and his complicated life and character. Dr Schaad: Norman Rodway, Prosecuting Counsel: Neil Stacy, Judge/Father: Michael Bilton, Pfeiffer/Knuttel/Caretaker: Timothy Bateson, Defending Counsel: Rex Holdsworth, Frl Schlegel/Andrea: Maev Alexander, Waitress/Corinne: Ann Morrish, Son/Felix: Richard Curnow, Lilian/Fr Hofer: Ellen McIntosh, Gisel: Jane Wenham, Stocker/Garage Owner: Victor Winding, Schwander/Bickel/Psychiatrist: John Linstrum, Helene/Mother: Hilda Schroder. Director: Brian Miller (BBC Bristol). (Repeat from 15 July 1984)
30 June 1985:
Leocadia
By Jean Anouilh, trans. Timberlake Wertenbaker. In Anouilh’s 1939 comedy, a prince is still besotted by Leocadia, an opera singer who died only three days after they fell in love. The prince’s aunt hopes to lay her ghost to rest by finding a milliner, Amanda, who bears a striking resemblance to the singer. The Duchess: Fabia Drake, Amanda: Janet Maw, Prince Albert: Martin Jarvis, Baron Hector: Lockwood West, Joseph, the ice-cream vendor: Guy Holden, Theophile, the butler: Brian Smith, Taxi Driver: Christopher Douglas, Theodore, the head waiter: Stephen Thorne, Cafe Proprietor: John Webb. Music: Gordon Langford, played by Patricia Calnan (violin), Paul Barritt (violin), Helen Verney (cello) and the composer (harpsichord). Director: David Johnston. (Repeated on Radio 4 on 7 April 1986)
3 July 1985:
The Day of Reckoning
By John Spurling. The third part of Spurling’s “The British Empire” trilogy (repeated on 26 January 1986), following on from Dominion Over Palm and Pine (25 November 1982) and The Christian Hero (2 December 1982). More interwoven stories trace the development of the British Empire, this time up to the Boer War. Lord Kitchener: Norman Jones, Cecil Rhodes: William Eedle, Sir Alfred Milner: Bernard Brown, G W Steevens: Nigel Anthony, Emily Hobhouse: Tessa Worsley, Fitzgerald: Mark Straker, Capt McMurdo: John Rye, Major Leggett: Geoffrey Collins, Arthur Balfour: Alan Thompson, Lord Salisbury, St John Brodrick and Lord Lansdowne: David Garth, Joseph Chamberlain: Ronald Herdman, Capt Girouard: Colin Starkey, Percy Fitzpatrick: Trevor Nichols, President Kruger: Adrian Egan, Boer Commandant: Adrlan Egan, Sir Redvers Buller: Stephen Thorne, FM Lord Wolseley: David Buck, Gen Sir Henry Brackenbury: Charles Hodgson, Marwick: Spencer Banks, Lady Violet Cecil: Jane Knowles, Nurse: Melinda Walker, Col Robert Kekewith: Brett Usher, Sergeant: Brett Usher, Major O'Meara: Nigel Graham, Lt Gen Sir Henry Colville: Nigel Graham, FM Lord Roberts: John Forbes Robertson, Maj Gen Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien: John Forbes Robertson, Lt Gen Sir Thomas Kelly Kenny: John Bott, Lt Phillips: Crawford Logan, Rudyard Kipling: Brian Smith, Capt Maxwell: Brian Smith, Boer Mother: Angelique Rockas, Gen de Wet: Alfred Hoffman, General Botha: Jack Klaff, General Smuts: Alan Ivan. Pianist: Martin Goldstein. Director: Richard Wortley.
5 July 1985:
A Little Picture
By Francis Watson. Subtitled “What passed between Laurence Sterne and Eliza Draper”. Sterne: Gerard Benson, Draper: Helena Breck, Abbe Raynad: Bernard Brown, Commodore James: David Garth, Mrs James: Narissa Knights, Physician: Trevor Nichols, Molly: Tessa Worsley. Music: Mike Steer. Director: Piers Plowright. (Repeated on 19 June 1986)
7 July 1985:
Becket
By Jean Anouilh, adapted for radio by Roger Pine from the translation by Lucienne Hill. In Anouilh’s 1959 play, Henry II is troubled when his old friend, Thomas Becket, whom he has elevated to Archbishop of Canterbury, puts the honour of God before that of his king. First heard as part of Radio 4’s World Theatre on 17 March 1969. Becket: Ian Holm, Henry II: David Buck, Folliot, Bishop of London: Peter Jeffrey, Gwendolen: Patricia Gallimore, Archbishop of Canterbury: Geoffrey Wincott, Bishop of York: Garard Green, Bishop of Oxford: Antony Viccars, Baron: Ralph Truman, Little Monk: Roger Gale, Queen Mother: Marjorie Westbury, Young Queen: Kathleen Helme, Page: David Brierley, Louis of France: David March, Pope: Peter Pratt, Zambelli: John Baddeley. Director: Ronald Mason. (Also on Radio 4 on 28 December 1970 and 16 February 1976)
14 July 1985:
Eurydice
By Jean Anouilh, translated and adapted by Peter Meyer. Anouilh’s 1941 exploration of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth is set in a lonely railway station, where a young musician and actress meet and fall instantly in love, but are separated by mistrust and fate. M Henri: Tim Woodward, Father: Robert Lang, Mother: Barbara Jefford, M Dulac: Brewster Mason, Vincent: Terence Alexander, The Boy: Jason Carter, The Girl: Anne Louise Lambert, Waiter: John Forbes-Robertson, Michel: Mark Straker, Girl: Helena Breck, Cashier: Melinda Walker, Hotel Waiter: Clifford Norgate, Stage Manager: Brian Smith, Bus Driver: Guy Holden. Director: David Spenser.
17 July 1985:
Crossroads
By Rhys Adrian. An elderly couple remember the halcyon days of glamorous theatre and, as they wait for their Meals on Wheels, reflect on the different crossroads faced in their lives. Mary: Brenda Bruce, George: Peter Sallis, Mrs H: Anne Jameson, Richard: Colin Starkey, Nurse: Melinda Walker. Director: John Tydeman. (Repeated on 25 July 1986)
21 July 1985:
Magnificat
By Trevor Royle. A dramatised impression of the thoughts and writing of the Scottish novelist and screenwriter James Kennaway (1928-1968), best known for his novel Tunes of Glory (1956), drawn from his novels, notebooks and letters. Kennaway: Julian Glover, Mother: Gwyneth Guthrie, Mary: Isobel Gardner, Stephen/Officer: Sandy Neilson, David/Adjutant: David Ashton, Bun: Mary Riggans, Belle: Sheila Donald, Minister/Colonel/Mr Cox: John Shedden, Fiddle: Derek Hoy, Piper: Tom Speirs. Director: Patrick Rayner (BBC Scotland). (Repeat from 21 November 1984)
22 July 1985:
Hymn to Demeter
A translation into English verse by David Constantine of the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, which tells of the seizing of Persephone by Hades and her mother Demeter’s search for her. Narrator: Jill Balcon, Demeter: Helen Ryan, Hecate: Ann Rye, Callidice: Deborah MacLaren, Helios: Brian Carroll, Hades: David Garth. Music: Nigel Osborne, performed by Lontano. Producer: Fraser Steel (BBC Manchester). (Repeated on 5 October 1986)
24 July 1985:
They Say… They Say
By Robert Graves. One of 11 playful short stories by Graves set in Mallorca, in which mystery surrounds the death of Margalida Mut, a local shopkeeper. Produced to mark the author’s 90th birthday. Man with the Microphone: David Garth, Pep Prat: Arnold Diamond, Pancho Pons: Bernard Brown, Aina Mut: Mia Soteriou. Director: Penny Leicester
26 July 1985:
The Professor was Late
By Szymon Szechter. A story by the Polish historian and dissident (1920-1983), translated from the Polish by Nina Karsov and Frances Carroll. Narrator: Alfredo Michelsen. With Helen Atkinson Wood, Michael Bilton, William Hope, Colin Starkey and Jon Strickland. (Repeated on 30 December 1985)
28 July 1985:
Death
By Woody Allen. There's a killer loose. Everyone's in a panic, except Kleinman, who's asleep. Is he a killer or a victim? Kleinman: Kelly Monteith, AI: Bob Sherman, Hacker/Spiro: Kerry Shale, John: William Hope, Sam/Bill: Alan Polonsky, Anna/Assistant: Carole Boyd, Doctor: Harry Towb, Gina: Beth Porter, Policeman: Ed Bishop, Frank: Barry Morse. Director: Matthew Walters. (Repeated on 5 March 1986)
4 August 1985:
Trial at Torun
By Trevor Barnes. Polish Catholic priest Jerzy Popieluszko, associated with the Solidarity movement, was murdered by secret police in 1984. This dramatisation of the case draws on transcripts of the 26-day trial of four secret policemen in Torun. Fr Popieluszko and Narrator: Bernard Hill, Judge Kujawa: Robert Lang, State Prosecutor: Philip Voss, Auxiliary Prosecutor: Ioan Meredith, Judge Maciejewski: Peter Vaughan, Leszek Pekala: Robin Summers, Waldemar, Chmielewski: Christopher Douglas, Col Wolski: John Church, Waldemar, Chrostowski: Shaun Prendegast, Gen Platek: Ronald Herdman, Grzegorz Piotrowski: Mark Wing Davey, Adam Pietruszka: Struan Rodger. Special sound by Peter Howell (BBC Radiophonic Workshop). Director: Jeremy Mortimer. (Repeated on 18 December 1985)
7 August 1985:
Castle Spellbound
By Robert Farrar. Described as “a comical fantastickal piece penned in the Gothic style with Dr Jesse, Mr Beryl and a footman, Miss Charity Lighthouse and a serving woman”. Narrator & Sir Bleeding Wound: Richard Pasco, Sir Lucas Lighthouse: John Rowe, Lady Luxuria Lighthouse: Barbara Leigh-Hunt. Music: Jonathan Gibbs (BBC Radiophonic Workshop). Director: Ian Cotterell. (Repeat from 2 December 1984)
8 August 1985:
Elias Howe
By Graeme Fife. A monologue featuring Elias Howe, a New Englander and early inventor of the sewing-machine, who claimed to have had his patent stolen by the Singer family and which led to a protracted lawsuit. Performed by Stuart Milligan. Director: Cherry Cookson.
