I was very disappointed to see the schedule this weekend for Radio4xtra (the former BBC7). In previous years, both Radio 4 and BBC7 have given a great selection of Halloween-themed radio plays—in fact, last year, they played spooky dramas all night long on October 31. Although Radio 4 is pitching in with Something Wicked This Way Comes as the Saturday Play, and Radio4xtra is making the concession of concluding something about vampires, overall it’s pretty barren.
I went back over the lists of plays I have heard over the years (since 2008, anyway) and concluded that there’s a wealth of material they could have re-played even if they didn’t want to commission anything new. You can see below what you’ve messed. Warning: SPOILERS!
Adaptations
Fear on Four: Hand in Glove
by Elizabeth Bowen, adapted by Elizabeth Troop
starring Edward deSouza, Majorie Westbury, Kate Finche, Elizabeth Hays-McCoy
directed by Peter Fozzard
A really disturbing play. You could, really, pin all the horror down to a society of women defined by their relationship to men—if Aunt Alicia’s husband hadn’t shot himself, she wouldn’t be at the mercy of “elder abuse” from her niece Ethel, who in turn wouldn’t be so callous (we assume) if she wasn’t a disenfranchised spinster. Hints of Poe and Faulkner as Ethel got strangled by her aunt’s disembodied gloves. Yeeek.
The Picture of Dorian Gray
by Oscar Wilde, adapted by Nick McCarty
starring Ian McDiarmid, Jamie Glover, Stephen Pacey, Harry Meyers, Geoffrey Beever, Alice Arnold
dir. Gordon House
This was quite a good adaptation despite that it was almost letter-perfect to the novella. I love the novella so it was perhaps inevitable that I would come to the radio adaptation with a positive response. There were no sordid insinuations about Dorian’s misdeeds, etc, and I’m not sure Ian McDiarmid was the right voice for Lord Henry. He’s a great radio actor and was wonderful as Satan in the epic Paradise Lost from last year—the part just didn’t fit, in my opinion. Nevertheless, the sound design and music (by David Chilton) were so atmospheric as to make this quite memorable. Jamie Glover was not especially outstanding as Dorian until the last section, which was a little terrifying.
Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights
by Emily Brontë, adapted by Briony Entby
starring Sharon Duce, David Collings, John Dutine, Amanda Root, Emma Fielding, Gary Cady, Paul Rhys, Emily Watson, Sheridan Smith, Liam Barr, Felix Bell, Natase Mora
dir. Janet Whittaker
This followed the book very closely. David Collings made a superb Lockwood and helped to reinforce the idea that this was a bit of soap and dysfunctional melodrama dressed up by the trappings of its arcane and isolated setting. Amanda Root and John Dutine were excellent as the lovers, up to the challenge of all that dialogue and all that emotion; Edgar was sympathetic and Linton terribly pathetic. The music (by Elena Sertesh) was haunting. They decided to make the guess that Heathcliff was Spanish-speaking when he arrived. It could have easily been 3 or 4 episodes instead of 5, but there was very little cutting, which worked well at the beginning, but lessened the impact at the end.
Classic Tales of Horror: My Own True Ghost Story
by Rudyard Kipling
dir. Clive Stanhope
A reading that was quite atmospheric and extremely well-written—yet Kipling was so determined to be haunted that he made his haunting into the rational; it wasn’t much of a ghost story in the end. However, it was a good reading for radio.
From a series of plays adapting horror fiction by Scottish writers.
The Darker Side of the Border: Olalla
by Robert Louis Stevenson, adapted by Marty Ross
starring Paul Blair, Richard Conlin, Carol Ann Crawford, Alexandra Pope
dir. Bruce Young
This was a surprisingly female Gothic tale (I knew they would be vampires; duh!) in the midst of a masculine conflict and ended very bloodily indeed. Some superb performances from Paul Blair as Alec and Carol Ann Crawford as the Señora. It left you wanting more.
