Broadcast
It's amazing how much radio one person can produce in a relatively short time if she really puts her mind to it. Around the year 2002, radio critics in newspapers were writing open letters to the controller of Radio 4, begging her to give them a break. Here is a rather exhausting CV listing every actor I've been proud to work with (ie all of them) and some sample scripts. Plays, short stories and sitcom scripts will appear in random rotation here, so do please check regularly.
Latest
Short Stories
A major Radio 4 commission to write blocks of stories concerning the people of Meridian Cliffs, a windy town on the South Coast where the Greenwich Meridian meets the sea. A third series will air in 2018. All the stories are read by the author. The producer is Kate McAll….
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Short Stories
Terry Graves will always love his dog Thelonious, there is no doubt about that. But it is not uncommon to find him on the streets of Meridian Cliffs pulling fruitlessly on Thelonious’s lead, shouting, “Come on! Come ON!” in what sounds like annoyance, because Thelonious is possibly the least co-operative…
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Comedy Series (9)
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The Return of Inspector Steine (2011)
It is 1957 in Brighton (still). Steine, Brunswick, Twitten and Mrs Groynes have managed to reach land after being set adrift in an open boat by the villainous Mrs Adelaide Vine. But what more can she be planning? Into all their lives limps a hero, the modest but oh-so-charismatic Captain…
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Uncle Gwyn’s Posthumous Curse (2010)
Five 15-minutes, produced by Kate McAll. At a remote Welsh golf club, every member has paid the ultimate penalty for breaking the rules…With Margaret John.
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The Adventures of Inspector Steine (2009)
At the beginning of the film Brighton Rock, there is an interesting caption that has always fascinated me. Legend has it that the Brighton authorities insisted on its inclusion – and who can blame them, but it’s still very weird. Over pictures of a packed postwar Brighton beach on a…
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The Casebook of Inspector Steine (2008)
As before, The Casebook of Inspector Steine is written by Lynne Truss and produced by Karen Rose. It is a Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4. Music is by Anthony May. Studio production, David Thomas. Inspector Steine……………….Michael Fenton Stevens Brunswick……………………….John Ramm Twitten……………………………Matt Green Mrs Groynes…………………….Samantha Spiro Episode One: The…
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Inspector Steine (2007)
Six half-hours concerning 3 useless policemen in Brighton in the1950s and their wicked charlady. With Michael Fenton Stevens, John Ramm, Matt Green and Jan Ravens. This series available on BBC Audio.
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Time for Mrs Milliner (2003)
Four half-hours, produced by Dawn Ellis, about a woman trying to watch a cheesy House of Elliot-type costume drama on the TV. Caroline Harker played Susan; Jane Asher was Mrs Milliner. Also starring Jonathan Coy, Jonathan Firth, Jason Hughes, Matilda Ziegler and Bridget Forsyth.
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Acropolis Now (2002)
Six more half-hours, this time with Imelda Staunton replacing Rachel Atkins.
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Acropolis Now (2001)
Six half-hours, produced by Brian King. Set in Athens in 408BC, during Spartan siege, in a fish restaurant belonging to Aristophanes, frequented by Socrates and Plato. With Robert Hardy, Rosemary Leach, Stephen Moore, Alan Cox, Tom George, Rachel Atkins and Gavin Muir.
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Drama Series (3)
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Dramatic Adaptation for Radio (1)
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Features (14)
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My Muse: Joni Mitchell (2017)
Produced Kevin Mousley, a 30-minute feature on what Joni Mitchell’s music meant to me. A huge pleasure to make. Broadcast on Radio 4 on 18th September 2017. Listen on BBC iPlayer
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Archive on Four: Embarrassment (2016)
Produced by Kevin Mousley
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A Short Story of TIM (2016)
Produced by Susan Kenyon. The speaking clock at 80 years old.
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Archive on Four: From Easy to Cryptic (2012)
Produced by Erika Wright. On the history of crosswords
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Calibrated Conundrums (2011)
Produced by Erika Wright. On the language of science.
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Archive on Four: Did I Really Ask That? (2009)
Produced by Sara Jane Hall. 60-minute programme using my personal archive of cassette interviews with famous playwrights in the 1980s.
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Betty MacDonald Had a Farm (2008)
Produced by Sara Jane Hall. Half-hour documentary on the neglected American humourist Betty Mac Donald, author of The Egg and I.
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The Indispensables (2004)
Produced by Erika Wright. Third series of three half-hours: the lift, the baby buggy and the fax machine.
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Alphabet: As Easy as ABC (2003)
Produced by Angela Hind for Pier Productions, five 15-minute programmes about the alphabet.
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The Indispensables (2003)
Produced by Erika Wright. Second series of three half-hours: deodorant, zip and paper cup.
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The Indispensables (2002)
Produced by Erika Wright, four half-hour programmes on inventions we couldn’t live without: car radio, photocopier, colour television, photography.
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Cutting a Dash (2002)
Produced by Penny Vine for Testbed Productions, five 15-minute programmes on punctuation, issued as audiobook by BBC Audio.
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Look Both Ways (2001)
Produced by Erika Wright, a one-off 15-minute programme about the zebra crossing.
