Quarter 4 Reviews- 013 Adaptation - Old

013 Adaptation – Old

I was very pleased to get to hear the second Rouletabille story, The Perfume of the Lady in Black, the sequel to Gaston Leroux’s The Mystery of the Yellow Room, and found it remarkably modern.  I’m astounded it hasn’t been adapted for TV or film (in English).  Most of the characters from the first story are back, to wit:  Rouletabille (Nicholas Boulton), his sidekick Sainclair (Charles Simpson), their foe Larson (Geoffrey Whitehead), and Larson’s intended victim, Mathilde (Suzanna Hamilton).  However, the story begins with Larson’s apparent demise in a ship explosion followed by his rise from the dead to torment his ex-wife Mathilde, who is finally marrying the man she wants to marry because her husband is “dead.”  In classic locked room fashion, Larson tries to kill Mathilde, though eventually Rouletabille exposes his methods.  However, much more difficult for Rouletabille is coming to terms with the Lady in Black who is the only mourner at Larson’s funeral.  Originally from 2000, it was adapted by Stephen Sheridan and directed by David Blount.  

I was rather interested to find that the early 2000s TV adaptation of Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake followed this radio one (from 1984) very closely, indeed to the point where I feel like Jonathan Rhys Meyers’ performance as Steerpike was modeled closely on Sting’s. Adapted by Brian Sibley, famous for his radio adaptations of Lord of the Rings, this adaptation had no problem taking on the impossibly huge.  Sting was more than up to the task of playing Steerpike.   The cast is also a collection of Doctor Who alumni (whether they had yet appeared in the show in 1984 or would subsequently do so), with Sheila Hancock as dotty sisters Clarice and Cora, Cyril Shaps as ancient servitor Flay, and Maurice Denham as Barquentine.  Moreover, John Sessions’ performance as Dr Prunesquallor (from the TV adaptation) seems very similar to Bernard Hepton’s here.  David Warner is, moreover, a better Sepulchrave than was Nigel Hawthorne, and Hilda Schroder’s Nannie Slagg seems much more sympathetic than the one portrayed on TV.  The story of Keda (Melinda Walker), Rantel (Graham Blockey), and Braigon (Peter Acre) made as little sense as ever.  The narration by the Artist (Freddie Jones), as orchestrated by the clearly experienced Sibley, worked very well in helping a listener trying to identify this vast range of weird characters.  There were other excellent touches as well, such as the sound device of Flay’s kneecaps clicking every time he walked.  I hope I get to hear the next part of the saga at some point. It was directed by Glyn Dearman.

Quarter 4 Reviews- 008 Horror- Old

008 Horror – Old

As a change of pace, around Halloween I listened to “W is for Werewolf,” an episode from the early 1940s American network radio program Dark Fantasy by Scott Bishop. I love Dark Fantasy; how great to be Scott Bishop in the early 1940s broadcasting these weird tales with no editorial oversight (it went out unsponsored, as far as I can tell).  This tale is relatively simplistic and slow-paced for a modern audience, but the actors invested all their conviction.  A man makes a long voyage to stay with a friend who lives on a remote island that can only be reached by boat.  The people there are “superstitious” (I think it’s implied that it’s South America, but it’s never made clear).  There, the man is horrified to find that the friend’s son is nervous, withdrawn—and has thick hair growing on the palm of his hand.  His older brother died previously.  Naturally, we figure out quite quickly that the two sons were both werewolves, and the friend’s desperation is a father’s to try to cure his remaining son. Besides the shockingly sexual connotations of the hair on the palm, the man entrusts his wife to go to the graveyard with him and dig up his friend’s deceased son—in whose grave, naturally, they find a dog’s skeleton (shades of The Omen).  This was the thirteenth story of the series and broadcast on Friday the 13th.  

