Radio 3 Drama & Readings, 2003
General notes: As programming is generally scheduled around evening concerts, start times have been noted after the date; Listings were far more detailed this year (22-11-2003 missing this time), including those for repeats from previous years (which are often unmarked, though I've noted them where I remember); Times are now in the 24hr mode.
Barry Hodge
DRAMA ON 3:
6:30pm Sunday evenings (with some exceptions), then moving to 8pm or later for the usual Summer repeats and the rest of the year; Various durations as noted;.
(05-01-2003) The Magic Mountain (Thomas Mann, dram Olwen Wymark)
The classic tale of Hans Castorp, who visits his cousin in a TB sanatorium high in the Alps. Andis, himself diagnosed with the same disease, isolated from the real world, loses all sense of time and surrenders to the influences of this enchanted community. Narrated By Paul Scofield. Hans Castorp - Robert Whitelock, Settembrini - Clive Merrison, Clavdia - Sian Thomas, Joachim - Simon Ludders, Dr Behrens - John Hartley, Peeperkorn - Norman Rodway, Naphta - Rhodri Hugh, Dr Krokowski - Richard Elfyn, Frau Stohr - Christine Pritchard, Fraulein Englehardt - Manon Edwards, Wehsal - Tim Kirkus, Hermine - Jennifer Vaughan, Veronique - Claire Cage. Music Composed By Colin Sell. Directed by Alison Hindell. (140m)
(12-01-2003) Heresy (John Spurling)
This play tells the story of Hypatia, a female mathematician and philosopher killed by a mob in AD415. With Julia Ford as Hypatia, John Rowe and Robert Glenister. (120m) (NB: No title appeared in the BBC listings, though I found it in an online Europe-wide opera/classical music listing.)
(19-01-2003; 21:45) Every Bit Of It (Jackie King)
Two women who share a fascination with the American blues singer Bessie Smith, meet on a train and strike up a conversation. (75m)
(26-01-2003) Superblock (Jeff Young)
The year is 2040. Superblock is a visit to a 1,470 floor tower block built from the salvaged concrete and bricks of the 67 Liverpool high rises demolished in 2005. 14,000 feet high, home to 140,000 people, Superblock is an echo chamber reverberating with voices, like a monstrous filing cabinet full of the filed lives of everyone who ever lived there. The Superblock began as a vision dreamt by an architect that has become a nightmare. Echoing with 67 demolitions, the Superblock sinks, the architect falls... Superblock was developed with tenants of the Liverpool high rises and the Foundation of Art and Creative Technology (FACT). The Architect - George Costigan, The Interviewer - Sunetra Sarker, Old Joe - Sam Kelly, May - Jean Heywood, Wally - Michael Stark, Winnie - Mary Cunnigham, ZooEmily - Aston, Liam - William Dixon, Man - Andrew Schofield, Woman - Jane Hogarth, with Jim Jones and Freda Smith. Music by Skyray. Directed by Kate Rowland. (75m)
(02-02-2003) M (Thea von Harbou & Fritz Lang)
In 1930, Berlin is gripped by fear as a murderer prays on its children against a backdrop of political turbulence and rising criminality. (75m) (NB: Repeated 31-08-2003, where there's more information...)
(09-02-2003; Rpt) Blue/Orange (Joe Penhall) A radio production, featuring the original stage cast, of the Winner of the Olivier Award for Best New Play 2001, the Evening Standard Best Play of the Year 2000, and the Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best New Play 2000. In a London psychiatric hospital, a patient claims to be the son of an African dictator - a story that becomes unnervingly plausible. An incendiary tale of race, madness and a power struggle within the National Health Service. Christopher - Chiwetel Ejiofor, Bruce - Andrew Lincoln, Robert - Bill Nighy. Director - Roger Michell. Producer - Jeremy Mortimer. (105m)
(16-02-2003) Grace Notes
(Bernard MacLaverty, adap Bernard MacLaverty & Lou Stein) How do composers hear music? How does life experience affect the creation of that music? Amanda Burton stars in this contemporary drama adapted from MacLaverty's Booker short-listed novel. Award-winning real life Belfast composer Deirdre Gribbins evocative music illuminates the emotional story of a young Northern Irish composer, Catherine McKenna, who returns home to an embattled Northern Ireland for her father's funeral, after creating two of her life's masterpieces: her first major orchestral work and her first child, Anna. Going back to her roots brings back memories of the people and sounds which formed the creative foundations of her musical life, but also places her in the direct firing line of a restrictive environment from which she has tried to escape. Catherine Anne McKenna - Amanda Burton, Narrator - Bernard MacLaverty, Father/Father Ferry/Kirkpatrick - James Greene, Mother/ Granny Boyd - Eileen Pollock, Miss Bingham - Brid Brennan, Dave/ Wang Shao Gang - David Yip, Olga/Midwife/Liz - Maureen Beattie. Original Music by Deirdre Gribbin. Produced by Lou Stein. (105m)
(23-02-2003) Each Day Dies With Sleep (José Rivera)
Twenty children plot to kill their father. A car bomb destroys the face of the most handsome man in Los Angeles. A young woman's mismatched eyes keep her awake for months at a time and allow her to see the future. A desperate invalid hopes to walk again by smearing goats blood on his legs. This masterpiece of magic realist drama, written in 1991, is rooted in a world of unending poverty and domestic violence. Augie - Marcus DAmico, Nelly - Andrea Harris, Johnny - Bradley Lavelle, Soundscape Artist - Scanner. Directed by Peter Leslie Wild. (90m)
(02-03-2003) Bondagers (Sue Glover)
The poignant story of six farm women working on the great Scottish Border farms in the nineteenth century. These are resilient women who love fiercely and long for a better lifewhile labouring from dawn to dusk. They take pride in their work and build relationships through humour, story, song and dance. These are ordinary lives depicted with extraordinary passion, poetry and power. Sara - Maureen Beattie, The Maister - Jimmy Chisholm, Maggie - Monica Gibb, Tottie - Lesley Hart, Liza - Molly Innes, Jenny - Vicki Liddelle, Ellen - Vicki Masson, Andra - Chris Young. Music directed and performed by Catriona Macdonald. Directed by Gaynor Macfarlane. (90m)
(09-03-2003) Stalingrad Kiss (Sebastian Baczkiewicz)
Eyewitness to the Battle of Stalingrad, Vassily Grossman was loved by the front line soldiers for his vivid portrayal of their struggle. But twenty years later his great war novel Life and Fate was arrested by the KGB. It would never see print in his lifetime. Vassily Grossman - Anton Lesser, Sasha - Jimmy Chamberlain, Valentin - Steven Webb, Valentin (older) - Raymond Coulthard, Anya/Olga - Gillian Bevan, Commissar Bruk - Matthew Marsh, Colonel Gurtiev/Polyakov - Fred Pearson, Petrov - Andrew Tiernan, Grekov - Stephen Critchlow, Yuri/Concierge/Soldier 3 - Ben Crowe, Corporal Tanya Driabia - Carla Simpson, Freddy Parkhomenko - Nicholas Boulton, Albert/Concierge - Kenneth Collard, Marya - Laura Doddington, Lyusia - Laura Martin-Simpson, Grossmans Mother - Jennie Stoller. With Scott Brooksbank, Simon Donaldson and Richard Firth. (90m)
(16-03-2003) Shooting Stars & Other Heavenly Pursuits (Mike Hodges)
Get Carter director Mike Hodges makes his writing and directorial debut for radio in this dark comedy about low life and high stakes in the movie industry. Recorded entirely on location in a central London hotel, this production marks the long-awaited return to radio drama of Michael Gambon in the role of George Boulder, the night porter. Boulder - Michael Gambon, Rattle - Michael Sheen, Welty - Kate Hardie, Zigzager - Gary Waldhorn, Bellboy - Simon Wilkinson, The drummer - Alex Pascall. Location recording and sound design John Hunt. Written and directed by Mike Hodges. Produced by Roger Elsgood. (85m)
(23-03-2003) No Pain Like This Body
(Harold Sonny Ladoo, dram David Dabydeen & Elly Niland) This rare Caribbean novel dramatised for radio by acclaimed poets Dabydeen and Niland, vividly depicts the terrifying world of a family brutalised by violence, poverty and nature itself. Set in a Hindu Community in the Eastern Caribbean in 1905 during the August rainy season, it centres on a poor rice-growing family's struggle to survive. Narrator - Davis Dean, Ma - Martina Laird, Pa - Jim Findley, Nanny - Nina Baden-Semper, Nanna - Stefan Kalifa, Balraj - James Smith, Sunaree - Arlisha Rojas, Panday - Anton Rojas, Rama - Omari Bertram, Jasso - Sharon Maharaj, Pandit - Pandit Ram Sankar. With original music by Dominique Le Gendre. Directed by Nadia Molinari. (65m) (NB: Repeated 26-10-2003.)