11 August 1985:
Hippolytus
By Euripides in a version by David Rudkin (originally for the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1978). Phaedra: Sian Phillips, Hippolytus: Anton Lesser, The King: Norman Rodway, The Nurse: Constance Chapman, Man of the Household: Sean Barrett, Young Woman: Kate Binchy, Artemis: June Tobin, Aphrodite: Narissa Knights. Director: John Tydeman. (Repeated on 12 December 1986)
14 August 1985:
The Snail
By Rosalind Belben. It seems harmless enough to have a pet snail in the kitchen. Yet Violet senses a man trying to attract her attention from inside her. And if the man's shell has cracked because his wife was devoted to a snail, how long will it be before Violet takes drastic action? Violet/Patience: Anna Cropper, Isaac: Charles Kay. Director: David Spenser
18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 August 1985:
Broomhouse Reach
A suite in six movements by Colin McLaren. Martin Mendl: David De Keyser, Timothy Liripet: Timothy Davies, Sir Hubert Fiske: Cyril Luckham, Mrs Wix: Fanny Carby, Nigel Scrote: Mark Jones, Laura: Maggie McCarthy, Leonora: Shope Shodeinde. Music: Paul Patterson. Director: Piers Plowright. (Repeat from 23, 30 November, 7, 14, 21, 28 December 1984)
First Movement: New Light on an Old Master
In which a dead composer learns of a plot to revive him.
Second Movement: Deep Plots in a Depressed Area
Ron: Cljve Panto, Elkins: John Bott, V.S: Madhav Sharma, Mrs Maconchie Brown: Ellen McIntosh, Girl: Helena Breck, Lighterman: Keith Smith
Third Movement: High Treason at a Low Level
In which a publicity campaign runs into something nasty in the boathouse. Chairwoman: Monica Grey, Elkins: John Bott, Ernest Cusp: Arnold Diamond, Filbert/Lighterman: Keith Smith, V.S: Madhav Sharma, Wally Pitcher: William Hope, Liz: Helen Atkinson Wood, Bill Chertsey Cribb: Peter Howell, Lady Hester Stanhope Garter: Narissa Knights, Michael Oliver: Himself, Graham Sheffield: Himself
Fourth Movement: Sudden Opening of a Closed File
In which sex, spies and a scholarly sergeant throw doubt on certain reputations. Chertsey Cribb: Peter Howell V.S: Madhav Sharma, Liz: Helen Atkinson Wood, Sgt Singer: David Sinclair, Cusp: Arnold Diamond, Waiter: William Hope, BBC Radio Announcer: Peter Barker
Fifth Movement: Heated Exchanges and Burning Questions
In which nearly all the rats abandon a sinking museum. Chairwoman: Monica Grey, Liz: Helen Atkinson Wood, V.S: Madhav Sharma, Elkins: John Bott, Cusp: Arnold Diamond, Chertsey Cribb: Peter Howell, Wally, Pitcher: William Hope, Ron: Clive Panto, Sgt Singer: David Sinclair, Marcher: Suhe Cerys
Final Movement: Stay Loose and Stuff Posterity
A wounded hero receives his reward. Chairwoman: Monica Grey, Elkins: John Bott, Sgt Singer: David Sinclair, Wally Pitcher: William Hope, V.S: Madhav Sharma, Cusp: Arnold Diamond, Chertsey Cribb: Peter Howell, Announcer: Robert Booth
24 August 1985:
A Tossed Coin
By Will Cowburn. An old man recalls his early days in Liverpool and Newcastle and the woman he loved and has now left him. Old Man: Ken Jones. Director: Martin Jenkins. (Repeated on 21 February 1986)
25 August 1985:
Jacques the Fatalist
By Denis Diderot, translated and adapted by Michael Henry. The French philosopher’s novel, written between 1765 and 1780, features a valet telling stories of his amorous adventures to his master to ward off boredom on a journey. But his tales are constantly interrupted by other travellers, who in turn tell their stories that are also interrupted while a “reader” interjects to demand more information. Diderot: Norman Rodway, Jacques: Christopher Fairbank, The Master: John Rowe, Hostess: Maggie McCarthy. Other parts played by Timothy Bateson, Helena Breck, Bernard Brown, Geoffrey Collins., Arnold Diamond, William Eedle, Narissa Knights, Moir Leslie, Mark Rolston, Hilda Schroder and Mark Straker. Director: John Theocharis. (Repeat from 5 August 1884)
1 September 1985:
The Contemplative Life
By Marcia Kahan. A comedy inspired by Robert Browning’s poem Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister. Brother James’s loathing of his oafish fellow monk, Brother Lawrence, has led him to petty acts of destruction against him. Brother James: Alan Rickman, Brother Lawrence: Michael Aldridge, Abbot: David Garth, Sub-Prior: Brian Smith, Brother Jerome: Colin Starkey, Brother Gregory: David Sinclair, Brother Eugene: Trevor Nichols, Brother Leo: John Webb. Director: Cherry Cookson
4 September 1985:
The Works
By Marcella Evaristi. A young woman battles with her typewriter while attempting to write an autobiographical lecture. Morag: Marcella Evaristi. Director: James Runcie. (Repeated on 2 May 1986)
7 September 1985:
Crossing the River
By Caryl Phillips. A sister and two brothers – Sarah, a slave on a Caribbean plantation, Ben, a black face artiste in turn-of-the-century New Orleans, and Will, who has problems with the police in 20th-century England – recall experiences that stretch across 200 years of black repression. The play serves as a precursor to Phillips’s 1993 novel of the same title. Sarah: Angela Wynter, Ben: Major Wiley, Will: Trevor Laird. Director: Richard Wortley. (Repeated on 5 August 1986)
8 September 1985:
The Noose
By Avanti Kumar. Horrific events at a party have caused Winstanley Smith to retreat into a state of repressive withdrawal. Held in prison without bail, Smith tries to recall what exactly happened and who is guilty. Winstanley Smith: Guy Holden. Other parts played by: Scott Cherry, Peter Brookes, Rob Swinton and Katy John. Director: Philip Martin (BBC Birmingham)
15 September 1985:
Uncle Vanya
By Anton Chekhov, trans. and adapt. Christopher Hampton. Chekhov’s celebrated play featuring bored, irritated, ennui-laden lovers languishing on a country estate. Vanya: Robert Stephens, Astrov: Timothy Dalton, Sonya: Brenda Blethyn, Yelena: Cheryl Campbell, The Professor: Michael Gough, Nurse: Madoline Thomas, Telyegin: David Sinclair, Madam Voynitsky: Pauline Letts, Yefim/Labourer: Alan Dudley. Music: arranged and played by Anthea Gifford (guitar). Director: Jane Morgan. (Repeated on 19 March 1986)
18 September 1985:
The Master Builder
By Henrik Ibsen, translated by Michael Meyer. In Ibsen’s 1892 play, Halvard Solness, a rich and successful architect in an unhappy marriage, is haunted by guilt and jealous of the next generation as a young woman forces him to question his life and achievements. Solness: Leo McKern, Hilde Wangel: Madeline Church, Knut Brovik: George Howe, Kaja Fosli: Susan Sheridan, Ragnar Brovik: Mike Gwilym, Mrs Solness: Mary Wimbush, Dr Herdal: Nigel Stock. Other parts played by Michael Bilton, Mark Straker, Carole Boyd and Helen Atkinson Wood. Director: Ronald Mason. (Repeat from 30 September 1984)
22, 29 September, 6, 13 October 1985:
Snippets Two
Four monologues by N.F Simpson (199-2011), performed by Richard Vernon. Producer: Peter King. (Repeat from 14, 15, 16, 17 March 1983)
1. With His Bare Hands
How Archbishop Lanfranc rebuilt Canterbury Cathedral.
