Nick Warburton Radio Plays

Nick Warburton was born in 1947 and is married with one son. He gave up teaching in primary schools after ten years to try writing (also doing part-time work in libraries and selling on craft stalls). He writes children's books, radio, stage and television scripts, and in 1985 was joint winner of the BBC/Radio Times drama award for Conversations From the Engine Room.(info. found by Clive Lever, in "The Man In Black", BBC Publications 1990, ISBN 0 563 20904 6)

UPDATE, 2006
Nick's play "Beast" won the Tinniswood Award; best play of 2005. See brief mention below and Tinniswood Award page.

UPDATE, 2007
I was pleased to hear Nick as Christopher Martin-Jenkins' guest in "View from the Boundary" on Test Match Special, 26 May 07, England v. West Indies at Headingley. Nick talked about radio plays and cricket, and the similarities between them. Cricket can be relatively dull (I have a friend who says it's the one sport which is improved by not being able to see it- by listening to TMS!), but it's punctuated by highlights, and it's these which determine the course of events. Rather like a play.

Nick was in charge of cricket at the primary school where he worked, in Cambridge in the mid-seventies, playing on Parker's Piece. (In 1976-7 I had to cross Parker's Piece five times a week on the way from Fair St. to the Chemistry Labs on Lensfield Rd., so perhaps our paths crossed.)

He mentioned that he had a cricket-based play going out on 6 Jul 07, entitled "Lawn Wars", about a man who tries to bowl the perfect off-break. The original title (vetoed) was "The one which went on with the arm", but it probably wouldn't be understood by non-cricket fans, so "Lawn Wars" had to do.

A recent project was a collection of five plays based on Luke's gospel, broadcast in the run-up to Christmas, 2008. This is reviewed briefly below.

1. The Colonel's Wife (30', 1983)
2. Another Crack of the Whip (30', 1986)
3. Conversations from the Engine Room* (60', 1986)
4. Sunlight on the Garden* (60', 1987)
5. The Way Through the Woods* (60', 1987)
6. Music Lovers (30', 1988)
7. The Messenger (60', 1988)
8. His Last Card (30', 1989)
9. The Nativity Letters (45', 1989)
10. The Thirteenth Owl (30', 1990) [R5]
11. Saving Grace (30', 1991) [R5]
12. Straightening Pictures (30', 1991)
13. Resurrection (3 x 60', 1994) [Adaptation of Tolstoy's novel]
14. A Grove of Straight Trees (45', 1994)
15. Baboushka (30', 1995)
16. David* (2 x 60', 1997)
17. Making Sacrifices (30', 1997)
18. The Christmas Card (60', 1997)
19. Moonfleet* (90', 1998) [Available on cassette]
20. A Soldier's Debt* (45', 1999)
21. Lark Rise and Beyond* (3 x 45', 1999)
22. Doreen’s Chair* (30`, 1999)
23. Thrush Green (6 x 30`, 2000)
24. Purvis* (45`, 2000)
25. Paradise* (30’, 2001)
26. Mountaineering* (45’, 2002)
27. An Uneasy Peace (15’ - monologue; part of Soldier, Soldier, 2002)
28. Our Late Supper* (45, 2002); rpt. 23 Sep 04.
29. To Winchester* (45, 2002)
30. Toad Squad* (30, 2003)
31. Mustard Seed* (45, 2004)
32. My love must wait - Matthew Flinders (45, 2005)
33. Beast* (45, 2005)
34. Father & Son (2 x 55m, classic serial, 2005)
35. Peter Pan in Scarlet* (90m), adap.
36. Friday when it rains* (45m), 2006
37. Every book in the world* (45m), 2006
38. Lawn Wars* (45m), 2007
39-43. Five plays based on Luke's Gospel, 2007
44-47. A four-episode series entitled "On Mardie Fen" on four successive Fridays
48. Foundling, 2008

*exist in collections within VRPCC

compiled from info. supplied by Nick Warburton; used by permission
Nigel Deacon / Diversity website

NOTES

CONVERSATIONS FROM THE ENGINE ROOM....1986
Skilfully intercut monologues from the "engine room" - from which the school is really run.

SUNLIGHT ON THE GARDEN....1987
A fourteen year old girl wants some help with her history project, about the second World War. She goes to an elderly neighbour for help. He is crotchetty, self-opinionated, and a thorough nuisance to everyone nearby. Her fourteen-year-old brain is too naive to realise how her mother, and others, keep him in check. Stars Patrick Trouton; producer Matthew Walters.

THE WAY THROUGH THE WOODS....1987
Fictional story of a latter-day Thoreau who buys a shed and goes to live in the woods. Advertised as "by N.J.Warburton".

PURVISS....2000
Purviss (29 Nov 00, 1415), by Nick Warburton was an entertaining play about a lonely widower appointed by the vicar to act as safety officer to the church. The vicar never imagines that his kindness in finding something for him to do will be so ruthlessly exploited. When he finds Purvis writing a sermon, things have gone too far. Peter Sallis was an admirable Purvis, supported by James Fleet as the vicar and Jasmine Hyde as his wife; Peter Kavanagh directed. (VRPCC Newsletter Dec00)

2001....
Nick Warburton is gaining a reputation as a master of the 30-minute play; his latest is Paradise (R4, 2302, 29 Nov 01). Antonia (Amanda Root) is moving to the country after resigning from her city job. She finds an ideal cottage selling for about half its proper price, and snaps it up. She reckons without the crabby housekeeper (Liz Smith) or the equally awkward Fison (George Baker). His last two plays on R4 were Doreen's Chair (30m) and Purvis (45m), both with the excellent Peter Sallis. (VRPCC newsletter Dec01)

2002....
Nick Warburton has been busy; Our Late Supper (R4, 1415, 15 Jul 02) concerned a shy elderly lady befriended by a twelve year old girl, and Mountaineering (R4, 29 May 02), where another young lady has the hobby of nocturnal climbing, unknown to her parents. We also had "To Winchester" (R4, 23 Jul 02) in which a brother and sister attending their mother's funeral learn, on hearing the will, that she has asked them to transport a box from the family home in Scotland to Winchester. When they do so, it has far-reaching consequences. (VRPCC newsletter, Sep02)

TOAD SQUAD....2003
Mon 19 May 03; 11.30am. The Toad Squad is a group of enthusiasts who see that the toads get to their breeding ground on the other side of the main road. Light comedy drama in the series 'Hopes and Desires".

