Quarter 1 Reviews- 004 Historical Comedy- Old

004 Historical Comedy – Old

Gary Brown and Peter Leslie Wild directed a series of clever historical comedies (Take Away) about a fictional fish and chip shop in Leeds over more than five decades. These are the three I most enjoyed. Each episode went back further in time as a new group of immigrants tried their fortunes at the Battered Devil.  In 1988, in “Patty’s Patties” by Leah Chillery, the eponymous Jamaican matriarch returned from holiday to find her grown up son Everall (Daniel Poyser) had converted to Rastafarianism.  Patty (Yvonne Brewster) had to learn to let go of some of her prejudices—against Rastafarianism for one—in order to come to terms with her community.  She also had to realize that Pastor Andrews’ (Vincent Davies) rank did not necessarily mean he was to be trusted.  What Patty takes longer to recognize is that (white) electrician Jeff (Bernard Wrigley) might also be worth the time of day.  It’s heart-warming and quite funny to hear Jeff and Patty’s relationship take shape.  This was an amusing story with interesting characters.  It also starred Trevor Dwyer-Lynch, Danielle Henry, and Marcus Hercules.  

Going back in time a further three decades, “Ciao Chapeltown” by Sharon Oakes takes place in 1953.  I was pleased to find this story wasn’t quite the squeaky-clean, saccharine sweet drama of family acceptance that I expected.  The Battered Devil’s current owners, Eileen (Sue Kelly) and Italian immigrant Gianni (Joel Lessi), are preparing for the Coronation.  That’s when Gianni’s mother Caterina (Flamenia Cinque) arrives from Naples.  Gianni is less than pleased to see her, and it seems there’s more to it than her interfering—but seemingly sincere—ways.  Caterina is flamboyant, and Eileen’s father George (Russell Dixon) starts to wonder if she could be the one to replace his long-dead wife.  Meanwhile, Vito (Anthony James Anthony), another immigrant, isn’t completely happy with Gianni’s assimilationist ways (noting that British-Italians were interned during the War, something even I didn’t know).  Eileen can’t conceive, something with which Caterina becomes obsessed and insists is the result of a curse.  What will be the ultimate result of this culture clash?  What has Caterina done that so unsettles Gianni?  You’ll have to listen to find out.

Gary Brown wrote the final episode, “Bitter Batter,” which explains the unique name of the take-away.  In 1936, the owner is Jewish Melvyn (David Fleischman), harassed by blackshirts and rescued by Malcolm Hovis (Geoff Hordley), a do-gooder seemingly passing through.  Malcolm worms his way into the trust of all in the establishment, charming Jean (Olwyn May).  She and Melvyn have been having an affair for a long time, but he cannot marry her as she isn’t Jewish.  Melvyn’s mother is “Bobby” (Yorkshire for “bubby,” as explained by the sometimes helpful, sometimes annoying narrator; at least she breaks the fourth wall with him).  Bobby (Vanessa Rosenthal) eventually becomes suspicious of Malcolm, wondering what it is that he puts into the chip batter that makes it taste so good.  Meanwhile, Rachel (Julia Raynor), Melvyn’s daughter, wants to marry Harvey (Richard Jackson), a nice Jewish boy who was stricken with polio.  Malcolm insinuates himself here, too, by subtly prejudicing Melvyn against Harvey.  Who exactly is Malcolm Hovis and what does he want?  Entertaining and with a similar vein of magical realism as ran through MetaphorMoses.  The narrator was Stephen Grieff.  The Take Away series was originally from 2007.

Quarter 2 Reviews- 004 Historical Comedy - Old

004 Historical Comedy – Old 

Sean Pertwee doesn’t appear in many radio dramas, but when he does, he’s perfectly cast.  Burning Both Ends:  When Oliver Reed Met Keith Moon is a wry and self-aware comedy that examines the friendship between film star Oliver Reed (Pertwee) and The Who’s drummer Keith Moon (Arthur Darvill).  Performances are fantastic.  Reed is isolated as the premiere British star of his age; never trained as an actor and veering between confident bluster and insecurity, he deplores the falseness of Hollywood.  Keith Moon, meanwhile, is simply mental, going through life as one chaotic game after another.  Together, they spell destruction and devil-may-care for the rest of the world, but for each other, it’s the ultimate bromance (if you have to employ such a wretched term.)  Tonally, it would have been hard to match this in another medium, as both characters have to frequently remind us they’re not reliable narrators.  Originally from 2011, it also starred Matthew Gravelle, Richard Nichols, Bethan Walker, and Claire Cage. 