2. The Private Lives of Some Very Great Thinkers Indeed
The DIY tendencies of celebrated philosophers
3. Birds and a Whippet
4. On Teeth
The perils of wearing dentures
22 September 1985:
The Light Shines in Darkness
By Leo Tolstoy, adapted by Jeremy Brooks from a translation by Kitty Hunter Blair. Tolstoy’s most autobiographical and least performed play, written in 1890 and left unfinished at his death, deals with a wealthy landowner’s desire to lead a Christian life, giving away his estates to the peasants, and the consequences for his family and friends. Nikolai: Robert Stephens, Maria: Gemma Jones, Alina: Margaret Courtenay, Pyotr: Arnold Diamond, Fr Vassily: Geoffrey Beevers, Lyuba: Helena Breck, Lisa: Melinda Walker, Stepan: Simon Hewitt, Vanya/Corporal: John Webb, Princess Cheremshanova: Gwen Cherrell, Boris: Sam Dastor, Ivan/General: Willlam Eedle, Pelagya: Anne Jameson, Tonya/Malashka: Jenny Funnell, Carpenter/Doctor: Gregory de Polnay, Colonel/Mikhail: Trevor Nichols, Fr Gerasim: John Forbes-Robertson, Captain: Graham Blockey, Security Gendarme: Colin Starkey. Piano: Martin Goldstein. Director: Matthew Walters. (Repeated on 23 September 1986)
25 September 1985:
A Trick to Catch the Old One
By Thomas Middleton, adapt. Peter Barnes. In Middleton’s Jacobean city comedy, the spendthrift Witgood is tricked out of his inheritance by his greedy uncle and determines to get his own back by passing off his courtesan as a wealthy widow. Witgood: Alan Rickman, Flavia: Dilys Laye, Pecunius Lucre: Maurice Denham, Walkadine Hoard: Peter Bayliss, Harry Dampit: Timothy Bateson, Onesiphorus Hoard: David Garth, Umber/Sir Lancelot: Colin Starkey, Host: William Eedle, Lamprey: John Webb, Spitchcock: Brian Smith, Sam Freedom/George: Mark Straker, Moneylove/Young Gulf: Peter Acre, Jinny: Anne Jameson, First Creditor: Trevor Nichols, Second Creditor/Notary: Brian Sanders, Third Creditor/Tavern-keeper: Arnold Diamond, Joyce: Melinda Walker, Audrey: Tina Marian. Music: Jeremy Barlow, played by The Broadside Band. Director: Ian Cotterell. (Repeated on 6 January 1989)
29 September 1985:
Time for the Cat-Scene
By Peter Redgrove. A play in verse in which sixtysomething Hilda, having tried to jump off the high diving-board at the swimming-pool, is sent for analysis, during which she re-examines her life and intense relationship with her older brother, Roland. Hilda: Phyllis Calvert, Dr Blatta: John Cairney, Attendant: Christopher Douglas, Doctor: Ronald Herdman, Mrs Friend: Ellen McIntosh, Jacey: Valerie Murray, Young Roland: Miguel Perry, Roland: James Bree, Young Hilda: Emma Guidotti, Mother/Abbess: Gwen Cherrell, Daddy: Alan Thompson. Other parts played by Silver Bramham, Sarah Paine and Jamie Roberts. Director: Brian Miller (BBC Bristol)
2 October 1985:
Ashes
By David Rudkin, abridged by Denys Hawthorne. Rudkin’s 1974 stage play about the humiliating struggles of a married couple to conceive a child as they face doctors, specialists and consultants while feeling sexually and socially inadequate. Colin: Sean Barrett, Anne: Lynn Farleigh, GP: Roger Hume, Guru: Stephen McDonald, Gynaecologist: Anthony Finnigan, Valerie: Maggie McCarthy, Ambulance Driver: Tony McEwan, Mr Bailey, Social Services Officer: Alan Dudley, Mrs Jones, Area Adoption Officer: Jean Trend. Director: Marilyn Imrie (BBC Scotland). (Repeated on 10 June 1986)
10 October 1985
The Phantom of Marseilles
By Jean Cocteau, trans. Peter Meyer. A monologue performed by Judi Dench in which a lady accused of murder explains the bizarre circumstances that led to her crime. Director: Glyn Dearman. (Repeated on 23 August 1986)
16 October 1985:
Eroica
By Peter Buckman. In 1920 the poet Gabriele d’Annunzio occupies the city of Fiume with his makeshift army. Hollywood wishes to make an epic film about him and the film merges with reality. Gabriele d’Annunzio: Alan Howard, Annie Mignon: Sheila Gish, Tom: John Rowe, Carlo: Mark Straker, Luisa Baccara: Helena Breck, Proprietor/French Officer: David Sinclair, Arturo Toscanini: Peter Acre, British Officer: Trevor Nichols. Director: David Spenser
20 October 1985:
The Tragedy of Wallenstein
By Friedrich Schiller, adapted by Anthony Vivis and Tinch Minter, from the translation by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Schiller’s epic drama, written in the 1790s, sees the great general Wallenstein, midway through the Thirty Years’ War in 1634, undermined by court intrigue, ministerial meddling and his desire to rule Bohemia. Narrator: Hugh Dickson, Wallenstein: John Rowe, Elisabeth, his wife: Gwen Watford, Thekla, their daughter: Kathryn Hurlbutt, Countess Terzky: Sheila Gish, Count Butler: Nigel Stock, Octavio: Robert Lang, Max, his son: Anton Lesser, Count von Questenberg: Robert Eddison, Terzky: Geoffrey Collins, Illo: Anthony Jackson, Isolani: Bernard Brown, Wrangel: Brian Haines, Gordon: David Garth, Anspessade/Groom: Mark Straker, Cornet/McDonald: Michael Jenner, Swedish Captain/Page: William Hope, Adjutant: Jon Strickland, Captain Devereux: Jon Strickland, Senl/Tiefenbach: John Bott, Wallenstein’s Servant: Arnold Diamond, Lady: Carole Boyd. Music: John Hopkins. Director: Martin Jenkins (Repeated on 9 January 1987)
26 October 1985:
A Vision of the Island
By William Shakespeare. Text from The Tempest arranged by Ian Cotterell with music adapted by Andrew Parrott from Michael Tippett’s score for the 1962 Old Vic production. Prospero: Robert Eddison, Ariel: Stephen Boxer (tenor), Ferdinand: John McAndrew, Miranda: Moir Leslie, Gonzalo: Brlan Sanders, Alonso: Guy Holden, Caliban: Norman Rodway, Ceres: Barbara Jefford. Singers in the Masque: Rogers Covey-Crump (tenor), Stephen Charlesworth (baritone), Paul Hillier (baritone). Nash Ensemble conducted by Andrew Parrott. Producers: Anthony Burton, Ian Cotterell. (Repeated on 12 July 1987)
30 October 1985:
Talley’s Folly
By Lanford Wilson. On a July evening in 1944 in a Missouri boathouse, Matt Friedman strives to break through the protective shell of Sally Talley. In the process, he reveals his own horrifying past. Matt Friedman: Jonathan Pryce, Sally Talley: Hayley Mills. Director: Peter King. (Repeated on 8 July 1986)
6 November 1985:
Azari’s Aerial Theatre
By David Zane Mairowitz. Fedele Azari believed he could express the most complex states of mind by using aeroplanes to enact a theatre of the sky. His moment of greatness was to be a performance for Mussolini, but his day of triumph was threatened by events he could not control. Azari: Alfred Molina, Russolo: Tom Wilkinson, Macchi: Trevor Nichols, Keller: Mick Ford, Commandante: Alan Thompson, Lieutenant: David Learner. Special sound by David Greenwood and David Chilton. Director: Jane Morgan. (Repeated on 6 June 1986)
10 November 1985:
The Silence of the Sea
