Ronald Mason

Ronald Mason was a director and producer of drama for the BBC, and from 1976-1986 was Head of BBC Radio Drama.

He was born in Ballymena, County Antrim. He went to school in Ballymena with Ian Paisley, who was to become well-known in politics. He graduated from Queen’s University, Belfast, and was originally a teacher (English and French) in the 1940s. He joined the BBC six years later in 1955 as a radio producer in Belfast, where he brought new and established writers to the Northern Ireland Home Service.

He joined the Radio Drama department in London in 1963. One of his innovations was a famous series called Just Before Midnight, created by Richard Imison and initially produced by Ronald Mason. It ran from 1964-1980, broadcasting fifteen-minute long original plays from 11:45pm to 12:00am. This was a showcase for new talent, and there were about 250 episodes. Writers included James Follett, Rodney Wingfield, James Saunders, Tom Stoppard, Fay Weldon, Dannie Abse, Frederick Bradnum, and a host of others, many of whom were (or were to become) familiar radio names.

In 1970 he returned to Belfast to become Head of Programmes, Northern Ireland. At that time security was a problem; there was violence and civil unrest, including bombings. In 1972, the BBC Director General suggested that Mason might like a respite from the strain of the Troubles. Mason said that his duty was to Ireland, and that he intended to devote himself to making the province a better place in which to live. He continued in the job for another four years.

He was then brought to London to replace the retiring Head of Drama, Martin Esslin, in 1976. His political acumen enabled him to fight the corner for Radio Drama at a time when cuts were being made. He did this with considerable success, and was held up as a model by European broadcasters facing similar cuts. In 1980 he presented Radio Drama’s most popular programme, the daily soap, Waggoner's Walk (on air since 1969), as a potential cut since its budget was almost exactly the requested savings. He presented an alternative series of drama cuts, but management still decided to axe the soap.

Meanwhile, R3 controller Ian McIntyre continued to scrutinise spoken-word programmes. Drama became a particular target. When McIntyre blocked the broadcast of a Mason-commissioned radio drama by the writer and director Mike Leigh in May, 1979, Too Much of a Good Thing, recorded on location with convincing sexual activity, it set up a continuing conflict. Piers Plowright, in the book And Now on Radio 4 by Simon Elmes, recalled the occasion when, in response to criticism of a play at a Radio 3 meeting, Mason threw a chair and left the meeting. Mike Leigh's play was eventually broadcast in 1992, years after Mason and McIntyre had left their posts.

Mason continued to support his writers and intervened personally in defending a Howard Barker script, Scenes from an Execution. This involved a line-by-line examination of the play, and fierce discussions about whether a particular word could or could not be used. The play, produced by Richard Wortley for radio 3, featured Glenda Jackson in the leading role. Despite his reservations, McIntyre nominated the production for Europe’s Prix Italia, which it won in 1985.

After his retirement in 1986, he returned to radio to produce a number of memorable dramas including John Arden and Margaretta D'Arcy’s Whose is the Kingdom? a nine-play sequence of dramas about Christianity. Arden and D’Arcy wrote to the Irish Times after Mason’s death, ‘As a drama director, he was a natural radio genius and an educator both to playwrights and actors. He never seemed to forget that he had begun his adult life as a teacher: he would inspire his casts by getting up from the directorial chair, moving all over the studio, telling stories, and more or less improvising the whole play from start to finish, with a running fire, of folklorish anecdotes from his childhood in County Antrim.’

Details of many of his productions are shown below. The most memorable is probably Don Taylor's epic, "God's Revolution" which he produced with Shaun McLaughlin in 1988, where Bernard Hepton played Cromwell - the story of the Levellers' Insurrection. Another memorable work was his production of "War and Peace" in 1970, with Delia Derbyshire (of "Doctor Who" fame) providing the remarkable electronic music for 'Petya's Dream' in episode 18 (28 Apr 1970).

Richard Wortley mentions in his radio memoir "Reflections of a Lifetime in Radio (Diversity Website, 2005) two special mentors: "Sam Langdon, ex bursar of Dartington Hall, a wry chain-smoker who knew everything about culture, chaperoned most of my first radio steps with such a light touch and amused candour in his pale blue eyes.... and the Irishman Ronald Mason ......... a boss of enormous charisma and a much imitated Ballymena accent."

