Hidden Treasures, R4 Extra - marvellous old radio plays from the 60s - cut glass accents abound!

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

Five this week. Don't know how long they'll be available on Sounds. I've caught up with three so far. Kind Hearts and Coronets is one of my favourite films and the radio play has Dennis Price again as Louis so that was a lovely treat. (I did miss Alec Guinness, but one can't have everything.) The Go-Between was excellent, I thought - well up to the standard of the film made a few years later. The Trouble with Lichen is an adaptation of a John Wyndham novel - always enjoyed his books, interesting twist on sci fi - and raised some interesting ideas. Looking forward to the other two!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001xltc

Ooo, thanks for that! House on the Strand is one of my favourite books. Will download all of those plays!

Just downloaded them all - only available for 28 days or so, which is a bit mean.

Ooh thanks for the steer, I also love House on the Strand so I've downloaded that and a couple of others.

Things like this often get uploaded to the Internet Archive. Always worth a look, anyway.

I'm enjoying The House on the Strand. Ian Richardson! Attitudes of the time, as they so often say before re-runs of old TV programmes now.

Just finished it, which one to go for next? It's like having a lovely chocolate selection box. I had to Google Ian Richardson to realise I did know him, just didn't recognise the name. Had you heard of anyone else in the cast?

Yes, Judy Bennett who played the young boy Teddy is/was Shula in The Archers. She specialised in playing child roles on the radio. I can't say I immediately recognised anyone else.

Just spent a dreary wet Saturday afternoon drawing on the sofa, and listening to House on the Strand. Lovely! The accents though! Wonder why the medieval people didn't have Cornish accents, since the monks had French. I didn't recognise Ian Richardson at all. I did chuckle when Shula from the Archers (Teddy) said 'Awright' - those who know, know 😉
still prefer the book, so much more in a book.

Shula was in it?! I'm just listening to last week's Archers omnibus, having also listened to The Go-Between. Top listening this afternoon.

I think the idea was that their drugged brains were 'hearing' or interpreting the medieval french in the language and accents of their own time.

I'd forgotten almost everything about House on the Strand, despite having read it twice. All I could remember as a reader was that the historical bits were intoxicating, which clearly was exactly Magnus and Thingy's experience too.

Anyone want to talk about the last minute of Trouble With Lichen? Loved it apart from that.

Remind me (it's been a whole 24 hours since I listened ) - the bit where the woman political leader just seemed to give in to the male politician?

I listened to The Philanthropist earlier. Another one very much of its time (1976), fascinatingly so, but it was very uneven. There was some humour so dark I don't know it would be broadcast now, which made me laugh out loud very loudly. Then there was a lot of navel-gazing, which was tiresome. Lovely to hear George Cole, though. Much under-rated actor.

Right at the end, the male and female scientist fell in love. I've not read the book, but if that's what Wyndham wrote, I hope he did it with less of a clunk.

Gosh! My attention must have wandered. I totally missed that. Will see if I have the book tucked away somewhere. I don't think I've ever read it but I've picked up a few secondhand Wyndhams as I loved the ones I read in my teens (The Chrysalids, The Kraken Awakes, The Day of the Triffids, The Midwich Cuckoos).

Old fashioned crimes
I enjoyed'Letters of Introduction' recently.
Also both my sister and I have a secret hankering to be Steve, Paul Temple's wife. She often buys hats 😀

Thanks for the steers @wwyd2021medicine have just downloaded Letters of Introduction and a Paul Temple episode.

Just listened to the Trouble with Lichen. I haven’t read the book, so enjoyed the story, there were some prescient themes in there. I'm in my 70s and I can't remember anyone speaking IRL with those accents.

Did it stick out like a sore thumb that they fell in love in the last thirty seconds of the play, or did you think that was well signposted and were happy for the resolution?

It came right out of the blue, rather like an afterthought. I haven’t read the book, so don't know if the play was true to it.

Yes! I wondered if I'd missed something.