By Vercors, translated and adapted by Philippe Monet. 1941: Occupied France. A young German officer, Werner von Ebrennac, is billeted with an old man and his niece. They resent his presence, but he has a deep love of France and her people. This is an adaptation of a novel by Jean Bruller, published under the pseudonym “Vercors” in early 1942. The Old Man: Trevor Howard, Werner von Ebrennac: Philippe Monnet, Niece: Helena Breck. Director: Peter King
13 November 1985:
Savannah Bay
By Marguerite Duras, trans. and adapt. Barbara Bray. An elderly actress and a younger woman try to recall the circumstances surrounding the tragic end of someone to whom one or both were related. Madeleine: Irene Worth, The Young Woman: Helen Mirren. Pianist: Mary Nash. Director: John Tydeman. (Repeated on 1 August 1986)
17 November 1985:
The Man Who Sold a Mountain
By David Britton. Unwillingly accompanied by his alienated and cynical son, Michael sets out to conquer a small mountain in Wales. It takes Michael’s ill health to bring father and son closer together. Michael: Norman Jones, Charlie: Ian Saynor. Director: Richard Wortley
20 November 1985:
Dynamite Hill
By Kenneth Robbins. Summer 1963. Roosevelt Statum, an African-American garbage collector, has to tread a careful path amidst the turmoil of the streets around Dynamite Hill in Birmingham, Alabama, even if he has a white policeman pal in Chunky Hornsby. Narrator: Blain Fairman, Roosevelt Statum: Major Wiley, Chunky Hornsby: Francis Drake. Director: Richard Wortley. (Repeat from 29 July 1984)
21 November 1985:
Self-Discharged
By David Gascoyne. Monologue by the poet and author (1916-2001), drawing on his experiences in an asylum. Despite one’s own hallucinations, can the even stranger experiences of fellow inmates alleviate one's suffering? Performed by John Franklyn-Robbins. Director: Shaun MacLoughlin (BBC Bristol). (Repeated on 1 February 1987)
24 November 1985:
Ending Time
By John Clifford. “There cannot be earth without heaven, or heaven without earth. Seen from earth, there’s something ridiculous about heaven; seen from heaven, there’s an awful lot that’s absurd about earth.” John the Evangelist: Bill Paterson, The Angel: Iain Cuthbertson, Bert, a producer: Martin Heller, James, a musician: Crawford Logan, Mary, an idealist: Ann Louise Ross. Director: Stewart Conn (BBC Scotland). (Repeat from 7 November 1984)
27 November 1985:
Metamorphosis
By Franz Kafka, adapted by Gabriel Josipovici from the translation by Willa and Edwin Muir. Franz Kafka’s 1915 novella, in which a travelling salesman awakes one morning to find himself transformed into a gigantic insect and struggles to adapt to his horrific new identity. The Narrator: Tim Pigott-Smith, Gregor Samsa: Christopher Fairbank, Father: Stephen Thorne, Mother: Gwen Cherrell, Sister: Patience Tomlinson, Chief Clerk: Colin Starkey, Charwoman: Narissa Knights, Three Lodgers: Trevor Nichols, Christopher Douglas, Brian Smith. Music: composed and conducted by Gordon Crosse, performed by members of the Bochmann Quartet and John Leach (cimbalom). Director: John Theocharis. (Repeated on 2 January 1987)
1 December 1985:
Cross Words
By James Douglas. The legacy of hate between a husband and wife is apparent in their son and daughter as they swap acrimonious letters about details of the will, but will the discovery of their father’s diary break the vicious circle? Father: Alan McClelland, Kathy: Valerie Lilley, Roy: Gerard McSorley, Humber: BJ Hogg, Kathya as a child: Jane Hale. Director: Peter Kavanagh (BBC Northern Ireland). (Repeated on 27 January 1987)
8 December 1985:
Temptation
By Nick Dear. In this monologue, a schoolmaster philosophises about the follies of the world to his imaginary class on the seashore. Lee: John Hurt. Director: Richard Wortley. (Repeated on 5 September 1986)
11 December 1985:
Bluey
By Arnold Wesker. Hilary Hawkins, a High Court judge, has reached a crisis of confidence during a nasty trial as he recalls a troubling incident from his student days. He retreats to rainy Wales to consider verdict and sentence and whether forgiveness is possible. Hilary Hawkins: Patrick Stewart, Sophie Hawkins: Mary Wimbush, Mrs Hawkins: Anne Dyson, Ron Kimble: David Swift, Martin Seymour Scott: Peter Acre, Striven: Joe Melia, Audrey: Nichola McAuliffe, Tom Vinters: Norman Jones, Katie/Mrs Montgomery: Mia Soteriou, Counsel for the Plaintiff: David Garth, Stockbroker Friend: Garard Green, Rory Kelly: Chris Dunne, Mrs Mitcham: Gwen Cherrell, Young Hilary: Michael Thomas. Producer: Margaret Windham
15 December 1985:
Gertrude Stein and a Companion
By Win Wells. Beginning shortly after her death, Gertrude journeys through her past, discussing the extraordinary company she kept in her Paris apartment, including Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, F Scott Fitzgerald and her life partner, Alice B Toklas. Gertrude Stein: Miriam Margolyes, Alice B Toklas: Natasha Morgan. Production based on the 1985 Hampstead Theatre version by Sonia Fraser. Music composed and performed by Peter Jarvis. Producer: Stewart Conn (BBC Scotland). (Repeated on 27 May 1988)
22 December 1985:
The Country Wife
By William Wycherley. In this 1675 comedy, a rake called Horner feigns impotence to gain access to other men’s wives. Mrs Margery Pinchwife: Maggie Smith, Mr Horner: Jonathan Pryce, Mr Harcourt: John Duttine, Mr Sparkish: John Moffatt, Mr Pinchwife: Bernard Hepton, Alithea: Harriet Walter, Sir Jasper Fidget: Michael Aldridge, Lady Fidget: Barbara Jefford, Dainty Fidget: Ann Beach, Mrs Squeamish: Jan Waters, Old Lady Squeamish: Mary Wimbush, Dr Quack: Timothy Bateson, Mr Dorilant: Brian Smith, Lucy: Jenny Funnell, The Boy: Jamie Glover. Songs composed by Terence Allbright. Director: Glyn Dearman. (Repeat on 23 June 1987)
25 December 1985:
Cinderella
By H.J. Byron. A Burlesque Christmas Pantomime traditionally presented by the Players’ Theatre, London. Adaptation and additional lyrics: Maurice Browning, Denis Martin and Reginald Woolley. “Pray gather round the old log fire and listen, one and all, to the tale of Cinderella and her triumph at the ball.” Fairy Queen: Patricia Routledge, Prince Edgar Bergundi: Clifton Todd, Edmundo Dandini: Alec Bregonzi, Mick Buttons: David Learner, Baron O'Leary: John Turner, Cinderella: Jenny Wren, Goner: Ann Beach, Regan: Dilys Laye, Chamberlain: Edward de Souza, Three fairies: Anne Jameson, Jane Leonard, Julia Sutton. Musical arrangements by Geoffrey Brawn. Directors: Ian Cotterell and Christopher de Souza. (Repeated on Radio 4 on 20 December 1993)
Are You Still Awake?
By Russell Davies. A series of 15-minute dialogues set in bed with real-life couples cast as fictional couples. Producer: Jonathan James-Moore
26 & 27 December 1985:
A bedroom in north Oxford. Godfrey: Michael Denison, Muriel: Dulcie Gray. (Repeat from 13 & 14 October 1984)
28 & 29 December 1985:
A bedroom in Stevenage. Alan: Edward Petherbridge, Clare: Emily Richard. (Repeat from 20 &21 October 1984)
30 & 31 December 1985:
A bedroom in Frimfield, the best-kept village in Worcestershire.
