Quarter 4 Reviews- 002 Historical Drama- Old

002 Historical Drama – Old

Fortunately for me, Radio 4 Extra had recently rebroadcast Elsie and Doris Waters’ radio sitcom from the 1950s (Floggitts), so I did have some awareness as to who they were before hearing Elsie, Doris, Gert, and Daisy.  I was expecting something innovative from Annie Caulfield given I had read (most of) her book on writing for radio and also because this was a 90 minute drama.  As it happened, the story was narrated by Gert (Tilly Vosburgh) and Daisy (Tessa Peake-Jones), the idiosyncratic characters created by ambitious Doris (Celia Imrie) and writerly Elsie (Susie Blake) as teenagers.  Their parents had expected them to grow up to be “serious” musicians, but the call of recording, the wireless, and music hall-style entertainment lured them away, while their brother, Jack Warner (Geoffrey Whitehead), went on to become famous in Dixon of Dock Green.  Meanwhile, in the 1940s, Elsie and Doris Waters were household names.  It cost them, of course, Doris giving up marriage with a peer who wanted to take her to America and Elsie likewise never marrying.  I have to give it to Annie Caulfield, she did take care to tie up the narrative of this biopic, by beginning with the elderly and tottering Elsie and absorbing numerous flashbacks to tell the story of the sisters, right up until their tour in the Far East during the war in which they entertained soldiers, including Sam.  After Doris’ death, Elsie is brought back into the realm of the living by visiting Sam (David Bradley) in Yorkshire, where he has never been able to readjust to civilian life.  The drama therefore has some interesting meditations on war, duty, nostalgia, and the fickleness of show business.  Also, it has lots of musical interludes replicating Elsie and Doris’ style.  It’s very well-made, with a rather large cast.  Originally from 1996, it also starred Ann Beach, Barbara Atkinson, Chris Wright, Patience Tomlinson, Stephen Critchlow, Guy Edwards, David Timson, Jill Graham, Roger May, and Zulema Dene.  It was directed by Marion Nancarrow.

Black Velvet by Tony Ramsay, by contrast, was a strange and arresting, macabre drama, set in the 17th century.  As far as I could tell, it was no morality tale; the innocent were punished, and it gave a view of the past that most people were selfish and just not very nice.  Richard (Richard Pierce) is a petulant young man upon whom practical jokes are played by his older cousin (Chris Scott).  Annie (Rachel Atkins), the gardener’s daughter, takes pity on him, and he abuses that pity by bending her to his whims, which include touring the big, silent house, empty of Richard’s father and mother, and trying on his mother’s old gowns and jewellery, including a black velvet gown.  Annie becomes increasingly uneasy about the whole thing, and these misgivings are justified when Richard’s tyrannous uncle (James Taylor) storms into the house. The performances here are excellent, and it was recorded on location at Tythrop House and directed by Janet Whitaker in 1993.