Quarter 3 Reviews- 004 Historical Comedy- Old

004 Historical Comedy – Old 

Wow, did I really listen to thirteen weeks of The Fosdyke Saga by Bill Tidy and John Junkin from 1983?  Based on  the newspaper cartoon of the same name by Bill Tidy, which is a parody of The Forsyte Saga, I do think it would have been better transmitted live with an audience, but never mind.  Instead of being about upper middle class people, The Fosdyke Saga is about the poor and working class, and instead of being set in London, it’s set in . . . Salford!  Josiah (Philip Lowrie) and Rebecca (Stephanie Turner) Fosdyke are penniless when they are given a helping hand by Mr Ditchley who owns a tripeworks.  I missed the episode in which Mr Ditchley dies and leaves the tripeworks to the Fosdykes instead of to his wastrel son Roger (Christian Rodska), who seduces the Fosdykes’ not-too-bright daughter Victoria (an early role for Miriam Margoyles).  Under the direction of the Fosdykes, the tripeworks becomes an example of High Industrial Age success, not stopped even by the coming of the First World War.  Albert Fosdyke (Enn Reitel) becomes a flying ace—indeed, the cliffhanger for the final episode is whether he has survived.  Tom Fosdyke (an early role for David Threlfall) becomes a guard at the POW camp where he meets sausage-maker Schmidt, with whom he wants to set up an alliance for sausage-making after the war ends.  Instead, he gets taken as a POW himself.  And the dastardly Roger Ditchley keeps showing up like a bad penny to torment the Fosdykes.  There are some gentle if amusing gags, my favorite being the rivalry between Albert and the Baron von Rippendorf who escalate the stunts they pull off while flying their planes (such as putting grand pianos on the wings, taking a bath, and so on, getting more and more outrageous).  The Fosdyke Saga also starred David Timson, Nick Maloney, Nick Revell, David English, John Dougall, Christopher Barr, Larry Lamb, John Westerbrook, and David Ross, and was produced by Alan Nixon.

I was very impressed with King of Bath by Arnold Evans, originally from 1999, though it took me awhile to settle in. A playful comedy series about the life of Beau Nash in Bath, it won me over pretty quickly (and by the episode in which Nash’s Welsh origins are jokingly teased out, I was starting to look forward to each new episode).  It also demonstrates what a charming actor David Bamber can be (I’d heard him in at least one other radio drama, but I’m sure I and most of the world know him best as the excruciating Mr Collins from the 1995 Pride and Prejudice).  Naturally, King of Bath is also set in the Regency, but it has quite a silly side to it.  Beau Nash is Master of Ceremonies in Bath but also the great fixer-upper; he and his friends are constantly getting into scrapes out of which he has to then extricate them.  In the first episode, he has to help his friend (?) Fanny (Alice Arnold), a young actress and singer, deceive the aunt who pays for her upkeep that she isn’t, in fact, a scandalous actress and singer.  Nash is often aided and abetted by Dr Cheyne and his maid Annie, wonderfully played by Eiry Thomas (and who reminds me an incredible amount of the maid Mercy in Sky Atlantic’s Jamestown, one of the best TV dramas I’ve seen in a great long time).  The Welsh episode is probably my favorite, when Nash’s Welsh relation Pryderi (Isteyn Jones) comes visiting.  Nash is quite keen to downplay his Welsh origins and so will do anything to satisfy talentless painter Pryderi, who ends up marrying the landlady of a coffee shop.  Things always end up all right for Nash, but he’s usually out of pocket.  There was also the story where his nephew appeared, trying to set up a school, and Nash had to convince his nephew’s father that the nephew had children so he would pay for the school, and the child-labor-procurer that the children were dead with contagious disease.  The final episode was also quite good, in which Nash finds out that his Methodist servant Ned has been taking his cast-off clothes and once a year riding around as highwayman the Avon Avenger.  A very amusing series, once you get into it.  It was very ably directed by Alison Hindell. 

On the Ceiling was an amusing and well-written (if simple) story about two plasterers (fresco-ers?) named Lapo and Loti (who coincidentally sound just like two London builders) who are working on the Sistine Chapel with Michelangelo (who coincidentally never actually appears in this play).  Lapo and Loti are played by Phil Daniels and Bryan Dick, respectively, and they don’t think much of the elusive Michelangelo, anyway, as he doesn’t know how to paint or properly fresco.  He also has airs and graces.  In the end, Pope Julius (Gary Waldhorn) has a look at the chapel before and after, and indeed approves, as Cardinal Alidosi (Roger Lloyd-Pack) liaises with the difficult Michelangelo.  Originally from 2012, it was written by Nigel Planer and directed by Mary Peate.