Dirk Maggs Radio Plays
Dirk Maggs originally trained as an SM (studio manager) at the BBC.
He became a radio producer, worked for the BBC until 1995, and then went freelance. Some of his radio broadcasts (loosely "drama", as
relevant to this website) are listed below.
Dirk Maggs' site should be consulted for details and for
his other work. The site can be found at
http://www.dirkmaggs.dswilliams.co.uk/
RADIO PLAYS AND SERIES
2007 A night in the Ukraine
2007 Fame and Fortune, Fred Raphael, adap.
2004 Tim Merryman's Days of Clover (4 x 30m)
2004 Night Class, by Johnny Vegas (5 x 30m)
2004 The hitch-hiker's guide to the galaxy (several series)
2004 All fingers and thumbs
2004 Miss Morrison's Ghosts
2003 The Gypsy, The Last Seance, The £199 Adventure by A. Christie
2002 The gates of Baghdad, Witness for the prosecution, by A. Christie
2002 Lean on me (6 x 30m) comedy series
2001 2001: A Space Odyssey (abridged by Dirk Maggs), reading
2001 Professor Branestawm, series, dramatisations, devised by D.M.
2000 Ben-Hur
1999 Voyage, by Stephen Baxter (5 x 30m)
1998 Man of Soup, by David Stafford (6 x 30m)
1998 The Gemini Apes, written by Dirk Maggs
1996 Independence Day UK
1995 Peter Pan
1995 Judge Dredd - the day the law died
1995 The amazing Spiderman
1994 Batman - Knightfall
1993 Superman - Doomsday & Beyond
1992 Inside Sasha - comedy series
1992, 1991, 1990: Flywheel, Shyster & Flywheel, 3 series
1990 Adventures of Superman, series 1
1989 Batman - The Lazarus Syndrome
1988 Superman on trial, written by D.M.
NOTES
A Night in the Ukraine….2007
Christmas 2007. Special adaptation of the Marx Brothers' award-winning musical, written by Dick Vosburgh and loosely based on Chekov's play The Bear.
Seedy lawyer Serge B Samovar comes to collect a debt owed by the late husband of Mrs Pavlenko. Mayhem erupts in a series of classic routines and quickfire wordplay which threatens to destroy the very fabric of polite society in pre-revolutionary Russia.
Serge ...... Michael Roberts
Carlo ...... Frank Lazarus
Mrs Pavlenko ...... Lorelei King
Nina ...... Jessica Martin
Constantin ...... Stephen Carlile
Gino ...... Graham Hoadly
Music by Frank Lazarus, producer/director Dirk Maggs.
FAME & FORTUNE....2007
For a six week period beginning in mid- October we had FAME AND FORTUNE by Frederick Raphael occupying both the Friday Play and Saturday Play slots (R4, ep. 1 on Sat 6 Oct, rpt Fri 12 Oct 07) . For those that are not aware, this is a novel, a sequel to "The Glittering Prizes", which followed a group of Cambridge graduates into the academic and media worlds of the 1960s. It was televised many years ago, with Tom Conti as its Jewish hero, Adam Morris.
In the radio adaptation of Fame and Fortune, Tom Conti is back as Morris. It's set when the characters have reached middle age. The cast also features Miranda Richardson, Nigel Havers and Angela Down. The producer was Jo Wheeler and the director Dirk Maggs.
It had a "Classic Serial" feel about it, and a number of people wrote to the BBC messageboard asking if one-off play should disappear for several weeks in favour of a serial. I suppose the answer is - it depends on which plays and which serial you're talking about. Nevertheless the fortunes of the rather unpleasant individuals in Raphael's novel continued to provoke interest in some quarters, and showing nicely that high intelligence doesn't prevent stupid or selfish behavour.
The novel marks Raphael's return to fiction after a personal block following the death of his daughter, the artist Sarah Raphael, in 2001, at the age of 41. Raphael comments, regarding bereavement, "People tell you it gets better. It doesn't. You become different. It becomes a feature of life. There is a certain reckoning with mortality. But you can't spend you whole life advertising this to people". (ND, VRPCC newsletter)
THE HITCH-HIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY....2004
This saga has been running for about 20 years, and any comments are
superfluous ... there are websites devoted to this show. The earlier series
were very fine; a blend of zany escapism and science
fiction. The later series
were put together by Dirk Maggs after the death of Douglas Adams and keep well to the
spirit of the original story, William Franklin taking the part of the late
Peter Jones. All of these are issued on cassette and CD as part of the BBC Radio Collection.
All Fingers and Thumbs....2004
Afternoon Play, R4, 1415, 29 Dec 04. By Alan Stafford
A romantic comedy about communication. Sign language
interpreter Marie wants more deaf people to enjoy the
theatre. So does director Tom - but not if it involves
a bothersome spot-lit woman waving her arms about on
his stage.