RADIO PLAYS (most recent at the top); R4/Home Service unless stated otherwise:

GOD'S REVOLUTION....1988
By Don Taylor. Amazing drama-doc about the rise and fall of the Levellers, and the events before and after the death of Charles II. 12 one-hour episodes:

01 07.10.88 The fruits of victory
02 14.10.88 The soldiers' voice
03 21.10.88 Insurrection
04 28.10.88 Summer Manoeuvres
05 04.11.88 The power of the sword
06 11.11.88 Discussions at Putney
07 18.11.88 The logic of events
08 25.11.88 The disciplines of the war
09 02.12.88 The man of blood
10 09.12.88 England's new chains
11 16.12.88 The sea-green banner
12 23.12.88 For the agreement of the people

Cast:
Cromwell - Bernard Hepton, Fairfax - Nigel Anthony, White - Graham Blockey, John Church - Eric Allen, Penelope - Deborah Makepeace, Reynolds - Kim Wall, Barrie - Paul Soeur (sp?), Scroop - Cornelius Garratt, James Thompson - Simon Cough William Thompson - Anthony Jackson, Stephen White - David March, Martha - June Barrie, Ireton - Bill Wallis, Whalley - John Hartock, Hatton - Alan Coveney, Everard - Jonathan Knibbs, Perkins, and Winstanley - Steve Hodson, Den - William Eedle, Sindercomb - John Baddeley, Betty - Zela Clarke, Producers: Ronald Mason and Shaun McLaughlin. More about this on the Don Taylor page.

12 Feb 1988 19:05 - Third Ear
Whose Is the Kingdom?, a major sequence of nine plays on early Christianity and the Emperor Constantine, begins next Friday on Radio 3. The authors, John Arden and Margaretta D'Arcy , talk to Christopher Bigsby. Producer NED CHAILLET. R3.

19 Feb 1988 Whose Is the Kingdom?
Nine plays about Church and State under the Roman Empire, by JOHN ARDEN and MARGARETTA D'ARCY, for Radio 3.

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. 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. Music composed and conducted by STEPHEN BOXER, performed by the CONCHORD ENSEMBLE and LONDON VOICES. Producer: Ronald Mason.

Titles and summaries for the other episodes:

2. Christ is Risen.(dir. Penny Leicester)
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.'

3. Burdens of Empire (dir. Ronald Mason)
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?

4. Letters, Discreet and Indiscreet (dir. Penny Leicester)
'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!'

5.Fowlers' Nets (dir. Penny Leicester)
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.

6: Nicaea (dir. Ronald Mason)
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?

7. An Eye for an T (dir. Ronald Mason)
'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?

8. Interrogations (dir. Penny Leicester)
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.'

9. Hypothesis (Dir. Ronald Mason & Penny Leicester)
'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?

20 Mar 1986: Autumn Love
By Stewart Love. John is 50 and confronted with the possibility of having to compete for his own job as a teacher because of a threatened amalgamation with a neighbouring school. This is a dispiriting experience, but his strength lies in his family life and his love for his wife and three children. John .......... Denys Hawthorne, Mary .......... Trudy Kelly, Phillip .......... Lianne O'Malley, Alison .......... Geraldine Hughes, Optician/woman/girl .......... Stella McKusker, doctor/principal .......... Anthony Finigan, Orthdonist .......... Maurice O'Callaghan, Teacher/Man .......... Dan Gordon. Directed by Ronald Mason. Rpt. 22 Sep 87.

10 Oct 1982 Flos
By David Pownall. Music composed and directed by Stephen Boxer. In 1216 King John is dying, his kingdom fraught with war and intrigue. In Carlisle the confrontation between a master mason and a wily prior epitomises the power struggles within church and state. Michael Williams, Robert Eddison, Mike Gwilym and Peter Vaughan. Musicians: Michael Chance, Ashley Stafford (altos), Phillip Salmon, John Potter (tenors), Richard Wistreich, Simon Grant (basses). Boy soloists Piers McLeish and Steven Harrold. Alastair McLachan (medieval fiddle), David Cornhill (percussion and bells), Jeremy Barlow (recorder, whistle, portative organ) Bob White (bagpipes, shawm). Producer: Ronald Mason. Radio 3. More about this by our friend Jim on the Flos page.

