001 Historical Drama – New
I haven’t really kept up with Mike Walker’s dynastic sagas,
but I’m glad I caught Castle of the
Hawk, Hawk Wounded. I was intrigued by
Kai Owen being in an audio drama, and here he played Albert, Holy Roman Emperor. The story was the third part of a trilogy,
but coming into the final episode didn’t seem to pose a huge problem. It was narrated by Ibrahim (Philip Arditi), a
Turkish visitor to the court with complicated allegiances, tragically in love
with Judith of the Hapsburg house. It
was a real pleasure, too, for Carl Prekopp to be back on radio as I haven’t
heard him for some time. He was
memorable as Peter von Aspelt, a schemer to equal Ibrahim. Nia Roberts turned in a strong performance as
“unnatural woman” Agnes, Albert’s sister who would have been ruler of their
house had she not been a woman (and when betrayed had no problem massacring
innocent people—indeed, the very epitome of a medieval ruler). Matthew McNulty was a dying Duke Wenceslas
(although not that Wenceslas) and
Aled Pugh John of Swabia, hell-bent on revenge.
Simon Armstrong also had a memorable role as Pope Clement. It was directed, unusually, by Alison Hindell
and also starred Matthew Aubrey, Caitlin Richards, Alexandria Riley, Simon
Armstrong, and Keiron Self.
The 19 August 1918 episode
of Tommies was an important, seminal
one. Other than the story in which
Mickey thought he was going deaf, I think it may be my favorite. By now (1918), American Doughboys have
finally arrived, including Negro units, with white officers (as per previous
American wars). The way these units are
run is deeply unsatisfactory to the soldiers, a fact which is told to Mrs Addy
Washington by a soldier before he dies of influenza (not yet known as the
virulent strain that will cause the great epidemic). Mrs Washington is a secretary for the Negro
YMCA, and her work takes her from London to the front line. Technically, the soldiers are attached to the
French army, so French soldiers frequently help the black soldiers out, saving
their lives despite corrupt, racist, incompetent white American officers. I cringed and was ashamed at how these
officers embodied the very qualities that have destroyed contemporary America,
and, indeed, it is depressing in the extreme to reflect that the same problems
grappled with one hundred years ago are almost completely unchanged. Americans are better at everything, anyone
who doesn’t do things the American way are cowards—overweening ego paired with
hypocrisy. It makes me sick. Anyway, other than a few instances of awkward
writing, I thought this was a truly excellent drama which shed light on
something hardly understood. The
performances were excellent. This
episode was written by Patricia Crumper and Jonathan Ruffle and directed by
Jonquil Panting.
No comments:
Post a Comment