(30-03-2003) Women Beware Women (Thomas Middleton)
The Jacobean classic in which the women are the worst betrayers. When Leantio's beautiful wife Bianca catches the eye of the Duke, the worldly Livia arranges an assignation, plunging Bianca into the vice and corruption of the court. Livia - Penny Downie, Bianca - Beth Chalmers, Leantio - John McAndrew, Mother - Manon Edwards, Guardiano - Bill Wallis, Isabella - Sara McGayghey, Hippolito - Andrew Wincott, Fabritio - James Greene, Duke - Nigel Terry, Cardinal - Dorien Thomas, Ward - Robert Harper, Sordido - Simon Ludders. Directed by Alison Hindell. (135m)
(06-04-2003; 20:00) Baby Bird (Gill Adams)
Baby Bird was inspired by the recent change in the law and the way we deal with serial truants, and shows us a lost generation and how we might find them. Recorded on location around the streets of Hull, this is the story of thirteen year old Jenny Wren who has lost her Gran. Her Mum has given up believing in tomorrow, her friend Mouse is not much better and Morris her welfare officer believes he can promise the world, change the future. All the authorities see is a constant truant from school with serial behavioural problems, but Jenny has a plan; once her Mum's happy again she's determined to show them all just how well she can fly. The trouble is, she's growing tired of waiting. Jenny Wren - Hollie Wilson, Morris - Roland Gift, Sandy - Kaye Wragg, Mouse - David Tute, Headmaster, DI Peters - Nicholas Lane, Janet, Nurse, PC Smith - Stephanie Galbraith, Maria - Katie Wright, Julie - Lucy Beaumont, Bluey - Matthew Lambert. Directed by Kate Rowland. (75m)
(13-04-2003; Rpt) Mnemonic (conceived/dir Simon McBurney with the theatre company Complicite) In 1991, tourists descending a 3,000 metre peak find a body emerging from the ice. Stories of journeys fragment and revolve like the act of memory itself as Mnemonic questions our understanding of time and our attempts to retell the past. The Complicite Company: Annabel Arden, Katrin Cartlidge, Hannes Flaschberger, Richard Katz, Marcello Magni, Simon McBurney, Tim McMullan, Kostas Philippoglou, Rolf Saxon, Catherine Schaub Abkarian, Daniel Wahl. (90m)
(20-04-2003) Dionysos (Andrew Rissik)
Paul Scofield and Diana Rigg star in a new play examining the clash between an authoritarian young king and the leader of a charismatic religion which, by its belief in an ecstatic God of boundless power and goodness who makes no distinction between rich or poor, male or female, slave or free, threatens to destabilise the state. Dionysos - Chiwetel Ejiofor, Pentheus, King Of Thebes - Toby Stephens, Kadmos, His Grandfather - Paul Scofield, Agave, His Mother - Diana Rigg, Lykurgos - Roger Allam, Kritias - Pip Donaghy, Polybos - Bruce Purchase, Tiresias - Jeffrey Kissoon, Condemned Slave - Trevor Martin, Chorus Leader - Anna Carteret, Chorus Voices - Mali Harries, Yolanda Vazquez, Mia Soteriou. Music by Mia Soteriou. Directed by Jeremy Mortimer. (90m)
(27-04-2003) The Way Of The World (Congreve)
The comic masterpiece that exposes the beau monde of London society for the grasping charlatans they truly are. Lady Wishfort - Sheila Hancock, Mirabell - Alex Jennings, Fainall - Robert Glenister, Mrs Marwood - Frances Barber, Mrs Millamant - Indira Varma, Mrs Fainall - Christine Kavanagh, Witwoud - Kris Marshall, Petulant - Ben Crowe, Sir Wilfull - Gerard McDermott, Waitwell - Stephen Critchlow, Foible - Sarah Flind, Mincing - Priyanga Elan, Betty/Peg - Liza Sadovy, Servant - Andrew Harrison. (150m)
(04-05-2003; Rpt) North South East West (Gurpreet Bhatti / Tanika Gupta)
A double bill of new drama, with linking poetry by Shamshad Khan. (115m)
1: Mera Des (Gurpreet Bhatti)
Believing all her life that her mother died shortly after she was born in India, Jinder, a young British Asian woman discovers the startling truth. Set over 24 hours this comic and poignant new drama explores integrity, identity and self awareness. Jinder - Parminder Nagra, Sunny - Baddi Uzzaman, Mary - Sorcha Cusack, Mandy - Nisha Nayar, Dawn - Patsy Palmer. Directed by Pauline Harris.
2: A Second Chance (Tanika Gupta)
When 16 year old Raz is sent to stay with his grandfather Shafiq following his release from a young offenders unit, they both get more than they bargained for. A Second Chance explores cross-generational conflict and the anguish of disaffected youth. Raz - Nabil Elouahabi, Shafiq - Vincent Ebrahim, Laila - Lolita Chakrabarti, Iqbal - Shiv Grewal, Munera - Asha Kahlon, Ola - Chris Jackson, Ali - Emil Marwa, Saff - Sean Cernow, Zubin - Asif Seth.
(11-05-2003) In The Company Of Men (Edward Bond)
Bond's play about the business ethics and boardroom power games of rival factions bidding for control of an armaments firm is gripping and balefully funny. The adopted son of an ageing arms manufacturer seeks control of his father's company, but finds himself in the vice-like grip of a rival entrepreneur and, ordered to betray his father, has to make a crucial decision. Oldfield - John Wood, Leonard - Oliver Dimsdale, Hammond - Kenneth Cranham, Wilbraham - John Sessions, Bartley - George Anton, Dodds - Alan David. (130m)
(18-05-2003) Parade's End (Ford Madox Ford, dram Robert Forrest)
A major dramatisation of Ford Madox Ford's quartet of novels. W H Auden wrote: 'There are not many English novels which deserve to be called great: Parade's End is one of them'. In Malcolm Bradbury's view it is 'quite simply, the greatest modern war novel from a British writer'. The four books, published between 1924 and 1928, follow Christopher Tietjens, scion of an old and wealthy family of Yorkshire gentry, from his privileged but troubled pre-war life as a young government statistician, through the mud and terrors of the Great War trenches, to the radically changed social landscape of the post-war years. The play is in two acts, with a short interval just before 8.00pm. Christopher - Tom Goodman-Hill, Sylvia - Ruth Gemmell, Valentine - Katherine Igoe, Mark/Father Consett/Serg. Major Cowley - Crawford Logan, General Campion - Gareth Thomas, Capt. McKechnie - Michael Perceval-Maxwell, Macmaster/Ducket - Steven McNicoll, Mrs Satterthwaite - Monica Gibb, Edith Duchemin - Noreen Leighton, Mrs Wannop - Vivienne Dixon, Lt. Aranjuez - Nick Underwood, Perowne/Morgan - Matthew Zajak. (165m) (NB: Repeated 14-09-2003.)