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A View from Abroad (1999)
Produced by Kate McAll. A one-off 30-minute feature about golf, recorded at the K Club in Ireland.
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Plays for BBC (10)
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The Christmas of Inspector Steine (2013)
45-minute Christmas special for Radio 4, produced by Karen Rose for Sweet Talk, with Michael Fenton-Stevens, Samanatha Spiro, John Ramm, Matt Green and Robert Bathurst.
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Bora Bora (2008)
60-minute play set on a painting holiday on a Greek island. Produced by Ned Chaillet, and starring Derek Jacobi, Corin Redgrave, Adrian Bower and Cheryl Campbell.
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Giving Up the Ghost (2008)
60-minute play about a haunted fireman wrestling with unexpressed grief. Produced by Kate McAll and starring Adrian Bower, with Struan Rodger, Jeff Rawle, Joe Absolom, Brendan Charleson, Richard Nicholls and Sara McGaughey. Image 1: Rehearsing in the car park for Scott and Philip’s fire engine scene: LT, Adrian Bower, Kate…
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Cold Calling (2004)
45-minute afternoon play, composed entirely of call-centre conversations. Shortlisted for the Peter Tinniswood prize, and produced by Karen Rose. Starring Katy Murphy, Kulvindar Ghir, and Jason Hughes.
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Beside the Seaside (2002)
45-minute adaptation of short story by Roy Kerridge, set in the Brighton underworld of the 1960s. Produced by Karen Rose of Sweet Talk Productions, and starring Richard Griffiths, Will Keen and Samantha Spiro.
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Place of the Invalids (2000)
45-minute two-hander, set in real time, recorded in a real house, produced by Brian King. Haydn Gwynne and Michael Maloney reprised Hilary and Mick from Thirty Minutes to Kill.
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Summoned by Shelves (1999)
A 45-minute afternoon play set in a library in 1973. Produced by Brian King on location in a north London library, starring Sam West, Douglas Hodge, Rachel Atkins, Cheryl Campbell, and John Rowe.
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Ladies’ Day (1997)
Saturday Play (one hour) about sexism in golf clubs. With Josie Lawrence, James Grout, Nicholas Farrell and John Rowe. Produced by Peter Kavanagh.
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Thirty Minutes to Kill (1996)
Thirty-minute afternoon play, produced by Peter Kavanagh; a two-hander set in real time, starring Haydn Gwynne and Michael Maloney. Mick and Hilary have thirty minutes to get out of the house and go on holiday. The same characters appear in Place of the Invalids.
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A Home Truth (1995)
Thirty-minute afternoon play produced by Peter Kavanagh, with Geraldine James and Nick Le Provost. A cleaning lady takes over someone’s life. This play was shortlisted for a scriptwriting prize at the Prix Italia, and formed the original idea for the novel Going Loco.
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Scripts (7)
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The Edible Dormouse (2017)
The Edible Dormouse is Russian and extremely serious-minded. One of a small group of edible dormice residing in the UK, he is obsessed with answering the question, “Why are we here?” – both the philosophical question and the literal one. No answer satisfies him. So he has reached his own…
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Rumblings from the Rafters (2017)
Again, three half-hours produced by Sarah Blunt and recorded live in the radio theatre at Broadcasting House. Six monologues: Death-Watch Beetle (Bill Paterson) Queen Wasp (Alison Steadman) Pipistrelle Bat (Pam Ferris) The House Fly (Lee Mack) Edible Dormouse (Hugh Dennis) Peacock Butterfly (Amanda Abbington)
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Gossip from the Garden Pond (2016)
Three half-hour programmes produced by Sarah Blunt, and recorded in front of a live audience at Broadcasting House. Six monologues from pond-life, featuring: Tadpole (Julian Rhind-Tutt) Dragonfly (Alison Steadman) Water Boatman (Sandi Toksvig) The Great Diving Beetle (David Ryall) Garden spider (Amanda Root) Pond Snail (James Fleet)
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Tidal Talk from the Rock Pool (2012)
Produced by Sarah Blunt, for the Natural History Unit. Six 15-minute monologues: For a periwinkle (Bill Wallis) A hermit crab (Geoffrey Palmer) An anemone (Alison Steadman) A goby fish (Greg Proops) A limpet (Judi Dench) and a lug-worm (Tony Robinson). The limpet was shortlisted for a Sony Drama Award in…
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Out of Her Senses (1998)
Produced by Ned Chaillet. Five 15-minute readings for Christmas 1998, in which the five senses each tell the same story from their own point of view. Read by Miriam Margolyes. Other half-hour Natural History Unit monologues, for Jane Horrocks (a chicken), Geoffrey Palmer (a taxonomist), June Whitfield (a squirrel) and…
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Books and Co (1995)
Produced by Ned Chaillet and Lisa Osborne. Twenty-four three-minute monologues for Gavin Muir about a struggling writer at a writers’ group.
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Dear Diary (1994)
A 30-minute script, produced by Kate McAll. Tony Robinson as a cat, presenting the regular programme “Dear Diary” on fictional diaries.
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Short Stories (9)
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Talks (5)
