Gunsmoke

Gunsmoke is both the last of the radio Westerns and considered the most adult.  It ran for almost 10 years on CBS and then migrated to TV, surviving until the very last breath of US radio drama into the early 1960s. US Marshall Matt Dillon doesn’t sing to Dale Evans like Gene Autry and wouldn’t be caught dead in rhinestones.  He’s a great character, and I’ll definitely listen to more Gunsmoke.   

Gunsmoke’s first episode is from exactly 60 years ago today.  The announcer introduces Matt Dillon as “a US Marshall and gunsmoke.”  What struck me immediately was Dillon’s sarcasm and cynicism, and yet his dedication to upholding the true spirit of the law.  The writing is also crisp and concise, with a great deal of humor.  The episode begins as Dillon is dictating a “wanted” poster to a telegrapher; in Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, Dillon is investigating a crime pinned on a guileless  farmer.   “I kill nobody—not since Gettysburg!” the man protests.  Dillon has to prevent half the town from lynching the man in the cells, while at the same time trying to babysit a kid with a desire for guns and fame.  The kid is very interested in the number of men Dillon has killed in his job.  “You don’t keep score, kid, you try to forget.” 

Unfortunately, Dillon is next suspected of crime; “you had him killed so you could get to her.”  Her, in this case, is an old flame of Dillon’s who is very much aware of the gossip surrounding her.  She begs Dillon to convict someone, anyone, to get the blame off her.  “Please, Matt, I have to live here.”  Although Dillon is sympathetic to his old flame’s pleas, he is not the kind of chivalrous cowboy who is going to fall to bits because a female swooned.  “I’ve sworn to uphold the law and I’ve killed men to do it.  . . . I ask you to be sensible and listen to reason.”

By the end of the story, Dillon has released that it was actually the kid who was responsible for the murders, the kid who we realize will, in about 8 years, become Billy the Kid, as his mother is Catherine Antrim, who has come looking for him.  “In my line, there’s nothing humorous about death,” but this a wonderfully knowing way to end the first episode.  

Matt Dillon is played by William Conrad.

Frontier Gentleman (1-3)

With the discovery of the wonderful archive.org, I finally get to listen to long-gone radio serials that I’ve so far only read about in books about Old Time Radio.  One of the Westerns that appealed to me (and which I will continue to listen to) was Frontier Gentleman, one of the last gasp of radio Westerns in 1958.  It only lasted about a year, but the premise intrigued, and some fairly decent writing sold me.  Frontier Gentleman is about J.B. Kendall, a correspondent for the Times (out of London) who has gone to the West to write about life there.  The situation is fraught with humor, but Kendall is a man of hidden talents:  an 1870s Renaissance man, and not, as it turns out, a ponce.  Like all radio cowboys, he deplores violence and uses it only as a last resort; his wits, charm, and ingenuity count for a lot, especially considering, like the Second Doctor, his adversaries tend to underestimate him.  The first episode saw Kendall arrive in a Montana town that had banned guns.  He eventually realized this was because the town’s sheriff was actually a baddie and that the whole place was under the thumb of the Shelton Brothers.  Kendall was amusing to listen to as he bumbled (politely) through the saloon, and everyone assumed he couldn’t use a gun.  However, as later episodes are hinting, he’s been in the British Army, so he’s not at all helpless.  Unfortunately, the end of the first episode saw Kendall waiting for his advance money so he could continue onward.  Like most of his chivalrous counterparts, he has a soft (and entirely chaste) spot for women in trouble.  