Roger: Martin Jarvis, Abigail: Rosalind Ayres. (Repeat from 27 & 28 October 1984)
DOCUMENTARIES
1 January 1985:
Jimmy Durante’s Nose (and Other Faces)
A conversation between the caricaturist Al Hirschfeld and the cartoonist Mel Calman, with introductory remarks by Lillian Gish and Vincent Sardi. Producer: Ned Chaillet
5 January 1985
Pursued by Furies
By Ed Thomason. An impression of Malcolm Lowry, author of Under the Volcano and someone who compelled remarkable loyalty, love and respect. With Ronald Pickup and Margaret Robertson. Director: Margaret Windham. (Repeated on 5 January 1985 and 24 July 1989)
22 February 1985:
A Curious Friendship: Gorky and Lenin
The unlikely friendship between the writer and the politician over two decades of turbulent history is explored by Michael Shotton, Fellow of St Catherine’s Oxford. Lenin: Martin Friend, Gorky: Brian Blessed. Producer: Peter Fozzard
8 June 1985:
A Portrait of John Drinkwater
Compiled by Michael Ffinch. The English poet and dramatist John Drinkwater (1882-1937) was also a manager at Birmingham Repertory Theatre and enjoyed success with his historical plays Abraham Lincoln (1918), Mary Stuart (1921) and Robert Burns (1925). John Drinkwater: David Brierley, St John Ervine: Hugh Dickson, Frank Swinnerton: Bill Wallis. Director: Shaun MacLoughlin (BBC Bristol). (Repeated on 12 May 1986)
21 June 1985:
Anouilh at 75
In the post-war years, Jean Anouilh was the most frequently performed French playwright in the English-speaking world (his Becket was the first modern play performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company), but he subsequently fell into disfavour. On the occasion of Anouilh’s 75th birthday, J. W. Lambert reflects on his reputation and work.
23 June 1985:
A Portrait of J.C. Squire
A portrait of the writer, literary editor and playwright (1884-1958), compiled by Michael Ffinch. J. C. Squire: Hugh Dickson, Patrick Howarth: David Brierley, Frank Swinnerton: Bill Wallis. Director: Shaun MacLoughlin (BBC Bristol)
25 June 1985:
Roadworthy
An exploration of the journeys, kings, gods and rogues in the work of the Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka, written and presented by David Jones.
With Angus Calder, Buchi Emecheta, William Gaskill, Ngugi Wa Thiongo, Ben Okri, George Wilson Knight and Wole Soyinka. Excerpts performed by Narissa Knights, Joy Lemoine, John Matshikiza, Abraham Oswagwu and Brian Smith. Producer: Piers Plowright. (Repeat from 8 December 1984)
8 July 1985:
W.B. Yeats on the Theatre
Three short essays, written in 1903 by W.B. Yeats, outline his concept of an Irish theatre. Compiled by Anthony Astbury. Reader: James Hayes. Producer: John Theocharis. (Repeated on 19 October 1985)
12 July 1985:
A Bolt from the Blue
By Jean Benedetti. The Moscow Art Theatre was founded in 1897 by a leading actor and director, Konstantin Stanislavsky, and a leading critic and author, Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, but their initial successful partnership unravelled. Often bitterly personal letters exchanged between 1902 and 1917 chart the deterioration of their relationship. Nemirovich-Danchenko: Peter Barkworth, Stanislavsky: Bernard Brown. Director: John Theocharis. (Repeated on 2 November 1986)
15 July 1985:
In the Shade of Spring Leaves
Compiled by John Carr-Gregg from the writings of Higuchi Ichiyo (1872-18 96), Japan's first prominent woman writer of modern times, whose short stories drew on classical Japanese style. Ichiyo: Helena Breck, Tosui: Mark Straker, Narrator: Leonard Fenton. Director: John Theocharis. (Repeated on 2 March 1986)
22 July 1985:
Seeing the Point
Actor and director David William considers the work of the American theatre critic, playwright and novelist Stark Young (1881-1963), who also translated several Chekhov plays. (Repeated on 19 January 1986)
29 July 1985:
On Being Ludicrous
Thoughts on the perils of playwrighting by David Cregan (1931-2015), associated with the Royal Court in the mid-1960s and author of many radio plays and dramatisations. (Repeat from 15 November 1984)
19, 22, 26, 29 August 1985:
Salesman in Beijing
By Arthur Miller, abridged in four parts by Michael Bakewell. Producer: Ned Chaillet. (Repeat from 9, 10, 11, 12 August 1984. Also on Radio 4 in three parts on 6, 7, 8 February 2006)
Part 1
Invited to Beijing to direct his play Death of a Salesman in Chinese, the author recounts his arrival and his first meeting with the Chinese actors.
Part 2
The author goes into rehearsals with his Chinese company and they begin to comprehend their task.
Part 3
The absence of make-up on Chinese actors playing foreigners proves an artistic breakthrough with rich connections revealed between the two contrasting cultures.
.
Part 4
The author recalls the first preview and the first night as Death of a Salesman opens in Beijing to a joyfully energetic Chinese audience.
8 September 1985:
The Mirror of the Flower
Reflections on the art of acting by actor and playwright Zeami Motokiyo (1363-1443), selected from the Japanese by Lim Poh Sim. Read by Joss Ackland. (Repeat from 18 October 1981)
19 & 26 September 1985:
My Dear Muscovite
Two-part selection from the correspondence between Flaubert and Turgenev, translated by Barbara Beaumont. Flaubert: Robert Stephens, Turgenev: Stephen Moore. Director: John Theocharis (Repeated on 2 & 7 August 1986)
10, 17, 24, 31 October, 7, 14 November 1985:
The Composer’s Voice
Six programmes adapted by Mike Steer from autobiographical writings of 20th-century composers. Producer: John Theocharis. (Repeated on 15 November 1986)
1. Ives in London
In 1933, the American composer Charles Ives was 60 and had given up composing for almost a decade. On a visit to London he recorded his trenchant opinions about English musical fare. Charles Ives: Bruce Boa. (Repeated on 15 November 1986)
2. September 1986:
Debussy Visits London for The Ring
Claude Debussy was an ardent Wagnerian in his youth, but the stranglehold that misguided Wagnerism had imposed on musical expression was too much even for him. Debussy: David Suchet. (Repeated on 2 September 1986)
3. Lutyens in the War
In 1942, 36-year-old Elisabeth Lutyens was largely unperformed and working as a copyist to supplement her husband's small income. It was a period of drudgery, fear and frustration, relieved only by long drinking sessions with Dylan Thomas, Louis MacNeice, William Walton and others. Elisabeth Lutyens: Elizabeth Spriggs. (Repeated on 6 October 1986)
4. Self-Advertisement for Rutland Boughton
By 1909 the 31-year-old, Rutland Boughton had enjoyed only a limited success. In his frustration, he printed privately a pamphlet in which, with disarming straightforwardness and self-deflating humour, he pleaded for the right of the composer to be heard. Rutland Boughton: Nigel Anthony. (Repeated on 10 January 1987)
5. Milhaud and Jazz
In his old age, David Milhaud gave an account of his first experience of genuine jazz in Harlem in 1920. It was a profound revelation, though he later lost interest in jazz when he saw it as becoming “fashionable” and an academic subject. Darius Milhaud: David Garth. (Repeated on 24 July 1986 & 22 August 1987)
6. Herr Stravinsky, I’m an American Composer
Self-exiled in Berlin, Stravinsky strikes up a friendship with an irrepressible young American admirer, George Antheil. Adapted by Mike Steer from Antheil's autobiography. George Antheil: Gary Waldhorn. (Repeated on 24 May 1986)
14 October 1985:
Something Broken in Poland
A documentary written and presented by Noel Witts. Contemporary Polish theatre enjoyed a reputation as one of the most experimental, exciting and creative in Europe as playwrights, directors and actors expressed their concerns under censorship mainly through gesture, imagery and sound. What is the state of Polish theatre now since martial law was lifted in 1983? With contributions from authors, directors, actors and critics, recorded in Warsaw and Krakov. Producer: John Theocharis. (Repeated on 30 March 1986)
23 October 1985:
The Tarnished Phoenix
By Roger Pringle. A portrait of D.H. Lawrence as revealed in his poems and letters and in his wife’s memoirs. D.H. Lawrence: Richard Pasco, Frieda Lawrence: Barbara Leigh Hunt. Director: Caroline Smith (BBC Manchester)
4 November 1985:
The Epstein Affair
Scenes from the life of sculptor of Jacob Epstein (1880-1959), compiled by Sanda Miller from his writings and those of Arnold Haskell. With contributions from Jill Balcon, Richard Cork, Anthony Gormley, Geoffrey Ireland, Vera Russell, Evelyn Silber, Jan Smith, Arnold Thompson and Glyn Williams. Jacob Epstein: Lee Montague, Arnold Haskell: Garard Green. The Voices: John Church, Elaine Ives-Cameron, Jane Leonard, Natasha Pyne and Robin Summers. Producer: Piers Plowright. (Repeated on 20 April 1986)
17 November 1985:
Decorators and Destroyers
Once opera was the preserve of the singers, exhibiting their art in defiance of dramatic truth. Now a new breed of opera director, it has been claimed, emphasises drama at the expense of the music. Peter Conrad considers the reasons for this theatrical assault with Peter Brook, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Sir Peter Hall, Michael Hampe, Robert Lloyd, Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, David Pountney, John Schlesinger and Peter Stein. Producer: Brian Barfield. (Repeated on 18 January 1986)
23 December 1985:
The Death of Alban Berg
Written and composed by Tim Souster. In this radiophonic fantasy, Berg’s music is revealed to reflect his often clandestine life, which in turn was governed by the often equally recondite principles of his art. Realised in the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in collaboration with Jonathan Gibbs. Alban Berg: Carl Duering, Helene Berg: Anne Jameson, Hanna Fuchs: Jill Balcon, Herbert Fuchs: Edward de Souza, Schoenberg: Peter Woodthorpe, Adorno: Trevor Nichols. Marker: Jamie Roberts, Operator: Elaine Claxton. Producers: Stephen Plaistow and John Theocharis.