(25-05-2003; 19:30) Vieux Carre (Tennessee Williams)
A thrilling, haunting, disturbing - often funny play in which Williams ruthlessly exposes the frailties, failures and fantasies of his fellow guests sharing space in a seedy boarding-house in New Orleans, run by an eccentric landlady. The Writer - Brendan Fraser, Mrs Wire - Shirley Knight, Nursie - Juanita Jennings, Jane - Cindy Katz, Nightingale - Alfred Molina, Mary Maude - Dorothy James, Miss Carrie - Gloria Stroock, Tye - J D Cullum, Biggs - Tegan West, Cop/Pick-up - Scott Atkinson, Judge - Dave Florek, Sky - Eric Stoltz, Tourists - Caroline Seymour, Jode Ryskewiscz. Phil Todd (clarinet). (120m)
(01-06-2003; 18:50) Carandiru (Jeff Young)
Based on Estação Carandiru by Dr Drauzio Varella. Produced and directed by Kate Rowland. A kaleidoscopic journey through the corridors, cells and stories of Estação Carandiru - Sao Paulo's notorious prison. Based on the book Estação Carandiru by Dr Drauzio Varella, Jeff Young's drama leads us through the labyrinth of this place that has been described as a re-invention of hell. Like a mosaic or a graffiti mural in words Carandiru follows the doctor from the first day he enters the prison to the worst massacre in prison history in October 1992. 'How can we care about these brutal men?' the Doctor asks at one point. 'Would they be so brutal if they weren't so brutalised?' Himself - Dr Drauzio Varella, Jeremiah - Jairo Arco E Flexa, Lupericio, Polney - Augusto César, Marques, Jaquelina - Marcello Bosschar, Cacapa, Guard - Enrique Díaz, Bigode - Dionísio Neto. (60m) [Previous to the play, at 18:30, was 'The Making Of Carandiru' - Hostage taking, riots, rebellions, diseased water from rat urine, when BBC Radio Drama decided to make a play inside Latin America's largest prison, based on the book Estação Carandiru by Dr Drauzio Varella, they knew that this would be no ordinary armchair theatre. This documentary by Paul Heritage follows director Kate Rowland as she records a play inside Brazil's most notorious prison.)
(08-06-2003; Rpt) Oroonoko (Aphra Benn, dram Biyi Bandele)
This dramatisation of Benn's novel is a celebration of her humanist vision, a passionate love story and a bold, irreverent re-interpretation of a three hundred year old classic. Oroonoko - David Oyelowo, Princess Imoinda - Nadine Marshall, Lady Onola - Anni Domingo, Akogun - Ray Shell, Chief Orombo - Wale Ojo, Kabiyesi - Burt Caesar, Aboan - Maynard Eziashi, Otman - Ben Onwukwe, Captain Stanmore - Rod Arthur, Mr Byam - Martin Hyder, Mr Trefry - Ian Masters. Composer: Juwon Ogungbe. Musicians: Nii Tagoe, Sam Maitl. Director: Claire Grove. (110m)
(15-06-2003; 20:50) Jesus Hopped The A-Train (Stephen Adley Guirgis) Life changes for an impressionable young prisoner when he is forced to exercise alongside a mass-murderer who claims to have found God. (110m)
(22-06-2003) Packet Of Seeds (Various)
A mid-summer journey that travels from Beckton to Bangalore, from the bottom of a dry well to the trail of a vixen, to explore the essence of creativity. Tim Etchells, Josette-Bushell-Mingo, Iain Sinclair and Jocelyn Pook are just a few of the internationally known award-winning artists and writers taking part in this adventure in storytelling, each taking as their starting point a packet of seeds. This production is a collaboration with London International Festival of Theatre, and includes contributions from Tim Etchells, Neelam Man Singh Chowdhry, Mercedes Kemp, Ruth Wall, Bob Gilbert, Iain Sinclair, Josette Bushell-Mingo, CF John and Romeo Castellucci, with Societas Raffaello Sanzio, Jocelyn Pook, Wesley Enoch, Chartwell Dutiro, Thor McIntyre-Burnie, Leo Sedgley, Sue Hill, Colin Seddon. Man - Shaun Dooley, Boy - Alex Slater. With Clive Rowe, Ben Crowe, Anne Stephenson, Mary Pook, Doug Enoch, Sumant Jayakrishnan and Payal Choudhry. (120m)
(29-06-2003; 21:00)
Of Love & Other Demons (Gabriel García Márquez, dram Chris Dolan) The story of a doomed love affair in 18th century Colombia between a priest and a young girl held captive in a convent. Sierva Maria - daughter of a slave trader and a half-blood Indian mother - is bitten by a rabid dog at a slave market and survives while others bitten by the same dog are soon dead. Rumours begin to spread that the girl is possessed by the devil and a priest, Father Delaura, is sent to examine her - and, if necessary, to carry out an exorcism. But Delaura falls under the spell of Sierva Maria. Delaura - Samuel West, Sierva - Jasmine Hyde, Gabriel - Raad Rawi, Bishop - Anthony Bate, Abrenuncio - Timothy West, Marquis - Andrew Sachs, Josefa - Maggie Steed, Dominga/Nun - Janice Acquah, Nun - Hannah Dee, Viceroy/Gaffer - David Timson, Slave dealer/workman - Carl Prekopp. Director: Bruce Young. (90m)
(06-07-2003) The Home Field (Nell Leyshon)
A drama documentary using poetry and prose to examine the current state of farming in Somerset. Compton Dundon, a village on the edge of the Somerset Levels, was steeped in dairy farming until recently. With few working farms left, the Wrights, the Edwards and the Greens tell their own stories, and a fictional farming family are packing up to leave the farm which has been in their family for generations. Derek - Nick Brimble, Lin - Lorna Ford, Chris - Adam Healey, Poetry Reading - William Bateman. (75m)
(13-07-2003) Heart Of Darkness (Joseph Conrad, adap Jeremy Howe)
Marlow, a sea captain, is ordered to sail up the Congo River to find out what has happened to Mr Kurtz, an ivory trader. The journey takes him into the heart of an unknowable darkness. A new version for radio of one of the 20th Century's greatest novels. Marlow - David Calder, Mr Kurtz - Bill Wallis, The Disciple - Kris Marshall, The Company Doctor - John Webb, The Manager - John MacKay, The Uncle - Jon Morrison, Man with a Moustache - Jeremy Swift, The Helmsman - Yemi Goodman Ajibade, The Stoker - Willie Jonah, Steamboat Captain - John Telfer, The Accountant - Mark Buffery, The Intended - Kate Byers, The Solicitor - Stephen Perring. (90m)
(20-07-2003; 22:05) Delores (Phyllis Nagy)
As part of the Radio 3 Greek Season, a play by Phyllis Nagy based on Euripides Andromache. Delores has taken sanctuary in St Patrick's Cathedral, New York. Big Nicky, the father of her seven year old son, has left her and is now living with Angie, the daughter of gangland boss Sal D'Angelo. But Angie is having problems getting pregnant, and she reckons that Delores has put a bad spell on her. Delores - Nichola McAuliffe, Gloria - Madeleine Potter, Angie - Katherine Tozer, Sal DAngelo - Oliver Cotton, Frank - William Hope, Old Paulie - Nicholas le Prevost. Directed by Jeremy Mortimer. (70m)
(27-07-2003) No programme (BBC Proms/WOMAD Weekend coverage)
(03-08-2003; 21:45; Rpt) Crime & Punishment In Dalston (David Farr)
A radical, no-holds-barred reworking of Dostoyevsky's classic novel of alienated youth, set in the rough urban environment of contemporary North East London. A young black man bludgeons his Turkish landlord to death to free himself of what he describes as 'the white man's bailiff'. But as soon as he commits the crime, he knows that what he has done will haunt him until he confesses his sins to the very authorities he so despises. This production was first produced at the Arcola Theatre in Dalston and won 'Best Radio Drama' in the 2003 CRE Awards. Darius - Dave Fishley, Raz - Learie Foster, Campbell - Andrew Melville, Sevgi - Michele Hallak, Shopkeeper/Brother - Cengiz Bozkurt, Mother - Jay Bird, Young girl - Inci Karagil. Directed by David Farr. (75m)
(10-08-2003; 21:45; Rpt) Iph (Colin Teevan)
ased on Euripides' Iphigeneia In Aulis. When the Greek fleet is becalmed at Aulis, the gods require a tribute before they will grant a fair wind. (75m)
(17-08-2003; 22:25; Rpt) Solomon Child (Josette Bushell-Mingo)
In Rwanda a mother searches for her child. Award-winning artist Josette Bushell-Mingo explores love, faith and the courage of the human spirit. Alice - Nadine Marshall, Sarah - Anni Domingo, Jacques - Steve Toussaint, Solomon - Anton Rice, Nun - Jemma Churchill. Singers: Lucy Jules, Hazel Holder, Zoe Palmer. Composer: Helen Chadwick. Research: The Medical Foundation for the Victims of Torture. Director: Claire Grove.