Episode three, broadcast on Feb. 9^th, 1958, opened, as they all do, with a trumpet theme from the young Jerry Goldsmith, and I was impressed with the cinematic quality of the music in Frontier Gentleman.  The narrator informs us that, though he came to this country as a reporter, “as a man with a gun, [Kendall] becomes part of the West.”   This episode concerns the town of Rosebud and problems with Indians not staying on their reservations.  I was surprised at how even-handedly this episode handled the Apaches (“those Indians don’t trust white men no more”), for they are actually kept out of the action proper—therefore, no war dances, no scalping, no terrible dialogue (as this is post-Broken Arrow, I guess it’s to be expected).  At Rosebud, Kendall makes the acquaintance of a kindly matron—“it’s always nice to meet a gentleman”—and a fellow journalist, who are given a scoop when a half-Apache scout offers to take Kendall and his friend to the reservation for an exclusive.  The other journalist is apprehensive.  “Suppose he wants to take your scalp?”  “Well, that would be awkward.”  

Eventually they agree to go out into the hills.  When the other journalist offers Kendall a drink, the English gentlemen says, “Sleep for me” (like all good radio cowboys).  It’s also in this story that Kendall says he was a captain in a cavalry regiment in India.  “The tribesmen do much worse [than scalp] in India.”   Unfortunately, the other journalist’s suspicions are correct regarding the double-cross, and even Kendall’s two guns in a shoulder holster are not adequate.  The nefarious scout, however, has an amusing sense of humor, making him more than a dime-a-dozen villain. 

Kendall is played with great verve by John Dehner, and the serial is written and directed by Antony Ellis.  I’ll definitely listen to some more. 

Batman: Ace of Detectives 1-10

Batman:  Ace of Detectives 1-10 by Pendant Audio Productions

I have made a commitment to listen to more contemporary, non-BBC-produced audio drama, and it seemed easiest to start with something familiar.  Luckily for me, Pendant Audio has been producing fan serials (each between 10-20 mins; because there are no radio slots to worry about) since 2006 which merge the worlds of Batman:  The Animated Series and the comic book universe.  Listening to the first one, I admit I was slightly apprehensive, but I am happy to report that these are truly ambitious audio serials that restore my faith in audio theatre in the Noughties and beyond.  Are they as polished as a BBC production?  Of course not.  To quote from the website, “This fan work, like thousands on the internet today, was produced by fans of the character. It is provided free of charge and is NOT made for profit. No copyright infringement is intended.”  Ergo, I think all the actors, writers, composers, directors, etc, are working for free.  I have great respect for this, and even though it’s a fan production rather than original writing, idea-wise, it’s certainly on par with any BBC adaptation of a “classic” by Mike Walker et al.  Also, it’s obvious that Ace of Detectives will only get better with time; I’m starting at the beginning necessarily, but those episodes are 6 years old.  

First Sertan Saral, and then Peter Milan, are the writers/directors of Ace of Detectives.  BBC writers (except perhaps those for The Archers, though I think the days of their hack-servitude ended in the ‘70s) don’t have this kind of punishing schedule:  1 episode per week written, directed, and presumably edited by the same person.  In that sense, it’s fairly impressive—it gives events a certain unity while following a single storyline (though problems occur when a fair bit of filler creeps in; read on).  I have no idea who provides the music.  The theme, for one, sounds like it’s by Danny Elfman. I really don’t know.  However, in general it’s quite good and has been mixed into the scenes with finesse.  

Actually, scenes are the zenith of AoD’s production.  With some very simple sound effects, we instantly know when we’re in the Batcave (dripping noises), a restaurant at dinnertime (piano lounge music), on a street (honking cars and city noises), etc.  I can’t fault the acoustics and echo effects for various scenes, which see characters in the sewers, among other things (though when Tim and Gordon go to Catwoman’s house, I really couldn’t understand what was going on).  Transitions between scenes are also impressive; they neither linger nor do they draw attention to themselves.  

The opening of episode one, however, is extremely confusing (“Tim is helping Alfred to take care of some Superman defective clone”?!?).  The story arc for the first ten episodes revolves around the Riddler, his attempt to turn good for an Arkham psychiatrist named Misty, and how the Joker and Harley Quinn foul all that up.  Also, Batman has issues with Catwoman, and Commissioner Gordon has to be coaxed out of retirement.  Let me say that Seth Adam Sher as Batman is very good.  He has definitely based his Batman voice on Kevin Conroy from Batman:  The Animated Series, arguably one of the best Batmen of them all.  But he can also do the dry humor, as in the first episode, when he remarks, “Alfred, please fire Tim.” 