The Darker Side of the Border: The Captain of the Polestar
by Arthur Conan Doyle, adapted by Marty Ross
starring Allan Haigg, Nick Underwood, Brian Pettifer
dir. Bruce Young
Crap, this was scary. Audio was the PERFECT medium for this—the howling banshee/lover could not have been creepier in prose. Similar to Voyage of the Demeter, though the hard-hearted captain must have inspired Davy Jones in Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and the callow doctor-hero, while obviously a riff on Conan Doyle himself, seemed like Ishmael from Moby-Dick.
Flight of a Witch
by Ellis Peters, adapted by Sally Hedges
starring Iwan Thomas, Rob Spendler, Michael Tudor Barnes, Deborah Boleyn
dir. Sue Williams
A mystery with the touch of the supernatural. Great music by Anthea Gomez and great sound effects subtly shaded us toward the narrator’s predisposition toward some kind of spooky explanation. There was the historical story of the early 18th century Welsh girl who got lost in the mountain, and though the story was old-fashioned enough for the 1960s, what with girls running away to meet their lovers in Birmingham clandestinely, I figured out the murderer, which is rare. Everyone thought there was something witch-like about Annet Beck, and we never found out who her real father was. The PC and his brother the narrator were a toned-down comedy duo.
From a series of plays adapting horror fiction by 19th century female writers.
The Female Ghost: Man-Sized Marble
by Enid Nesbitt, adapted by Chris Hawes
starring Carolyn Jones, Stephen Critchlow
dir. Mary Nancary
Spooky little tale, effective at the time, though now that I think about it, there’s not so much to it. Maybe it was the mood and the bittersweetness that was striking—two poor but happy artists in their little cottage, the superstitious local woman, the Irish nationalist doctor . . . and two marble villains who come out of their tombs to kill them!
The Female Ghost: The Cold Embrace
by Mary Elizabeth Braddon, adapted by Mary Nancary
starring Stephanie Turner, Jonathan Firth, Alison Petit, Ioan Meredith
dir. Mary Nancary
The narration by Mary Elizabeth, which normally annoys me, actually worked really well. A selfish German artist abandons his fiancée, and she drowns herself. He feels her cold embrace whenever he’s alone, and it ruins his life. The final scene is at the Paris Opera at the Shrovetide Ball, which I loved. Firth was perfect, even managing to evoke some pity at the end. Very spooky.
Frankenstein
by Mary Shelley, adapted Nick Stafford
starring Mike Maloney, John Woods, Philip Joseph, Janice Chambers, Neville Jason
dir. Claire Grove
I think the actor playing Frankenstein was a bit over the top, but radio may well be the medium best suited to adapting this book—the monster can give its long and improbably learned speeches without being hindered. The framing device of Walton in the Arctic works really well. I can’t deny the story’s power and the pervasive sadness of the tale. It really is one of horror rather than terror, and there isn’t a happy ending for anyone, except perhaps the ship heading home.
Hercule Poirot: Halloween Party
by Agatha Christie, adapted by Michael Bakewell
starring John Moffatt, Stephanie Cole, Alexandra Bastido, Siann Jenkins, June Bary, Gareth Armstrong
dir. Ellen Williams
This required paying very close attention, but Poirot was fun, the self-parody of Agatha Christine who sounded more like Miss Marple, a credible assistant, and the whole creepiness of the story—all these girls, and a certain degree of a scandal at a school—contributed to the setting, a girl being drowned in a tub used for bobbing for apples was macabre indeed, but the pseudo-pagan ritual sacrifice made it almost like a Doctor Who sleuthing tale.
The Woman in Black
by Susan Hill, adapted by John Strickland
starring Robert Glenister, John Woodvine, Stuart Richmond, James Quinn
dir. Chris Wallace
The first two parts were thoroughly mysterious and engagingm and I really liked the frame story. I almost cried when Spider the dog was almost sucked under the quicksand. The conclusion was a bit of an anti-climax, though at least the poor guy found some closure. (I have since seen the stage show and read the book!)
