Quarter 4 Reviews - 1/13

I’m trying to get into this earlier rather than later, so without any further ado . . . the last three months of 2017 in radio drama!

001 Historical Drama – New

There are sometimes plays that put an ordinary person in the life of a historical person of some interest—sometimes they work, and sometimes you feel a bit like the author is indulging in Mary Sue-ism.  I didn’t feel this way with Lying Low by Stephen Wakelam, which was a warm and engaging drama about Janet (Charlotte Beaumont), a high school student studying literature and French on the south coast of England in 1959.  She works at a hotel where she meets Samuel Beckett (Adrian Dunbar).  She doesn’t start out knowing who he is, but they have a genuine-feeling relationship (devoid of any creepiness or tweeness).  This is due in part to the excellence of the performances.  I have never been a big fan of Beckett’s although I know I ought to be.  With this portrayal, I felt I could understand his writing a bit better and empathize.  At the time, Janet is dating Billy and dealing with her autistic brother Timmy, encouraged by her teacher Miss Adams (Claire Corbett).  The older Janet recalls all this.  Lying Low was directed by Gemma Jenkins and also starred Susan Brown, Charlie Clemmons, Caroline Long, Samuel James, Gary Duncan, David Sterzzaker, and Philip Fox.

Black Eyed Girls is one of the few nominees on this year’s BBC Radio Drama Awards that I agree not only should have been nominated but should definitely win.  This drama made me so sad, it was difficult to keep from crying on public transport.  The story is about Nell (Sabrina Sandhu) marrying Barry (Samuel James) after becoming pregnant (with some unknown man’s children).  She has twins, Jeannie (Ailsa McGregor) and Meg (Rosie McGregor), but Barry is a terrible man.  When he loses his job, he decides to “give away” one of the twins without Nell knowing.  He therefore takes Meg to a children’s home.  He warns Jeannie not to ever mention her sister again, and Meg becomes almost mute.  Jeannie is adopted by child psychologist Joseph Campbell Clark as an experiment; it’s the 1960s and he wants to prove that if he takes a clever child from a poor background and a broken home, he can make her succeed just as well as any child born with a silver spoon in its mouth.  Nikki, his wife, isn’t so sure he’s doing the right thing, as she grows to treat Jeannie as part of the family.  When Nell tries to get Jeannie back, the nuns won’t tell her where Jeannie has gone.  Barry tells Meg that Jeannie has died, and Joseph (misled by the nuns) tells Jeannie that she doesn’t have a sister, that Meg is a figment of her imagination.  The rest of their lives are a series of near-misses.  The final episode is such a tear-jerker, I struggled with emotion.  I cannot fault this drama in any way.  Written by the imitable Katie Hims, it also starred Julie Teal, Philip Fox, Sanchia MacCormack, Charlotte Emmett, Rosie Boore, Tom Forrister, Jessica Turner, and Carolyn Pickles.  It was directed by Sasha Yevtushenko.