 

I’m undecided on Scott Vinnacombe as Tim Drake/Robin.  He’s surely been selected for his youthful tones, and it’s true that Robin has one of the most humorous roles in the serial so far.  “Breaking and entering, at your age?” asks Gordon in episode 8.  “It’s for the good of the city.”  (“Nice entrance,” murmurs Tim in appreciation when Catwoman finds them at her hideout.)  Yet, I think here is one actor who could benefit from a face-to-face recording and rehearsal style as is common practice at the BBC (I assume, because of pure logistics, AoD is recorded in different locations and mixed at the editing stage).  His “aw gee” style of Robin, while a legitimate interpretation, feels a bit subdued compared to the rest of the performances.  Time will tell.  Similarly, I’d better be careful what I say about Peter Milan as Gordon, given he is the director and writer!  To be honest, vocally he sounds much too young to be Gordon, especially since at the start of the story, Gordon (presumably after the events of The Killing Joke) has retired.  

I’m similarly unsure about Laura Post as Selina Kyle/Catwoman.  She’s one of the strongest actors in the serial, but her voice doesn’t really fit my conception of Catwoman.  She’s very sultry and vamp-voiced and definitely one of the best-written characters (presumably why she got her own serial, Catwoman:  Queen of Thieves).  I think perhaps she’ll grow on me.  Plain miscasting, in my opinion, is the culprit in the case of Micheal McCaskill as Edward Nigma/The Riddler.  He just doesn’t fit the way I think Riddler should sound; he sounds too normal!  Tom Stitzer is obviously not British, but he is pretty good as Alfred, who again has a very strong role in this serial.  I’m sorry, but M Sieiro Garcia as Renée Montoya just does not work for me.  At this juncture, her audio acting is timed way too slooooow.  Perhaps she improves.  

That said, Adam Bell is a gem as the Joker.  Certainly he’s following the Mark Hamill school, but he does so with great range and a good understanding of the audio medium.  To be honest, it’s a great relief that Pendant’s Batman and Joker are so good, because in this run of stories at least, they keep the story buoyant.  Robin Carlisle was also quite good as Harley Quinn, which of course pleased me.  Finally, Ara Pelodi as Misty, the psychiatrist, was adequate but I’m not sure audio’s her medium.  

Storywise, what can I say?  Serials are difficult, no matter what the length, but this certainly kept me interested, and I will of course keep listening—hopefully eventually I’ll get up to speed with the current releases.  I do think this embraces the style of several different “universes” of Batman, which in my book is a good thing.  In terms of using the audio medium, in general I think it’s quite accomplished.  For example, there is use of a speakerphone and a mic relay between Batman and Alfred; good techniques for storytelling that no doubt were inspired by cinematic conventions. 

***

I’ve tried a bit of their The Dixie Stenberg and the Brassy Battalion Adventure Theatre, one of their homage to OTR original stories, but I wasn’t quite as impressed.   

   

BBC Christmas on Radio

Usually I have missed most of the Christmas-themed radio plays on BBC Radio because I'm usually in the States until early January. This year, however, I hooked in the new plays on Radio 4 and also some of the repeats on Radio 4extra. My conclusions?


31 Dec 2011 A House to Let by Charles Dickens, Elizabeth Gaskell, Wilkie Collins, et al
Starring Marcia Warren, Sam Dale, Miranda Keeley, Stephen Critchlow, Warwick Davis
Dir. Ned Shyay
This was enjoyably eclectic, with a would-be ghost story, the tale of a sideshow dwarf, and the unusual relationship between a spinster and her manservant. Nevertheless, it rather unfortunately petered out in the last episode.