27 Aug 1980: Notre Dame at Noon
By Vladek Sheybal and Hallam Tennyson. Afternoon Theatre. When you have made 15 pilgrimages to the scene of your first love affair, it is undoubtedly time for some kind of exorcism. On the 15th occasion Julia meets someone who may initiate the big kill she needs. Paris: July 1979. Julia: Judi Dench, Madame Falaise: Nicolette Bernard, Poet: Ann Heffehnan, Medium: Gladys Spencer, Walter/Porter: Andre Maranne, Rodger: Gordon Dulieu, Veronica: Jenny Twigge, Producer: Ronald Mason.

3 May 1980: Major Barbara
By Bernard Shaw. Rpt. 29 Aug 83. " This play, written in 1905, is a moral confrontation between two generations .......... the old who made the best of opportunities in an immoral world, and the young who want to atone for this by the misguided idealism of individual sacrifice. It is an exposition of Shaw's doctrine that one ' must either share the world's guilt or go to another planet '". (ie a rather preachy play - Ed.) Lady Britomart Undershaft .......... Gwen Watford, Stephen, her son .......... Christopher Guard, Morrison, her butler .......... Michael McStay, Barbara, her elder daughter .......... Anna Massey, Sarah, her younger daughter. .......... Josie Kidd, Adolphus Cusins, Barbara's fiance .......... Jeremy Clyde, Charles Lomax, Sarah's fiance .......... Christopher Good, Andrew Undershaft .......... John Phillips, Rummy Mitchens .......... Peggy Paige, Snobby Price .......... Brian Carroll, Jenny Hill .......... Judy Harris, Peter Shirley .......... Leonard Fenton, Bill Walker .......... John Hollis, Mrs Baines .......... Joan Matheson, Producer .......... Ronald Mason.

11 Feb 1980: Miss Havisham's Wedding Day
By Carolyn Sally Jones. The play opens in Bengal in 1777, when Ester Havisham is 13 years old. It explores the enigma of Miss Havisham, the desolate and vengeful figure who, haunts Dickens' story "Great Expectations". Rpt. 18 Aug 81. Ester .......... Elizabeth Proud, Mr Havisham .......... Michael Wllliams, Mrs Havisham .......... Maxine Audley, Mrs Chumley .......... Margery Mason, Mr Wadsworth .......... David March, Dr Beck .......... Peter Baldwin, Aunt Pocket .......... Georgine Anderson, Jack .......... Leonard Fenton, Annie .......... Joan Matheson, a child Harry .......... Neil Nisbet, a young man Harry .......... Brian Carroll, Meg Arthur .......... Dianna Payan, Stephen Compeyson .......... Kenneth Fortescue, Matthew Pocket .......... Gordon Dulleu, Seaman/Servant .......... John Church. Produced by Ronald Mason.

AT SWIM-TWO-BIRDS....1979
A play based on the novel by Flann O'Brien. Adapted by Eric Ewens. Produced by Ronald Mason. 26 Aug 79, rpt. R3 Sun 2 Nov 80. The play takes place in Dublin, in the 1930s, in the 'kingdom of the mind' of its main character, Myles. Flann O'Brien is the pseudonym of Brian O'Nolan, born in 1910. His work is an experimental blend of satire, fantasy and farce. He was well known for his newspaper column written under the name "Myles na Gopaleen". He died in 1966.

Cast List :
Myles...................................................Niall Buggy
Uncle.............................................Patrick McAlinney
Jesuit/Sweeney.....................................Allan McClelland
Tipster/Lamont.........................................Sean Barrett
Conan/Moling......................................David Blake Kelly
Finn/Trellis........................................Denys Hawthorne
Brinsley.................................................Jim Norton
Kelly/Casey...........................................Harry Webster
Shanahan................................................Kevin Flood
Furriskey..............................................Donal McCann
Ronan/Corcoran...........................................Alan Barry
Bryne/Tracey..........................................Wesley Murphy
Pooka.................................................Patrick Magee
Fairy...................................................Kate Binchy
Orlick...................................................Tom McCabe
Cow...................................................Elizabeth Morgan

18 February 1979 Heaven Scent
By Barrie Keefe. Just Before Midnight, 15m. Bob wakes up one morning and parked outside his house he finds a juggernaut containing a vast quantity of scent. It seems like a gift from the gods ... Winner of the Giles Cooper Award, 1979. Nigel Anthony, Harold Kasket, John Hollis, Bill Monks, Renu Setna and Eva Stuart. Producer: Ronald Mason. Radio 4.

