Quarter 2 Reviews- 003 Historical Comedy – New

003 Historical Comedy – New 

April marked Spike Milligan’s centenary. I knew him from The Goon Show, which I have tried in vain to introduce to my radio students, the new adaptation of The Bed Sitting-Room from a few years ago, a volume of his poetry I read, and enthusiastic champions of his books in the series Adolf Hitler and My Part in His Downfall.  I didn’t know very much else but, thanks to Ian Billings’ Spike and the Elfin Oak, I do now.  David Threfall was an inspired choice as he played Milligan absolutely to a tee.  This must surely be a BBC Audio Drama Award-worthy performance.  And it’s a story that’s super-radiogenic.  How else could people be made to believe a story in which Spike Milligan talks to elves and fairies at the base of an oak in Kensington Gardens and then campaigns for their restoration, for it all to be destroyed by a pair of drunks?  The elves pay a visit to “Poet Spike”’s (how touching, as I assume it’s as a poet he wanted to be known) office, including Mrs Grumples, Groodles, Hucklebery, and Dinky (who can only say “Sidcup”).  It’s during the run of The Bed-Sitting Room, which the Lord Chamberlain’s office is pestering Milligan to censor.  Norma (Kerry Gooderson), Spike’s long-suffering agent, also makes an appearance. There is a suitably fitting trumpet solo, as well, when Spike plays jazz with the elves (as one does).  Directed by Gemma Jenkins, it also starred Charlie Brant, Rosie Port, Charlotte Emmet, Georgie Glenn, Luke Bailey, Lauren Cornelius, Ryan Furleigh, Clive Hayward, Neil McCall, Philip Rebereton, Rupert Halliday Evans, and Ryan Early (that’s a huge cast for a modern drama). 

Quarter 4 Reviews- 2/13

003 Historical Comedy – New 

I think I must have heard the second series of How to Survive the Roman Empire, by Pliny and Me, but having not heard the first series, I still enjoyed it.  Written by Hattie Naylor and directed by Kate McAll, this is another example of Naylor making the past accessible (Pepys’ diaries being the major example).  This is the story of Pliny the Younger, his mother Marcella, and his slaves Venta (who is from the Silures tribe, ergo Welsh) and Doris (who is Greek).  It’s very gentle, amusing comedy, despite the fact that it illustrates the life-and-death and sometimes brutal quality of life in the Roman empire (particularly in the last two episodes in which Venta is falsely accused of poisoning General Agricola, back from his victories in Britain, thrown into jail, and forced to fight to the death in the gladiatorial arena).  Pliny is by far the most clueless of the characters.  Marcella is in love with Venta, and Doris falls in love with a doomed dwarf named Calvin who is part of the gladiatorial games of the vain Emperor Domitian.  I don’t have any information on the actors.

Quarter 3 Reviews 2/9

003 Historical Comedy – New 

The Len Dimension is evidently the sequel to a previous satirical tale by Peter Strickland about the eponymous Len (played by Toby Jones who is popping up everywhere on BBC Radio drama).  But you didn’t need to have heard the first story to understand this one, which was laugh-out-loud funny in places.  Set in the early ‘80s, Len is a struggling actor with delusions of grandeur.  The sound design (by Steve Bond) really helped both in cementing it as a period piece and as a piece in which we never know if what Len is experiencing is real or not.  Self-absorbed and abrasive, Len alienates everyone around him, including his partner Alice (Belinda Stewart Wilson), who leaves him at the end of the play.  In between, you have scenes of Len failing to make a splash as a reader of horoscopes for a phone line, getting jealous of Alice’s Greek instructor Pericles, and playing the part of a pedophile in a public service announcement.  It was well-made and darkly enjoyable.  Directed by Peter Strickland, it also starred Steven Orram, Harry Mead, Ted Tomlin, Claudia Dufy, Pano Masty, and Miranda Hinckley.