Radio 3 Drama, 1988

Compiled by Stephen Shaw

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, readings and short stories.



 


BBC RADIO 3 DRAMA - 1988

5th January 1988:
19.30 - 21.45 :
Croniamental by Brian McAvera
An exploration of the life of Guillaume Apollinaire, intercutting his
trepanation in 1916 following a shell-burst, with his life in pre-war Paris and
his quest for modernity among the famous poets and painters of La Belle Epoque.
Rousseau's Clemence played by Perry Montague Mason (violin)
Directed by Richard Wortley
Gertrude Stein: Margaret Robertson
Rouyeyre: Brian Hewlett
Louise: Elaine Claxton
Marie Laurencin: Karen Archer
Dhoux: Jo Manning Wilson
Annie: Moir Leslie
Apollinaire as a child : Paul Russell
Apollinaire: Douglas Hodge
Duvemois: Struan Rodger
Max Jacob: Christopher Godwin
Picasso: Michael Tudor Barnes
Angelica Kostrowitsky: Julie Berry
Official: David Goodland
Priest: Gordon Reid
Madeleine: Susie Brann
Jacqueline 'Ruby' Kolb/ Woman abortionist: Sheila Grant
First orderly: Simon Cuff
Second orderly: Jonathan Tafler
Braque/Savinio: Eric Stovell
Judy: Deborah Makepeace
Norman/Pieret: Spencer Banks
Rousseau: Alan Dudley


8th January 1988:
21.15 :
Desire Under the Elms by Eugene O'Neill. adapted by Michael Bakewell
A smallholding in New England in 1850, in which a tragedy of Jealousy, passion
and land hunger is acted out.
Robin Williams (fiddle)
Directed by Ronald Mason
Cabot: Robert Beatty
Abbie: Sarah Badel
Eben: Kerry Shale
Simeon: William Hootkins
Peter: Garrick Hagon
Caller: Leonard Fenton
Amos: Stephen Rashbrook
Susie: Jennifer Piercey
Reuben: Eric Stovell
Repeated from 15th July 1986

12th January 1988:
21.20 :
Impressions of an English inner-City American Tap Dancer by Nigel Baldwin
'Somewhere out there in the big wide world, someone is holding a glass slipper
for me.'
Laura teaches American tap at a London community centre. Her most promising
pupil is Berni but it looks as if the centre will be closed down.
Directed by Richard Wortley
Laura: Jill Baker
Berni: Suzanna Hamilton
Willy: Richard Durden
Martin: Steve Sweeney
Jackie: Marcia Tucker
Nina: Elaine Claxton
Princess: Avril Clark
American commentator: Danny Schiller
First boy: Ben Smitten
Second boy: Lee Vigano


15th January 1988:
19.30 :
White Suit Blues by Adrian Mitchell,
Based on Mark Twain's writings and his adventures in the after-life.
Music by: Mike Westbrook,
Musicians: Fiachra Trench, Stuart Brooks, Dave Powell, Mark Lockheart, Mark
Doffmman, Georgie Born, Roger Potter, John Pluck, and Paul Neiman
Music adapted for radio by the musical director, Trevor Allan
Directed by Jeremy Mortimer
Mark Twain: Harry Towb
Jim: Clarke Peters
Sarah: Elaine Delmar
the Guardian Angel: Shelley Thompson
the Angel of Death: Mick Ford
Preacher/St Peter: Edward Desouza
Young Mark/Huck Finn: Shaun Prendergast
Mrs Clemens/Livy: June Tobin
Ben Rogers: Abbie Dabner
Billy Fisher: Jake Wood
Liftman: Trevor Nichols
Fenimore Cooper: Trevor Allan
Jean Clemens/Boadicea: Melinda Walker
Clara Clemens: Avril Clark
Susie Clemens: Shelley Thompson
Guards: George Parsons, Theresa Garraway,
Other parts played by: James Bryce
Repeated from 9th April 1986



18th January 1988:
21.50 :
Drama Now: A Sad Pavan for These Distracted Times by Robert Ferguson.
A tale told by a captain, a soldier's tale, confused in the telling both in
terms of incident and time. It touches upon some minor themes such as life,
love, death, obsession, inspiration, beauty and, possibly, truth. Important is
the need to smoke the ritual cigar.
Directed by John Tydeman
The Captain: Robin Bailey
Lady Baxter: June Tobin
Tomkins: Timothy Bateson
General Philby: Anthony Newlands
Young officers.: Simon Cuff
Young officers: Paul Sirr
Young officers: Stephen Tompkinson
Repeated from 18th January 1988
[The title is a musical work for the virginal by Tomkins, and is indeed spelled
without the usual final E in Pavane]


29th January 1988:
19.30 :
Master Olof by August Strindberg translated and adapted by Michael Meyer
Influenced by Ibsen's Brand, Strindberg wrote his own story of a fiery,
revolutionary priest who despite threats of eternal damnation, sets out to defy
the established Church and the full power of the monarchy.
Directed by Martin Jenkins
Olof: Miles Anderson
his mother: Dilys Hamlett
Lars, his brother: Anthony Jackson
Gert: Alfred Burke
Kristina, his daughter: Kathryn Hurlbutt
Bishop Brask: Cyril Luckham
King Gustav Vasa: Geoffrey Collins
Brother Martin: Jim Norton
Vilhelm: David Lonsdale
Peter/Anabaptist: Mark Straker
First citizen: Brian Smith
Woman/Abbess: Tessa Worsley
Bishop's secretary: Trevor Nichols
Bishop Mans: Manning Wilson
Nils: Tony Robinson
Svensson: John Hollis
Whore: Helena Breck
Verger: Alan Thompson
Verger's wife: Anne Jameson
Nobleman: John Webb
Earl Marshall: Bernard Brown
Second citizen: Colin Starkey
Repeated from 8th January 1986


2nd February 1988:
19.30 :
False Admissions (Les Fausses Confidences) by Marivaux translated by Timberlake
Wertenbaker
France, in the country house of the rich widow, Araminte. Dorante, is madly in
love with her and insinuates himself into her household as a steward. But he is
sorely beset by well-intentioned friends, who strive to serve his ends but only
succeed in embroiling him in more and more complex deceptions and
misunderstandings.
Gordon Langford (harpsichord)
Directed by David Johnston
Araminte: Frances Jeater
Dorante: Gary Bond
Mademoiselle Marton: Maggie McCarthy
Arlequin: William Hope
Dubois: Clive Panto
Monsieur Remy: Jack May
Madame Argante: Petra Davies
LeComte: Peter Baldwin
Repeated from 31st October 1984


5th February 1988:
22.00 :
Prometheus Mismatched by Andre Gide translated and adapted by Patrick Pollard.
In disgrace for selling matches without a licence, Prometheus goes to Paris
accompanied by his scrawny eagle. A smart waiter puts him in touch with a
millionaire who dispenses
pleasure and pain with godlike waywardness.
Directed by John Theocharis.
Prometheus: Denis Quilley
Author: William Eedle
Waiter: Mark Straker
Codes: Robin Summers
Damocles: Brian Smith
Millionaire: Bernard Brown
Tityrus: Arnold Diamond
Angela: Helena Breck
Meliboeus: Christopher Douglas
Also taking part: David Garth, Narissa Knights and Ellen McIntosh
Repeated from 28th April 1985.


9th February 1988:
21.05 :
Madame Aubray's Principles by Alexandre Dumas fils translated by Joanna
Richardson
Madame Aubray is an espouser of good causes. She charges herself with the
well-being of young unmarried mothers and makes it her life's work to promote
her high-minded notions in society. But what will she do when her family duty
conflicts with her much vaunted principles?
Directed by Peter Kavanagh
Mme Aubray: Susan Fleetwood
Barantin: Geoffrey Palmer
Camille: Stephen Tomkinson
Valmoreau: Steve Hodson
Tellier: Paul Gregory
Jeannine: Jane Snowden
Lucienne: Deborah Makepeace
Gaston: Caroline Gruber
Repeated 26th January 1990


12th February 1988:
21.30 :
Le Comptine by Yves Lebeau Fabrice translated by Lucienne Hill
It is almost a year since the son has visited his mother. She wastes no time in
letting him know how much she has missed him. Her love for him is obsessive -
their relationship is such that it shuts out everyone else in their lives.
Directed by David Johnston
Mother: Margaret Courtenay
Son: Ronald Pickup
Child: Polly James


16th February 1988:
21.10 :
Dialogues on a Broken Sphere by Stephen Davis
The discoveries concerning cosmology made by Koppernigk could turn the order of
medieval, Catholic-dominated Europe upside-down. His dilemma as a canon of the
Church and as a scientist is - should he publish and perhaps be damned for ever?
In 1539, a young Lutheran scholar travels to Poland to try to persuade him to
make up his mind.
Directed by John Tydeman
Nikolaus Koppemigk: Freddie Jones
J von Rheticus: Hywel Bennett
Tiedemann Giese: Peter Vaughan
Canon Sculteti: John Moffatt
Anna Schilling: Anne Jameson
Joachim Fabritius: Jonathan Tafler
Widow Gacek: Sheila Grant
Andreas: John Church
Melancthon: Stephen Thorne
Janek: Anthony Jackson
Anselm: Andrew Branch
Otho: Brian Hewlett
Borowski: Michael Tudor Barnes
Repeated from 9th October 1987


19th February 1988:
20.00 :
Whose Is the Kingdom? by John Arden and Margaretta D'Arcy.
One of nine: 1: The Cross of Light
AD 305: the Roman Empire - vast, unwieldy, divided into four huge regions -
cannot hold safe the border nor drive down dissent. Constantine, Emperor of the
West, prepares his work of unification.
Music composed and conducted by Stephen Boxer, performed by the Conchord
Ensemble and London Voices
Produced and directed by Ronald Mason
Kybele, Philosopher: Elizabeth Spriggs
Emperor Constantine: Michael N Harbour
Bishop Hosius: Timothy West
Empress Fausta: Samantha Bond
Semiramis, Fausta's slave-woman: Souad Faress
Melantho, an African: Cassie McFarlane
Joachim, a Christian Roman soldier: Stephen Boxer
Mary, a Christian Evangelist: Angela Pleasence
Purveyor: Paul Sirr
General: Michael Tudor Barnes
Centurion: Jonathan Tafler
Treasurer: Alan Dudley
Other parts played by Michael Deacon, Julie Berry, Zelah Clarke and Steve
Hodson
Repeated 12th July 1988.
[The BBC produced an illustrated booklet for this series of nine plays.]