21 Jul 1978: The Force of Habit
By THOMAS BERNHARD, translated by NEVILLE PLAICE and STEPHEN PLAICE. Drama Now, radio 3. "In these 22 years we haven't succeeded one single time in completing the Trout quintet without making a mistake let alone making a work of art There is always someone who ruins everything through carelessness or vulgarity". Caribaldi the Ringmaster .... David March, The Juggler .... Donal Donnelly, Caribaldi's Granddaughter .... Anne Rosenfeld, Lion Tamer .... Allan McClelland, ClOWn MICHAEL .... Tudor Barnes. Producer: Ronald Mason.

23 November 1977 The Duck Variations
By David Mamet, who describes his play as Opus 10 - a piece with 14 variations on the theme of the duck. The scene is a park in a large North American city overlooking a great lake, where two old men are passing the time of day. Cyril Shaps and Harry Towb. Producer: Ronald Mason. Radio 3.

17 Aug 1975:The Fallen Idol
By GRAHAM GREENE, adapted from his film story by CHARLES HATTON. Felipe .... Jean England, Secretary .... Rolf Lefebvre, Baines .... Richard Pasco, Ambassador .... Geoffrey Wincott, Mrs Baines .... Rachel Gurney, Mrs Barrow .... Gudrun Ure, Mrs Patterson .... Beth Boyd, Harry .... Nicholas Edmett, Julie .... Judi Dench, Policeman .... David Brierley, Sergeant .... Victor Lucas, Rose .... Barbara Mitchell, Dr Fenton .... Lockwood West, Ames .... Peter Baldwin, Det-Insp Hart .... Michael Deacon, Chief Det-Insp Crowe .... John Wyse, Producer .... Ronald Mason.

22 Feb 1974: The Pool
By W. Maugham, ad. Eric Ewens. Afternoon Theatre. A Scotsman who falls in love with a Samoan girl denies that East is East, and West is West. Somerset Maugham: Carleton Hobbs, Lawson: Henry Stamper, Ethel: Jumoke Debayo, Chaplin: John Bentley, Miller: Francis De Wolff, Nelson: Arthur Cox, Minister: Ian Dewar, Elder: Duncan McIntyre, Mrs McFie: Betty Hardy, Producer: Ronald Mason.

25 Feb 1973: Requiem for a Wild Rose
By PETER RUSSELL.Afternoon Theatre. 'If we talk without saying things we might just as well save our breath to cool our porridge. You've grown older without changing. That's your misfortune.' Susan Heathcote: June Tobin, Bill Heathcote: Joss Ackland, The Rev Ralph Berkley: Charles Hodgson, Gilbert Crozier: Duncan McIntyre, Major-General Sir Archibald Eyre: Norman Claridge, Julia Eyre: Sheila Allen, Producer: Ronald Mason.

22 Sep 1972: Belle Maman
By JOHN TARRANT.Caravans have been stolen many times before, but never in my experience with the owners inside. Mary .... Sheila Grant, John .... Martin Jarvis, Kewley .... James Thomason, Jules Caradec .... Peter Tuddenham, Philippe .... Nicholas Edmett, Maman .... Cecile Chevreau, Simone .... Patricia Gallimore, Producer .... Ronald Mason.

15 Nov 1971: A Who's Who of Flapland
By David Halliwell. A man sits brooding in a cafeteria, thinking about the man who tricked him years ago. One day they'll meet again and when they do ... First Man: Alfred Marks, Second Man: Wilfred Pickles, Producer: Ronald Mason.

10 Oct 1971: Crystal and Fox
By Brian Friel. The Sunday Play. "Red, yellow, black or blue, you pays your money and you takes your choice, not that it makes a damn bit of difference because the whole thing's fixed, my love, fixed - fixed - fixed; who am I to cloud your bright eyes or kill your belief that love is all." Fox Melarkey: Wilfrid Brambell, Crystal: Barbara Jefford, Papa: Harry Hutchinson, Pedro: Harry Webster, El Cid: Denys Hawthorne, Tanya: Genevieve Lyons, Gabriel: Kevin McHugh, Irish policeman: Arthur Cox, First detective,: David Brierley, Second detective: Brian Haines, Producer: Ronald Mason.

