Quarter 1 Reviews- 013 Adaptation- Old

013 Adaptation – Old

The Pickwick Papers was an impressive, monumental adaptation from 1977-78, in eight hours adapting the 600+ pages of Dickens’ first novel.  While I was impressed generally by its faithfulness, towards the second half I did wonder why certain incidents were being kept in and others left out.  With an adaptation of this length, much of the story tells itself, and Dickens’ dialogue and eye for absurdity shine beautifully through.  I was surprised to realize how sexist the story really is, with almost every female character included merely for comic value.  I take this as evidence of Dickens’ youthful difficulty with writing female characters, resolved in his later work only to the extent that heroines were angels, and the rest of the female characters were grotesque or comic or both.  Not really a man who understood women, for the most part; more’s the pity (especially as compared with Wilkie Collins).  Needless to say, the performances were all top-notch (other than the ones in which grown women were deployed to play children; a poor strategy at the best of times and something that BBC radio drama didn’t really get away from until the 1990s).  One thing in particular I wanted to say about the production was that I really appreciated the bond between Pickwick and Sam Weller, which even more than in the book seemed the kind of platonic devotion between friends who, despite being master and servant, were bonded more deeply than to any other human beings.  If you feel compelled to slash that, then so be it; I for one don’t.  Unfortunately, the only episode I missed was “Christmas at Dingley Dell,” which very much disappointed me as they had clearly originally transmitted it to go out around Christmas 1977 (hence why it was being played on Radio 4 Extra around Christmastime).  I only finished The Pickwick Papers in 2018 and this adaptation made me want to read it all over again. Adapted by Barry Campbell and Constance Cox, it starred Simon Cadell as Dickens, Freddie Jones as Pickwick, Philip Bond as Winkle, Michael Graham Cox as Tupman, Stephen Thorne (rather against type) as Snodgrass, Paul Chapman as Jingle, Tim Wylton as Job Trotter, Jack May as Wardle, June Whitfield as Miss Rachael, Michael Troughton as Joe, Douglas Livingstone as Sam Weller, Nigel Anthony as Bob Sawyer, Tim Piggott Smith as Ben Allen, Peter Vaughn as Sgt Buzz Fuzz, and Rosalind Ayres as Arabella Allen.  Whew!  It was directed by Jane Morgan.  

Speaking of Wilkie Collins . . .  I was unsure about this 2001 adaptation of The Woman in White, one of my favorite novels (and what I saw of the summer 2018 BBC TV adaptation left a lot to be desired).  Nevertheless, I knew Martyn Wade’s batting average for adaptations was pretty good, so I persisted beyond the first episode, which I found a little underwhelming.  I’m glad that I did, because I ended up quite enjoying this adaptation and appreciating how it cut through the intricate epistolary nature, as well as the emphasis on visual spectacle, of the novel to make a radiogenic and pacey sound drama.  It did so, in part, by utilizing a number of monologues and narration provided by various characters which corresponded roughly to the way the novel was told, while still usefully telling the story through dialogue.  I was concerned, at first, that Toby Stephens was miscast as Walter Hartright.  I am a big fan of Toby Stephens (his James Bond was the best one, as far as I’m concerned), but was unsure that his vocal quality was quite right for the somewhat restrained Hartright.  However, he repaid sustained listening, for I had forgotten how dogged and determined Hartright has to be in order to match wits with Count Fosco.  Juliet Aubrey, so memorable as Irene Forsyte, was excellence as Marian Halcombe, and Emily Bruni managed to bring the somewhat passive Laurie Fairlie to life here.  Jeremy Clyde’s performance as the ultimately pathetic Sir Percival Glyde was better than the original character warranted.  Directed by Cherry Cookson, the adaptation also starred Alice Hart and Philip Voss.

Apparently A Séance on a Wet Afternoon by Mark McShane was based on a book.   although it was recorded in 2014, it sounded very period, as if it had been recorded decades ago (helped, no doubt, by an old-style byline introduction).  In it, Myra, played by an absolutely pitch-perfect Caroline Strong, is a medium who is convinced that the only way to make it big is to kidnap a young girl from an elite family, then call the family up with visions of how to find the girl.  Myra’s long-suffering husband, Bill—played by an unrecognizable Robert Glenister—follows her plan to the letter.  The problem arises when he accidentally smothers the girl.  Carl Prekopp also sounds period perfect as D.S. Payne.  Myra is a bizarre character to play, so oddly devoid of human feeling, yet so self-assured.  A Séance on a Wet Afternoon also starred Nick Underwood, Jasmine Hyde, Lizzy Watts, Gerard McDermott, and Jane Whittenshaw, and was directed by Bruce Young.