If you’ve been here before you’ll know how I love my BBC audio drama, particularly Pilgrim by Sebastian Baczkiewicz, starring Paul Hilton as William Palmer “compelled to walk […] between the worlds of magic and of men”. Well, BBC Radio 4 Extra is repeating every episode, giving you the opportunity to listen again or discover for the first time what all the fuss is about. Highly recommended.
I’m a writer, editor, and Royal Literary Fund Fellow.
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Series 4 of GF Newman’s The Corrupted is being broadcast on Radio 4 this week. Check out my previous post on this 5-star drama, listen and enjoy.
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Graeae’s Midwich Cuckoos is a fresh take on a science fiction classic: the English village of the title has a “day out”, following which all the women of child-bearing age mysteriously become pregnant, with the resulting infants developing at an unnatural rate and demonstrating mysterious powers.
She makes me do things.
Do things?
With her eyes.
The script and acting are wonderful, with subtle sound design adding a distinctly sinister atmosphere. Tyrone Huggins who plays Zellerby has a delicious voice, which is perfectly complimented by that of Alexandra Mathie who plays Janet. And if like us you’re a Corrie fan, you may recognise Molly, played by Cherylee Houston.
Graeae is apparently a disabled-led theatre company. On one hand this is a fundamental part of this production and key to its character, but on the other it’s wholly irrelevant: like Radio 4’s recent production of The Chrysalids, Graeae’s Midwich Cuckoos is true to the quality and classic British SF feel of Wyndham’s original novel.
I suppose we have lived so long in a garden that we have all but forgotten the common places of survival. If you want to keep alive in the jungle, you must live as the jungle does.
The script for episode one is available to download here.
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I’m a writer, editor, and Royal Literary Fund Fellow.
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When I learned another play by Tony Pitts was due for broadcast I knew it would be a belter. His previous plays Pact and Monster were incredible: the former, the darkest radio play I’ve ever heard; the latter, a skilful examination of the secrets lurking behind so many ordinary front doors.
Written in Pitts’ unique, powerful style, and with remarkable acting performances from all concerned, A Badge chronicles a young mother’s journey as she discovers that one of her sons is autistic, and how coming to terms with this, and the prejudice she encounters along the way, shape her entire life.
I can never cut the strings. Never. All his life he needs me. I have to do it. I’m his mum. Michael’ll leave one day. Make his own way. Might come back if he needs me and I’ll put my mum badge back on. But I can’t take off my mum badge with Daniel. I can never do that with him.
A Badge is an essential, moving, and indeed educational production for anyone interested in quality drama, regardless of whether you’re personally affected by the subject matter.
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I’m a writer, editor, and Royal Literary Fund Fellow.
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BBC Radio 4’s World War One drama series are back on air this week, with 45-minute episodes of Tommies on both Friday and Saturday, and Home Front returning to the lads and lasses in Tynemouth.
The characters in both series continue to develop as a result of the ongoing conflict. In Tommies, Captain Mickey Bliss is gathering scars both physical and mental, while Home Front sees those back in England wrestling with the ever-present issues of class and gender. Who doesn’t enjoy the assumptions and prejudices of the upper classes being challenged by the fighting spirit and insight of their lower-class counterparts?
There’s some way to go yet, but when this war’s finally over, what’s going to fill the shell holes in the schedule these two dramas leave behind?
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I’m a writer, editor, and Royal Literary Fund Fellow.
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Vincent O’Connell’s Velvet Blackout, directed by Marc Beeby, is an unusual drama set during World War Two London.
In 1942 a young woman with amnesia is pulled from a bombed building. A doctor and a policeman think she may know something vital to the British war effort – and they use some unorthodox techniques to force her to remember.
Stories work their way out as amnesiac Roxanne (Isabella Inchbald) finds herself at the centre of differences regarding the investigative techniques used to extract the required information, the relationship between Trounce (Ben Crowe) and Edward (Joel MacCormack) taking turns as they enter new territory. I was so engrossed I almost scorched my flapjack. No, really.
You can find my other radio-related posts here.
I’m a writer, editor, and Royal Literary Fund Fellow.
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Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been catching up with series three of GF Newman’s The Corrupted, a superlative drama recently broadcast on BBC Radio 4. If you’re looking for an audio equivalent of gritty TV drama to listen to on your commute or when cooking (one of my favourite times to listen), then you should give this a try.
Continuing the story of the Oldman family, this series of The Corrupted is set in 1970s gangland London, all bent coppers, geezers and grasses, stitch-ups, slags and dodgy deals. Including news and celebrities of the day, The Corrupted skilfully merges fact and fiction in an absorbing 10-episode story arc, with superb writing, acting and production. (Episode 1 also includes the most spectacularly performed orgasm I’ve ever heard on radio. I went quite red in the face!)
GF Newman’s The Corrupted is another great example of why I love audio drama. At the time of writing episode 1 is available via BBC iPlayer for another five days, so download and enjoy the series now.
Click here for a blog by GF Newman on the BBC Writersroom website.
Click here to visit GF Newman’s website.
Read my other radio drama posts.
I’m a writer, editor, and Royal Literary Fund Fellow.
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