28 Jun 1971: The Playboy of the Western World
By J.M.Synge, adapted for radio by W. R. Rodgers. Opening narration by Patricia Leventon and Allan McClelland. Margaret Flaherty, called Pegeen Mike .......... Siobhan McKenna, Shawn Keogh, a farmer .......... Milo O'Shea, Michael James Flaherty, a publican .......... Liam Redmond, Small farmers .......... Jimmy Farrell .......... Patrick McAlinney, Philly Cullen .......... Barry Keegan, Christopher Mahon .......... Eamonn Keane, Widow Quin .......... Anna Manahan, Village girls:Susan Brady .......... Barbara Adair, Honor Blake .......... Maggie Fitzgerald, Sara Tansey .......... Kate Binchy, Old Mahon, a squatter .......... Jack Cunningham, Producer.......... Ronald Mason.

11 Jun 1971: No Love for Linda
By Peter Russell. "If I get this job perhaps Linda will be like her old self again." Betty Jeffries .......... Gudrun Ure, David Jeffries .......... Rolf Lefebvre, Liz Holder .......... Petra Davies, Michael Holder .......... Peter Pratt, Wally Stokes .......... Alan Dudley, Linda Jeffries .......... Margaret Robertson, Dr Bates .......... Wilfred Babbage, Det-Insp Hardacre .......... John Hollis, Det-Sgt Monk .......... Derek Seaton, Producer .......... Ronald Mason.

15 Mar 1971: The Death of Bessie Smith
By Edward Albee, adapted by Gerry Jones. It's September 1937, and Bessie Smith, being driven down the main road to Memphis on her way to New York, is still a star in spite of years of self-destruction. Suddenly another car ... collision course.... and in the wreckage of the crash Bessie Smith is just (in the language of the day) a nigger again. Jack: Earl Cameron, Bernie: Tommy Eytle, Father: Robert Beatty, Nurse: Elizabeth Spriggs, Orderly: Cosmo Pieterse, Second nurse: Joan Miller, Intern: Robert Howay, Producer: Ronald Mason.

20 March 1970 L’Impomptu de l’Alma, or,The Shepherd's Chameleon
By Eugène Ionesco, translated by Sasha Moorsom. ' The experience of an artist can, at any moment, be endangered by the preconceived ideas of fanatical pedants. These dogmatic and narrow-minded people will always be the greatest menace to the creative artist.' Anthony Jacobs, Denys Blakelock, Francis de Wolff, Grizelda Hervey and Donal Donnelly (as Ionesco). Producer: Ronald Mason. Radio 3.

4 Jan 70: Classic Serial: War and Peace
By Tolstoy, ad. Michael Bakewell in 20 episodes from the translation by Louise and Aylmer Maude. BBC notes for part 1: .......... St Petersburg, 1805. Tolstoy .......... Denys Hawthorne, Pierre Bezukhov .......... David Buck, Natasha Rostova .......... Kate Binchy, Andrei Bolkonsky .......... Martin Jarvis, Lise Bolkonskaya .......... Anna Cropper, Nicolai Rostov .......... Christopher Guinee, Hippolyte Kuragin .......... Jeremy Clyde, Anna Scherer .......... Maddi Hedd, Vasili Kuragin .......... James Thomason, Princess Drubetskaya .......... Daphne Newton, Fedya Dolokhov .......... Sean Barrett, Countess Rostova .......... Ilona Ference, Count Ilya Rostov .......... David March, Madame Karagina .......... Margot Boyd, Sonya .......... Patricia Gallimore, Boris Drubetskoy .......... John Rye. Producer: Ronald Mason.

12 Dec 1969 Long Day’s Journey Into Night
By Eugene O’Neill. Irene Worth, Patrick Magee, Neil McCallum, Robert Howay and Jan Edwards. Producer: Ronald Mason. Radio 3.

6 Jun 1969 L'Amante anglaise
By Marguerite Duras, translated by Barbara Bray. Railway trunks throughout France had yielded up parts of a woman's body. The police traced the source to a single intersection at Viorne and the district soon produced its anatomist. Why had a fifty-one-year-old married woman murdered her deaf-and-dumb cousin?Gwen Watford, Robert Eddison and Sean Barrett. Producer: Ronald Mason. Radio 3.