MY LOVE MUST WAIT - MATTHEW FLINDERS....2005
A play by Nick Warburton about the explorer Matthew Flinders, who was the first European to circumnavigate Australia. He'd just got married, and thought that his bride could go with him, but it wasnt't to be; she had to wait ten years for his return in 1810. Those who are happily married will realise what a loss this was. With Jenny Agutter, Stuart Cox; Mark Smalley directed.

BEAST....2005
1 Nov 2005, 1415. Afternoon play based on a Suffolk sea legend, starring James Fleet as a fisherman who hauls in a huge creature. But ... what is it? And can it be allowed to live?

UPDATE ... this play won the 2005 Tinniswood Award. See Tinniswood 2005 and pictures.

FATHER & SON .... 2005
Edmund Gosse's account of the spiritual struggle between a lonely boy and his charismatic father. Dram. by Nick Warburton. With Derek Jacobi, Roger Allam, Steve Williams, Kate Buffery, Colleen Prendergast. Producer Jonquuil Panting. R4 6 Nov 05 and 13 Nov 05, 1500.

PETER PAN IN SCARLET .... 2006
A sequel to J.M.Barrie's "Peter Pan", written by Geraldine McCaughrean (on commission from the Great Ormond Street Hospital) and adapted for radio by Nick Warburton. Music by David Pickvance; producer Celia de Wolff. The CD of this play is available from the BBC shop. Stars Robert Glenister, Daniel Mays, Kate Maberly, Roger Allam, Tom George.

Gillian Reynolds ...... "McCaughrean ....loyal to the spirit of the original... Daniel Mays is Peter, Kate Maberly is Wendy, Roger Allam is new character Ravello. Robert Glenister narrates". Produced by Celia de Wolff.

FRIDAY WHEN IT RAINS....2006
Nick Warburton's play, FRIDAY WHEN IT RAINS (R4, 1415, 20 Oct 06), was in the style of "Fear on Four". It's the age of steam, and a girl on a late-night train journey hears a frightening tale from a fellow passenger. Riveting stuff; Clive Swift and Lyndsey Marshal starred, and Claire Grove directed. (.....N.D., VRPCC newsletter)

EVERY BOOK IN THE WORLD....2006
This play by Nick Warburton (R4, 1415, 5 Dec 06) showed the same quality as "Beast", which won the 2005 Tinniswood award. You don't need a world-shattering story to write the best drama, but you need to show what makes people tick. Here we had the Victorian book-collector Sir Thomas Phillipps moving his collection, his long-suffering wife, and a carter moving the books; a three-hander for Benjamin Whitrow, Lia Williams and Peter Gunn. Sparks fly; Mark Smalley directed. (.....N.D., VRPCC newsletter)

LAWN WARS....2007
6 Jul 07. Cricket-based play featuring a middle-aged lady who's just lost her mother, and the guy she takes on for some gardening work. Unfortunately there's a rotter of a brother-in-law determined to throw a spanner in the works. RT described this as a gentle comedy about relationships, property and cricket. Cast: Anna Calder-Marshall, Richard Johnson, Robert Daws; produced by Peter Kavanagh.

There were some interesting comments on the BBC messageboard, which I've summarised below:

"Another gem from that ever-reliable writer for radio, Nick Warburton. The performances by Anna Calder-Marshall as Alice, Robert Daws as Rob, and (especially) Richard Johnson as Anthony were so spot-on that I had to remind myself that it was just make-believe. I don't want to give anything away about the plot, but I think I can safely say that it is moving, very funny, and of an almost Monty Python level of eccentricity. As the famously eccentric, very English, cricket-loving pure mathematician G. H. Harvey might have said, the production was "in the Bradford class". (This comment make slightly more sense after you've heard the play.)"

Another listener commented ........"quite eccentric and with a truly English feel. Right from the start my interest was held - to the extent that I became quite worked up over the awful brother-in-law's antics.

I am glad you gave Nick Warburton's name as the author because I noticed that this did not appear on the Listen Again page, nor was it given at the end when the cast list was read."

Notes on these plays

Numerous comments appeared on the BBC messageboards, most of them enthusiastic about the productions. A few killjoys moaned about a whole week's plays on the same subject, but in a Christian country one can hardly grumble about five Christmas plays on the life of Jesus.

GILLIAN REYNOLDS, in a long piece in the Daily Telegraph, said that it was brave of Radio 4 to commission these plays. Religion is a subject which will turn many people off, and they certainly don't appreciate a playwright coming along with a new version. In Gillian's words: "At the 40 days and nights in the desert, as Jesus considers his mission, and devilish voices started jumping around in stereo, I was tempted to give up. Yet once Jesus began to preach in a quiet sort of voice, making homely sorts of reference, I stopped thinking of "Monty Python's Life of Brian" and started listening.

This Jesus is recognisable, practical. You understand why he would need a boat, pulled out a little from the shore, in order to talk to the crowd which had followed him."

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