(24-08-2003) No programme (BBC Proms coverage)
(31-08-2003; 21:45; Rpt) M (Thea von Harbou & Fritz Lang)
1930. Berlin is gripped with fear as a murderer preys on the city's children against a backdrop of political turbulence and rising criminality. Fritz Lang's cinema classic has been voted the most important German film of all-time in its home country. Peter Straughan's kaleidoscopic adaptation exploits the emphasis Lang placed on sound in his first steps beyond the silent movie era. Jansen - John Lightbody, Beckert - Kevin McKidd, Schranker - Nicholas Woodeson, Lohmann - Mark Lewis Jones, with: Jonathan Tafler, Gilly Tompkins, Ewan Bailey, Peter Marinker, Michael Wildman, Clare Corbett, Ben Crowe, Rebecca Manley, Cressida Whyte, Emily Button, Gregg Prentice, Ruby Stokes and Jack Durrant. Directed by Toby Swift. (NB: Repeat of 02-02-2003.)
(07-09-2003) No programme (Repeat of 'The Wire - Regenerations' - see below)
(14-09-2003; 19:40) Parade's End (Ford Madox Ford, dram Robert Forrest)
(NB: Repeat of 18-05-2003 - see above.)
(21-09-2003) No programme (Opera On 3 - The Ring Of The Nibelung coverage)
(28-09-2003; 20:30) The H File (Ismail Kadare, dram Timberlake Wertenbaker)
In the 1930s, two Harvard scholars travel to Albania to record the local epics and prove that Homer was a performer of such pieces and that he belonged to a long oral tradition which is still thriving. Based on fact, this is a darkly comic account of small town life, disturbed by the arrival of two foreigners and the inevitable clash of cultures which leads to a tragic misunderstanding. Max Roth - Samuel West, Billy Norton - Aidan McArdle, Daisy - Emma Handy, Mukadez - Karen Lewis, Dul Baxhaja - David Troughton, The Mayor - Peter Wight, Shtiefan - Russell Layton, Mrs Rok - Brenda Cabendish, The Hermit, Frok - David Shaw-Parker, The Monk, Dushan - Deka Walmsley. Directed by Michael Attenborough. (90m)
(05-10-2003; 20:00) Peeling (Kaite O'Reilly)
Alpha, Beaty and Coral, three actors with disabilities, attired in enormous red dresses, bicker, chat, heckle and share tales of sex, lies and recipes in absurd isolation as an epic post-modern production of The Trojan Women unfolds around, and in spite of them. A radio version of the play currently on tour with Graeae Theatre Company. Alpha - Caroline Parker, Beaty - Lisa Hammond, Coral - Sophie Partridge, Stage Manager - Carolyn Jones. (90m)
(12-10-2003) No programme (Let The People Sing coverage)
(19-10-2003; 20:00) The Loneliest Road (Gregory Whitehead)
A pirate radio broadcast from the occluded heartland of the American Dream, haunted by dead poets, Marilyn Monroe, and an angel's solemn whisper. Candy Mintz - Karen Lee, Terry Trenton - Thom Whaley, Post-Mortem Narrator - Jeff Kent, Una - Cynthia Atwood, Ted Stebbins - Jon Swan, Stu Berkowitz - Daniel Klein, Oswald Norris - Gregory Whitehead, Ava Ravenella - Anne Undeland. Original Music composed and performed by Paul de Jong and Nick Zammuto. (90m)
(26-10-2003; 20:25) No Pain Like This Body
(Harold Sonny Ladoo, dram David Dabydeen & Elly Niland) (NB: Repeat of 23-03-2003 - see above.)
(02-11-2003; 20:10) The Ice Factory (Steve Chambers)
Just when you think you're running things, that everything's in the right place and you're in control... that's when things start to fall apart...' Roy Delamere is the Tony Soprano of the North East. He's a powerful, charismatic criminal who controls the Newcastle underworld. On his 50th birthday he's opening his own art gallery, The Ice Factory. He should be celebrating but for the first time in his adult life, he's weak. Somebody is trying to unnerve Roy and it's working. Fragments of memory collide with every day actions as Roy is forced to face his enemies from outside and within. Roy Delamere - Deka Walmsley, Jarrrett/Doctor - Rod Arthur, Fat Robb/Peter/Doorman - John Carter, Kay - Fiona Clarke, Monica - Charlie Hardwick, Jonnie/Woman - Phillippa Wilson, Syd Delamere - .Ian Hogg, Child -. Chelsea Halfpenny. Directed by Pauline Harris. (80m)
(09-11-2003; 20:00) Chelsea Dreaming (D J Britton)
Fifty years ago today, Dylan Thomas died in New York after collapsing in the Chelsea Hotel. Tonight's play examines the lies and legends of this unique poet through the critical eye of the Chelsea, infamous home both to wild excesses and inspired creativity. Chelsea Hotel - Roger Allam, Dylan Thomas - Richard Lynch, Caitlin - Penny Downie, DJ - Dorien Thomas, Mam - Manon Edwards, Nancy - Beth Robert, Edgar Lee Masters - Brendan Charleson, Liz - Sarah Hill. Composed by Paula Gardiner. Musicians: Lee Goodall, Gethin Liddington, Huw Warren, Ian Williams. Directed by Alison Hindell. (90m)
(16-11-2003; 20:00) Confessions Of A Justified Sinner (James Hogg)
The classic psychotic doppelganger thriller reset in modern times as a parable for the danger and process of Religious fanaticism in all eras. With ex-Bishop Richard Holloway and crime writer Alexander McCall Smith. Robert Wringhim - Sandy Grierson, Gil Martin - Alan Steele, Det Insp Jim Hogg - James Bryce. Original music by Joe Acheson. Adaptation and direction by Matt Thompson. (90m)
(23-11-2003; 20:05) Death Of An Altruist (Tim Jackson)
Based on the true story of scientist George Price, this play explores the moral confusion arising from the discovery of a genetic basis for human behaviour which appears to include altruism - a discovery that overturned Price's life. George Price - James Laurenson, Bill Hamilton -. Paul Rhys, Rev'd Daniel O'Brian - Niall Buggy, PC Jack Dawson - Ben Crowe, Angel - Jo McInnes, Gino - Vincenzo Nicoli, DJ -. Stephen Critchlow. Directed by Janet Whitaker. (70m)
(30-11-2003; 20:00) A Man Called Rejoice (James Whyle) The true story of Rejoice Mpofu, a South African man with two-tone shoes and a taste for liquor and ladies. This play celebrates a life, an ordinary life in extraordinary times, and is transmitted on the eve of World AIDS Day. Rejoice - Peter Mashigo, Orchard - Errol Ndotho, Susan - Jennifer Steyn, Warren - Mark Faith, Harmony - Juanita Waterman. Director - Claire Grove. (60m)
(07-12-2003) No programme (Berlioz Day coverage)
(14-12-2003; 20:00) Serjeant Musgrave's Dance (John Arden)
Four soldiers arrive in a strike-bound mining town intent on convincing its inhabitants that the violence and killing being perpetrated across the colonies in their name is wrong. John Arden's anti-war classic, set late in the 19th Century, was first staged at the Royal Court in 1959. This is a new production for radio. Serjeant Musgrave - Iain Glen, Hurst - Shaun Dooley, Attercliffe - Paul Copley, Sparky - Edward Hogg, Mrs Hitchcock - Carolyn Pickles, Walsh (Earnest Collier) - James Weaver, Bargee - Roger Walker, Annie - Katy Cavanagh, Mayor - John Banks, Constable - Paul Rider, Parson - Jeremy Swift, Pugnacious Collier - John Davitt, Slow Collier - Nick Malinowski. Original music by Simon Fraser. Directed by Toby Swift. (120m)
(21-12-2003; 20:00) Poor Tom Thy Horn Is Dry (John Arden)
Based on the Memoirs And Confessions Of Captain Ashe, John Arden's new play, especially written for Radio 3, charts the picaresque journey of a gentleman vagabond Irishman over three continents. From his early days among the impoverished Irish gentry in 1787 to his exile in France in 1815, we follow Thomas Ashe's desire for 'the main chance'. Not only as a soldier in the Napoleonic Wars but also as clerk, tradesman, teacher, plagiarist, sailor, murderer, embezzler, impersonator, explorer, political propagandist, hack journalist, blackmailer, writer and lover! Until eventually he has to confront the full force of the government's wrath. Thomas Ashe - Aidan McArdle, Lord Lieutenant/PresidentJefferson/Sir John Johnstone - David Calder, Ashe's Father/ Lord Edward Fitzgerald/Blagdon - Jim Norton, Jonathan/ Gerry Smith/Corcoran - Colum Convey, Melanie/Faveen/Ellen - Rakie Ayola, Cleopatra/Angelica/Peeress - Marcella Riordan. Directed by Roland Jaquarello. (120m)
(28-12-2003; 20:15) Nathan The Wise (Gotthold Lessing, trans/adap Edward Kemp)
Michael Feast and Jeffrey Kissoon star in the Chichester Festival Theatre production of Lessing's passionate plea for religious tolerance set in Jerusalem at the time of the Third Crusade. Caught between the occupying Muslim forces of Saladin and the invading armies of the West, the wise Jew Nathan must walk a fine line to preserve his integrity and his life and to protect his own dark secrets. Nathan - Michael Feast, Saladin - Jeffery Kissoon, The Knight Templar - Geoffrey Streatfeild, Rachel - Kay Curram, Daya - Darlene Johnson, Sittah - Noma Dumezweni, Al-Hafi the Dervish - Jonathan Cullen ,The Lay Brother - Steven Beard, The Patriarch - Alfred Burke, Violin - Megan Pound, Cello - Benjamin Hess. Edward Kemp (director). From the original Chichester Stage production by Steven Pimlott. (135m)
THE SUNDAY FEATURE
Only one obvious entry this year.
