The Strange Case of
Spring Heel’d Jack, Part 1, The Ghost of Clapham Common, was very enjoyable
to listen to, and I very much intend to listen to the other parts of the
trilogy. This is a very popular genre on
audio at the moment (see my previous reviews), though to be fair, sci
fi/horror/weird fiction has always had a place on radio, for many reasons but
chiefly the way it can appeal to the imagination directly rather than relying
on effects that can sometimes let the story down.
Aside from a rather confusing prologue, the story gets off
to a rollicking start. Its hero, “Peeler”
Jonah Smith (Christopher Finney), reminded me rather of Johnny Depp in such
roles as Crane in Sleepy Hollow and Inspector
Abberline in From Hell. This should be taken as a
compliment. The mysterious and
atmospheric production has early 19th century Bow Street runner
Smith and his colleague investigating curious happenings in Clapham, which is
all bound up somehow with young heiress Charlotte Fitzrandolph and the Dickensian
dastardly duo of Chough (Jack Bowman) and his rather monosyllabic, Hyde-like
associate Durberville. Anyone even
vaguely familiar with pre-vampiric, pre-Ripper Spring Heel’d Jack will be
unsurprised when cloven hoofprints are found around the graves in Clapham.
This play is quite well-written by Gareth Parker and Robert
Valentine and very well-made by the Wireless Theatre Company. The moody music and lovingly attentive SFX
make it a cut above the rest.
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