Lost Horizon
by James Hilton
James Hilton - Lost Horizon
BBC Radio 4
In May, 1931, during the British Raj in India, owing to a revolution, the 90 white residents of Baskul are being evacuated to Peshawar. In
the airplane of the Maharajah of Chandrapore are Conway, the British consul, age 37; Mallinson, his young vice-consul; an American,
Barnard; and a British missionary, Miss Brinklow. The plane is flown instead over the mountains to Tibet. After a crash landing, the pilot
dies, but not before telling the four (in Chinese, which Conway knows) to seek shelter at the nearby lamasery of Shangri-La. The location
is unclear, but Conway believes the plane has progressed far beyond the western range of the Himalayas towards the less known heights of
the Kuen-Lun.
The four are taken there by a party directed by Chang, a postulant at the lamasery who speaks English, and are welcomed with gracious
hospitality. The lamasery has modern conveniences, like central heating, bathtubs from Akron, Ohio; a large library, a grand piano, a
harpsichord,and food from the fertile valley below. Towering above is Karakal, literally translated "Blue Moon," a mountain more than
28,000 feet (8,500 m) high. Intrigued by its mystery, the travellers set about discovering the secret hidden at the shimmering heart of
Shangri-La.
But their questions still remain unanswered: Why were they kidnapped? What does the High Lama have in store for them? Will they ever be
allowed to go home?
Dramatised in three parts by Barry Campbell from James Hilton's 1933 novel, "Lost Horizon".
Music is 'The Swan of Tuonela' by Sibelius
Directed by Graham Gauld .
1) 'The Kidnapping' (Sunday 20th September 1981 @ 9:00 p.m.)
The year is 1932 as James Hilton and a novelist friend, Rutherford, are given dinner at Tempelhof, Berlin, by their old school-friend Wyland,
a secretary at the British embassy. A chance remark by a passing airman brings up the topic of Hugh Conway, a British consul in
Afghanistan, who disappeared under odd circumstances. Later in the evening, Rutherford reveals to the Hilton that, after the disappearance,
he discovered Conway in a French mission hospital in Chung-Kiang, China, suffering from amnesia. Conway recovered his memory and
told Rutherford his story, a fantastic one, then slipped away again. Rutherford had writtem down Conway's story and gives the manuscript
to the Hilton to read and see if he could believe such a fantastic tale.
It all began when Conway disappeared along with three other passengers in an airplane that was evacuating them from the war in Baskul to
Peshawar. The airplane mysteriously vanished, never to be found....
With Derek Jacobi [Hugh 'Glory' Conway, H.M. Consul], Andrew Branch [Captain Charles Mallinson, H.M. Vice-Consul], Alan Tilvern
[Henry D. Barnard, an American Financier], Carol Marsh [Miss Roberta Brinklow, a Missionary], John Livesey [Simon Rutherford, Friend
of Conway], Sion Probert [Wyland, a Secretary at the British Embassy in Berlin], Alaric Cotter [James Hilton], Gary Cady [Nigel Sanders,
an Airman], John Bull [Chinese Doctor from the Mission Hospital in Chung-Kiang], and Garard Green [Chang, a Postulant at the Lamasery
of Shangri-La].
Other parts played by members of the cast.
Re-broadcast on Tuesday 22nd September 1981 @ 3:02 p.m.)
60 minutes.
2) 'Shangri-La' (Sunday 27th September 1981 @ 9:00 p.m.)
Conway, a British consul; his young deputy Mallinson; Miss Brinklow, a missionary; and an American financier calling himself Barnard are
kidnapped in a small plane and marooned in the uncharted mountain heights of Tibet. In what seems an amazing stroke of good fortune, a
passing procession finds them and brings them to the mysterious lamasery of Shangri-La.
With Derek Jacobi [Hugh 'Glory' Conway, H.M. Consul], Alan Wheatley [The High Lama], Andrew Branch [Captain Charles Mallinson,
H.M. Vice-Consul], Alan Tilvern [Henry D. Barnard, an American Financier], Carol Marsh [Miss Roberta Brinklow, a Missionary], Garard
Green [Chang, a Postulant at the Lamasery of Shangri-La], and Alaric Cotter [James Hilton].
The harpsichord was played by Anthony Myall.
Re-broadcast on Tuesday 29th September 1981 @ 3:02 p.m.)
60 minutes.
3) 'The Inheritance' (Sunday 4th October 1981 @ 9:00 p.m.)
Conway is given an audience with the High Lama, an unheard-of honour. He learns that the lamasery was constructed in its present form by
a Catholic monk named Perrault from Luxembourg, in the early eighteenth century. The lamasery has since then been joined by others who
have found their way into the valley. Once they have done so, their aging slows, but if they then leave the valley, they will age quickly, and
die. The High Lama reveals that he is Perrault, now over 200 years old but he is dying and has chosen Conway as his successor.... Will
Conway stay?
With Derek Jacobi [Hugh 'Glory' Conway, H.M. Consul], Alan Wheatley [The High Lama], Andrew Branch [Captain Charles Mallinson,
H.M. Vice-Consul], Alan Tilvern [Henry D. Barnard, an American Financier], Carol Marsh [Miss Roberta Brinklow, a Missionary], John
Livesey [Simon Rutherford, Friend of Conway], Alaric Cotter [James Hilton], Garard Green [Chang, a Postulant at the Lamasery of
Shangri-La], Pik-Sen Lim [Lo-Tsen, a Young Postulant at the Lamasery of Shangri-La], John Bull [Chinese Doctor from Hospital in
Shanghi], and Crawford Logan [The American Traveller].
The piano and the harpsichord were played by Anthony Myall.
Other parts played by members of the cast.
Re-broadcast on Tuesday 6th October 1981 @ 3:02 p.m.)
60 minutes.
Jim