There was another round of Fear on Four (from 1997) in time for Halloween.  Ever since I heard David Suchet play Satan last Easter, I find it difficult to hear his voice and think of anything else.  However, in this play, he is the victim, and he does a great job.  He plays Professor Richard Hargreaves, who deals in physics and inner time.  One night, he is seduced by an erstwhile antiques dealer, the splendidly voiced John Rowe playing Jonathan Tempray (the name should have given it away), who takes him to his impressive collection of old timepieces.  There is one that is so old, Hargreaves is completely dazzled.  With some reluctance, Tempray agrees to sell it to him.  Hargreaves becomes obsessed with the clock, as it never plays the same tune twice.  One of his colleagues gives him the macabre news that the clock is not made of wood but human tissue.  Written by Nick Fisher, The Chimes of Midnight also starred Jenny Lee, Alison Pettit, Jillie Meers, and Christopher Wright, and was directed by Marion Nancarrow.  Not for the faint of heart.

Another episode of Fear on Four was also worth highlighting, from the pen of the tremendously talented Nick Warburton.  Making Sacrifices was a very satisfying piece of horror which, given that it had no supernatural element whatsoever, is saying a lot.  Alison (Caroline Strong) is a very annoying girl at St Liz’s school for girls.  She’s thinking of leaving before finishing her degree and will leave her turret room to whatever student bootlicks her way into Alison’s good books.  At first, Kerry (Sarah Rice) seems a bit thick, jolly hockey sticks, but when Alison leaves her alone to tangle with the groundskeeper, we find out she’s perfectly cognizant of Alison’s cutting, evil ways.  She’s willing to put up with Alison’s behavior just as long as she can get the turret room.  A naïve, shy girl, Corrinna (Alison Pettit), next shows up, her worm-like demeanour concealing a cool mastermind at work.  This was well-written with Warburton’s signature ability to be gripping even with a very small cast.  Bravo. It was directed by Adrian Bean.

Quarter 4 Reviews- 005 Contemporary Drama- New

005 Contemporary Drama – New

This category was particularly strong this quarter. The Unseen Government was your absolutely prototypical Mark Lawson/Eoin O’Callaghan collaboration:  up-to-the-minute political/journalistic drama from an insider, well-written and well-acted.  It occasionally erred too much on the side of didacticism, but I didn’t really care, as I am shamefully uninformed about the current political situation in Northern Ireland.  In it, Ali (Amaka Okafor), a Westminster civil servant, is invited to Belfast to observe a role-playing exercise at Queen’s University.  It is facilitated by Jean-Christian, a Belgian (such a joy to hear Anton Lesser’s dulcet tones) whose expertise in diplomacy is there to help re-establish a working government, as months have gone by since there has been one (I am reliably informed that this is actually true).  Maire (Michelle Fairley), Ash (Jonathan Harden), and Paul (Lloyd Hutchinson) all seem to be participants in the exercise, but what Ali slowly comes to realize is that this game has real-world consequences.  In front of her, the Deputy Prime Minister resigns, making it no longer a theoretical exercise but a lesson in the impossibility of maintaining the fragile threads of government without true leadership.  

The RemCo and The Unseen Government by Jonathan Maitland heard almost back-to-back made my head spin, rooted as they both are in real-world, contemporary politics.  The underrated, chameleon-like James Purefoy plays Michael Melman, a business impresario who is driving profits skyward for a PR firm.  However, he wants an extra £8 million as a retainer on top of his salary, bonus, and stock options.  Judith (Deborah Findlay), chair of the remuneration committee, comes in to determine whether the company should find this extra money to placate Melman.  Melman charms his way through the RemCo committee, seducing, bribing, and threatening anyone who stands in his way, including Brian (Forbes Masson) (whose somewhat sexist and anti-Semitic comments are wrenched from the confidential arena of the committee and plastered over tabloids), David (Tony Turner), Edgar (Lewis Bray), and Lucy (Jeanette Percival).  Business-headed Fola (Saffron Kuma) doesn’t have to be seduced by Melman personally; she is enthralled by his business prowess.  Eventually, Judith is the only one suggesting that perhaps Melman’s avarice and arrogance should be curtailed.  Judith’s daughter, Camilla (Lucy Doyle), is also secretly investigating Melman, making her relationship with her mother strained.  Judith is a great character, and I’d almost like to see her appear again in her low-key crusade against the excesses of capitalism.  I felt some of the family scenes between Judith and Camilla were a bit broadly painted, but overall, an excellent drama.  The RemCo was directed by Emma Harding.