23rd February 1988:
19.30 :
The Woman-Hater by Beaumont and Fletcher adapted by Philip Ward.
During a storm, Oriana takes refuge with Gondarino, the woman-hater. Her taunts
of his misogyny make him seek revenge. Meanwhile Lazarello, the hungry courtier,
undertakes a search of a different kind: for that rarest of delicacies, the head
of an Umbranofish....
Musicians Paul Arden Taylor (recorder/crumhorn); Carol Holt (harpsichord)
Directed by Clive Brill
BBC Pebble Mill
Gondarino: Jack Shepherd
Lazarillo: Roy Kinnear
Duke: Tim Brierley
Count: Jonathan Cullen
Oriana: Rachel Wright
Arrigo/Panderer: Terry Molloy
Lucio/Mercer: Simon Carter
First intelligencer: Tom Kelly
Second intelligencer: Andy Hockley
Boy: Paul Reynolds
Julia: Alison Dowling
Waiting woman: Hedu Niklaus
[The writers were Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher; this play (The Woman
Hater, or, The Hungry Courtier) was printed in 1607 and is attributed to mostly
Beaumont especially Acts 1 and 2]
[This play has the first recorded use of the English words earshot and
prostitute! - see Oxford dictionary]


26th February 1988:
20.00 :
Whose Is the Kingdom? by John Arden and Margaretta D'Arcy.
2 of 9: Christ Is Risen: Constantine
The Eastern empire: locked in famine, its borders threatened by Persia, its
Christian peoples persecuted, its emperor in search of the strongest god.
'Positive affirmation, that's what this empire needs: one God, female and male,
inclusive of all divinity.'
Music composed and conducted by Stephen Boxer
Directed by Penny Leicester
Kybele, Philosopher: Elizabeth Spriggs
co-Emperor Maximin Daza: Kenneth Cranham
an Eastern Priestess Oenothea: Anne Jameson
Theotecnus, Priest of Zeus: Peter Howell
Mary, evangelist: Angela Pleasence
Melantho: Cassie McFarlane
John the Reader: Geoffrey Matthews
Prisca, Dowager Empress: Pauline Letts
Valeria, her daughter: Julie Berry
Eumolpus, a scholar: Steve Hodson
Dion, an intellectual: Stephen Thorne
Co-Emperor Licinius: Laurence Payne
Lucusta: Margaret Ward
Bishop: Michael Deacon
Priest: Jonathan Tafler
also with David Goodland, Anthony Jackson, Karen Archer, Zelah Clarke. Sheila
Grant and Victoria Carling
Repeated 19th July 1988


4th March 1988:
20.00 :
Whose is the Kingdom? by John Arden and Margaretta D'Arcy.
3 of 9: Burdens of Empire
Constantine now rules the West and Licinius the East. A tentative alliance by
the marriage of his sister to Licinius gives Constantine time to prepare for
total power.
Has he the brains, the courage and the backing of a strong faith to bring back
respect into his empire?
Music composed and conducted by Stephen Boxer
Directed by Ronald Mason
Kybele, philosopher: Elizabeth Spnggs
Emperor Constantine: Michael N Harbour
Bishop Hosius: Timothy West
Empress Fausta: Samantha Bond
ex-Emperor Diocletian: Willoughby Goddard
Helen, mother of Constantine: Mary Wimbush
Mary, evangelist: Angela Pleasence
Eumolpus scholar: Steve Hodson
Melantho, an African: Cassie McFarlane
Helen-Fausta, her child: Jade Maravala
Prisca: Pauline Letts
Valeria: Julie Berry
Wolfgang: John Samson
Infortunatus: Laurence Payne
Peter: David Goodland
Old woman: Diana Olsson
Repeated 26th July 1988.


5th March 1988
22.45 :
Saltykov's World- 1 of 3: The Two High Officials by Mikhail Sal Tykov-Shchedrin,
(1826-89) dramatised by Jack Winter
An allegorical tale which savagely attacks the hypocrisy, greed and brutality of
Tsarist Russia.
Directed by Matthew Walters
Saltykov: Edward de Souza
First official: John Church
Second official: Manning Wilson
Repeated from 15th November 1986
Repeated 8th May 1989
[No credit given for the translation from the Russian.]


8th March 1988
21.40 :
Listening by Edward Albee (born 12 March 1928)
.... you don't listen; nobody listens anymore. Why does nobody listen ...?
Directed by Edward Albee and John Tydeman
the Voice: Edward Albee
the Woman: Irene Worth
the Girl: Maureen Anderman
the Man: James Ray
First broadcast 28th March 1976, repeated on 6th June 1976
[jointly commissioned by the BBC and National Public Radio (Earplay) in the USA]


9th March 1988:
22.30-23.00 :
The Sicilian Expedition by Thucydides translated by Rex Warner and arranged in
six parts by Donald Bancroft
1: The Expedition Sets Sail, 415BC
On the pretext that an ally, the Sicilian City of Egesta, needs help, the
Athenians debate the invasion of Sicily. For General Nicias the expedition is
foolhardy, unnecessary ana financially crippling. But Alcibiades persuades
Parliament that expansion wiu only strengthen the Athenian Empire. The proud
fleet that sails from Piraeus looks invincible in its magnificence.
Directed by John Theocharis
Nicias: Manning Wilson
Alcibiades: John Rye
Presenter: Eric Stovell
Repeated 1st August 1988
[Note: There was a separate production of "The Sicilian Expedition" directed by
by Kate McAll, written by John Fletcher, broadcast 2005 and 2007]





10th March 1988:
21.00 :
The Sicilian Expedition by Thucydides translated by Rex Warner and arranged in
six parts by Donald Bancroft
2: The Syracusans Prepare, 415 BC
News of the expedition has reached Syracuse, the principal city-state in Sicily.
Its leaders decide to resist Athenian aggression. The expeditionary force
arrives at Rhegium. but Alcibiades is recalled to Athens to stand trial for
allegedly conspiring to overthrow the democracy.
Thucydides: Edward de Souza
Readers Stephen Thorne, Stuart Organ. Alan Dudley and Eric Stovell
Repeated 4th August 1988


11th March 1988
20.00 :
Whose Is the Kingdom? by John Arden and Margaretta D'Arcy.
4 of 9: Letters, Discreet and Indiscreet
'I had a great vision, the sunrise of my day of victory. You can't question
visions. But by God you can question the men into whose hands they deliver
you!'
Music composed and conducted by Stephen Boxer
Directed by Penny Leicester
Kybele: Elizabeth Spriggs
Constantine: Michael N Harbour
Hosius: Timothy West
Fausta: Samantha Bond
Crispus, son of Constantine: Nicholas Geeks
Semiramis: Souad Faress
Mary: Angela Pleasence
Helen: Mary Wimbush
Jaxartes, Head of Secret Service: Sam Dastor
Physcon, a baker: David Buck
Bishop of Nicomedia: Ronald Herdman
also with Jonathan Tafler, Steve Hodson, Anthony Jackson, Victoria Carling,
Sheila Grant and Diana Olsson


11th March 1988
22.45-23.00 :
Saltykov's World- 2 of 3: The Idealistic Carp by Mikhail Sal Tykov-Shchedrin,
(1826-89) dramatised by Jack Winter
No one suspects the carp of being politically unreliable.
Directed by Matthew Walters
Saltykov.: Edward De Souza
Carp: George Parsons
Gremille: John Church
Pike: Manning Wilson
Chub: Susie Brann
Repeated from 18th November 1986
Repeated 3rd June 1989


12th March 1988:
22.20 :
Saltykov's World- 3 of 3: The Rational Rabbit by Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin,
(1826-89) dramatised by Jack Winter
Directed by Matthew Walters
Saltykov: Edward de Souza
Rabbit: David Learner
Wolf: Pauline Letts
Ms Rabbit: Susie Brann
Repeated from 21st November 1986
Repeated 6th August 1989


15th March 1988:
19.30 :
Artists and Admirers by Alexander Ostrovsky (1823-86) translated by David
Leveaux and Hanif Kureishi.
In this comedy of theatrical life in a provincial town, Ostrovsky, the most
significant Russian playwright before Chekhov, explores the tribulations of a
young actress beset with importunate but unsatisfactory admirers.
Directed By: Matthew Walters
Sasha: Natasha Richardson
the Prince: John Moffat
Martyn: John Horsley
Domna: Anne Jameson
Bakin: David Ashton
Ivan Velikatov: George Parsons
Nina Smelskaya: Tessa Worsley
Pyotr: Shaun Prendergast
Tragedian (Gromilov): Peter Woodthorpe
Gavril: John Grillo
Vasya: Robin Summers
Station porter: John Church
Repeated from 26th February 1986
[Matthew Walters produced a program with the same name but utterly different
content, for Radio 4 in 1995].


16th March 1988:
22.35 :
The Sicilian Expedition by Thucydides translated by Rex Warner and arranged in
six parts by Donald Bancroft
3 of 6: The Treachery of Alcibiades (415-4BC)
The Athenians land at Syracuse, are victorious, but then retire to Catana for
the winter. Alcibiades, having eluded his captors, defects to Sparta, the enemy
of Athens, and offers his services.
Directed By: John Theocharis
Thucydides: Edward de Souza
Readers John Rye, Manning Wilson and Eric Stovell


17th March 1988:
22.35 :
The Sicilian Expedition by Thucydides translated by Rex Warner and arranged in
six parts by Donald Bancroft
4 of 6: Night Attack on Epipolae (413BC)
The Athenians, faced with increasing resistance, send for large reinforcements.
When these arrive, a night attack is launched to gain control of Epipolae -
overlooking the city of Syracuse.
[No credits given in Radio Times]



18th March 1988
20.00 :
Whose Is the Kingdom? by John Arden and Margaretta D'Arcy.
5 of 9 : Fowlers' Nets
The Emperor has let loose Colonel Jaxartes, Head of his Secret Service, upon
the history of Christianity. Jaxartes is loyal neither to the new religion nor
to the old but only to his own caste, the subterranean servants of imperial
power.
Music composed and conducted by Stephen Boxer
Directed by Ronald Mason
Kybele: Elizabeth Spriggs
Constantine: Michael N Harbour
Hosius: Timothy West
Jaxartes: Sam Dastor
Fausta: And Samantha Bond
Mary: Angela Pleasence
John the Reader: Geoffrey Matthews
Eumolpus: Steve Hodson
Semiramis: Souad Faress
Helen: Mary Wimbush
Constantia, Constantine's sister: Karen Archer
Haroun: Raad Rawi
Chief of Station: Tony Wredden
Alpha Secundus: David Goodland
Guard: Anthony Jackson
Repeated 9th August 1988


22nd March 1988:
19.30 :
Vassa Zhelyeznova by Maxim Gorky Translated By: Tania Alexander
1910: As her merchant husband lies dying upstairs, Vassa is engaged in a
life-and-death struggle over the future of their business. 'To me, only one
thing has mattered. Building up this business. And nothing will get in my way
now.'
Directed by Matthew Walters
Vassa: Billie Whitelaw
Prokhor: Robert Lang
Anna: Emily Richard
Pavel: Jonathan Tafler
Liudmila: Wendy Morgan
Mikhail: Denis Lill
Semyon: And Andrew Branch
Natalya: Sue Broomfield
Lipa: Elaine Claxton
Dunya: Sheila Grant
Repeated from 11th November 1986


23rd March 1988:
22.30 :
The Sicilian Expedition by Thucydides translated by Rex Warner and arranged in
six parts by Donald Bancroft
5 of 6: Sea Flight in the Great Harbour, 413 BC
The Syracusans realise the overriding need to defeat the Athenian fleet, and
they win the first sea battle. Both sides prepare for the final decisive clash.
General Nicias exhorts his troops to stand firm for they are all that is now
left of the state and the great name of Athens.
Directed By: John Theocharis
Thucydides: Edward Souza
Readers Peter Howell, Manning Wilson and Eric Stovell


24th March 1988:
21.20 :
The Sicilian Expedition by Thucydides translated by Rex Warner and arranged in
six parts by Donald Bancroft
6 of 6: The Retreatfrom Syracuse, 413BC
The description by Thucydides of the last battle in the Great Harbour is a
supreme narrative achievement. The defeated Athenians start on their hopeless
trek, leaving their wounded comrades behind. They are completely and utterly
vanquished. This tragic outcome marks the end of Athens as a great City State.
Directed By: John Theocharis
Thucydides: Edward de Souza
Nicias: Manning Wilson
Presenter: Eric Stovell
Also taking part: Members of the Radio Drama Company