Dracula
by Bram Stoker, adapted by Nick McCarty
starring Bernard Holly, Frederick Jaeger, Phyllis Logan, Sharon Maharaj, Philly Walsh
dir. Hamish Wilson
This was a superb adaptation. Well-paced, scary, visceral (and gory), letting the heroism and strength of the male characters and Mina speak for themselves. Dracula was no sensual sex symbol but full of all his nascent horror. It really highlighted the subversive elements, making Jonathan the weakling and Mina much more level-headed, Lucy’s head have its echoes of gang rape, and Dracula’s assaults on the male characters almost homosexual assault (not to mention the vampiresses seducing Jonathan!). Van Helsing was also excellent.
New Drama
Faust
by Martin Jenkin
starring Mark Gatiss, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Thom Tuck, Jasmine Hyde, Pippa Hayward
Superb. Mephistophéles was able to inhabit “our” time and to there were some absolutely spot on jokes (Merthyr Tydfil!!). I’ve heard Gatiss do a lot of radio, but this was his best performance—suave but much more threatening than Sherlock’s brother! This was the version of Faust that doesn’t end happily like Goethe’s—Gretchen’s life is bad but she does end up in Heaven (at least according to Mephistophéles—we don’t know if he was lying or not). A good edition for Halloween, but more pertinently, just a really cool idea, with the contemporary music and 5 x 15 min segments. (By the by, this counts as original because Faust is a legend and there is no other author listed.)
From a series of plays of contemporary horror fiction.
Voices from the Grave: The Parson
by David Varella
starring Mark Basley, Geoffrey Beevers, Wayne Foscott
dir. Luke Frayle
Easily the best of this series—extremely scary, but at least the disillusioned parson fought old magic/darkness and won! It was relevant and also moved quickly, the characters weren’t stiff. “The Lottery” + Vicar of Dibley + “Curse of Fenric” + Hotel Rwanda.
Voices from the Grave: 50, Berkeley Square
by Dylan Ritterson
starring Sophie Roberts, Harry Myers, John Cummings
dir. Gemma Jenkins
Pleasant, eerie little ghost story, set some time in the 19th century, where a lady of the night and two sailors break into the most haunted house in Britain. She escapes; they pay with their life and sanity.
The Strange Case of Edgar Allan Poe
by Christopher Cooke
starring Kerry Shale, John Moffatt, Melissa Walter
dir. John Powell
This was told from the perspective of C. Auguste Dupin, which is a very funny device in itself. But while I thought it would be more of an account of Poe and Dupin dandying it up (or being melancholy the whole time) in Paris, it was more of a straightforward rehash of Poe’s life. Dupin didn’t interact; he recalled. It was accurate; Poe was depicted as very manic, a bit over the top to be quite honest. But it also increased his story’s poignancy, as did the romantic music and recitations of most of his famous works.
Night Talker
by Danny John-Jules
starring Nicholas Boulton, Harry Myers, Stuart Mclaughlin
dir. Ann Edivoe
This was written by the Cat from Red Dwarf . All thoughts of celebrity aside, this was a delightful gem broadcast on BBC7 in the days leading up to Halloween (among many very well-done thematic plays for the spookiest time of the year). For a 20-minute play this was superb. Night DJ Andy Stone is a jerk, putting his listeners and co-workers down, but in the course of a few minutes we learn he lost his twin brother, his birthday is Halloween, he hasn’t seen his parents in years, and he’s in love with his producer! Was it spooks in the studio?
The Voyage of the Demeter
by Robert Forrest
starring Finlay Welsh, Gary Lewis, Steven McNicoll, Grant O’Rourke, Alexander Morton
dir. Patrick Rayner
I listened to this on Halloween in the dark, which was a bad move. I didn’t realize until the very end that this was basically fan fiction for Dracula, but at that point I didn’t care. It was scary, scary stuff. Marine voyages can be claustrophobic at the best of times, but all the actors ramped up their performances to give us the sounds of madness, of becoming unhinged, and Dracula himself was sophisticated and very scary. It was sufficiently free-standing to enjoy, but it helped if you knew that Dracula came from Romania (according to Stoker of course!) in boxes of earth aboard a Russian ship called the Demeter . . .