(26-01-2003; 17:45) Edith Stein: The Philosopher Saint (adap Hattie Naylor)
With Fiona Shaw as the voice of Edith Stein. Edith Stein was born into a German Jewish family. A precociously intelligent child, she became a brilliant philosopher, working alongside Edmund Husserl, the father of phenomenology. By 1933, the year that Hitler came to power, she had converted to Catholicism and decided to become a cloistered Carmelite nun. Nine years later she was taken from the convent by the Nazis and killed at Auschwitz. In 1998 she was declared a saint of the Roman Catholic Church. Fiona Shaw looks back on the life and work of a most remarkable woman. (Tuesday; 45m) (NB: Repeated 22-07-2003 at 21:30, from where the bulk of this listing comes - the 29-01-2002 listing just said "A feature on the life of philosopher Edith Stein, who was born in 1891 into a German Jewish family, died in Auschwitz in 1942 and was made a saint in 1998 by Pope John Paul II" so I put two and two together; Winner of the Sandford St Martin Award according to Naylor's website.)
TWENTY-MINUTES:
Various dramatic twenty-minute pieces that are used as mid-concert interval pieces during Performance On 3 and Opera On 3; Writer/reader credits have been noted where available; Documentaries/talks have been omitted - though there was certainly a glut of large amount of dramatic pieces this year.
(16-01-2003; 20:25) Prague Tales
(Jan Neruda, read by Stephen Moore) A short story by the Czech writer.
(29-01-2003; 20:20) The Devil's Larder
(Jim Crace, read by David Troughton) From the collection of tales which explore our human foibles through our relationship with food.
(06-02-2003; 20:05) The Purpose Of Photographs
(Cynthia Rogerson, read by Edith Macarthur) A woman who is losing her sight tries to commit to memory the photographs encapsulating her life.
(25-02-2003; 20:20) Nobody Will Laugh
(Milan Kundera, read by Robert Lindsay) A short story about a university lecturer who makes an insincere promise.
(12-03-2003; 20:20) The Parrot
(Mary E Wilkins Freeman, read by Barbara Barnes) No synopsis.
(21-03-2003; 20:25) Clara
(Janice Galloway) The author reads from her recent novel based on the life of Clara Schumann, wife of composer Robert.
(09-04-2003; 20:20) Towards Newfoundland The Prow
(Seán Street) For hundreds of years Dorset men braved the Atlantic in tiny boats, sailing out of Poole to fish the waters off Newfoundland, some forsaking their homeland forever. Poet Seán Street explores the connection between the County and the Province, and reads his poem on the subject, 'Poole Quay'.
(12-04-2003; 18:55) Letters From The New World - Living Off The Grid
- Richard Grant lives on an isolated ranch in southern Arizona without any connections to electricity, gas, water, telephone or sewage. Should he buy a gun? (NB: Is this a reading?)
(15-04-2003; 20:05) Brick Lane
(Monica Ali, unknown reader) A reading to coincide with the April publication of Granta 81, which consists of unpublished extracts from the 20 writers under forty who Granta feel represent the best promise in British fiction today. This extract is from Monica Ali's debut novel. Set in the Bangladeshi community of London's East End, Nazneen finds herself in an arranged marriage with a disappointed man who is twenty years older.
(17-04-2003; 20:25) Granta 2
(Robert McLiam Wilson, read by Tim McInnerny) A reading which coincides with the April publication of Granta 81, which contains unpublished extracts from the twenty novelists under forty that Granta feel represent the best promise in British fiction today. This reading is an extract from Robert McLiam Wilson's eagerly awaited but as yet un-named novel. An old man wakes up to find himself in bed with a mysterious young soldier.
(23-04-2003; 20:40; Rpt) Ninety-Nine Kiss-O-Grams
(wri/read by Suhayl Saadi) Glasgow-based writer Saadi reads from his collection of short stories The Burning Mirror. Ninety-nine Kiss-o-grams, concerns a Glaswegian Asian lad who inherits a poisoned chalice of land in Pakistan from his dead grandfather. The book won second prize in the 1999 SHORTS: The Macallan/Scotland On Sunday Competition. The author runs the creative writing forum, Pollokshields Writers' Group in Glasgow, which is aimed at writers from minority ethnic backgrounds.
(20-06-2003; 20:20) Summer Orchestra
(Esther Tusquets, trans Margaret Jull Costa, read by Claire Skinner) A family holiday changes an adolescent girl's feelings and aspirations forever.
(05-07-2003; 19:05) Trieste & The Meaning Of Nowhere
(Jan Morris, read by Janet Suzman) From Morris' latest book, about her favourite city, full of émigrés with amazing stories.
(07 to 11-07-2003; 11:40) Mozart's Journey To Prague
(Eduard Morike, trans David Luke, abr Alison Joseph, read by Jack Klaff) Mozart and his wife undertake a journey from Vienna to Prague, during which they have many adventures and thoughts on creativity and family life.
1: Setting Off.
2: Eating The Orange.
3: Walking Sticks.
4: Helping Shop Girls.
5: Burning Out.
(07-07-2003; 20:20) Wine
(Charlse Baudelaire, trans Andrew Brown, read by Jeremy Northam) The French poet celebrates the qualities of the blessed beverage and reveals the surprising links between wine and musicianship.
(14 to 18-07-2003; 11:45) Harmony & Invention
-(Rachel Stott) Five stories from musical history. With Biba Lille-West, plus Rachel Godsill (soprano), Oliver Webber and Mieko Kanno (violins), Katherine McGillivray (viola), Joanna Levine (cello), and David Gordon (harpsichord).
1. Boys Behaving Badly - Another story from the lumber-room of musical history, by Rachel Stott. With Biba Lille-West
2: Answering Phrases - Vivaldi, unusually suffering from writer's block, calls on an ingenious friend for help.
3: The Mystery Of Caroline Evelyn - The young Fanny Burney, nursing an illicit desire to become a writer, seeks consolation at the keyboard.
4: Blowing In A Vacuum - Hector Berlioz, torn between his desire for Harriet Smithson and his yearning to create new musical sounds, finds his hopes going down the tube. (11:40)
5. No Opera Without Soap - In which Henry Purcell, hoping to clean up on a brand-new opera, struggles to prevent it becoming a total washout. (11:40)
(20-07-2003) Homeric Encounters
- Great encounters between famous characters in Homer's Iliad, newly explored by contemporary scholars and poets. Reflecting the Ancient theme of the Proms, and this evening's Prom, which draws directly on it, this is the first of five programmes exploring great encounters from the cornerstone of all European literature, Homer's Iliad. Adrian Lester reads Homer's original version in translation, while a Greek scholar discusses its dramatic power and a contemporary poet explores its continuing resonance in a newly commissioned poem. Ruth Padel, herself a classicist and poet, chairs the discussion.