25th March 1988:
20.00-21.15 :
Whose Is the Kingdom? by John Arden and Margaretta D'Arcy.
6 of 9 : Nicaea
Bishop Hosius has convened a council of the whole Church which will not only
define the true faith, but isolate the dissenting cults and heresies of every
kind. What is to be the role of the Imperial Purple at this congregation?
Music composed and conducted by Stephen Boxer
Directed By: Ronald Mason
Kybele: Elizabeth Spriggs
Constantine: Michael N Harbour
Hosius: Timothy West
Bishop of Cyprus: Joseph O'Conor
Irene, his daughter: Maggie Sheviin
Eumolpus: And Steve Hodson
Bishop of Nicomedia: Ronald Herdman
Bishop of Antioch: John Rye
Bishop of Naples: Michael Deacon
Fanatical Bishop: Alan Dudley
Pedantic Bishop: Laurence Payne
with David Goodland, Brian Hewlett and Diana Olsson


29th March 1988:
22.25-22.50 :
Private Dreams and Public Nightmares (A Radiophonic Poem) by Frederick Bradnum
The BBC Radiophonic Workshop is 30 years old this week and this programme,
broadcast in October 1957, was the final step on the road which led to its
formation. This pioneering work was described then as 'an attempt to convey a new kind of
emotional and intellectual experience by means of radiophonic effects'.
Radiophonic realisation by Daphne Oram and Desmond Briscoe
Producer Donald McWhinnie
With Joan Sanderson , Andrew Sachs and Frederick Treves
First broadcast 7th October 1959



30th March 1988:
19.30 -21.15 :
... Forget Herostratus! by Gregory Gorin translated by Michael Glenny
In 356 BC, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the
World, was burnt down by Herostratus, a young market trader. Before his
execution, the arsonist confessed that he did it to achieve immortality. In
response, the Rulers decreed that the name of Herostratus should be consigned to
oblivion. Easier said than done - particularly when the playwright, armed with
the hindsight of history, takes part in the action.
Directed By: John Theocharis
Herostratus: Mike Gwilym
Cleon: John Moffatt
Kallisti: Geraldine James
Tissafernes: Joseph Marcell
Author: Edward Desouza
Chrysippus: John Church
Aglaia: Rachel Gurney
Jailer: George Parsons
Ephesians: Karen Ascoe
Ephesians: Susie Brann
Ephesians: David Goodland
Ephesians: Eric Stovell
Ephesians: Kim Wall
Repeated from 25th November 1986


1st April 1988
20.00-21.15 :
Whose Is the Kingdom? by John Arden and Margaretta D'Arcy.
7 of 9 : "An Eye for an 'I' "
'The People of Christ are the people of a book. A God-dictated book. Read it to
the Emperor. Teach him to read it. Teach him to teach it. Rule him - that he
may rule.' Will Constantine accept what for Bishop Hosius is an act of faith?
Music composed and conducted by Stephen Boxer
Directed by Ronald Mason
Kybele: Elizabeth Spriggs
Constantine: Michael N Harbour
Helen: Mary Wimbush
Jaxartes: And Sam Dastor
Fausta: Samantha Bond
Melantho: Cassie McFarlane
Helen Fausta: Jade Maravala
Dion: Stephen Thorne
Paul of Tarsus: Roshan Seth
Physcon: David Buck
Mary: Angela Pleasence
Architect: Michael Tudor Barnes
Bishop of London: David Goodland
Secret agent: John Baddeley
Dissidents: Frank Olegario
Dissidents: Karen Archer
Repeated 23rd August 1988


5th April 1988
19.30 :
Three Little Girls in Blue by Ludmilla Petrushevskaya. English version by
Lianne Aukin from a translation by Boris Isarov
The three girls are not so little and, unlike the three sisters, they are
longing to get away from Moscow. They quarrel about their children, their
mothers and who's going to mend the roof, and their problems seem more absurd
than tragic.
Directed by Jane Morgan
Ira: With Frances Barber
Svetlana: Maureen O'Brien
Tatiana: Caroline Gruber
Fedorovna: Elizabeth Spriggs
Maria and: Ann Mitchell
Nikolai: Anthony Jackson
Pavlik: Lawrence Cooper
Valera: Kim Wall
Anton: Leo Docherty
Maxim: Richard Pearce
Young man: Stephen Rashbrook
Official: Peter Craze
Woman: Joan Walker
Leokardia: Evastuart
[The reference to the Three Sisters is to the play by Chekhov]
Repeated 12th January 1990


8th April 1988
20.00 :
Whose Is the Kingdom? by John Arden and Margaretta D'Arcy.
8 of 9 : Interrogations
At the Jubilee in Rome, the Emperor Constantine awaits a new vision, as great a
vision as the Cross of Light: 'I, and I alone can reconcile all these different
shapes and sizes of man-Christ and woman-Christ, who so conturb the truth of the
world.'
Music composed and conducted by Stephen Boxer
Directed by Penny Leicester
Kybele: Elizabeth Spriggs
Constantine: Michael N Harbour
Hosius: Timothy West
Fausta: Samantha Bond
Mary: Angela Pleasence
Eumolpus: Steve Hodson
Crispus: And Nicholas Geeks
Oenothea: Anne Jameson
Helen: Mary Wimbush
Jaxartes: Sam Dastor
Paul of Tarsus: Roshan Seth
General: Michael Tudor Barnes
Centurion: Jonathan Tafler
Guard: David Goodland
Repeated 30th August 1988


12th April 1988:
21.00-23.00:
Golovlovo by Jack Winter based on the novel The Golovlev Family by M.E.
Saltykov Shchedrin (1826-89)
Golovlovo is a family chronicle tracing the disintegration of three generations
of land-owning gentry, before and after the emancipation of the serfs in 1861.
In this trenchant satire on a rotting society, Saltykov is concerned not with
economic decline, but with moral decay. The space vacated by human values and
natural affection is soon invaded by hypocrisy, envy, fear and greed.
Directed by John Theocharis
Arina Petrovna: Margaret Rawlings
Porfiry Vladimirych,: Robert Stephens
Stepan: Simon Cuff
Pavel: Michael Deacon
Petya: Richard Pearce
Volodya: Kim Wall
Anninka: Emily Richard
Lubinka: Joanna MacKie
Ulita: Pauline Letts
Eupraxia: Joan Walker
Yakov: Peter Tuddenham
Priest: Douglas Blackwell
Doctor: Michael Tudor Barnes


15th April 1988
20.00 :
Whose Is the Kingdom? by John Arden and Margaretta D'Arcy.
9 of 9: Hypothesis.
'Am I therefore to subordinate my sovereignty upon earth, now, to the rule of
Christ, he who will be imposing himself over me once I am dead?'
Was Constantine's embracing of Christianity another political act or a true
commitment, a revelation?
Music composed and conducted by Stephen Boxer
Performed by the Conchord Ensemble. London Voices and Trinity Boys' Choir
Technical presentation: Carol McShane, David Blount, Rosamund Mason
Directed by Ronald Mason and Penny Leicester
Executive producer Ronald Mason
Paul of Tarsus: Roshan Seth
Oenothea: Anne Jameson
Eutropia: Jill Bennett
Constantine: Michael N Harbour
Kybele: Elizabeth Spriggs
Helen: Mary Wimbush
Mary: Angela Pleasence
Jaxartes: Sam Dastor
Fausta: Samantha Bond
Semiramis: Souad Faress
Joachim: Stephen Boxer
Melantho: Cassie McFarlane
Constantia: Karen Archer
Hebrew scholar: Leonard Fenton
Camel driver: Alix Refaie
Camel master: Michael Deacon
Also With Jonathan Tafler, Alan Dudley and Zelah Clark
Repeated 6th September 1988


19th April 1988:
21.45 :
Christie Malry's Own Double Entry by B. S. Johnson (1933-1973) dramatised by Mike Gerrard
Christie has a strong sense of the value of money and also of injustice, and
therefore evolves his own system for exacting payment for the various wrongs
that he is made to suffer. The debts mount up and Christie has to take extreme
measures in order to balance his books.
Directed by Jane Morgan
the Author: Bill Paterson
Christie Malry: Jonathan Tafler
Headlam: Steve Hodson
Stegginson: Richard Durden
Alan: David Learner
Wagner: Colin Starkey
Shrike: Karen McMullen
Old Mum: Pauline Letts
Christie's mother: Sonia Fraser
With Susie Brann, Avril Clark, Caroline Hutchison, Deborah Makepeace, Stuart Organ, Stephen Rashbrook, Tim Reynolds, Eric Stovell and Alan Thompson
Repeated from 5th May 1987
[The novel was made into a film in 2000, Cert 18]



22nd April 1988
22.00 :
Berlin: A Sea of Peace by Einar Schleef (1944-2001) translated by Anthony Vivis
Mother and Dad live in East Berlin, but their television serves as a window on to the West. Lulled by its cosy glow they can ignore the warnings of an imminent storm.
Directed By: Jeremy Mortimer
Dad: Geoffrey Hutchings
Mother: Pat Heywood
Karen: Elaine Claxton
Elfi: Annabelle Lanyon
Television voices: Karen Ascoe
Television voices: Eric Stovell
Television voices: Kim Wall
Repeated from 26th May 1987


26th April 1988
21.25- 22.00 :
Upended by Rhys Adrian (1928-1990)
The price of property in the south of England has soared and many householders are sitting on a fortune in bricks and mortar. The problem is when to sell? And where to move to?
Director: John Tydeman
Gerald: Norman Bird
Jane: Eva Stuart
Jack: Michael Tudor Barnes
Frank: Richard Tate
Eric: William Simons
Walter: Stephen Tompkinson
Repeated on Radio 4 on 3rd July 1988.
[This was the last radio play written by Rhys Adrian]


29th April 1988
21.05 :
Frozen Assets by Barrie Keeffe
A Borstal boy is on the run. Has he killed a prison warder? On his pilgrim's progress through a London winter landscape, he comes across a flamboyant Labour peer, and a down and out ex-champion boxer. He's led to his brother-in-law's latest haul, the frozen assets.
Directed by Richard Wortley
Buddy: With Julian Firth
Pam: Judy Loe
Ronnie: Clive Mantle
the Priest: Richard Durden
Lord Plaistow: Harold Innocent
Al: Robin Summers
Sammy: Danny Schiller
Screw: John Hollis
Joan: Avril Clark
Aunt Connie: Kate Williams
Henry: George Parsons
Edna: Sheila Grant
Frank: Gordon Reid
Davy: Tony Hyppolyte
Referee: Ronald Herdman
Nurse: Deborah Makepeace
Matron: Pauline Letts
Youth: David Learner
Repeated from 30th January 1987


6th May 1988:
21.30-23.00:
The Sea Anchor by E. A. Whitehead
Five people decide to take a weekend break from Liverpool. They sail to Dublin, but one of them decides to make the journey in a ten-foot dinghy. On a scorching day and in a carnival atmosphere, the other four wait on a jetty with a nice drop of booze. But the weather is clouding.
Directed By: Peter King
Sylvia: Kate Fitzgerald
Les: Jonathan Pryce
Andy: Michael Angelis
Jean: Elizabeth Estensen
Repeated from 6th June 1983.