READINGS AND SHORT STORIES
8 January 1985:
Amatola Blue by Jill Anders (read by Estelle Kohler)
Producer: John Theocharis
12 January 1985:
Heart of a Man by Jack Trevor Story (read by Michael Jenner)
Producer: Ed Thomason. (Repeated on 8 April 1985)
20 January 1985:
The Pain by Pauline Smith (read by Yvonne Bryceland)
A 1923 story about a long-married couple in South Africa, still very much in love despite their poverty. Also read by Leonard Sachs on the Third Programme (19 January 1947) and abridged in two parts on Woman’s Hour (9 & 10 April 1979)
22 January 1985:
The Romantic Symphony by Aileen M Ireland (read by Susan Engel)
Producer: Brian Miller (BBC Bristol)
24 & 25 January 1985:
Mr Wolfe and Mr Perkins & Dear Max, Dear Tom
Two programmes by Mary Benson based on an exchange of letters between Thomas Wolfe and his editor Max Perkins. Thomas Wolfe: Rolf Saxon, Max Perkins: Bruce Boa. Narrator: Brett Usher. Director: Christopher Vennlng. (Repeat from 12 & 15 June 1984)
31 January & 2, 5 & 8 February 1985:
A Life Misspelt by Zinovy Zinik (read by John Shrapnel)
The adventures of a very ordinary Moscow clerk. who defects to London, where he finds himself strangely at odds with the novelties of a free and star-struck society. Translated and adapted in four parts by Frank Williams. Producer: Judith Bumpus
1. Ten Days that Shook the World
2. The Moscow Connection
3. The Making of a Martyr
4. The Umbrella Man
9 February 1985:
Scar by Richard Walker (read by Meg Wynn Owen)
A Welsh university lecturer relives a nightmare experience when staying in Spain as a young student, which has scarred her for life. Producer: Cherry Cookson. (Repeat from 27 July 1984)
14, 15 & 19 February 1985:
Walton’s Lives
Three programmes based on Izaak Walton’s Short Life of John Donne, extracted and edited by Richard Mullen. Izaak Walton: John Moffatt, John Donne: Edward Woodward, King James, James Kerry, Dr Fox: Kenneth McLellan, George Herbert: Christopher Scoular, Sir Henry Wotton: Gordon Reid. Director: Christopher Venning. (Repeat from 30 June, 2 & 3 July 1984)
1: An Angel from a Cloud
2. New Houses for the Mind
3. Choice Meat and Better Discourse
17, 24 February, 3, 10 & 17 March 1985:
Penge Papers
The confessions of an unwaged metropolitan househusband in five programmes. Written and read in five parts by Brian Wright. (Repeat from 24 & 26-28 September 1984. Also repeated on Radio 4 on 26-28 & 30 May 1986)
1. Tired of Eng Lit, our Pengeian hero swaps teaching for house husbanding and finds his real vocation as a voyeur of suburban life. “Personally, I like living in a comic ghetto. I feel I’m in touch with something mysterious, profound, beyond myself. For me, Wigan and Penge are holy places: Glastonbury and Lindisfarne, smothered in custard pie.”
2. Long-term residents talk only to neighbours of 15 years' duration, while newcomers pass through to the lush lands of Beckenham and beyond.
3. “Now I'm an unemployed teacher, I spend a lot of time in Egnep; that’s Penge spelt backwards. What I call the other Penge. the hidden Penge. The one the visitor or unobservant native never sees.”
4. “Penge is a white elephant's graveyard. First the Crystal Palace, now its very own department store. Should white elephants be a protected species, one wonders?”
5. “Teenagers in Penge stick to each other like egg stains on an old pullover. Little Reg – Reg’s son – is still going around with the same dubious bunch of characters he met on his first day at nursery school.”
17 February 1985:
A Win for the Woman by Knut Hamsun (read by Struan Rodger)
Producer: Maurice Leitch. (Repeated on 9 January 1986)
18 February 1985:
Moontiger by Benedict Blathwayt (read by Sara Kestelman)
“'Life was not a cosy revolving cycle, there was no peace or magic beyond death. Life finished and it was revolting”. Producer: John Theocharis. (Repeat from 24 March 1984)
21 February 1985:
My Motherland is Solitude by Igor Pomerantsev (read by Ronald Pickup)
An exiled writer revisits a mountain region, which has been a particular source of inspiration to him. Translated by Frank Williams. Producer: Cherry Cookson. (Repeat from 28 July 1984)
26 February 1985:
Black Girls Dancing by Jack Trevor Story (read by Carole Hayman)
Producer: Ed Thomason
1 March 1985
The Lag by R.H. Bowden (read By: Philip Madoc)
A man is unclear whether he put himself in the path of an on-coming bus accidentally or on purpose, but his resulting injuries help to mend a relationship. Director: Kay Patrick. (Repeat from 29 December 1984)
2 March 1985:
The Carpet by Magdalena Buznea (read by Dilys Laye)
Short story by the Romanian actress. (Repeated on 5 December 1985)
7 March 1985:
The Pessimist by Carol Rumens (read by Susan Engel)
Short story by the author, best known as a poet.
15 March 1985:
Incident at Lima Junction by Florence Turner (read by Paul Birchard)
In the Depression and Prohibition era of 1929, the three Doran children head west from Buffalo by train in the luxury of a private Pullman car. Producer: Patrick Rayner (BBC Scotland). (Repeat from 21 August 1984)
16 March 1985:
Catch by N.J. Warburton (read by William Nighy)
Short story by the prolific radio dramatist Nick Warburton. Producer: Maurice Leitch. (Repeated on 17 August 1985)
26 March 1985:
The Pumper by Page Edwards (read by Bob Sherman)
Producer: Ed Thomason. (Repeated on 1 August 1985)
4 April 1985:
Making Hay by Deborah Moggach (read by Norman Jones)
The day after he has discovered he is seriously ill, a London coach driver takes a group of women to a peace rally and has a “tranquil” experience of his own. Producer: Cherry Cookson. (Repeat from 10 June 1984)
5 April 1985:
Tell Me What You Want by Morris Lurie (read by Denis Lill)
A short story by the Australian writer (1938-1994), known for his comic novels, short stories, essays, plays, and children’s books. Producer: Ed Thomason. (Repeat from 30 December 1984)
11 April 1985:
The Funny Farm by Mary Gladstone (read by Diana Olsson)
Muriel, under psychiatric care, tries to make sense of an accident on the family dairy farm. Producer: Patrick Rayner. (Repeat from 27 April 1984)
12 April 1985:
The Professor’s Bust by Fred Uhlman (read by Brett Usher)
First of three “stories for artists” by the German-English writer, painter and lawyer (1901-1985), who was interned on the Isle of Man in 1940. Producer: Piers Plowright. (Repeat from 8 July 1984)
14 April 1985:
The Double Happiness Company by Ann Aylor (read by Toria Fuller)
Short story by the novelist and dancer, who developed this story into a 2011 novel about a young woman from an American backwater town determined to become a dancer. Producer: Alec Reid (BBC Bristol). (Repeated on 31 August 1985)
15 April 1985:
The Great Bilbo by Fred Uhlman (read by Brett Usher)
Second of three “stories for artists”, by the German-English writer, painter and lawyer (1901-1985), about Jack Bilbo, founder of the Modern Art Gallery in London in 1941. Producer: Piers Plowright. (Repeat from 12 July 1984)
16 April 1985:
Joey Santa’s Death by Doeschka Meijsing (read by Miriam Margolyes)
Short story by the Dutch writer, translated by Herunde Coolens. (Repeat from 20 February 1984)
16 April 1985:
Cruise: Letters from a Young Lady of Leisure by Evelyn Waugh (abridged and read by Joanna Wake)
The glories of Ancient Egypt and Rome pass unnoticed by at least one passenger aboard the SS Glory of Greece in this light-hearted portrayal of a young lady of leisure. Director: Kay Patrick. (Repeated on 14 September 1985)
20 April 1985:
The Hat and the Crown by Fred Uhlman (read by Brett Usher)
Third of three “stories for artists”, by the German-English writer, painter and lawyer (1901-1985). Producer: Piers Plowright.