1: The encounter between Helen and King Priam on the walls of Troy, interpreted by the poet Michael Donaghy and the scholar Emily Greenwood. (19:45)
2: The encounter between Hector and his wife Andromache interpreted by the poet Carol Ann Duffy and the scholar Barbara Graziosi. (20:35)
(25-07-2003; 20:25) Summer Nights: Stories For Summer Evenings
- In the first of a four-part series, Esther Freud reads an extract from her new novel, The Sea House.
(31-07-2003; 19:45) New Nature Writing - In Crow Country
(Mark Cocker, unknown reader) A love affair with the Rook, Corvus frugilegus. Evelyn Waugh satirised the British tradition of writing about the countryside which harped on about plashy fens and questing voles, and maybe he was right. Now, though, a new nature writing is emerging with informed observations blended with passionate prose. An occasional series throughout the Proms brings some of the best of these open air thoughts and fresh writing to Radio 3.
(03-08-2003; 20:25) New Nature Writing - Coldomo Shore
(Duncan McLean, reader unknown) The sustenance offered by a beach in Orkney
(05-08-2003; 20:10) Summer Nights - God Save The Rain Queen
(wri/read by Christopher Hope) Hope sets his story in the South African Highveld, where the Rain Queen, Her Majesty Bamadodi VI, holds sway as the authorised rainmaker. Her power though is chipped away by the modern attitudes sweeping the country, attitudes which bring an ambiguous promise of progress and the deadly threat of disease. The bond of friendship she forges with a white South African middle-class mother protects them both for a time.
(08-08-2003; 19:55) Lotta Schmidt (Anthony Trollope, read by Oliver Ford Davies) A lesser known short story by Trollope that unfolds in 19th century Vienna; love and music are inextricably interwoven in the city where Brahms composed and died. (NB: Repeated 05-12-2003.)
(12-08-2003; 20:35) New Nature Writing - Markings
(wri/ead by Kathleen Jamie) A walk into the cultural ecology of a Scottish glen. In the Bible Adam named the animals and much attention has since been paid to organising the animal kingdom and keeping it separate from the human race. But now nature is striking back and writers are taking notice.
(13-08-2003; 20:30) Homeric Encounters
- see 20-07-2003.
3: The encounter between the King Odysseus and the soldier Thersites, the only commoner given a voice in the whole of Iliad, interpreted by the poet WN Herbert and the scholar Robin Osborne.
(14-08-2003; 19:35) Reunion
(Richard Ford, read by Stuart Milligan) From thecollection A Multitude Of Sins. A man in Grand Central Station sees a husband he cuckolded and walks over to say hello.
(17-08-2003; 21:00) The Perfect Courtier
(Michelene Wandor) A piece for two voices is inspired by Benvenuto Cellini's most famous work, the statue of Perseus holding up the head of Medusa.
(18-08-2003; 11:50) Wish I Was Here
(wri/read by Jackie Jay) New works by Scottish writers appearing at the Edinburgh Festival. A riveting short story in which the postcard cliché is disturbingly turned on its head when friendship and desire become lethally mixed in a holiday cocktail with bite and depth.
(19-08-2003; 11:50) Being Quick
(wri/read by Ali Smith) A train journey and a mobile phone - key elements in a quirky and person viewpoint on modern day life and the problems of communication. An extract from Smith's latest book, The Whole Story & Other Stories.
(20-08-2003; 11:50) Psychoraag
(wri/read by Suhayl Saadi) An extract from Saadi's forthcoming novel, which is featuring at this year's Edinburgh International Book Festival.
(21-08-2003; 11:40) No Title
- Glasgow writer Anne Donovan reads from her acclaimed new novel about a Glaswegian painter/decorator whose spiritual life takes an unexpected turn when he meets a Tibetan lama in Sauchiehall Street.
(21-08-2003; 20:10) Homeric Encounters
- see 20-07-2003.
4: The encounter between Hector and Achilles, interpreted by poet Michael Longley and scholar Oliver Taplin.
(22-08-2003; 11:40) A Question Of Blood
(wri/read by Ian Rankin) One of Edinburgh's most popular literary sons and creator of the famous DI Rebus, reads the opening of his latest novel.
(22-08-2003; 20:25) The Red Coral Bracelet
(Judith Hermann, trans Margot Bettauer Dembo, abr Doreen Estall, read by Mia Soteriou) A girl who lives in "a sea-green world" is bequeathed a red coral bracelet with beads that glow "as red as rage". This bracelet ties the girl emotionally and physically to her exotic grandmother's scandalous past and to a highly unsuitable boyfriend. How can the girl break these ties? Does she want to? A powerful story about colour, anger and "that moment before happiness".
(25-08-2003; 20:50) Homeric Encounters
- see 20-07-2003.
5: The reconciliation between Priam and Achilles interpreted by poet UA Fanthorpe and scholar Penelope Murray.
(28-08-2003; 20:25) Summer Nights - The Night Of The Monster
(Helon Habila, read by Jude Akuwudike) This story takes place at the end of the Nigerian civil war in the early 1970s. When the infamous bandit Hammadu Dangar arrives in town, the local children hold their breath with anticipation and fear. A night-time confrontation ensues - with an unexpected resolution.
(29-08-2003; 20:05) The Primer Of Love
(Ivan Bunin, reader unknown) This story describes how Ivlev travels to a distant Russian province and is mesmerized by the secrets of a dusty library in a ramschackle house.
(03-09-2003; 20:35) New Nature Writing - The Bird That Habitually Walks
(wri/ read by Nigel Collar) A story of addiction and heartbreak amongst the Great Bustards of Portugal. As we destroy our last wild places and drive thousands of animal species to extinction every year, a new tougher sort of writing about nature has begun to take root in Britain. This summer series has been bringing the best of it to Radio 3.
(04-09-2003; 20:15) The Star
(H G Wells, read by Patrick Stewart) Astronomers discover a bright new star in the heavens rushing headlong towards the Earth on collision course. A classic tale from the master of science fiction.
(07-09-2003; 20:35) Jocasta
(Andrew Rissik, read by Juliet Aubrey) A new monologue exploring the psyche of Queen Jocasta, wife of Oedipus. It is early morning, and Oedipus has discovered that his wife is also his mother. Sitting alone, outcast, we are drawn into Jocasta's world as she tries to understand her situation, her guilt and what she feels compelled to do.
(10-09-2003; 19:50) Summer Nights - Anything Can Happen
(wri/read by Robert Dessaix) In the final part of the Summer nights series, the Australian writer and essayist remembers the summer nights of his youth in Sydney and considers the passions released under the southern cross against those encountered on the long white nights of the Russian summers both he and Pushkin have enjoyed. Written and read by Robert Dessaix.
(11-09-2003; 20:20) New Nature Writing - A Norfolk Benefit
(wri/read by Ian Wallace) A weekend amongst the seals and shorebirds of the north Norfolk coast prompts memories and allays fears. A series of fresh dispatches from the countryside proving that the best nature writing is neither twee nor arid.
(12-09-2003; 20:05) The Concert Interval
(wri/read by Michele Roberts) What happens between parts one and two at a concert? The novelist presents a possible scenario in her new short story.
(30-09-2003; 20:30; Rpt) Hunter Thompson Music
(Judith Hermann, trans Margot Bettauer Dembo, abr Doreen Estall, read by Mia Soteriou) Hunter Thompson lives in New York in the kind of seedy hotel that only complete losers live in. The day something finally does happen is the friday before Easter and Hunter's world is turned upside down by a new arrival. (NB: Repeat of 03-04-2002.)
(16-10-2003; 20:05) New Nature Writing
(wri/read by Richard Mabey) Mabey reflects on the significance of the new wetland in his life after moving from Chiltern woods to the Norfolk Broads.
(19-11-2003; 20:20) Summer Again
(Tove Janson, read by Phyllida Law) If Sibelius is Finland's leading cultural figure of international repute, then second place is surely held by Tove Janson. Janson is best known as the author of the Moomin books but a new edition of an adult work, The Summer Book, has been a recent hit in Britain, selling over 50,000 copies in its first two months. It's the story of a motherless six-year old and her grandmother, who while away a long summer on a tiny island in the Gulf of Finland. Jansson's niece Sophia, who appears in the book in fictionalised form, and the writer Esther Freud, explore the enduring and universal charm of a book which has long had cult status throughout Scandinavia.
(02-12-2003; 20:45) Belfast Winter
(Glenn Patterson) A new short story by the Belfast novelist that takes place in the city as winter deepens before Christmas.