10th May 198
21.55 :
The Old Goat Gone by Ted Whitehead
Dominic has had a full life, sailing round the world. A girl in every port, brown skins, blue skies, green waters. And his wife Bridget has to put up with his reminiscing and his dying.
Directed By: Peter King
Dominic: James Ellis
Bridget: Eileen Atkins
Terry: Michael Angelis
Repeated from 10th July 1987


13th May 1988
21.00 :
The Bay at Nice by David Hare
A formidable woman has been asked by Russian authorities to authenticate a Matisse painting. The setting is a museum in Leningrad in 1956.
Directed By: Richard Wortley
Valentina Nrovka: Irene Worth
Sophia Yepileva: Zoe Wanamaker
Assistant curator: Colin Stinton
Peter Linitsky: Phillp Locke
First broadcast 20th March 1987
[First performed on 9 September 1986 at the National Theatre]


17th May 1988
20.40-21.45:
The Possibilities by Howard Barker
Moral decisions in the extremes of war:
1: Kiss My Hands
2: The Necessity for Prostitution
3: Reasons for the Fall
4: The Dumb Woman's Ecstasy
5: The Philosophical Lieutenant and the Three Village Women
6: Not Him
Directed By: Richard Wortley
the Woman: Penny Downie
her Husband: Clive Merrison
the Old Woman: Giuian Barge
the Young Woman: Penny Downie
the Young Man: Mick Ford
Alexander: Nigel Terry
Officer: Ian Thompson
Groom: John Hollis
the Torture: Clive Merrison
the Youth: Richard Pearce
the Lieutenant: John Rowe
Women.: Diana Olsson
Women: Victoria Carling
Women: Emily Richard
the Woman: Tilda Swinton
the Man: Sean Barrett
the Second Woman: Emily Richard
Also taking part: Peter Craze, Anthony Jackson, David Goodland, Stephen Rashbrook, James Holland, Eva Stuart, Stephen Tompkinson


20th May 1988
19.30 :
The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare
adapted by Jeremy Mortimer.
Kate is wilful, loud, volatile and above all, shrewish. Petruchio is stern, jolly, and somewhat odd. A match made in heaven?
Music composed by Mia Soteriou performed by Tom Finucane, Liz Stanbridge and the composer
Technical presentation by Richard Beadsmoore, Rosamund Mason and Keith Graham
Directed By: Jeremy Mortimer
Petruchio: Bob Peck
Katherina: Cheryl Campbell
Baptista Minola, Katherina's father: Laurence Payne
Bianca, her sister: Moir Leslie
Suitors to Bianca Hortensio: Douglas Hodoe
Gremio, an old man: Michael Deacon
Lucentio, a gentleman of Pisa: Stephen Tompkinson
Tranio, Lucentio's servant: Christopher Fairbank
Pedant: John Baddeley
Tailor: Simon Cuff
Vincentio/Lord: Anthony Jackson
Christopher Sly/Curtis: William Simons
Page: Richard Pearce
Hostess/Widow: Linda Polan
Also with Stephen Rashbrook.
Repeated 24th March 1989.
Also repeated on Radio 4 on 25th December 1993
[The British Library has a recording of the 1989 broadcast]


27th May 1988:
21.10 :
Gertrude Stein and a Companion by Win Wells 'It was 1.30 on the morning of 7 March 1967, and her heart stopped beating. Her beating heart stopped. She was placed beside me in the vault beside me at Pere Lachaise and someone said "Ladies and Gentlemen ... it is over"... but was it? It was not!'
Music composed and performed by Peter Jarvis
Radio production by Stewart Conn based on the stage version by Sonia Fraser.
BBC Scotland
Gertrude Stein: Miriam Margolyes
Alice B Toklas: Natasha Morgan
Repeated from 15th December 1985


31st May 1988
22.00 :
The Prince of Africa by Caryl Phillips.
An English sea captain, new to the slave trade, finds himself in charge of an overcrowded slave ship to America.
Directed By: Richard Wortley
the African: Trevor Laird
Captain John Winston: Geoffrey Collins
the Boatswain: Geoffrey Matthews
the First Mate: John Rowe
Cabin boy: Davld Learner
Brother: James Goode
Father: Willie Jonah
Hotel keeper: Brian Hewlett
Auctioneer: Bruce Boa
Repeated from 3rd March 1987


3rd June 1988:
19.30 :
Blues for Mr Charlie by James Baldwin (1924-1987).
Plaguetown, USA, 1958: 'The plague is race; the plague is our concept of Christianity: and this raging plague has the power to destroy every human relationship.'
Musical adviser Joe Seely
Directed By: Martin Jenkins
The Rev Meridian Henry: Errol Slue
Mother Henry, his mother: Dolores Ettienne
Richard, his son: Phil Akin
Juanita: Alison Seely-Smith
Pete, her boyfriend: Elliot McTver
Lorenzo: Anthony Sherwood
Tom: Phil Jarrett
Papa D, a drugstore owner / Lyle Britten: Gene Buza
Jo, his Wife: Marti Maraden
Parnell, a newspaper owner: Richard Donat
Hazel: Margaret Bard
Ellis/ Judge: Wayne Robson
Susan: Gina Wilkinson
George/ Counsel for bereaved: Peter Millard
The Rev Mr Phelps/ State Prosecutor: George Merner
[Loosely based on the Emmett Till murder (1955) that occurred in Money, Mississippi, before the Civil Rights Movement began]
["Mister Charlie" is a phrase used by African Americans that refers to the white man.]
[The BBC incorrectly identified this as Baldwin's first play, it wasn't- that was The Amen Corner in 1954- Blues was ten years later]
Repeated 22nd November 1988.


7th June 1988:
21.00-23.00 :
Troupers by Ron Hutchinson
During the Second World War a broadcasting unit existed to boost morale by bringing live variety to the nation from factory canteens. Troupers concerns the shenanigans that ensue when three professional artistes refuse to share a programme with local amateur talents. Light entertainment's rawest recruit, Bob Blacker , is sent to the icy wastes of Crewe to quell the rebellious novelty instrumentalist, satisfy the promiscuous female vocalist and placate the tubercular comedy ventriloquist.
Directed By: Philip Martin
BBC Pebble Mill
Blacker: Tim Brierley
Jerry Coe: Terry Molloy
Duggie Bunn: Christopher Benjamin
Ellen: Gillian Goodman
WllCOX: Dave Mitty
Miss Digby/Jennifer: Carrie Lee Baker
Skinker: Edwin Richfield
Venn: Kim Durham
Trumper/Announcer: John Dixon
Comic: Keith Mansell
Actor/Technical manager: David Vann
Larry: Alton Douglas
Soprano: Hedli Niklaus
Tenor: Andy Hockley
Whistler: Lan Campbell
Pianist: Harold Rich


10th June 1988
19.30-20.35 :
Languages Spoken Here by Richard Nelson.
Michael believes he is doing a favour for the Polish emigre writer, Janusz, by translating his book, but is he?
Directed By: Ned Chaillet
Michael Milick: Colin Stinton
Annie Milick: Emily Richard
Janusz Vukovski: Renny Krupinski
[A Giles Cooper Award winner as one of the best radio plays of 1987.]
Repeated from 10th December 1987.
Also broadcast on BBC World Service on 18th September 1988 and on BBC7 in 2003.


11th June 1988:
21.00 :
Chikamatsu by Lan Burton
Distant echoes of warriors shouting and dying, swords, although modem, clashing. And here a cane basket full of heads, open-eyed heroes, beautiful courtesans, ferocious moustachioed villains, black-hooded executioners, ladies hanging. But they're all puppets and their operators, veiled in black, are waiting in the wings.
Music composed and performed by Yoshikazu Iwamoto (shakuhachi) with Ann Colus (percussion)
Directed By: Piers Plowright
Chikamatsu: John Moffatt
Masadayu: Anton Lesser
Also with Elaine Claxton, Steven Harrold, Stephen Hattersley, Peter Howell and Eric Stovell as puppets, puppeteers, monks and actors
[Dramatist Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1725). The puppet theater of Japan, Bunraku, popular during the eighteenth century]
Repeated from 15th November 1987


14th June 1988
21.15-22.45 :
The Hat by Marcella Evaristi
It is Paris, 1920, and Dada is in the air, so perhaps it is no surprise when Marianne's hat becomes her confidante and adviser after her lover kicks them out. But the revenge is Marianne's as her lover's celebrated portrait of her gradually diminishes, and Marianne herself becomes the toast of Dada.
Directed by Ned Chaillet
Marianne: Phyllis Logan
Mirror: Margaret Robertson
Crispin: Stephen Boxer
Hat: Nick Dunning
Compact mirror: Polly James
Bertrand Bertrand: Barry McGovern
Katya: Marcella Evaristi
Andre: Peter Kelly
Simon: Harold Innocent
Stranger: Steve Hodson
Waiter: Richard Pearce
Auctioneer: Simon Cuff
Repeated on 18th July 1989


17th June 1988:
19.30 :
The Ascent of F6 by W. H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood adapted by Glyn Dearman
Music by Benjamin Britten
Written, and set, in 1936.
[Note to 1938 version: F6, an imaginary mountain, is attacked by a climbing party led by Michael Ransom , and the play is concerned chiefly with the experiences of the party as they go higher and higher towards their goal, and finally with the revelation to Ransom in the nature of the goal itself."]
Choruses spoken by Victoria Carling, Andrew Downer, Richard Pearce, Eva Stuart, Joan Walker and members of the cast.
Choruses sung by BBC Singers
Music played by Catherine Edwards, Andrew Ball (pianos), Gregory Knowles (percussion), and Judd Proctor (ukulele)
Musical director Simon Joly
Directed by Glyn Dearman and John Evans
Michael Ransom: Mick Ford
Mrs Ransom: Patricia Routledge
Sir James Ransom: Jeremy Child
Mr A: Bernard Hepton
Mrs A: Polly James
Lord Stagmantle: Peter Jeffrey
the Abbot: Robert Eddison
Lady Isabel: Emily Richard
David Gunn: Stephen Rashbrook
Ian Shawcross: Julian Firth
Gen Dellaby-Couch: Garard Green
Dr Williams: William Simons
Edward Lamp: David Learner
Announcer: Michael Tudor Barnes
Repeated on 6th July 1990 and 27th March 1994


21st June 1988:
22.15-23.00 :
Hancock's Last Half-Hour by Heathcote Williams
Tony Hancock died on 25 June 1968. His last half-hour is a solitary affair and his audience has dwindled to a telephone, some clippings and a bottle of vodka.
Director: Ned Chaillet
Tony Hancock: Richard Briers
With Steve Hodson and Zelah Clarke
Repeated on 21st April 1990


24th June 1988:
19.30 :
Love's Sacrifice by John Ford (1586-c1639) adapted by Brett Usher
May't please your gentle grace to hear once more the story of a castaway in love....
Ford's tale of love corrupted by envy and jealousy, of faith tested by passion, was written in 1633 but there is no record of it having been professionally performed for over 350 years.
Directed by Caroline Raphael
Phillipo, Duke of Pavia: John Shrapnel
Bianca, the Duchess: Sian Thomas
Fernando, friend to the Duke: Anton Lesser
Fiormonda, sister to the Duke: Tessa Peake-Jones
D'Avolos, secretary to the Duke: Karl Johnson
Roseilli: Nick Dunning
Petruchio: Peter Howell
Nibrassa/Abbot: Manning Wilson
Ferentes: Stephen Rashbrook
Mauruccio: Ian Lindsay
Colona: Sophie Thompson
Julia: Susie Brann
Morona: Pauune Letts
Giacopo: Paul Bradley
Repeated from 30th December 1986
[The RSC staged this play in 2015]


28th June 1988
20.50 :
Dead Reckonings by Manny Draycott
Mary and Marcia have lived in a complicated menage a trois with Mary's husband George for many years. Mary's niece arrives on a surprise visit to find that George has died that very morning. She discovers that over the years the resentment between wife and mistress became almost unbearable, and George 'died' just as he was threatening to leave. What actually happened on the day of his death?
Directed by Cherry Cookson
Mary: Fabia Drake
Marcia: Avril Elgar
Naomi: Moir Leslie
Boy: Richard Pearce
Naomi's mother: Barbara Atkinson
Man on train: Laurence Payne
Coroner: Laurence Payne
Ticket collector/ Policeman: Norman Bird
Meterman: Peter Craze


1st July 1988
19.30 :
A Long Fidelity by Francoise Campo-Timal translated by Barbara Bray
<i>Tomorrow, corpse, I'll stop bringing you water.
And you must learn, corpse, to do without rice.
From tomorrow I turn my back on you.
Here ends my long fidelity.
While I go back to the company ofmen,
You must lie in the midst of our dead. </i>
Vietnam after the Second World War is a place of violence and confusion; and for the daughter of a French engineer living there, it leaves a terrifying legacy.
Directed By: Tim Suter
Woman: Cheryl Campbell
Grandmother: Rosemary Leach
Psychologist: Laurence Payne
Vietnamese adviser Lien Warder
Repeated from 1st December 1987


8th July 1988
20.15 :
The Compromise by Istvan Eorsi translated from the Hungarian by Ria Julian and Anthony Vivis.
Zoltan's magnum opus on 'Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Hungary' will be published - but only if he makes certain changes.
As the Comrades say, one miserable little stomach ulcer isn't going to stop him, is it?
Directed By: Patrick Rayner
BBC Scotland
Comrade Verebes: Hugh Dickson
Comrade Foldes: Bernard Hepton
Borsi: John Hurt
Zoltan: Ronald Pickup
Maria: Juliet Stevenson
Repeated from 26th September 1986
Also repeated on Radio 4 on 12th October 1996


12th July 1988:
22.00 :
Whose Is the Kingdom?
1 of 9 The Cross of Light
Repeated from 19th February 1988 - please see above.