Frank
by Ian McMillan
starring Kevin Eldon, Glenn Cunningham, Deborah McAndrew, James Quinn
I really didn’t like this for the first few minutes and was considering turning it off, but I persevered. It was altogether too silly, obsessed with rhubarb—and then the play finally got going and started to make me laugh. The idea of a frustrated Yorkshire rhubarb farmer wanting to get his dole benefits by making his doppelganger do his work is funny enough (and how English!). But the fact that Frankie “the monster” is Scottish and far sexier than Frank his maker is outrageous. I also really liked the ending—very sly. This was the play on Halloween, by the way.
Fridays When It Rains
by Nick Warburton
starring Lyndsey Marsal and Clive Swift
dir. Claire Grove
Overall this is one of the best radio thrillers I have ever heard. I have since figured out that Warburton uses the same motifs a lot, and that somewhat lessens the startling originality, but that’s of little consequence. This was creepy in the extreme with some excellent mood music. Starring only Lyndsey Marshall as the girl and Clive Swift as the man, the suspense and the dialogue were perfectly pitched. Swift was terrifying. I remember sitting in the living room staring out the window gripping my seat because I was on the edge of it! The end didn’t make sense entirely- maybe I needed to listen to it a second time- but there’s no doubt I loved the fact it took place entirely on a steam train in 1910, 1964, and the present day. This is what radio can do!
Caligari
by Amanda Dalton
starring Peter Hamilton Dyer, Tom Ferguson, Eileen O’Brien, Sarah McDnald-Hughes, Robin Blaze
dir. Susan Roberts
This was a very ambitious experiment, and even if perhaps it didn’t all come together, it was very memorable. It’s an attempt to shift German Expressionism from the silent film—The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari—into radio. I hadn’t seen the film until after I heard the play, so I went out and rented it (this was right around Halloween). Both play and film share an atmosphere of dreamy menace, where nothing is quite what it seems, and both are quite frightening in places (or I should say, disturbing). Caligari himself did not have a speaking role in the play, but Césare, his sideshow somnambulist, was sung by a counter-tenor. This is very interesting in regards to the film, in which Césare did not speak. The play also added a militant soldier-fool (with a northern accent) who was a particularly well-realized character (for passing judgement on World War I).
From a series of plays of contemporary horror fiction.
Weird Tales : Connected
by Melissa Murray
starring Fiona Glascott, Joseph Klowksa, Ewan Hooper
Certainly thinking in four dimensions: Steph ended up in a submarine to nowhere banging on the radiator pipes of her widower! She’d been phoned by her dead brother-in-law who was so selfish, he took her with him! The idea of every mobile in the shop ringing as you walk in is a bit of contemporary creepiness.
Weird Tales: Rounder
by Ed Hime
starring Joseph Klowska, Lizzie Watts, Jonathan Taffler
dir. Jessica Dromgoole
This took a bit of an effort to understand—it gives us unsettling theories about what might go on in a comatose person’s head. The way it came together in the end with the music, repetition, and revelations equalled anything Steven Moffat could come up with, I think. The image of three people clinging to the Ferris Wheel falling out of the sky was pretty horrific.
Weird Tales: The Loop
by Chris Harrald
starring David Stretfield, Steven Hogan, Stephen Critchlow, Paul Rider
dir. Faith Collingwood
This was pretty scary, and as such moved quickly purely as a horror tale (the mechanisms left totally unexplained at the end). Set in 1906 in a Tube expansion tunnel, the skeleton discovered is just the beginning of horrors emerging from a black slab and a sealed chamber. I was disturbed.
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