30 Dec 2011 The Haunted Man and the Ghosts Bargain by Charles Dickens, adapted by Jill Brook
Starring John Moffatt, Michael Tudor-Barnes, Dilys Lay, Donald Hurdlow, Timothy Bateson, Maxine Ordley, Ricky Belsham
Dir. Kay Patrick
This is a difficult one to adapt, but it does have some really good elements, both of humor and social commentary, and sadly this was too short to appreciate either. I really would like to see what Mike Walker would have done with it.

30 Dec 2011 A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Starring Michael Gough, Freddie Jones, Robert Eddison, Derek Lindsay, Peter Woodthorpe, Douglas Hodge, Danny Schiller, Livia Pickles, Timothy Bateson, Joanna Myers
This was an extremely faithful adaptation, and as such could have cut out the fat by removing 15 mins or so. The best part as in the Cratchits’ home, where the narrator disappeared and the warm atmosphere was able to illustrate on radio the image we had in our heads Gough was not a particularly impressive Scrooge, I’m sorry to say. But some nice atmosphere provided by the music. (But seriously, “Ding Dong Merrily on High”?!)

30 Dec 2011 Crisp and Even Brightly by Alec Rowe
Starring Timothy West, June Barry, James Holland, William Eadel, Christian Rads, Maureen O’Brien, Bill Wallis, Antony Jackson, Michael Deacon
Dir. Sean McLaughlan
This was telling the “true” story of “Good” or “Well-Intentioned” King Wenceslas, not true in the sense of historical accuracy, but true in the pantomime sense. It was quite entertaining and very silly; the king was a spoiled brat, the poor Pageboy Mark kept getting beat up (“nobody likes a smart-arse”), and the beggar was actually a spy in disguise, who fell in love with the king’s spy. Very imaginative fake politically correct take, and much more amusing and enjoyable than I expected.

30 Dec 2011 Christmas Day at Kirkby Cottage by Anthony Trollope, adapted by Philip Glasborough
Starring Finty Williams, Chris Larkin, John Rhys-Davies, Julie McKenzie, Lindsey Bowling, Mary Wimbush
Dir. Philip Glasborough
This was a bit twee—some good performances, especially from the parents, but not really very relevant to listeners in 2011.

29 Dec 2011 The Fox at the Manger by P L Travers, adapted by Brian Sibley
Starring Wendy Hiller, Alec McCowan, Jenny Howe, Richard Pierce, Ronald Hudson, Danielle Hudman, Ben Dell
Dir. Kay Patrick
Music by David Hewson
Good performances and some very beautiful prose could not hide the fact this was padded out with a lot of unnecessary music. I can’t decide if I liked the frame story of the mother and war children in St Paul’s or not. I suppose it gave us some context for understanding why there was a fox in a manger in Bethlehem.

28 Dec 2011 The Holly and the Ivy by Wynyard Browne, adapted by Jonathan Hall
Starring Kenneth Alan Taylor, Eve Best, Susannah Harker, Philip Voss, Anne Rye, Maureen Toll
Dir. Polly Thomas
Despite the staginess of the story being apparent, I found this quite affecting. Family dramas still go on like this in the present day, slightly altered. Even if people weren’t innocents in the late 1940s, it was still fairly radical subject matter, it seems to me. However, I was disappointed with the ending; Margaret made the ending nice and pat by agreeing to come home; it was all solved by her father’s religious blessing. Call me a cynic, but I wonder how long the peace lasted.

28 Dec 2011 And Yet Another Partridge in a Pear Tree by Brian Sibley
Starring Penelope Keith, Timothy Bateson
Dir. Jonathatea Kats
Humorous (though slightly disturbing) seasonal tale with very good soundscape.

28 Dec 2011 England, Their England by Archie Scottney
Starring Tony Curran, Ioan Gruffud, Ian Hislop, Alfred Molina, Rufus Sewell, Michael York, Ian Ogilvy
Dir. Martin Jarvis, adapted by Rosalind Ayres
Perhaps radio cricket is understandable to people who understand cricket in the first place, but I got completely lost. Other than that, I enjoyed this Gosford Park-like outing and was impressed, like everyone else I suppose, by its all-star cast. Nevertheless, Ian Hislop should probably stick to his day job.