13th July 1988:
19.05-19.30 :
Blood and Bruises. 1 of 6: An Inspector Calls by Colin McLaren
'I mean, what we're doing out here on the pavement, basically we're perpetuating drama in its most elemental form.'
Music By: Roger Limb of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop
Producer: Piers Plowright
Liz: Helen Atkinson-Wood
Roy: Cyril Nri
Alastair: Benjamin Whitrow
GB: Caroline Guthrie
Tony: And Steven Harrold
ErwinSpassky: Bill Hootkins
Norm Minter: Glyn Edwards
Tilly Minter: Eva Stuart



19th July 1988:
22.00 :
Whose Is the Kingdom?
2 of 9: Christ Is Risen
Repeated from 26th February 1988 - please see above.


20th July 1988:
19.05-19.30 :
Blood and Bruises- 2 of 6: Playing the Market by Colin McLaren
'I mean, what we're doing, we're transforming this street into an area of interface, right, between the primal forces of good and evil.'
Music By: Roger Limb of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop
Producer: Piers Plowright
Liz: Helen Atkinson Wood
Roy: Cyril Nri
Alastair: Benjamin Whitrow
GB: Caroline Guthrie
Tony: Steven Harrold
Erwin Spassky: Bill Hootkins
Norm Minter: Glyn Edwards
Tilly Minter: Eva Stuart
Stanley Dredge: Norman Bird
Reader: Steve Hodson


22nd July 1988:
21.05 :
The Odd Business at Narvik by Frederick Bradnum
'Three years ago - and it seems 30, Frank - you were in action for the first time, at Narvik as a lance jack, but soon to be commissioned in the field, a rare distinction. That was an odd business at Narvik, wasn't it?'
Directed by Lan Cotterell
Frank: Laurence Payne
Anne: Emily Richard
Lieutenant: Steve Hodson
Frank (in his teens): Stephen Rashbrook
Angus: Ian Michie
Sergeant: Michael Tudor Barnes
Subaltern: Philip Sully
Wood: Richard Pearce
Butcher: John Baddeley
Corporal: Ian Targett
English soldier: Ken Cumberlidge
Repeated 5th June 1990


26th July 1988:
22.00 :
Whose Is the Kingdom?
3 of 9: Burdens of Empire
Repeated from 4th March 1988 - please see above.


27th July 1988:
19.05-19.30 :
Blood and Bruises- 3 of 6: The Inner-City Saviour by Colin McLaren
'Yeah, well, course, basically street theatre is a sort of social sound system.'
Music By: Roger Limb of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop
Producer: Piers Plowright
Liz: Helen Atkinson Wood
Roy: Cyril Nri
Alastair: Benjamin Whitrow
GB: Caroline Guthrie
Tony: Steven Harrold
ErwinSpassky: Bill Hootkins
Norm Minter: Glyn Edwards
Tilly Minter: Eva Stuart
Trevor Nutkin: John Baddeley
First man: Steve Hodson
Second man: David Goodland
Third man: Michael Deacon
First woman: Zelah Clarke
Second and third women: Diana Olsson


1st August 1988
19.05-19.30:
The Sicilian Expedition by Thucydides arranged by Donald Bancroft from the translation by Rex Warner.
Part 1 of 6: The Expedition Sets Sail.
Repeated from 9th March 1988- please see above.


2nd August 1988:
22.00 :
Whose Is the Kingdom?
4 of 9: Letters, Discreet and Indiscreet
Repeated from 11th March 1988 - please see above.


4th August 1988
19.05-19.30:
The Sicilian Expedition by Thucydides arranged by Donald Bancroft from the translation by Rex Warner.
Part 2 of 6: The Syracusans Prepare.
Repeated from 10th March 1988- please see above.


5th August 1988
19.05-19.30:
The Sicilian Expedition by Thucydides arranged by Donald Bancroft from the translation by Rex Warner.
Part 3 of 6: The Treachery of Alcibiades
Repeated from 16th March 1988- please see above.


5th August 1988:
21.55 :
Satellites Are out Tonight by Antoine O Flatharta
'Look at anyone in a Photograph, even if they're not dead - they will be. Barthes said that every photograph is this catastrophe.'
The tragedy of Sean's death during a photography summer school in Ireland is brought home by the pictures he leaves behind.
Directed by Jeremy Howe
BBC Northern Ireland
Terry: With Eamon Kelly
Sean: And Joe Savino
Des: Colm Hefferon
Mark: Conor Mullen
Christina: Jill Doyle
Old man: Michael Duffy
Conor: Tom Jordan
Repeated 21st November 1989


9th August 1988:
22.00 :
Whose Is the Kingdom?
5 of 9: Fowlers' Nets
Repeated from 18th March 1988 - please see above.


10th August 1988:
19.05-19.30 :
Blood and Bruises- 4 of 6: OED Day by Colin McLaren
Course, compared to your Commedia dell'arte and that, we got it made.'
Music By: Roger Limb of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop
Producer: Piers Plowright
Liz: Helen Atkinson Wood
Roy: Cyril Nri
Alastair: Benjamin Whitrow
G B: Caroline Guthrie
Tony: Steven Harrold
ErwinSpassky: Bill Hootkins
Norm Minter: Glyn Edwards
Tilly Minter: Evastuart
DJ: Paul Sirr
Mr Sharma: Sam Dastor
Announcer: Eugene Fraser


11th August 1988
19.05-19.30:
The Sicilian Expedition by Thucydides arranged by Donald Bancroft from the translation by Rex Warner.
Part 4 of 6: Night Attack on Epipolae
Repeated from 17th March 1988- please see above.


12th August 1988
19.05-19.30:
The Sicilian Expedition by Thucydides arranged by Donald Bancroft from the translation by Rex Warner.
Part 5 of 6: Sea Fight in the Great Harbour.
Repeated from 23rd March 1988- please see above.


12th August 1988:
21.40 :
An Giall (The Hostage) by Brendan Behan translated from the Irish by Lorcan O'Treasaigh adapted by Jeremy Howe
The first production in English of Behan's Irish tragedy - the play that formed the basis of Joan Littlewood 's Theatre Workshop hit of the 1960s.
In 1958 the IRA are preparing a safe house in a Dublin brothel in which to hold hostage a British soldier.
Bagpipes played by Brian Kidd
Directed by Jeremy Howe
BBC Northern Ireland
Narrator Michael Baguley
Leslie, a soldier: Kieron Smith
Trassa: Ann Callanan
Patrick: John Hewitt
Kate: Anne Kent
Monsoor: Anthony Finigan
Officer in the IRA: Stephen Ryan
Volunteer in the IRA: Sean Kearns
Bray Harrier, a detective: Tom Jordan
Repeated 19th May 1989


15th August 1988:
19.05-19.30:
The Sicilian Expedition by Thucydides arranged by Donald Bancroft from the translation by Rex Warner.
Part 6 of 6: The Retreat from Syracuse
Repeated from 24th March 1988- please see above.


16th August 1988:
21.45:
Whose Is the Kingdom?
6 of 9: Nicaea
Repeated from 25th March 1988 - please see above.


17th August 1988:
19.05-19.30 :
Blood and Bruises- 5 of 6: Cabbage Soup by Colin McLaren
'Yeah, well, course it's compassion really. That's what street theatre's all about. Basically.'
Music By: Roger Limb of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop
Producer: Piers Plowright
Liz: Helen Atkinson Wood
Roy: Cyril Nri
Alastair: Benjamin Whitrow
G B: Caroline Guthrie
Tony: And Steven Harrold
Erwin Spassky: Bill Hootkin
Norm Minter: Glyn Edwards
Tilly Minter: Eva Stuart
Evelyn Apps: Diana Olsson
First and third readers: David Goodland
Second reader: Steve Hodson
Fourth reader: Michael Deacon


19th August 1988:
21.10-22.00 :
Why Leo? by Rhys Adrian
They were all artists once - Simon, Frank, Harry, Brian, Colin and Leo. Now some are dead some have sold out, some exploit the work of others.
To Frank it seems that the accountants have taken over from the artists. And what about Leo?
Directed by John Tydeman
Comedy By: Rhys Adrian
Frank: Richard Briers
June: Frank Vivian Pickles
Brian: Stratford Johns


23rd August 1988:
22.00:
Whose Is the Kingdom?
7 of 9: An eye for an eye
Repeated from 1st April 1988 - please see above..


24th August 1988:
19.05-19.30 :
Blood and Bruises- 6 of 6: This Rover Crossed Over by Colin McLaren
'Course, that's what street theatre's all about. Basically, you know, humanity and that.'
Music By: Roger Limb of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop
Producer: Piers Plowright
Liz: Helen Atkinson Wood
Roy: Cyril Nri
Alastair: Benjamin Whitrow
G B: Caroline Guthrie
Tony: Steven Harrold
ErwinSpassky: Bill Hootkins
Norm Minter: Glyn Edwards
Tilly Minter: Eva Stuart
Geoffrey: Laurence Payne


30th August 1988:
21.30:
Whose Is the Kingdom?
8 of 9: Interrogations
Repeated from 8th April 1988 - please see above..


2nd September 1988:
21.45 :
Odd Moments by Perry Pontac
Everilda applies for the post of housekeeper to the Lufframs. She's highly trained and experienced, as well as young and beautiful, but Mrs Luffram hires her because of another more surprising qualification.
Directed by Richard Wortley
Contributors
Everilda: Brenda Blethyn
Mrs Luffram: Judy Parfitt
Mr Luffram: Robert Lang
Vicar: Philip Sully


6th September 1988:
21.45:
Whose Is the Kingdom?
9 of 9: Hypothesis.
Repeated from 15th April 1988 - please see above..