21 April 1985:
A Letter by Hugo von Hofmannsthal (read by David Warner)
In 1902, von Hofmannsthal wrote a devastating aesthetic critique of artistic experience in the form of a letter from the fictional Lord Chandos to Francis Bacon. Translated by Michael Hoffmann. Producer: Michael Heffernan. (Repeated on 22 June 1985)
25 April 1985:
Star Child by Carol Rumens (read by Nigel Anthony)
“They should have known I wasn't so small I couldn't dream big.”
Producer: Alfred Bradley. BBC Manchester. (Repeated on 15 February 1986)
27 April 1985:
Long Ago by Ivan Bunin (read by Arnold Diamond)
Short story by the author (1870-1953), the first Russian writer to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature. Translated by Sophie Lund. (Repeat from 25 October 1984)
2 May 1985:
The Last One by Grazia Deledda (read by Hilda Schroder)
A short story by the Sardinian novelist (1871-1936), translated by Susan Ashe. Producer: Piers Plowright. (Repeat from 27 August 1984)
15 May 1985:
The Torcello Peacocks by Benedict Blathwayt (read by Trevor Eve)
Producer: Alec Reid. (Repeated on 17 April 1986)
21 May 1985:
The Mysterious Drawing by Jerzy Szaniawski (read by Garard Green)
First of six stories from the collection of stories in Professor Tutka by the Polish writer (1886-1970), in which the professor’s encounters with various people prompt philosophical tales. Translated from the Polish by Adam Czerniawski. Producer: Fraser Steel (BBC Manchester). (Repeat from 2 October 1983)
24 May 1985:
A Happy Tale by Jerzy Szaniawski (read by Garard Green)
Second of six stories from Professor Tutka by the Polish writer (1886-1970). Translated from the Polish by Adam Czerniawski. Producer: Fraser Steel (BBC Manchester). (Repeat from 9 October 1983)
25 May 1985:
Mr Pritchard by Denys Johnson-Davies (read by Michael Pennington)
A story from the author’s 1999 collection, The Fate of a Prisoner: And Other Stories. Producer: David Heycock. (Repeated on 27 September 1985)
26 May 1985:
A Modest Person by Jerzy Szaniawski (read by Garard Green)
Third of six stories from Professor Tutka by the Polish writer (1886-1970). Translated from the Polish by Adam Czerniawski. Producer: Fraser Steel (BBC Manchester). (Repeat from 16 October 1983)
30 May 1985:
A Ticket to Spare by Zinovy Zinik (read by Richard Griffiths)
A young Muscovite is given a ticket to a jazz concert in Kiev, but free entry to another strange event is enough to make him think again about the real purpose of his visit. Translated and adapted for radio by Frank Williams. Producer: Judith Bumpus. (Repeated on 8 September 1985)
1, 8, 15, 22, 29 June, 6, 13 July 1985:
The Song of Roland
A translation of the 12th-century epic, in seven parts, by C.H. Sisson. Narrator: John Franklyn-Robbins. Readers: Geoffrey Banks, Garard Green, Christopher Neame, Bert Parnaby, Andy Rashleigh and Ann Rye. Music: Nigel Osborne, performed by Lontano. Producer: Fraser Steel (BBC Manchester). (Repeat from 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 October, 5, 12 November 1982)
4 June 1985:
A Man Who Had Depth by Jerzy Szaniawski (read by Garard Green)
Last of six stories from Professor Tutka by the Polish writer (1886-1970). Translated from the Polish by Adam Czerniawski. Producer: Fraser Steel (BBC Manchester). (Repeat from 6 November 1983)
6 June 1985:
It Couldn’t Have Happened to a Nicer Girl by Jack Trevor Story (read by Moir Leslie)
Producer: Ed Thomason. (Repeated on 24 August 1985)
16 June 1985:
Refrain by Jim Arnott (read by Derek Halligan)
Belfast, 1984: Jack lies in a hospital bed reliving the terror of a sectarian attack made on him in his youth and suffering the consequences of a similar attack in his adult life. Producer: Penny Gold (BBC Northern Ireland). (Repeat from 21 October 1984)
24 June 1985:
A Red Herring by Elizabeth Ross (read by June Barrie)
Producer: Alec Reid (BBC Bristol) (Repeated on 21 January 1986)
2 July 1985:
The Arrival of the Poet in the City by Christopher Logue. Music by George Nicholson. An interweaving of voice and seven instrumentalists into a unique conversation. Narrator: Christopher Logue. Clive Lander, (violin) , Peter McCarthy (double-bass), George MacDonald, (clarinet) Stephen Reay (bassoon), Roger Payne, (trumpet), Richard Scoates, (trombone) Moira Hanson, (percussion), conducted by Alan Fearon. Producers: James Langley and Piers Plowright (BBC Manchester)
8 July 1985
The New Dress by Virginia Woolf (abridged and read by Hilda Schroder)
Mabel has a new dress for the party, but it is not until she encounters the stares of her friends that she thinks she has made a terrible mistake.
Producer: Piers Plowright. (Repeated on 5 October 1985)
11 July 1985:
Dead Heads by Mary Gladstone (read by Joanna Keddie)
Producer: Patrick Rayner (BBC Scotland)
13 & 16 July 1985:
The Oracle of Holland House
Two extracts from Recollections of the Table Talk by Samuel Rogers, a minor poet and major literary gossip, who died in 1855. Compiled by Donald Bancroft. Reader: Robin Bailey. Producer: Penny Gold. (Repeated on 5 & 9 December 1985)
15 July 1985:
Pop Song and Bacchanal by Frank Sugg (read by William Nighy)
(Repeated on 31 December 1985)
19 July 1985:
The Perpendicular Physicist by Derek Nicholls (read by Richard Pearson)
Arnold Blenkiron transfers his loyalty from the laws of physics to perpendicular architecture, and from Samantha to Fiona. Producer: David Heycock. (Repeated on 23 September 1985)
23 July 1985:
House and Garden by Alan Golightly (read by Maggie McCarthy)
Producer: James Runcie. (Repeat from 17 December 1984)
24 July 1985:
Life of the Poet Gnaeus Robertulus Gravesa by Robert Graves (read by Robert Eddison)
A short story “from Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus’ Lives of the Britannic Poets, translated by W. Wadlington Postchaise”, written in the guise of a spoof Roman historian, about a strange omen that grew in the garden of the poet’s father. Producer Penny Leicester. (Repeated on 5 May 1986)
29 July 1985:
Princess by Robert Forrest (read by Patrick Malahide)
“She couldn’t join in the celebrations: bonfires and booze and children up loudly late for the end of a war. No; she would be honestly alone, in the Princess, watching Ingrid Bergman.” Producer: Patrick Rayner (BBC Scotland). (Repeat from 22 November 1984)
5, 9, 10, 12 & 16 August 1985:
The Hunt by Emile Zola (read by David March)
A novel of greed and speculation, translated and abridged in five parts by Joanna Richardson. Theme music: Peter Cork. Producer: Piers Plowright (Repeat from 4, 6, 10 11 & 14 September 1983)
1. Bitter Leaves
2. Renee and Maxime
3. The Café Riche
4. Echo and Narcissus
5. The Death of Phedre
5 August 1985:
The Sister Who Survived by Edward Upward (read by Mary Wimbush)
Story by the British novelist (1903-2009), whose writing career spanned more than 80 years. Producer: Maurice Leitch
12 August 1985:
Wasteground by Christina Reid (read by Kate Binchy)
“He was a head-the-ball, a daftie, a not-quite-right-in-the-head-God-help-him. He stood on the edge of the wasteground staring up at our kites with his lustreless blue eyes.” Producer Alfred Bradley (BBC Manchester). (Repeated on 14 May 1986)
14 August 1985
Shakespeare as I Knew Him by Geoffrey Heptonstall (read by Richard Vernon)
An extract from the memoirs-in-progress of the celebrated ham actor, Sir Swindon Reynold. Producer Peter King. (Repeat from 23 April 1984)
16 August 1985:
Fludde’s Ark by Ronald Frame (read by Hugh Dickson)
From A Woman of Judah: A Novel and Fifteen Stories. Producer: Alec Reid (BBC Bristol). (Repeated on 15 May 1986)
2 September 1985:
The Tilting Room by Ron Butlin (read by Finlay Welsh)
“Broadcasters call it ‘dead time’. And you’re dead scared of dead time, of those gaps in eternity when we might talk to one another, aren’t you?” Producer: Patrick Rayner (BBC Scotland). (Repeat from 17 May 1984)
3 September 1985:
One Arm by Tennessee Williams (read by Tom Hunsinger)