1 May 1969 Total Eclipse
By Christopher Hampton. Radio 3. ' My search for universal experience has led me here. To lead an idle, pointless life of poverty, as the minion of a bald, ugly, ageing, drunken lyric poet, who Clings on to me because his wife won'take him back.' Derek Godfrey as Verlaine and Kenneth Cranham as Rimbaud. Derek Godfrey, Kenneth Cranham, Gwen Watford, Marjorie Westbury, Rosalind Shanks, Haydn Jones, Kathleen Helme, David March, Nigel Hawthorne, Peter Pratt, Leonard Fenton and Barbara Mitchell. Producer: Ronald Mason.

17 Mar 1969 Becket
By Jean Anouilh, adapted for radio by Roger Pine, from the translation by Lucienne Hill. ' Sire. crush them now, or in five years', time there will be two Kings in England, the Archbishop of Canterbury and you. And in ten years' time there will be only one.' Ian Holm, David Buck, Peter Jeffrey, Patricia Gallimore, Geoffrey Wincott, Garard Green, Antony Vicars, Ralph Truman, Roger Gale, Marjorie Westbury, Kathleen Helme, David Brierley, David March, Peter Pratt and John Baddeley. Producer: Ronald Mason. Radio 4 World Theatre.

5 Mar 1969: Jane
By Somerset Maugham, ad Liane Aukin. Willie Maugham: Carleton Hobbs, Marion Tower: Nicolette Bernard, Brine/Dickie Baltimore: James Thomason, Jane Fowler: Mary Wimbush, Gilbert Napier: David Brierley. Producer: Ronald Mason. Rpt. 6 Jul 1984.

28 Dec 1968: Lady Windermere's Fan
The famous play by Oscar Wilde. Saturday Night Theatre. "If you pretend to be good, the world takes you very seriously. If you pretend to be bad, It doesn't. Such is the astounding stupidity of optimism". Mrs Erlynne: Maxine Audley, Duchess of Berwick: Fabia Drake, Lord Darlington: Timothy West, Lady Windermere: Rosalind Shanks, with Peter Baldwin, Maureen Beck, Grizelda Hervey, Godfrey Kenton, John Pullen, John Forrest, Ian Thompson, John Wyse. Produced by Ronald Mason. Rpt. 25 Dec 1982.

26 Sep 1968 Ella
By Rhys Adrian. Ella has two lovers, and because they're so different, she wants both of them. This play, a comedy, was very explicit for its time. Brenda Bruce, Peter Jeffrey and Maurice Denham. Producer: Ronald Mason.

14 Apr 1968 Winners
By Brian Friel. Radio 3; a comedy. Fionnuala Flanagan, Jim Norton, Denys Hawthorne and Marjorie Westbury. Producer: Ronald Mason.

15 Jun 1967 Between the Two of Us
By Rhys Adrian. Third Programme. First woman: Betty Hardy, Second woman: Noel Hood, Girl: Anna Cropper, Man: Alec McCowen, Glossy girl: Ingrid Bower, First boy: Nigel Anthony, Second boy: Leroy Lingwood, Sergeant: Ian Thompson, Detective: Brian Hewlett. Produced by Ronald Mason. Rpt. Dec 1971.

THE DARKEST HOUR....1967
By John Tarrant, 20 Sep 67, rpt. 31 Aug 70. A young woman is driving down a country lane when a man runs out in front of the car and is hit. It starts a complicated train of events. Patricia Levanton as Laura, Peter Baldwin as Mark, with John Hollis, Alan McLelland, Alexander John, Ann Murray, Frank Henderson. Producer Ronald Mason.

TRAP FOR TWO....1967
By Stewart Farrar. 45m. 1 Feb 67, Light Programme, 8.15pm. Midweek theatre. A British student on an exchange scholarship in Europe learns the price of meddling in the politics of a police state. With Margaret Robertson, Anthony Jackson, Frank Henderson , Hilda Schroder, Arthur Lawrence, Basil Jones. Produced by Ronald Mason. Repeated 19 Nov 69, 8.30pm, R2.