9th September 1988:
21.35 :
The Rocking Chair (Le Fauteuil a bascule, 1982) by Jean Claude Brisville (1922-2014) translated and adapted by Vernon Dobtcheff
The Rocking Chair might be said to be about language and progress and power and success. Alternatively, it is about an older man who one evening calls uninvited on a younger man, who is expecting the visit of an even younger man.
Directed By: Graham Gauld
Jerome: Alec McCowen
Oswald: Martin Jarvis
Sean: Peter Acre
Repeated on 3rd August 1990


16th September 1988:
21.35 :
Sweet Fat by Jack Kenny and Peter King
Three people remember a great man of jazz from the 50s. For Helen, his tour brings back bitter-sweet memories, but she cannot resist hearing him play one more time.
Music composed and directed by Graham Collier (1937-2011)
Art Themen (tenor/soprano saxophones)
Ed Speight (guitar)
Geoff Castle (piano)
Mick Hutton (double-bass)
Ashley Brown (drums/ percussion)
Directed by Peter King
Helen: Elizabeth Bell
Sidney: Thomas Baptiste
Robert: Norman Bird
Sam: Robin Summers
Repeated 27th March 1990


20th September 1988
19.30 :
Alcestis by Euripides translated by William Arrowsmith
When the gods demand Admetos' death, his wife Alcestis offers herself in his place.
This, the earliest of Euripides' known plays, has a mixture of styles that more resembles Shakespeare's romances than the work of contemporary Greek tragedians.
Music by Harvey Brough and Jeremy Taylor
Directed by Penny Gold
Admetos: Roger Allam
Alcestis: Alison Fiske
Apollo: Michael Tudor Barnes
Death: Philip Sully
Maid: Caroline Gruber
Herakles: Struan Rodger
Pheres: Peter Howell
Old Servant: Michael Graham-Cox
Chorus: Christopher Scott
Chorus: Maggie McCarthy
Chorus: Jane Clarke
Chorus: Zelah Knowles
Repeated 12th May 1989


23rd September 1988:
19.30-22.35 :
Othello by William Shakespeare
<i>Trifles light as air
Are to the jealous, confirmations strong
As proofs of holy writ ... </i>
Scene: Venice and Cyprus
Directed by John Tydeman
Othello: With Paul Scofield
Iago: Nicol Williamson
Desdemona: Rosalind Shanks
Emilia: Hannah Gordon
Cassio: Martin Jarvis
Brabantio: Francis Dewolff
Duke of Venice: Godfrey Kenton
First senator: John Ruddock
Second senator: Brian Haines
Montano: Malcolm Terris
Bianca: Rosalind Adams
Rodrigo: Peter Egan
Lodovico: John Rye
Gratiano: Martin Friend
Other parts played by Nigel Graham, Brian Haines, Michael Kilgarriff, Jonathan Scott and Peter Tuddenham.
First broadcast 12th Noveber 1972, repeated 11th February 1973.
Also Repeated on Radio 4 on 27th May 1979


27th September 1988:
19.30 :
The Cocktail Party by T. S. Eliot
You see I think I really had a vision of something. Though I don't know what it is. I don want to forget it I want to live with it.
Most of us settle for second best, but some can find their way to a life which is truly worthwhile. To do so, they have to leave behind the world of cocktail parties.
Directed By: Jane Morgan
Celia Coplestone: Marlan Diamond
Sir Henry Harcourt-Reilly: Jack May
Edward Chamberlayne: John Carson
Lavinia Chamberlayne: Sylvia Syms
Julia Shuttlethwaite: Elizabeth Spriggs
Alexander MacColgie Gibbs: Philip Voss
Peter Quilpe: Tom Wilkinson
with Brenda Kaye and Andrew Branch
Repeated from 19th October 1978
Repeated 26th July 1979


30th September 1988:
20.25 :
The Family Reunion by T.S. Eliot
Written shortly before the Second World War and in some ways a thriller - did Harry kill his wife and what is going to happen to him? But it's more a story of sin and expiation than crime and punishment.
Directed by Jane Morgan
The Hon Charles Piper: Philip Voss
Harry Lord Monchensey: Simon Cadell
Agatha: Anna Massey
Amy: Pauline Letts
Mary: Susan Wooldridge
Col The Hon Gerald Piper: Bernard Brown
Amy's sisters Violet: Phyllida Law
Amy's sisters Agatha: Hllda Schroder
Downing: Ken Cumberlidge
Dr Warburton: Hugh Dickson
Sgt Winchell: Alan Thompson
Denman: Zelah Clarke


2nd October 1988:
19.45 :
Sweeney Agonistes by T. S. Eliot
An Aristophanic melodrama. Dusty and Doris wait to entertain friends; but Sweeney's arrival sours the atmosphere.
Music composed and directed by David Byers
Jeff Box (double-bass)
Simon Butterworth (clarinet/ saxophone)
Richard Davis (flute)
David Fletcher (cello)
Paul Patrick (percussion)
Bernard Robertson (piano)
Directed by Clive Brill
BBC Manchester
Sweeney: Malcolm Storry
Dusty: Denise Black
Doris: Patsy Rowlands
Krumpacker: John Branwell
Klipstein: Michael Maloney
Wauchope: Nigel Carrington


4th October 1988:
19.30 :
The Little House by John Hall.
A comic fantasy. Pooh, the 'silly student' and gentleman-commoner, en route to his Oxford college, stumbles upon the love of his young life in a first-class railway carriage. Jessie, older and wiser, brings a trail of trouble in her wake, leading to a death and a departure....
Directed by Alec Reid.
BBC Bristol
Pooh: Steve Hodson
Jessie: Caroline Gruber
Alberto: John Samson
Bruno: Edward de Souza
Mrs Braggins: Barbara Atkinson
Josh: Terry O'Brien
Go-Go: David Hopewell
Heron: Ian Michie
Harold: Paul Nicholson
Fellows: Michael Drew
Dollie: Deborah Hurst
Mollie: Sally Baxter
Ron: Simon Cuff
Ned: Ken Cumberlidge


7th October 1988
21.35 :
Largo Desolato by Vaclav Havel, English version by Tom Stoppard
Leopold has offended the authorities with a certain philosophical essay and is daily awaiting the knock on the door. On top of this his friends and acquaintances seem to expect him to act like a hero and stand Up for freedom. But Leopold is no hero and just wishes people would leave him alone.
Directed by Matthew Walters
Professor Leopold Nettles: Richard Briers
Edward: Paul Gregory
Suzana: Jennifer Piercey
First Sidney: Philip Jackson
Second Sidney: David Goodland
Lucy: Belinda Lang
Bertram: John Moffatt
First chap: Anthony Jackson
Second chap: Ian Thompson
Marguerite: Sue Broomfield
Repeated from 6th October 1987


11th October 1988:
19.30 :
Dada and Co by Derek Lister.
To outsiders it seemed a crazy world and it certainly wasn't comfortable, but at least the journey was fun as well as being frightening.
Music by Stephen Warbeck
Technical presentation by David Greenwood. Roger Danes and Mike Etherden
Directed by Jane Morgan
Hugo Ball: Gerard Murphy
Arp: Struan Rodger
Emmy Hennings: Julie Covington
Richard Huelsenbeck: Mick Ford
Tristan Tzara: Sam Dale
Marcel Janco: Ken Cumberlidge
Ephraim: William Simons
Workman: Anthony Jackson
Repeated as "Dada & Co" on 18th December 1990.


14th October 1988:
22.00 :
Marys by Wally K Daly
Winner of the Giles Cooper Award as one of the five outstanding new radio plays Of 1987.
Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and Mary Magdalene wait outside Jesus's tomb - each locked in her own thoughts surrounding the events leading up to his crucifixion.
Directed by Martin Jenkins
With Barbara Jefford and Imelda Staunton
First broadcast 13th October 1987


15th October 1988:
21.55 - 22.25 :
The Moon of the Caribbees by Eugene O'Neill (1888-1953)
About the men of the British tramp steamer SS Glencairn.
The ship is anchored off a West Indian island and an incessant native chant disturbs the men.
A production from Bay Area Radio Drama. Berkeley, California
Sound design and production Randy Thom [at Lucasfilm studios in Nicascio, California]
Directed by Jose Quintero
Producer: Erik Bauersfeld
Artistic Director: Travis Bogard
Driscoll - Shay Duffin
Yank - Mike Genovese
Frank - Larry Drake
Max - Erik Holland
Olson - Gisli Bjorgvinsson
Davis - Tim Choate
Cocky - Ian Abercrombie
Smitty - Jim Paddock
Paul - Carl Johnson
Lamps - Steven Barr
1st mate - Christopher Grove
Bella - Jean Hubbard Boone
Pearl - Barbara Alston
Violet - Tanya Boyd
Chips - James Scalley
[Audio of most O'Neill plays including this Bay Area series is available via http://www.eoneill.com/]


16th October 1988:
Bound East for Cardiff by Eugene O'Neill
The men of the SS Glencaim. Fog shrouds the ship and the sailor Yank lies on his bunk in a fever, dreaming of a life away from the sea, but fearing he may not live.
A production from Bay Area Radio Drama. Berkeley, California
Sound design and production Randy Thom [at Lucasfilm studios in Nicascio, California]
Directed by Jose Quintero
Producer: Erik Bauersfeld
Artistic Director: Travis Bogard
Driscoll - Shay Duffin
Yank - Mike Genovese
2nd Mate - Larry Drake
Ivan - Erik Holland
Olson - Gisli Bjorgvinsson
Davis - Tim Choate
Cocky - Ian Abercrombie
Smitty - Jim Paddock
Paul - Carl Johnson
Captain - Ian Abercrombie


17th October 1988:
21.15 :
In the Zone by Eugene O'Neill
The men of the SS Glencairn. It is about ten minutes to 12 on an autumn night in 1915 and the men suddenly discover that one of their shipmates has a secret. They suspect he might be a saboteur.
A production from Bay Area Radio Drama. Berkeley, California
Sound design and production Randy Thom [at Lucasfilm studios in Nicascio, California]
Directed by Jose Quintero
Producer: Erik Bauersfeld
Driscoll - Shay Duffin
Swanson - Larry Drake
Ivan - Erik Holland
Davis - Tim Choate
Cocky - Ian Abercrombie
Smitty - Jim Paddock
Paul - Carl Johnson
Scotty - James Scalley


18th October 1988:
19.30 :
A Moon for the Misbegotten by Eugene O'Neill
The struggle - sometimes violent and often funny - between three people to overcome the destructive forces which threaten to destroy their happiness.
Director: Martin Jenkins
Josie Hogan: Sarah Badel
Tyrone: Ian Hendry
Hogan: Nigel Stock
Harder: Blaln Fairman
Mike Hogan: Eric Allan
Repeated from 5th February 1978
Repeated on 22nd March 1979
[Also Broadcast in two parts on the BBC World Service, 15th/16th and 22nd/23rd October 1988]


19th October 1988:
21.30 :
The Long Voyage Home by Eugene O'Neill
The men of the SS Glencaim. The ship has reached port in the London docks and some of the men are intent on spending their earnings on drink. Olson, the Swede, has decided to leave the sea and not to drink with them.'If I drink one I want drink one tousand.'
A production from Bay Area Radio Drama. Berkeley, California
Sound design and production Randy Thom [at Lucasfilm studios in Nicascio, California]
Directed by Jose Quintero
Producer: Erik Bauersfeld
Artistic Director: Travis Bogard
Driscoll - Shay Duffin
Yank - Mike Genovese
Frank - Larry Drake
Max - Erik Holland
Olson - Gisli Bjorgvinsson
Davis - Tim Choate
Cocky - Ian Abercrombie
Nick - Christopher Grove
Kate - Elaine Hill
Frieda - Bairbre Dowling
1st mate - Christopher Grove
[The four stories of the ship and its crew were made into the film "The Long Voyage Home" in 1940]