(05-12-2003; 20:45) Lotta Schmidt
(Anthony Trollope, read by Oliver Ford Davies) (NB: Repeat of 08-08-2003 - see above.)
(23-12-2003; 20:30) No title
(Adam Thorpe) A short story about Bob the timpanist as he tries to cope with The Messiah.
BETWEEN THE EARS
10:30pm Sunday nights, usually fortnightly, 30mins, then weekly at 20mins in May/June, and Saturday nights weekly at 20/30mins from November; Writer credits, and in some cases entry titles, aren't always given - and these 'experimental radiophonic features' appear from their synopses to be less and less drama-driven...
(12-01-2002) Between The Ears:
The Tramuntana Wind not only blows, it can drive you out of your mind swirling round the Catalan landscape. It has gusted through the lives and imaginations of everyone who has lived in its path from poets to the artist Salvador Dali. Neil McCarthy sets out from Dalis hometown of Cadaques to tease out tales and torments of this legendary force as it gusts around him.
(26-01-2002) The Book Of Disquiet:
A feature on Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa (1888-1935), who wrote under a series of pseudonyms as well as under his own name.
(09-02-2003) Between The Ears:
Fifty years after Everest was first climbed, mountains are still viewed as arenas of conquest or tragedy. Challenging this stereotype from the Canadian Rockies are environmentalist and bear researcher Colleen Campbell; extreme climber Barry Blanchard and landscape photographer Craig Richards. Each explains how the mountains have come to dominate their beliefs, relationships and lives.
(23-02-2003) Identifications: Who are we?
What makes us what we are? How are our identities and personalities formed? Writer and director Sarah Woods explores the development of human personality over the first formative years of our lives by using the sounds and rhythms of young voices to create a narrative soundtrack underscored with specially composed music by Anders Sodergren.
(09-03-2003; 22:15) I Send You This Cadmium Red:
Lists, poetry, art, history and memories from artist John Christie and writer John Berger triggered by their reaction to the colour cadmium red.
(23-03-2003; 22:15; Rpt) The Watchers
(Joby Talbot) Radio 3's showcase for adventurous radio offers another opportunity to hear Joby Talbot's specially commissioned piece for radio. The Watchers takes documentary material about CCTV and the culture of surveillance in which we live and presents them within a musical landscape that evokes something of the creeping paranoia that this fifth utility can generate. With contributions from security consultants, civil liberties activists and voices from the BBC Sound Archive. Performed by Billiardman. With additional programming by Jon Gardner. Mixed by Mark Wylie. (45m)
(06-04-2003; 22:15) Shorts:
A special Between The Ears showcase for three linked features which evoke different worlds of language, sound, colour and hearing:
1: Listening To Lists - Whispering chains of lists rise and fall from the surface of a feature which investigates how writers, artists and film-makers have used lists in their work. With Peter Greenaway, Don Paterson and Emma Kay.
2: The Colour Of Sound - The composer Jonathan Harvey paints with sound, the painter George Dannatt depicts sound with colour. Peter White, blind since birth, considers his own perception of colour based on sound and music. Woven through their music, sounds and words, a poem by Sean Street moves through darkness and shades of colour towards light and silence.
3: In A Child's Ear - At twenty weeks in the womb, the foetus' ears have formed, and so begins the journey to aural consciousness. In the company of audiologists and poets, In A Child's Ear examines the process by which we learn to make sense of the barrage of sound that greets our ears when we leave the womb. (45m)
(20-04-2003) My Father Fading Out: A lake of shadows.
"A man who said nothing of himself" Ken Smith listens for evidence of his father. Born Donegal 1904, died 1971; John Patrick Smith was not a happy man: "No hobbies. No jokes. No small talk. No stories. Couldn't dance. Didn't read. Easily given to anger. Rather than go to the dentist, he once took out his aching tooth with pliers." "Ah, John. Requiescat in pace." Music by Geoff Nichols.
(04-05-2003; 22:40) Beckham Crosses, Nyman Scores:
A musical recreation of England's World Cup football match against Argentina at last year's World Cup. Seaman saves, Campbell tackles, Scholes passes, Owen is fouled and Beckham takes the penalty. Michael Nyman composes the action into a musical drama, interweaving leitmotifs for the individual players whilst reflecting back at the agony of the meeting between the teams in the previous competition - focusing on the 'five who figured four years ago'. With the voice of commentator John Motson and original music by Michael Nyman played by the Duke Quartet. (20m)
(01-06-2003; 22:15) Extraneous Noises Off:
Winner of a Sony Silver Award in the Feature category. Forensic phoneticians are called in by the police when it's too late. They analyse idiosyncrasies and accents of unknown villains captured unwittingly on tape recordings. They perform acoustic wizardry removing noise and echoes. They spend days listening to a single word. Dr Peter French takes us for a tour of his extensive sound archive and we drift into other worlds with music specially composed by Philip Pinsky.
(08-06-2003; 22:40) Those From Below:
A soundscape of interwoven voices, songs and stories recorded by activist Katharine Ainger, documenting the experiences of marginalised people affected by economic globalisation. (20m)
(15-06-2003; 22:40) A Britain Of The Mind
(Marjorie Van Halteren) A composition by the veteran radio producer invoking the imaginary Britain of a group of French students who share a dream of this country.
(22-06-2003; 22:40) The Lord's My Shepherd:
Written by committee in 17th century Edinburgh, the metrical Psalm 23 has been sung at weddings, funerals, rugby matches, and as the political response to a military coup. Those who still sing it in many places, and to many tunes, tell its story of God, sheep and cultural repression. (20m)
(29-11-2003; 23:15) Killing Time:
British artist Cornelia Parker explores the indeterminate nature of waiting. (NB: Back to a Saturday night half-hour for this new season - which probably started the previous week, though the 22-11-2003 page is missing.)
(06-12-2003; 22:55) A House Is Not A Home:
From within it's an oasis, a refuge, a place for family, friends, arguing, loving. From without it's an estate agent's fantastic opportunity, a financial adviser's risk, a first-time buyer's dream, a lender's asset. For those caught on the knife edge of debt it's a nightmare. With singer/songwriter Lorraine Bowen as the new homeowner, and the experiences of advisers, estate agents and the repossessed. (20m)
(13-12-2003; 22:35) The Museum Of Lost Keyboards:
Prepare yourself for a musical mystery tour - an audio guide to a museum of keyboard instruments which exist only in the imagination. Armando Iannucci is the museum curator, and has written the official guide, with original music composed and performed by Django Bates. (20m)
(20-12-2003; 21:00) The Last Of The Blind Piano Tuners:
Blind piano tuners are now dwindling in number, and composer Adrian Lee and poet Sean O'Brien reflect on the passing of a great tradition. (30m)
(27-12-2003; 22:00) The Long Time Ago Story
(Rose English & David Sawer) Filtered through the reverie of a modern-day child, fragments of romantic ballet stories are distilled into a musical fabric of toy sounds and toy musical instruments to make an imaginary radio ballet. (30m)
THE WIRE
10:00pm Thursday nights (or as noted otherwise), 60mins; Billed as 'A new wave of radio artists exploring drama and narrative'; Monthly plays broadcast through the year, with various (usually) Saturday night repeats during the Summer months.
(09-01-2003) The Tunnel (Tim Loane)
Loane's thriller is about seventeen year old Frankie who has learned how to survive at the bottom of his hard, macho world. Then one day an opportunity allows him to gain some respect and life gets much more interesting. Frankie - Neal McWilliams, Rex - Lorcan Cranitch, Maria - Annie Farr, Buzz - Patrick OKane, Itchy - Graham McKee, Frog - Kevin Breen, Inspector - Gerard McSorley, Grace - Michelle Forbes, Stuart - Joseph Rea, Will - Dan Gordon, Sally - Emma ONeill, Sallys mate - Kitty Maher. Director: Tanya Nash.
(06-02-2003; 22:15) The Palimpsest (Andrew Farrell Readman)
Award-winning playwright Andrew Farrell Readman's dark police thriller. Manchester, the future. During the long summer drought, the insect-infested city is reaching boiling point. Bombs are going off, drugs are out of control, and Detective Sergeant Belinda Marley is being framed for murder. But just who is setting her up, and what do they want from her? Belinda Marley - Siobhan Finneran, Cathy Sandwell - Helen Moon, Otis - Burn Gorman, Baines/Forensic - Ian Mercer, The Reverend - Danny John-Jules, Howard - David Fleeshman, Trigger Bolton - David Crellin, Martin Martin - John Griffin. Directed by Jim Poyser.