9 Aug1966 The Loves of Cass McGuire
By Brian Friel. As children we dream of the future - dreams without boundaries. In old age we dream of the past-a selective reconstructed past and we are kept living between innocence and senility by loving and being loved, or the illusions of loving and being loved. Third Programme. Siobhan McKenna, Sybil Thorndike, Mary O'Farrell, Carleton Hobbs, Liam Redmond, Peter Mayock, Sheelagh Cullen, Patrick McAlinney, Peggy Marshall and Shela Ward. Produced by Ronald Mason.

29 Nov 1965 The Evangelist
By Sam Thompson, adapted for broadcasting by Sam Hanna Bell. An American evangelist comes to sectarian Belfast to revive the Faith and encounters a self-confessed agnostic who fights to prevent a young man from being caught up in fanatical religiosity. Faith versus scepticism is the essence of the story. Pastor Earls .......... Ray McAnally, Manser Brown .......... J G Devlin, Finlay Bradford .......... Harold Goldblatt, Arter .......... Stephen Rea, Jobber Johnson .......... Sean Reid, Dicker Graham .......... John McBride, Johnny Bradford .......... Michael Stewart, Bella McConachie .......... Catherine Gibson, Pastor Mahood .......... Maurice Ocallaghan, Pastor Waid .......... William Hunter, Betty Williams .......... Diana Payan, Agnes Bradford .......... Irene Bingham, Eric Jones .......... Larry McCoubrey, Norah .......... Kathleen Feenan. Produced by Ronald Mason. Northern Ireland Home Service.

22 Jul 1965 The Countess Cathleen
By Bill Yeats, adapted for broadcasting by W.R. Rodgers. Third Programme. Eithne Dunne, Ray McAnally, Eamonn Keane, R. H. MacCandless, Michael Duffy, Jack McQuoid. Kathleen Feenan, Irene Bingham, Gwendolyn Stewart, Catherine Gibson, Sam McCready, Liam O’Callaghan, Nita Hardie, Bryan Robson, Maurice O'Callaghan and Robert McLernon. Narrator: Peter Adair. Music composed and conducted by Havelock Nelson. Producer: Ronald Mason.

4 Jan 1965 Over the Bridge
By Sam Thompson. Set in the Belfast shipyards in the 1950s, with the IRA’s Border campaign underway, a simple trade union dispute develops into dangerous sectarian strife. J. G. Devlin, Elizabeth Begley, Donal Donnelly, Charles Witherspoon, Sam Thompson, James Boyce, Maurice O'Callaghan, Sam McCready, Graham Rea, John McBride, Kathleen Feenan, Catherine Gibson, Graeme Roberts and Sean Reid. Produced by Ronald Mason. Home Service.

25 Feb 1965 Philadelphia, Here I Come!
By Brian Friel. Philadelphia awaits Gar O'Donnell tomorrow. But tonight he says goodbye: to an inarticulate father, to a few friends, to an old teacher. And the buffoonery necessary to make these partings bearable provides a counterpoint to the sadness of his going. BBC Third Programme. Donal Donnelly, Patrick Magee, J. G. Devlin, Patrick McAlinne, Harold Goldblatt, Gertrude Russell, Kate Binchy, Doreen Hepburn, Tommy Duggan, Ronald Wilson, Michael Stuart, Denys Hawthorne and Maurice Taylor. Producer: Ronald Mason. Repeated on 10 April 1989 on radio 4.

13 Apr 1964 The Blind Mice
By Brian Friel. Father Chris Carroll returns home to his family after five years in a Chinese Communist prison. His sister's boyfriend reveals a devastating secret. First broadcast on Nov 28, 1963; NI Home Service. John McBride, Gertrude Russell, Donal Donnelly, Denys Hawthorne, Kathleen Feenan, Desmond Perry, Patrick McAlinney, James Greene, John Ruddock, Fraser Kerr and Catherine Gibson. Producer: Ronald Mason. BBC Home Service.

9 Mar 1964 The Founder Members
By Brian Friel. In the series 'Just Before Midnight'. 15m. BBC Light Programme. George Merritt, James Thomason, John Baddeley, John Ruddock, Mary O'Farrell, Isabel Rennie and Jo Manning Wilson. Produced by Ronald Mason.