21st October 1988
19.30-23.00 With an interval 9.20pm-9.30pm:
The Iceman Cometh by Eugene Oneill Adapted By: Charles Lefeaux
A downtown bar on the West Side of New York, 1912. A bunch of no-hopers, sunk in drunken stupors and foolish pipe-dreams, await the annual visit of Hickey, a travelling salesman, always good for free drinks. But this time Hickey's arrival has unforeseen consequences.
Directed by Charles Lefeaux
Hickey: Ray McAnally
Rocky, night bartender: Anthony Jackson
Larry, one-time anarchist: David March
Hugo, one-time anarchist editor: Haydn Jones
Willie, a former Harvard Law student: Brian Hewlett
Harry, proprietor of a saloon and rooming house: Cyril Shaps
Joe, one-time proprietor of a black gambling house: Paul Whitsun-Jones
Don Parritt: Henry Stamper
Jimmy, one-time war correspondent: John Hollis
Pat, one-time police lieutenant: Tommy Duggan
Ed Mosher, one-time circus man: Francis de Wolff
Chuck, day bartender: George Margo
Moran, a detective: Wilfrid Carter
StreetWalkers:
Margie: Margaret Robertson
Pearl: Ann Murray
Cora: Carol Mason
First broadcast 1st November 1968
Repeated: 5th January 1969


25th October 1988:
19.30-22.00 with a 10 minute interval.
Women and Water by John Guare
1864: State of Virginia -- the Battle of Cold Harbor.
Through the chaos of the American Civil War, Lydie Breeze , daughter of a Nantucket whaling captain, is in pursuit of the truth of what happened on the ill-fated last voyage of her father's ship, the Gardenia.
Original music composed by Ilona Sekacz
Simon Chamberlain (synthesiser), Rosie Furness (violin), Andrea Hess (cello), John Marson (harp)
Technical presentation by Carol McShane, Wilfredo Acosta and Ian Harker
Directed by Stuart Owen
Lydie Breeze: Natasha Richardson
Joshua Hickman: Trevor Eve
Dan Grady: Frank Grimes
Amos Mason: Rolf Saxon
Moncure Nelson: Adé Sapara
Cabell Breeze: Garrick Hagon
Captain Breeze/Sgt Bell: William Simons
Colonel McLoud/ MrChalcott: Anthony Jackson
Zenna Gordon: Alibe Parsons
Mrs Randolph: Liza Ross
Mrs Randolph's son: Richard Pearce
Mr Fleet: Richard Tate
Captain Gonzalo: Peter Craze
Mr Bolt: Philip Sully
Mr Pusey: Ian Michie
Wilbur Woodhams: Paul Sirr
Killing Nurse: Zelah Clarke
Repeated on 31st May 1992


28th October 1988:
21.45 :
Not Painter, but Hunter by Alan Pascoe
At one time I thought he was still alive ... I tried to find him. Years later, when I'd stopped looking, I met someone by chance who knew that Metoikos had stayed with you. This person gave me your address.'
Mary Nash (piano)
Directed by Stewart Conn
Therese: Jill Balcon
Irene: Diana Olsson
Berthe: Kate Binchy
Renoir: Davidsteuart
Metoikos: Ben Robertson
Nurse: Zelah Clarke
[The 59 page script of this play is held by the Scottish Theatre Archive]


29th October 1988:
23.00 -23.30:
Studio 3: The Mankeeper, by Tom MacIntyre.
A folk tale
Mick wakes from a nap in his hayfield complaining of stomach pains. The X-ray, the laboratory, the consultant, even the healer from the hills can find nothing wrong, but Mick is fading fast in the grip of something worse than illness....
Music by Henry Dagg
Producer Jeremy Howe
BBC Northern Ireland
Presented By: Kevin Flood
Mick: Godfrey Qui??
the Prince of Coolavin: Barry McGovern
Lily: Doreen Hepburn
Man in yellow boots: Brigid Erin Bates
Healer: Paddy Scully
Travelling woman: Joan Sheehy


1st November 1988:
21.25 :
Drama Now: The Messenger by N.J. Warburton In the Summer of 1911, Albert comes to Quinn and Lundy, Publishers, in search of a position. He discovers a monumental palace spread across half a London street: a garner of wisdom and knowledge, strangely peopled. 'Always be curious, Albert', Mr Drummer advises him. So, seeking out obscure rooms and delivering messages, Albert finds himself on a quest of his own.
Directed by Stuart Owen
Miss Quinn: Juliet Stevenson
Mr Tooth: Alex McCowen
Mr Drummer: Don Henderson
Albert: Antony Howes


4th November 1988:
19.30-21.30 :
The Friday Play: Secret Places of the Heart by Tennessee Williams (1911-1983).
The world premiere of an original screenplay written by Tennessee Williams in the last Years of his life. Olaf has remained married to Janet, despite her years of confinement in a mental home. Suddenly, the distant routine of their relationship is threatened by the demands of Olaf s lover, and Janet's precarious mental balance is put at risk.
Dialect coaching by Charmian Hoare
Directed By: Keith Hack
Janet: Sheila Gish
Olaf: Ian Hogg
Alicia: Miranda Richardson
Dr Cash: Harold Innocent
Sister Grace: Barbara Ewing
Sister Grim: Celia Imrie
Samantha/Gloria: Maggie Jones
Sugar: Alibe Parsons
Night nurse: Emily Richard
Day nurse: Joan Walker
Stuart/Orderly: Stephen Rashbrook
Hickey/Stores clerk/Trainer: William Simons
Fr O'Donnell: Alan Dudley
Madge: Diana Olsson
Tiny: Polly James
Emily: Eva Stuart
First patient: Barbara Atkinson
Second patient: Caroline Gruber
Repeated on 30th June 1989
[The play was initially called "Stopped Rocking", and dated to 1977]


5th November 1988
21.20 :
Studio 3: Fine Day for a Hunt by Tom MacIntyre
Eighteenth-century Ireland: beagles and hunters are ready for the dash across an Irish landscape. In a ditch a twig cracks, birds take fright, and the hunted one catches breath.
Pipes played by John Murphy
Producer Peter Kavanagh
the Major: John Moffatt
the Peasant: Sean Barrett
With Kate Binchy, Nicholas Courtney,
Michael Graham Cox, Simon Cuff,
Rachel Gurney, Peter Howell, Cara Kelly, Taylor McAuley, Breffni McKenna, Ian Michie, Hilary Reynolds, John Samson, Ian Targett, and Geoffrey Whitehead
Repeated on 11th November 1989


8th November 1988:
19.30 :
Drama Now: The Cemetery of Europe by Seamus Finnegan
Benjamin is a young painter of Irish and Jewish background. His attempt to come to terms with his past is intensified when Aron, an Israeli of Hungarian origin and a Holocaust survivor, invites him to show his work in Israel.
Directed by Kathryn Baird
BBC Northern Ireland
Benjamin: Philip Bird
Aron: Robert Rietty
Elana: Ruth Posner
Rosie: Annie Rattt
Miriam: Leonie Mellinger
Rachel: Natalie Harris
Billy: Alan Radcliffe
Jimmy: James Greene
Fr O'Neill: Michael Deacon
Republican man: John Hewitt
Second man: Philip Sully
Jeanne: Caroline Gruber
Maria: Joan Walker
Chassid: Carl Forgione


11th November 1988:
21.15 :
The Friday Play: The Man of Mode by George Etherege adapted for radio by Martin Jenkins
Music by Martin Best
Etherege's biting satire, written in 1676 and generally regarded by critics as one of the finest examples of Restoration comedy, is a ruthless expose of the modes and fashions prevalent in contemporary English society.
Directed by Martin Jenkins
Prologue and epilogue spoken by Anna Massey
Dorimant: Derek Jacobi
Lady Townley: Anna Massey
Old Bellair: Nigel Stock
Mrs Loveit: Sarah Badel
Bellinda: Maureen O'Brien
Harriet: Kathryn Hurlbutt
Emilia: Helena Breck
Sir Fopling Flutter: John Webb
Medley: Geoffrey Collins
Young Bellair: Simon Treves
Lady Woodvil: Pauline Letts
Pert: Avril Clark
Busy: Tessa Worsley
Handy: Edward de Souza
Foggy Nan: Carole Boyd
Shoemaker: Ronald Herdman
Trott: Christopher Scott
Smirk: Adrian Egan
Repeated from 27th June 1986


12th November 1988:
21.30 :
Studio 3: Stirabout by Tom MacIntyre
Strange dreams trouble the otherwise contented King. Trouble deepens when a gentleman the size of his little finger arrives in a jam pot, plumbs depths when another arrives in the porridge, and turns to tragedy when they persuade him to believe in his dreams.
Music and special effects created by Henry Dagg
Directed by Jeremy Howe
BBC Northern Ireland
the King: With Sean Barrett
his Queen: Barbara Brennan
Minister of Home Affairs: Tom Hickey
Thing of the Lake: Richenda Carey
Esirt: Joan Sheehy
Esirt's King: James Murphy
Lady Minerva: Alngeal Grehan
Radio 3 voice: Michael Baguley
Repeated 16th June 1990


15th November 1988:
21.55 :
Drama Now: After Agincourt by Peter Mottley.
'Cry God for Harry, England and St George - and to hell with all the other poor buggers.... St Crispin's Day 1415, seen through the eyes of Pistol, a common soldier.
Music composed by Stephen Boxer
(synthesiser/bassoon), Alistair McLachlan (bass rebec), Bob White (cornet), and Paul Patrick (percussion)
Directed By: Alfred Bradley
Pistol: Bob Hoskins
Repeated 6th November 1989
Also braodcast on BBC World Service 18th September 1989


18th November 1988:
21.10 :
The Friday Play: Yerma by Federico Garcia Lorca (1898-1936) in a version by Frank McGuinness
An Irish adaptation of a passionate Spanish fable of infertility.
'I want to know.... Why have I no child? I'm ready, waiting. Am I to be left looking after birds, skirting the curtains on my windows? Well, I won't. Tell me what I've to do. Have I to stick needles into my eyes? What you say I'll do, I'll do it. Tell me.'
Music and songs composed by Henry Dagg
Directed by Kathryn Baird
BBC Northern Ireland
Yerma: Brid Brennan
Juan: Gerard McSorley
Pagan woman: Doreen Hepburn
Victor: Peter Holmes
Delores: Trudy Kelly
Maria: Julia Deardon
Good girl: Anne Hasson
Wild girl: Ainge Algrehan
Washerwoman: Aine McCartney
Repeated 1st September 1989
[Translation of Yerma: Barren]

19th November 1988:
22.05-22.25 :
Studio 3: Spanish Girls by Martin Crimp Some of those girls ... you can imagine my delight to have those sweet laughing creatures roaming my garden....' But the old man's Spanish idyll is disturbed by reminders of a horrifying past.
Directed By: Matthew Walters
Lonauer: John Moffatt
Singer: Rob Edwards
Maria: Leda Casares
Repeated 2nd December 1989


22nd November 1988:
19.30 :
Drama Now: Blues for Mr Charlie by James Baldwin
Repeated from 3rd June 1988 -please see above.