27 Dec 2011 Christmas Eve by Nikolai Gogal, adapted by Adam Beeson
Starring Dave Anderson, Juliet Candzow, Steve McNicol, Paul Thomas Hickey, Mark McDonnell, Lucy Paterson
Dir. Bruce Young
This, on the other hand, was more or less what I expected of Gogol. It was quite funny in places but I got quite confused, and even the characters didn’t quite get how a devil and a witch could be operating on Christmas Eve, least of all because the witch was the blacksmith’s mother! But lovely choral soundtrack.

26 Dec 2011 Black Hearts in Battersea by Joan Aiken, adapted by Lin Coghlan
Starring Joe Dempsie, Nicola Miles-Wildin, Emerald O’Hanrahan, John Rowe, Sheila Reid
Dir. Marc Beeby
This wasn’t quite what I was expecting. Great care had been taken with the audio soundscape, but what I thought was alternate history turned out to b a bit more fantastic. The second play in particular seemed a bit more for the younger audience, though clearly if it was broadcast in the Afternoon Play slot it was meant for people of all ages? I had sympathies with the Hanoverians, I don’t know why.

Life and Fate - the Plays (ii)

Classic Serial—Viktor and the Academy
What is great about the second and concluding Classic Serial is that it contains normal problems that every family faces (Nadya, a teenager, sneaking out to meet her boyfriend and the inability of her father to confront her about it in an adult manner; neighbors and friends jealous over money and status; scientists and colleagues jealous of each other and the complex relationships between men like Academician Shishakov and “the young grandee” Badin with “real” scientists; an affair that has yet to blossom between Viktor and his wife’s best friend) with those unique to the time and place (Lyuda’s inability to get over Tolya’s death; Zhenya’s obsession with Krymov; Viktor’s betrayal, downfall, and the extraordinary call from Stalin; his subsequent test of faith and the hardest decisions that a person should never have to make.

This play includes some quite electrifying moments, of which the Stalin phone call is just one, and the cast rose to the occasion almost every time (it was the last day of recording for much of this material and sometimes it was difficult to keep focus). One decision I really don’t understand is the music being played under the section where Viktor second-guesses his decision not to attend the meeting which would decide his fate at the Academy. It doesn’t help the atmosphere at all. Perhaps I should address the music choice in general now, which was provided by John Hardy and Rob Whitehead. I have no idea what kind of score I was expecting, perhaps something more orchestral, but the score was not at all how I expected. Music is used sparingly in Life and Fate, though the main theme is repeated often, though it alternated between which wind instruments carried the main melody and whether balalaika (I think?) was interspersed or not. There was very little actual singing, the only examples I can recall being a popular song, Zina singing, and the patriotic choral music in the last play.

The inclusion of much more scientific “technobabble” from Viktor was effective but a bit startling when it started off the episode—having heard it recorded and having heard it again here, I’m still not sure I understand what it means.

In a strange way, after the last play, I didn’t really want the story to end. Although the key victory at Stalingrad had been achieved, and it seemed most of the characters were headed for disaster (Zhenya and Krymov headed for exile; Vera, Spirodonov, and the Stalingrad gang also headed for Siberia; Alexandra: fate unknown; Katya and Seryoszha: probably dead; Zina: imminent death; Novikov: fate unknown; the Shtrums: fate unknown; Masha and Sokolov: probably fall from favor; Viktorov, Tolya, Grekov, Abarchuk, Sofya, Anna, Jenni: dead), I still wanted the story to carry on. I certainly cared about these characters, flawed though all of them were.

I really hope people listened to Life and Fate. I heard that book sales were way up, there were reviews in major papers, and there was much publicity. Despite all that, I can’t seem to get any opinions from anyone I know, despite having tirelessly exhorted people to listen to it.

Come on, Radio4xtra, wake up and smell the deadly nightshade!

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.