unidentified radio plays
I am often contacted by listeners of radio plays who ask me to identify something they heard
years ago from a description (which they supply) of the plot, and ask whether a recording
is available.
Sometimes the play is one which is difficult to identify. I am therefore
starting this web page (on an experimental basis) to see if it attracts any interest. If you can supply the title (and/or
a recording, if missing) I'd be pleased to hear from you.
Do not expect an instant response. This is a non-commercial site run in my spare
time; I can only allocate a couple of hours a week to it.
Nigel Deacon, Diversity website
do you recall.......
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF.....
-a boy, in which an old woman cut the strings of children's kites with her big scissors, and decapitated birds, stringing the heads around her as a necklace. The boy was an artist. He came across two old women who urinated into their well before offering him a drink from it.
Jane, Australia.
....suggestions, anyone? - N.D.>
A haunted cathedral....1997
The story of a cathedral which was the site of mysterious deaths of boys every 50 years or so - it turned out that a supernatural horror was built into the cathedral ... broadcast 1997.
Paula
ND replies.......It sounds like "The Stones of Muncaster Cathedral", 1996, repeated 1997, by Robert Westall. One of my 'top 10' radio plays.
ON ILKLEY MOOR.........c1995?
A radio play in which the scenes were linked by the tune "On Ilkley Moor Ba' Tat", but whistled. I don't usually like listening to whistling, but this was beautiful.....can anyone supply the title / author / date of this play?
D.P.
ND replies.......This is 'The Colliers' Cathedral' by Robin Brooks; 22 May 1984, with Jon Strickland/Hilda Schroeder. A cross between "Hobson's Choice" and Monty Python's "Four Yorkshiremen" sketch - no exaggeration - and an excellent comedy.
SHOEMAKER ATTENDING TO A NAZI OFFICIAL
A play set just before WW2 and involved a person going to Germany to attend to a member of the Nazi hierarchy. During his stay he finds out intimate physical details about senior party members from their wives. The play ends with Winston Churchill during VE Day celebrations where the shoemaker is being congratulated on having boosted morale with new lyrics to 'Colonel Bogey' mocking Hitler and his cronies.
Secondly, a series set in old Edinburgh, possibly 19th century. I only heard snippets, but the main character was a police officer and he was very friendly with a woman who operated a brothel.
Ian James
ND replies ..........The first play is "Dear Dr. Goebbels", by Neville Smith, broadcast in 2001. Here's what I wrote at the time:
Philip Morgenstein never realised when he applied for his first job that he would be fitting Dr. Goebbels with surgical boots at his private mansion a few months later. In Dear Dr. Goebbels, by Neville Smith (R4, 1415, 30 Nov 01), something of Goebbels' private life is revealed. Most people have never heard of Morgenstein, but he was offered an honour by Churchill (which he refused because his boss was not offered one) on the strength of the little ditty he wrote making fun of the Nazi leadership and their unfortunate medical conditions, sung by squaddies to the tune of "Colonel Bogey":
Hitler, has only got one ball
Goering, has two but very small
Himmler has something similar
But poor old Goebbels has no balls at all.
The second item is "McLevy", by David Ashton. There have been several series of this excellent 'police drama'.
N.D.
PETER TINNISWOOD
...........A play set in London on a Sunday morning; a "sound montage". One of the parts consisted of a group of
pigeons which kept repeating "cheep bloody cheep". That's all I can remember, other than, as usual for
Tinniswood, it was hilarious.
Doug Lewis
Details, anyone?
PATRICK HAMILTON
a radio play about the family life of Patrick
Hamilton, the Sussex born playwright? (Rope, Gaslight?) - not at all sure
when I heard it. I can remember that much of
the action took place in a house in Hove and his sister and
mother played prominent roles.
- many thanks for your web site.
Trisha Purchas
Details, anyone? I vaguely remember this from a few years ago but can't recall the title - N.D.
UNKNOWN AUTHOR
I have a play on tape, although not the whole play, probably from
Radio 4, which is about a man called Lob, or Robin Goodfellow. It's
Midsummer's Eve and an enchanted wood appears in Lobb's garden. His house
guests all have one thing in common - they all want a second chance. Entering
the wood gives them a new beginning. When they return to Lobb's house, the
enchantment wears off.
It is a wonderful play - characters include
Dearth - an artist - played by Sir Paul Scofield,
Lady Caroline, Matey - the Butler. Can anyone remember the play's title?
Hilary Field
Cora Flynn sent the following message: "It sounds like "Dear Brutus" by J.M.Barrie. I
can find two performances on radio 4: 15.3.69 and 2.1.87, neither of which feature
Paul Scofield, but perhaps Hilary heard a different production on World Service?"
A PLAY WHERE ALL THE CHARACTERS ARE WORDS, c2000
Julia Bourhill, South Africa
That's an easy one - sounds like David Pownall's "I want to go home" - a
fascinating play about the development of language over the last 1000 years....N.D.
NEPTUNE PLAY
A play broadcast (possibly R3 or World Service) to mark the anniversary of the discovery of the planet
Neptune on 23 Sep 1846. Details, anyone?
A CONCRETE CLOCK
In 1964 or maybe 1965 I remember listening to a play which was about two people writing to each other in America and England where they were both building a concrete clock.
Is it possible for you to give me more information and maybe where I could get a recording?
Keith W.
Any ideas? It's before my time and I can find no reference to "A Concrete Clock" in my lists - N.D.
LURKING MADMAN, UNKNOWN TITLE & AUTHOR, c 1968
When I was a child I remember being terrified by a Saturday Night Theatre play, which I heard when it was
repeated the following Monday afternoon.
The plot, such as I can remember it, concerns a man who either experiences a case of deja vue or else
relives a dream he had had the night before. A string of incidents take place during the day which
seem strangely familiar, culminating in his idea that a woman who is hosting a party will make a
grand entrance down the staircase, only to be murdered by a madman who is lurking outside the house
when she opens the front door.
Could this be "Somebody's Going to Die", by Edward Bruce which went out on 30-11-68. or "Only Fair to
Warn You" by John Hyatt 15-02-69, which was broadcast during the half term holiday?
T.M.
ND comment- slightly before my time....can anyone help?
THREE TRAMPS DIGGING A GRAVE....
I came in on this play late, but it seemed to be about three tramps who ended up digging a hole to bury themselves in, as they had finally had enough of life. There was a argument about who would fill the hole in. Very funny; wish I knew what it was called and if anyone has it.
Mike Lewis
.......ND comment......sounds like "Six Feet Under, by Stuart Kerr; 3 Apr 94. The three men are not tramps; they're inmates - or rather, patients, who've escaped from a hospital and are trying to reach Harrogate on foot. But they run out of steam, and decide there's an easier way out. And yes, vrpcc has a recording.