25th November 1988:
21.10 :
The Friday Play: Cock-a-Doodle Dandy (1949) by Sean O'Casey (1880-1964) adapted by Peter Kavanagh
'Oh man, your religion should tell you th' biggest fight th' holy saints ever had was with temptations from good-looking women....' Michael Marthraun, a rich farmer, tries to stem the flood of permissiveness in rural Ireland. However, a beautifully plumed cock is now calling people to love and Merrymaking. But The power of hypocrisy, however, proves strong....
Jack Emblow (accordion)
Producer Peter Kavanagh
Marthraun: Joseph O'Conor
Sailor Mahan: Stephen Brennan
Fr Domineer: T P McKenna
Lorna: Pauline Delany
Loreleen: Felicity Hayes-McCoy
Marion: Marcella Riordan
Shanaar: Allan McClelland
Messenger: Alan Devlin
First rough fellow/One-Eyed Larry: John Kavanagh
Second rough fellow Lorry driver: Shay Fox
Sergeant: Harry Webster
Porter: Ronald Herdman
Bellman/Cock: Shaun Prendergast
Julia: Elaine Claxton
Repeated from 22nd Septeber 1987

26th November 1988:
21.45 :
Studio 3: Mr Vee by Gabriel Josipovici
Mr Vee who is a famous painter, has very kindly consented to paint Daddy's portrait and mine. But he has asked that all of you be here as well. He feels that this will help us to be ourselves and give him the sense of us as parents.'
Harpsichord improvisations Mike Steer
Directed By: John Theocharis
Rachel Mayor: Maureen O'Brien
Peter Mayor: Geoffrey Whitehead
Michael Esterly: Peter Pacey
Mr Vee: Clive Merrison
Susan: Jo Kendall
Andrew: Simon Cuff
Mayor children:Naomi: Joanna MacKie
Sarah: Cara Kelly
Ruth: Zelah Clarke
Rebecka: Melinda Walker
Esther: Joan Walker
Repeated 14th October 1989
[Based on Velasquez' painting Las Meninas]
[Society of Authors Award for Best Original Script in 1988]


29th November 1988:
21.30 :
Drama Now: The Distinguished Thing by Nigel Gearing
An art lecturer tries to come to terms with the suicide of his girlfriend. It is only since her death that he has begun to realise just how special Julie was and how inadequately he behaved in their relationship. In an attempt to cure his emotional paralysis and to try and understand why she killed herself, he turns to psycho-analysis.
Directed By: Cherry Cookson
Nick: Roger Allam
Julie: Diana Quick
Jane: Suzanna Hamilton
Rosemary: Joan Matheson
Therapist: Christopher Scott
Rupert: Simon Cuff
Little girl: Bernadette Windsor
Actors: Ken Cumberlidge
Actors: Ian Michie
Actors: Christopher Scott


2nd December 1988
21.50 :
The Friday Play: Woyzeck by Georg Buchner (1813-1837) translated by John Mackendrick (1946-1979)
Written in 1836. The nightmare journey of Private Woyzeck; forced through poverty to be the Captain's batman and the Doctor's guinea pig: tormented by voices and torn apart by jealousy.
Elizabeth Bennett (flute), Philip Hammond (keyboards), Janet Harbinson (Irish harp), John Leeming (cello), Paul Schumann (clannet)
Music composed and directed by David Byers
Directed By: Clive Brill
BBC Northern Ireland
Woyzeck: Tim McInnerny
Doctor: Timothy Bateson
Captain: Ian McElhinney
Marie: Aingeal Grehan
Andres: Eoin O'Callaghan
Showman/Second journeyman: Mark Lambert
Drum Major/Jew: Derek Halligan
First journeyman/Sergeant: Aidan McCann
Grandmother: Barbara Adair
Margaret: Margaret McCann
Children: Brian Bell
Children: Rachel Hewitt
Children: Catherine Harper
Repeated from 4th August 1987
[Woyzeck was unfinished at Buchner's death from typhoid. It exists only in fragments and was published posthumously. The conclusion is not Buchners. Completed by a variety of authors, editors and translators. The pages had faded so badly that they had to be chemically treated to make the text decipherable at all. In 1921 the real life basis was identified.]
[The Mackendrick version was used for a 2008 GCE exam by Edexcel and their 2016 A level. Neither the examinging board nor Samuel French have identified the version that was translated, potentially Mackendrick solely completed the work.]


3rd December 1988:
21.45 :
Studio 3: Into the Dark by David Read Anna lives a life of isolation in her shabby room. Her only contact is with the spirit of her dead mother and yet, surprisingly, she tells her that she is pregnant.
Directed by Penny Gold
Anna: Zoe Wanamaker
Mother: Joan Matheson


6th December 1988:
19.30 :
The Land Where the King Is a Child (La Ville dont le prince est un enfant) by Henri de Montherlant (1895-1972) translated by Henry Reed
The action takes place between the two World Wars in the Auteuil district of Paris at a Catholic boarding school.
Directed By: John Tydeman
Narrator: Peter Bartlett
the Abbe de Pradis: Hugh Burden
Andre Sevrais: Sean Bury
Serge Souplier: Carlo Cura
M Habert, an assistant: Brian Hewlett
Henriet: Gareth Johnson
Abbe Pradeau de la Halle: Gerald Cross
This production first transmitted 23rd April 1972
Repeated 22nd October 1972 and 21st February 1977.
[There was an earlier production in 1959, repeated 1960 and 1968, by Archie Campbell]


9th December 1988:
21.15 :
The Mystery of the Charity ot Joan of Arc by Charles Peguy (1873-1914) adapted by Jean-Paul Lucet and translated by Jeffrey Wainwright
1425: high summer. Joan, a young peasant girl, is in torment at the brutality of the war which daily ravages her country. Her friend Hauviette cannot quiet her soul, so Joan seeks help from 'saintly Madame Gervaise.
Peguy's masterpiece written just before the First World War, has been radically adapted tor three women.
Preface read by Peter Craze
Song composed by Trevor Allan
Directed by A.J Quinn
Joan: Harriet Walter
Madame Gervaise: Patricia Routledge
Hauviette: Tilly Vosburgh
Repeated 6th April 1990


10th December 1988:
22.15 :
Studio 3: Baths by Jim Cartwright.
A fat man and his skinny friend, an old buffer and some likely lads, some giggly girls and a wistful old lady: all are strangely united in the watery community of a public swimming bath.
Directed By: Penny Gold
Christopher: William Armstrong
Bus: Kenny Ireland
Attendant: Stephen Tompkinson
Old man: Laurence Payne
Old lady: Sheila Burrell
Lads: Robert Pearce
Lads: William Armstrong
Lasses: Helena Breck
Repeated from 1st December 1987


16th December 1988:
19.30- 21.05:
Le Soulier de satin (The Satin Slipper, 1931) by Paul Claudel (1868-1955), translated and abridged by Jeffrey Wainwright
Claudel's status as the master of French dramatic symbolism was established with Jean-Louis Barrault's productions in the 40s and 50s. In England, theatre-goers know little of these epic, atmospheric works, even of Le Soulier, his masterpiece. This shortened version tells of Rodrigo and Prouheze's meeting after ten years of agonised separation.
Music composed and performed by: Mia Soteriou
Director: Peter Kavanagh
Don Rodrigo: John Shrapnel
Master of Ceremonies: Alex Jennings
Jesuit: John Moffatt
Almagro: Edward de Souza
Don Camillo: John Woodvine
Washerwoman: Joan Matheson
Don Rodilard: Christopher Scott
Donna Isabel: Mia Souteriou
Don Ramiro: Richard Tate
Captain: Joe Dunlop
First officer: Philip Sully
First soldier: Michael Graham Cox
Second soldier: Dominic Rickhards
Friar Leon: Norman Bird
Nun: Jo Kendall
Child: Cara Kelly
[Claudel was six times nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature]
[The play was made into a 410 minute film in French/Portuguese in 1985. The full play has a 11 hour running time, the radio drama is a small morsel.]


18th December 1988:
18.00 :
Stalin's Mercy by James Greene.
Seven scenes from the life of the Russian poet Osip Emilevich Mandelshtam , who died in Eastern Siberia 50 years ago, aged 47, on the way to a concentration camp.
Sebastian Bell (flute)
Directed by John Theocharis
Osip: John Woodvine
Nadezhda: Harriet Walter
Schvab: John Moffatt
First criminal/Stalin: Michael Graham Cox
Second criminal/Agent: Richard Tate
Victor Alexandrovich: Geoffrey Whitehead
Singer: Eva Stuart
Little boy: Richard Pearce
Russian reader: Boris Isarov


20th December 1988:
19.30 :
Drama Now: Oenanthe and the Beanstalk by Stephen Dunstone
Everybody thinks they know the story of Jack and the Beanstalk. Now a chance to hear what really happened.
Music by Susannah Danzi, Jane Lister (harps)
Directed By: John Tydeman
Oenanthe: With Polly James
young Jack: Robert Meadmore
old Jack: Geoffrey Matthews
Jack's mother: Pauline Letts
Repeated from 26th December 1986
[Stephen Dunstone has written music for harp]


23rd December 1988
21.20 :
The Friday Play: Amlyn ac Amig (The Vow) by Saunders Lewis (1893-1985), translated from the Welsh by Tony Conran
In medieval Normandy an earl is called upon to sacrifice his sons to honour a vow made many years before.
Original music composed and conducted by William Mathias.
Harp: Valerie Aldritch-Smith
BBC Welsh Chorus, BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra: music producer Michael George
Producer Adrian Mourby.
BBC Wales
Amlyn: Ray Smith
Amig: Bernard Lloyd
Belisent: Bethan Jones
Raphael/Porter: David Lyn
Fool: Andy Hockley
Poet: Wynford Evans
Serving Women: Nesta Harris
Serving Women: Christine Pritchard
Amlyn's sons: Richard Jeremy
Amlyn's sons: Christopher Parsons
[Saunders Lewis was a founder of what is now Plaid Cyru.]


27th December 1988:
20.55 :
Drama Now: The Singular Case of Sherlock H. and Sigmund F. by Cecil Jenkins.
In the autumn of 1897 a series of attacks are made upon Sherlock Holmes which recall those
previously made by Professor Moriarty. Could it be that Moriarty did not die at the Reichenbach Falls or is there a more disturbing explanation? Is Sigmund Freud, currently lecturing in London, in any way involved?
Katherine Adams (violin)
Directed By: John Tydeman
Sherlock Holmes: Ronald Pickup
Dr Watson: Norman Rodway
Sigmund Freud: Andrew Sachs
Mrs Watson: Sheila Mitchell
Insp Lestrade: Michael Deacon
Repeated 6th February 1990


30th December 1988:
19.30-22.05 with a 5 minute interval.
The Friday Play: The Rescue by Edward Sackville-West after Homer's "Odyssey".
Music by Benjamin Britten.
Musicians: BBC Concert Orchestra
Leader: Gwyneth Barkham
Singers: BBC Singers
Conductor: Simon Joly
Director: Ian Cotterell
Director: Chris de Souza
Athene: Victoria Carling
Athene sung by: Tracey Chadwell (soprano)
Hermes: David Johnston (tenor)
Apollo: Peter Savidge (bantone)
Artemis: Ameral Gunson (mezzo-Soprano)
Odysseus: Richard Pasco
Penelope: Anna Massey
Phemius: Godfrey Kenton
Mentor: Laurence Payne
Eurymachus: Michael Deacon
Halitherses: Paul Gregory
His Wife: Polly James
Machaon: Stephen Rashbrook
Callidice: Caroline Gruber
Irus: Richard Pearce
Leodes: Simon Cupr (?)
Eurynome: Emily Richard
Telemachus: Simon Hewitt
Euryclea, her nurse: Diana Olsson
Coxswain: Stephen Tompkinson
Eumaeus: Anthony Jackson
Antinous: Brian Sanders
Peisander: Dave Goodland
Leocritus: Peter Craze
Otesippus: Paul Sirr
Melanthius: Richard Tate
Medon: John Samson
[There were earlier productions by Raymond Raikes (2 productions, 50s and 70s), Val Gielgud (3 productions, 40s, 50s and 60s), and John Burrell (40s)]




Thanks to Stephen Shaw for compiling the entries.

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