All Extremely Precarious: April 2012

Editorial

Contents 29 April, 2012

Cartoon: Claudia Ward

A Gift from the Gods: Joselyn Morton

Art: Billie-Jean Spille

BBC Radio4 Extra: Mary Kalemkerian

Cover: Roger Morton

29 April 2012

We are now beginning our third week of cold wind and heavy rain. I was so geared for spring that it feels like a cruel act of vengeance. Meanwhile Roger is watching Á Mourir de Rire. It cheers me up to hear his hearty laugh. He has not been laughing when he watches the Leveson inquiry. He has been warning the world at large about Rupert Murdoch for many years. Meanwhile we have begun to regard Lord Leveson as rather an endearing character.

I was out holding the ladder today while Roger was up on the roof of the hangar replacing a broken tile that had been letting in rain on a beam for some years now. Thankfully the character-revealing decision of “if Roger fell, would I stay there and cushion his fall or would I quickly leap out of the way so that he did not flatten me?” didn’t happen.

Sarkozy didn’t do well in the first round of elections, so it is looking very hopeful for François Holland. If Segolene Royal was still leader of the Socialist Party, I would be feeling a lot more excited.

My new political hero of a few-weeks standing, George Galloway has recently married his researcher 30 years his junior (even though he only met her 6 months ago and the youngest son of his second wife is only 5months old – all this according to Decca Aitkenhead at the Guardian.) I’ve rather gone off him big time. Sex and politics seem to be awfully close - like camels, humps and camel dung. Try to keep dry. Joselyn Morton

Claudia Ward cartoon

Poetry

A Gift from the Gods

He meditates about his money

‘M m m m’. Is that what he chants

with a clear conscience from his house of

lined luxury? She fills the pockets

of her long winter coat with heavy

stones wades out into the fast-flowing

water to die. That chills me, fills me

with dread. I lose the thread in my head,

on the floor, among the floating dust,

the grunge of memories, I shrink from

lying awake, fearful with half the

world’s insomniacs, their bed a cage

where they long for sleep, deep velvet hole

where no scary dream can intrude.

Teenagers wake fresh at three in the

afternoon, what a gift from the gods.

Joselyn Duffy Morton ©

Billie-Jean Spille

The intriguing shapes and bright colours of Billie-Jean Spille's paintings reflect the warm spirit inherent in this generous-hearted, talented woman. A house full of these would be very nice to wake up to on a drab, wet, wind-swept morning.
Photos and text R& JoselynMorton

BBC Radio4 Extra

Hello again,
2012 is certainly a full year for anniversaries, celebrations and tributes.
Hardly a week has passed on Radio 4 Extra without a celebration or commemoration of a person or an event.
And this coming week is no exception.
To commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, we have scheduled a drama which was billed in 1977 as ‘the most ambitious drama project ever mounted on BBC Radio’.
This land-mark drama, originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4 thirty-five years ago to celebrate the Queen’s Silver Jubilee, is in 26 hour-long parts, covering the reigns of eleven kings, in the years from 1307 - 1533.
And the title? - Vivat Rex (taken from the coronation ceremony - Long Live the King!).
It is a history of the English crown, from the accession of Edward II to the birth of Elizabeth I told through adapted works of playwrights of the period such as Shakespeare and Marlowe, chronicling two blood-soaked centuries of struggle, ambition, conquest, murder, glory and greed.
The cast consists of many of the finest actors ever to tread the boards of the British stage, and is a breath-taking list which includes:
Richard Burton (as the Storyteller in all 26 episodes) Dame Peggy Ashcroft, Sir Michael Redgrave, Robert Hardy, John Hurt, Derek Jacobi, Barbara Jefford, Hannah Gordon, Martin Jarvis, Keith Michell, Robert Powell, Anthony Quayle, Paul Scofield, Nigel Stock, Patrick Troughton, Timothy West, Billie Whitelaw and June Whitfield - and so it continues.
What an assembly of acting talent!
Such a prestigious work was of course given the cover page of Radio Times (12 ^th-18^th February 1977, price 12p) The magazine featured several pages of information on this epic drama plus an interview with Richard Burton reminiscing on his 30 years of broadcasting.
Reading those faded Radio Times pages makes fascinating reading 35 years on.
Vivat Rex was produced and directed by two of BBC Radio Drama’s legendary producers, Gerry Jones and Martin Jenkins (who also adapted the script).
Sadly, Gerry Jones died in 2005, leaving us a legacy of many wonderful dramas from his twenty years at the BBC as both a writer and director
Gerry and Martin also worked together as producers of many of the Fear on Four programmes (several of which you may have heard in our 7^th Dimension Zone).
Martin Jenkins continues to direct work for radio (as does his daughter, Gemma Jenkins) and we were fortunate enough to have a visit from Martin this week, when he was interviewed about the making of Vivat Rex. You can read Martin’s blog here:
For lovers of good drama, all 26 episodes of Viva Rex, plus Martin’s interviews are essential listening.
And now from drama to comedy and another anniversary.
April 19 ^th marked the 20 ^th anniversary of the death of one of Britain’s most popular comedians, Frankie Howerd, whose comedy career spanned six decades. To celebrate Frankie’s life, we are repeating selection of his programmes, some of which have not had an outing for many years: a 1953 version of Variety Bandbox (courtesy of the late Bob Monkhouse’s vast archive collection) and a Desert Island Discs programme from the Roy Plomley years).
Our 3-hour Special , Howerd’s Way, also features an interview with Frankie’s long-term agent, business manager and friend, Tessa le Bars who shared with us her personal recollections of Frankie’s life and works. Peter Reed (who interviewed Frankie in 1989) interviewed Tessa for this special, and Mik Wilkojc, who, as producer of The Steve Wright Show in 1991 has also worked alongside Frankie.
You can read Mik's blog here:
Mary Kalemkerian, Head of Programmes, BBC Radio4 Extra

Photo:Roger Morton
A rainy, April Angouleme day