Clive/Jamie/Gordon ...... Brian Bowles
Tom ..... Bill Nighy
Helen ...... Felicity Montagu
Marie ...... Susannah Doyle
Sal ...... Jenny Eclair
Michael ...... Steve Day
Paula ...... Fifi Garfield
Directed by Dirk Maggs.
Alan Stafford adds .........I'm a believer in
tight dialogue, subtext and plenty of scope for the actor's
contribution to the part.
ND adds ... humorous, well-written;
very "visual" in the images it conjures up.
Tim Merryman's Days of Clover....2004
18 May 04. 4 x 30m. By Ray Connolly
Tim thinks he's in line for promotion, but his boss has other ideas. Redundancy after 22 years with Brennan, Matthews and Silcock. The contents of his desk presented to him in a black bag and the re-possession of his car. Surely, that's all, but no, his wife has been promoted on the day his boss tells him "with your pension and everything you'll be in clover".
Tim Merryman ...... Duncan Preston
Amy ...... Tessa Peake Jones
Holly ...... Catherine Shepherd
Joe ...... Leo Bill
Colin ...... Nick Burnell
Newsagent ...... Tom George
Charlotte ...... Cathy Sara
Belle ...... Rachel Preece
Director: Dirk Maggs
Night Class....2004
Series began 13 Jan 04. Johnny Vegas stars in this darkly brilliant comedy about loss, failure, alcoholism, loathing, desperation, loneliness and other humorous subjects.
Johnny is a failed Butlins Redcoat on extended, and if the holiday camp have anything to do with it, permanent leave. To keep the wolf from the door (and because the Job Centre insists), he accepts a job as a night class pottery tutor in St. Helen's. But his hopeless, lonely pupils are totally ill-equipped for the tornado of emotional wreckage he is about to inflict on their empty lives.
Comment from ND - the highlight of the series was an
episode in spectacularly bad taste where a dog is cremated in the
kiln. "Johnny Vegas" is a comic masterpiece.
Johnny ...... Johnny Vegas
Kieran ...... Tony Burgess
Rebecca ...... Fiona Carew
Sandra ...... Rebecca Front
Nathan ...... Christian Knowles
Ken ...... Adrian Manfredi
Chloe ...... Lyndsey Marshal
Paul ...... Tony Pitts
Anne ...... Gwyneth Powell
Carol ...... Nicola Stephenson
Written by Johnny Vegas, Tony Burgess and Tony Pitts.
Music specially written by: Paul Heaton.
Performed & Arranged by: Paul Heaton and Tony Robinson.
Directed By: Dirk Maggs.
Produced By: Helen Chattwell and Bruce Hyman
THE GYPSY....2003
R4, 03.03.03. By Agatha Christie. Dickie Carpenter is a war-wounded soldier; he's haunted by a strange ghostly woman. His friend Robert tries to work out what is going on, and to separate fact from fiction. He finds himself fighting for his own life. The adaptation is by Doug Lucie; stars Michael Fenton-Stevens as Dickie, with Hilton McRae as Robert; with Eleanor Tremaine, Jennie Stoller, Vivien Heilbron; directed by Dirk Maggs and produced by Bruce Hyman. 30min.
LEAN ON ME....2002
With Julia McKenzie, Maureen Lipman, Gary Waldhorn and Stephen Mangan. Directed by Dirk Maggs. 6-part sitcom series.
Book at Bedtime - 2001: a Space Odyssey
William Roberts reads a ten-part serialisation of Arthur C Clarke's ground-breaking novel, abridged by Dirk Maggs. R4, early Jan 01. Abridged by D.M. and produced by him.
VOYAGE....1999
By Stephen Baxter. 12 Apr - 10 May 1999, R4. 5 x 30m. John F Kennedy survives the 1963 Dallas shootings, and issues a new challenge - a manned mission to Mars. An outstanding production in every way. I wonder now if we will ever see a manned Mars landing......stars Laurel Lefkow, Vincent Marzello, William Dufris, Michael Roberts, Frank Lazarus, Russell Bentley, William Roberts, Mel Taylor, Rolf Saxon. SM Paul Dealey, music Wilfredo Acosta, directed by Dirk Maggs.
THE GEMINI APES....1998
R4, 25,12,98. At the time of writing this (20 December), 3 longer plays are due to be broadcast. The Gemini Apes by Dirk Maggs, as writer and director, (Christmas Day) promises to be entertaining - anything by him is of high quality. He was involved with the Superman, Batman and Judge Dredd broadcasts some time ago, and is obviously a DC Mags fanatic. ...........ND, VRPCC newsletter, Dec 1998
MAN OF SOUP....1998
Good quality comedy series. See British Comedy website.
Nigel Deacon / Diversity website
Most of the above broadcasts known to exist in VRPCC collections