A 1948 short story, later developed by the playwright into an unproduced 1967 screenplay, in which a handsome young boxer loses an arm in a car accident and is forced to hustle on the streets. Producer: Peter King. (Repeat from 31 December 1984)
7 September 1985:
Shoe in the Sand by Elspeth Davie (read by Eileen McCallum)
“Well, this isn't the Cinderella story. No use waiting around. It seems there’s no glass slipper, and I’m no prince. Personally, I wouldn’t say you're a princess either.” Producer: Patrick Rayner (BBC Scotland). (Repeat from 8 November 1984)
9, 10 & 13 September 1985:
The Memoirs of Lorenzo da Ponte (read by David Suchet)
Mozart’s librettist spent 10 years as court poet to the Austrian Emperor Joseph, as well as experiencing adventures in London and New York, where he died in 1838. Translated by Elizabeth Abbott and adapted in three parts by Carol Rosen. Producer: John Cardy. (Repeat from 12, 14 & 17 July 1984)
10 September 1985:
The Coming by Frank Sugg (read by Melinda Walker)
16 September 1985:
From a Diary by Igor Pomerantsev (read by Ronald Pickup)
A Russian writer living under great pressure keeps a diary in which he makes random jottings on the subject of fear of imprisonment and dreams of freedom. Translated by Frank Williams. Producer Cherry Cookson. (Repeated on 19 February 1986)
17 September 1985:
Sylvanus, a Monk of Eynhallow by George Mackay Brown (read by Tom Fleming)
How he returned from his first voyage. Producer: Patrick Rayner (BBC Scotland). (Repeat from 29 November 1984)
24 September 1985:
Our Lady of the Pickpockets by Dilys Rose (read by Sophie Thompson)
A story of Mexican childhood. Producer: James Runcie
29 September 1985:
By Justice or Otherwise
A sequence of prose and poetry on the theme of liberty compiled by Christopher Hampton. Read by Peter Welch, Manning Wilson, Jane Wenham and Michael Jenner. Producer: Piers Plowright. (Repeated on 14 January 1987)
1 October 1985:
Doll by Norman King Lloyd (read by William Nighy)
In a bleak room in a devastated city, somewhere in a war-torn country, a man watches suspiciously as a young woman paints her nails and waits for her dubious lover, and an old woman babbles clutching her precious doll. Producer: Peter Jukes. (Repeated on 1 May 1986)
3, 10, 17, 24, 31 October, 7 & 14 November 1985:
The Road to Canterbury
Seven selections from David Wright’s verse translation of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. The Narrator: John Franklyn-Robbins, The Reeve: Geoffrey Banks, The Prioress: Rosalind Shanks, The Wife of Bath: Prunella Scales, The Nun’s Priest: Martin Jarvis, The Sea Captain: Douglas Leach, The Summoner: Bert Paranaby. Music: Michael Ball, directed by Timothy Reynish with David Gale (treble), Stephen Varcoe (baritone), Janet Fisher (viola), Richard Scoates (trombone), John Turner (recorder), Paul Patrick (percussion). Producer: Fraser Steel (BBC Manchester). (Repeated on 17, 24, 29 July, 5, 7, 14 & 15 August 1987)
6 October 1985:
Shakespeare’s Memory by Jorge Luis Borges (read by David de Keyser)
Short story, originally published in 1983, in which a Shakespeare devotee is given the playwright’s memories, which gradually take over his own. Translated by Norman Thomas Di Giovanni. Producer: Judith Bumpus. (Repeated on 23 April 1986)
8 October 1985:
The Brass Cuckoo
Devised and compiled by Carole Rosen. The 19-year correspondence between Frederick Delius and Philip Heseltine who, in 1911 as a 16-year-old schoolboy, began writing to the composer after hearing his Songs of Sunset. Frederick Delius: Jack May, Philip Heseltine: Michael Cochrane. Producer: David Johnston
12 October 1985:
Discipline by Jose de la Cuadra (read by Bob Peck)
Short story from Ecuador by the social realist writer (1903-1941). Twelve-year-old Corporal Quinonez understood the rules of military life so well that he landed himself in trouble. Translated by Margaret Etall. Producer: Judith Bumpus. (Repeated on 18 December 1985)
12, 13 & 19 October 1985:
Conversations with Alexander Pope
Three selections from the collection of anecdotes by clergyman, historian and literary scholar Joseph Spence (1699-1768), arranged as a dialogue for radio by Donald Bancroft. Pope was not only a master of English verse, but also a highly amusing and witty conversationalist whose stories were recorded by Spence, one of his closest friends. Alexander Pope: John Rye, Joseph Spence: Trevor Nichols. Producer: John Theocharis. (Repeated 13, 14 & 15 March 1986 and on 11 July and 10 November 1988)
17 October 1985:
Devil Bird by Paula Kelly (read by Mia Soteriou)
(Repeated on 25 January 1986)
24 October 1985:
A Long Weekend with Marcel Proust by Ronald Frame (read by Stella Forge)
“’This room’, Martin reminds me: 'Proust said it was like an aquarium.’ I smile, rather tiredly, through our reflections out into the darkness.” Producer: Patrick Rayner (BBC Scotland). (Repeat from 6 November 1984)
26 October 1985:
Rose-coloured Teacups by A.S. Byatt (read by Anna Massey)
A story about mothers and daughters, a sewing machine and the ghosts of the past. Producer: Louise Purslow. (Repeated on 3 April 1986)
31 October 1985:
Margot by Courteune (read by Peter Jeffrey)
Translated by Ruari McLean, Producer: Alfred Bradley (BBC Manchester)
2 November 1985:
In the Summerhouse by Ron Butlin (read by lain Agnew)
Producer: Patrick Rayner (BBC Scotland)
27, 28 October, 2, 3, 10, 17 November 1985:
Collectors’ Items
Six comic episodes of fantasy history by Colin McLaren. Read by Michael Hordern. Producer: Louise Purslow. (Repeated on 16, 23, 30 March, 6, 13, 20 April 1986)
1. A Literary Association
A lost Fielding fragment?
2. The Men from The Minstrelsy
The acquisition of a ballad leads to the incarceration of three of Scott's messengers.
3. Homer in the Hebrides
Wax cylinders from an Edison phonograph, experienced in Central Park.
4. Disasters and Disasters
Ruritanian revolution.
5. Icon Do Anything Better Than You
A communist official is reconciled to the church.
6. Wimberley Stirs it Up
A university lecturer recreates every spell in Shakespeare.
5, 12, 19, 26 November, 3 December 1985:
More Penge Papers
Written and read in five parts by Brian Wright Producer: Matthew Walters. (Repeated on 4, 11, 18, 25 July, 1 August 1986 and on Radio 4 on 5, 12, 19, 26 August, 2 September 1987)
1. Common Ground
“Civil war has come to Penge. As an unwaged househusband and Pengeologist, I watch dog-owners and joggers go out to do battle daily.”
2. Seedcorn and Chips
“Number two daughter has changed schools. A mixed infant, she was metamorphosed to a mixed junior. Mixed sexes we’re talking about. Victorian morality lingers.”
3. Cheapsakes
“Fifteen years ago, Penge High Street was still, unmistakably, a prosperous Victorian village. With Bakelite knobs on, perhaps. The parson's nose of London, not appetising but nourishing.”
4. DIY or Die
“DIY devotees are evangelicals, fundamentalists. They believe that everybody can and must be converted to the one true religion, the worship of household gods.”
5. Penge Agonistes
“Nothing good ever came out of Penge. That’s a proverb in places like Chislehurst. I suspect an international conspiracy.”
6 November 1985:
Ties by Desmond Hogan (read by the author)
A boy is drawn to a Protestant shop assistant, a “small-town Oscar Wilde”. Producer Maurice Leitch. (Repeated on 2 October 1986)
7, 14, 19, 21 December 1985:
Alkan, Rossini and Others
A series of four short stories about the lives of composers by Graeme Fife. Read by Edward de Souza. Producer: Cherry Cookson.
1. The Tergiversator
(Repeated on 19 December 1986)
2. Mr Barnum, Mr Balanchine and Mr Stravinsky
(
Repeated on 23 January 1987)
3. Doctor’s Orders
(Repeated on 20 February 1987)
4. A Matter of Gravity
(Repeated on 20 March 1987)
16 December 1985:
You Make Your Own Life by V.S. Pritchett (read by John Rowe)
Rather than catch his train, the narrator is drawn to a barber’s shop, where he observes the customers and overhears their stories. Producer: John Theocharis. (Repeated on 18 September 1986)
Many thanks to Ian Johns for compiling the entries and doing the coding.