(06-03-2003) Like Jude (Linda Marshall Griffiths)
A writer struggles to tell a story but finds that her own ghosts keep getting in the way.
(03-04-2003; Rpt) A Tree Full Of Monkeys (Simon Armitage)
Sound by zoviet*france. One of the most exciting poets of his generation, Simon Armitage has created a sequence of poems about the pace of modern living. A Tree Full of Monkeys is a song cycle for characters who have a desire for order when bombarded by chaos, whose wires have come loose, whose brains are under pressure. Performed live by Simon with a soundscape by the innovative sound artists zoviet*france, with singers Paula Sims and Em Whitfield. This programme was originally broadcast last July as part of Baltic Live [in the 'Drama On 3' slot], an evening of performance and discussion celebrating the opening of Baltic, Gateshead's major international centre for contemporary art.
(01-05-2003) Creamie (Luke Sutherland)
As Glasgow cop Tony finds a surveillance operation unravelling spectacularly, his thoughts return to last summer and a turbulent reunion with the daughter he'd only seen once since her birth. The first radio play by the acclaimed young novelist and musician. Tony - Clive Russell, Harriet - Sophie Okonedo, Rich - Matthew Dunster, Luce - Indira Varma, Cindy - Nicola Stapleton, Stripper - Derek Ezenagu. Music by Luke Sutherland. Directed by Toby Swift.
(05-06-2003) The Enclosure (Fiona Padfield)
Maggie's husband used to bully her and now her neighbour is doing the same thing. Can she break free from the damaging pattern of bully and victim or is she trapped into repeating them? Maggie - Kathryn Pogson, Vernon - Russell Gomer, Rupert - William Houston.
(03-07-2003) Clean (Jennifer Farmer)
Grace is in a residential centre undergoing treatment for substance abuse. She is in her early 30s and has been on drugs all through the childhood of her children, Joe and Yasmin. Finally, after her fifth stay in the centre, Grace is ready to go home, but Big Mama is not prepared to let her have control of her children. This is the playwright's first play for radio. Grace - Angela Wynter, Big Mama - Jay Byrd, Da - Oscar James, Joe - Bluey Robinson, Yasmin - Kachaan Ellis, Counsellor - Peter Dawson. Directed by Jeremy Mortimer. (15m) (NB: This running time may be incorrect, though that's what it says!)
(19-07-2003; 21:30; Rpt) The Palimpsest (Andrew Farrell Readman) (NB: Repeat of 06-02-2003 - see above.)
(26-07-2003; 21:35; Rpt) The Mind Of The Meeting (Meredith Oakes)
A wry look at the experience of sitting in a boring, seemingly pointless meeting. The Chair confides his innermost thoughts to us and gives a running commentary on the other members of the group. Chair - Ronald Pickup, Jenny - Daniela Nardini, Ray - Phil Daniels, Caroline - Sara Kestelman, Estelle - Annabelle Apsion, Bob - Andrew Woodall. (45m) (NB: Repeat of 03-10-2002.)
(02-08-2003; 21:00; Rpt) The Monotonous Life Of Little Miss P (Enda Walsh)
From the acclaimed writer of Disco Pigs, a look inside the mesmerising and intelligent mind of P, a silent physically disabled young woman. (NB: Repeat of 05-09-2002.)
(07-08-2003; 21:30) The Woman With The Knife & Fork Disorder (Jackie Kay)
Irene Elliot has a cutlery disorder which sprung up on her quite suddenly in the house she shares with her daughter. Struggling with her adolescence, Mary Ann hates everything about her mother - blaming her for the day her father took a machete to his marriage and walked out. Now everything is tense. The cutlery's mixed up, and Mary Ann is turning into her father. Irene - Siobhan Redman, Mary Ann - Julie Austin, The Doctor - Clive Russell.
(09-08-2003; 21:15; Rpt) Tricycles (Colin Teevan)
Teevan's impressionistic and fast-moving drama dips in and out of everyday lives in Belfast to create a picture of a city and its people as they seek to make their modest dreams a reality. A suspected meningitis outbreak turns lives and routines on their head, perhaps for years to come. Kate - Laura Hughes, Tom - Conleth Hill, Susan - Cathy White, Andrea - Abigail McGibbon, Sinead -. Nikki Doherty, Pintuji - Darran Williams, Kevin - Packy Lee, Lucy -. Hannah R Gordon. With Dario Angelone, Richard Dormer, Roger Jennings, Stella McCusker and Oisin Teevan. Directed by Toby Swift. (NB: Repeat of 07-11-2002.)
(16-08-2003; 21:10; Rpt) The Tunnel (Tim Loane)
(NB: Repeat of 09-01-2003 - see above.)
(23-08-2003; 22:15; Rpt) Childminders (Glyn Maxwell)
A child. A star child. A child with the luxury of three childminders. And a toy that emits warning words. But what can the threat be? Glyn Maxwell's richly evocative poetic play, set in a godless suburb, examines the corruptibility of innocence and of language. Read by Peter Marinker. Sylvie - Louisa Milwood-Haigh, Trace - Olivia Williams, Myrtle - Posy Brewer, Lawrence - James Fleet. (NB: Repeat of 06-06-2002.)
(30-08-2003; 20:55; Rpt) The Commuter (David Greig)
This darkly comic play follows the extraordinary journey of an ordinary man with a briefcase, as he struggles to get home to Scotland across an England flooded and lawless after forty days and forty nights of rain. The Commuter - Liam Brennan, Johnny - Paul Blair, Davies - Gavin Mitchell, Woman - Louise Ludgate, Kamal - John Kielty, Shea - Callum Cuthbertson, Huntsman - Simon Tait, Boy - Frederick Forge. Directed by Patrick Rayner. (NB: Repeat of 10-11-2001.)
(04-09-2003; 22:20) Nicotine Jean (Robert Delamere)
Amidst the sounds of the urban night and the music of Nina Simone, Paul McCulloch lives a life unseen by the outside world. Sustained by his fitful imagination, Paul cares for Jean McCulloch, retired bookmaker's assistant and the love of his life. Paul - Sean Harrison, Jean - Rachel Davies. Soundscape by Alisdair McGregor and Aidan Love. Directed by Kate Rowland.
(07-09-2003; 22:00) Regenerations (Daragh Carville)
Trouble brews between six friends at an annual Doctor Who convention. With a cast including Tom Baker, Sophie Aldred and Michael Colgan. (NB: Broadcast on a Sunday in lieu of a 'Drama On 3'; Repeat of 01-12-2001.)
(02-10-2003) Three Five Silly Twerp (Jack Klaff)
Peggy suffers a stroke. Then, just a few months later, as if in sympathy, her husband, Don, has a stroke, too. Same part of the brain, same limbs affected, speech affected in very similar ways. Peggy ends up with just two all-purpose words while Don is left with only one expression. Jack Klaff explores the ability of love and personality to triumph over the loss of the power to speak. Don - Alec McCowan, Peggy - Vivian Pickles, Karl - William Gaminara, Julie - Tara Fitzgerald, Sonia - Rachel Atkins, Josh - Jonathan Bee. Directed by David Ian Neville.
(05-11-2003) Mix (Emma Donoghue)
At thirteen, Teresa is diagnosed with a chromosome abnormality which means that biologically she isn't a girl or a boy but a mix of both. As the condition is hereditary, Teresa and her family are anxious to know who else might be affected.Teresa - Katie Davis, Clare - Marcella Riordan, Fintan - Dan Gordon, Gran - Doreen Keogh, Jaz - Rebecca McKinty, Raja - Raman Goyal, Liam - Neal McWilliams, Dr McBrearty - Maria Connolly, Dr Foyle - Roger Jennings. Directed by Tanya Nash. (55m)
(04-12-2003) Adrenalin Heart (Georgia Fitch)
Leigh, a single white mum in her thirties and Angel, a black Londoner a few years older, compete to give us the story of their passionate and addictive relationship. Sex, drugs and the search for self explode in this exhilarating and devastating drama that takes place over the course of one summer. Leigh - Julia Ford, Angel - Mark Monero. (45m)