9 Sep 1963 The Enemy Within
By Brian Friel. A drama about the Patron Saint of Derry, St. Columba of the sixth century A.D., which Friel describes as neither a history nor a biography but an imaginative account of the voluntary exile of St. Columba from Ireland to Iona. The worldly pressures of nation and family confront Columba in his inspirational commitment to his vocation in the Church. Broadcast on June 6 in the Northern Ireland Home Service.Ray McAnally, Will Leighton, J. G. Devlin, R. H. MacCandless, Joseph Dunlop, David Duke, Paul Stewart, Michael Duffy and Derek Bailey. Producer: Ronald Mason. BBC Home Service.

THE LIFE OF THE PARTY....1962(?)
By Arnold Hill. Notes from RT, supplied in 2010 by the author's son Alan, living in Canada: When Mercy Caldwell receives a cheque for her first published story she proposes to use the money in settling overdue accounts, but her brother and sister have more ambitious ideas. They long to recall the affluent years with a dinner party for old friends. Is the party a success? Only in a manner of speaking..... Cast: Caroline Medway.....Gwendolyn Stewart, Mercy Caldwell.....Irene Bingham, Hector Caldwell.....James Boyce, Tubby Haslam.....Harold Goldblatt, Miss Dowdy.....Doreen Hepburn, Jane Semple.....Annette Payan, Harold Semple.....Hugh Montgomery, Producer.....Ronald Mason.

Remarks by the producer:

The author of tonight's play, "The Life of the Party", is a company director living in Crawfordsburn with his wife and eighteen-year-old son. Arnold Hill's first play was broadcast from Northern Ireland fifteen years ago. Since then he has had many of his plays and adaptations broadcast at home and overseas.

Despite a very considerable output Mr. Hill regards writing only as an absorbing hobby. 'The financial rewards of writing' he claims 'are so inadequate that without a private income the professional wroter's years would be lean years indeed.'

Mr. Hill has tried his hand at many kinds of writing, including the novel and the stage play, but he finds the scope that radio gives most satisfying, 'not only for imaginative writing but for imaginative listening'. He has a feeling that many people are turning again from viewing to listening, or at least using the media of television and radio more selectively.

I asked Arnold Hill about his attitude to the 'new wave' of playwrights like Pinter and Wesker. He found in their work a relief from the stereotyped plot but feared that the interest gained there could be sacrificed by a too slavish imitation of natural speech, which became, as he put it, 'thin, repetitive and boring'.

Tonight's play, which I am producing, is about an aspirant writer who after twenty years of failure has had her first short story published.

Ronald Mason

15 Nov 1960: The Old House
By Maurice Leitch; his first radio play. An old couple living in a tied country cottage are visited by their son from Belfast who has come to persuade them to move to his house in the city before they are evicted. The old man finds it impossible to come to terms with the move. J.G. Devlin, Gertrude Russell, James Ellis, Catherine Gibson and Maurice O'Callaghan. Produced by Ronald Mason. NI Home Service.

5 Jan 1959: The Whiteheaded Boy
By Lennox Robinson. The Geoghegans are prosperous shop-keepers in an Irish country town. Denis, the youngest of the family, is his mother's darling and nothing is too good for him. He is now a gay young man at the university. Nita Hardie, Maurice O'Callaghan, John Reid, Irene Bingham, Margaret D’Arcy, Kathleen Feenan, Denys Hawthorne, Elizabeth Begley, James Ellis, Patrick Magee, Eileen Madden and Ann Maguire. Producer: Ronald Mason. BBC Home Service.

24 Apr 1958: To This Hard Place
By Brian Friel. William Hunter, Irene Bingham, Patricia Calderwood, William McKay Kenny, Myrtle Douglas, Michael Baguley. Producer: Ronald Mason. Northern Ireland Home Service.

16 Jan 1958: A Sort of Freedom
By Brian Friel. Harold Goldblatt, Doreen Hepburn, Wolsey Graceey, Ann Maguire, Colin Blakely, Eleanor McFadzean, Charlie Witherspoon. Producer: Ronald Mason. Northern Ireland Home Service.

Page compiled by Nigel Deacon / Diversity website. I am indebted to the person who wrote the Wikipedia entry on Ronald Mason, from which most of the introductory notes are summarised. Corrections or additional contributions to this page are welcome.

Back to top