Woman's Hour Drama, BBC Radio 4 Monday 11th to Friday 15th April 2011
5 episodes of 15 minutes
Dramatised by Stephen Sheridan
Produced and directed by David Blount
Charles Dance leads the cast as the urbane Storyteller in dramatisations of
five classic tales by Roald Dahl, taken from the anthology, Kiss, Kiss. Bizarre
and amusing by turns, these black comedies are justly famous for their surprise
endings.
The stories show Dahl at the height of his powers as a writer of adult fiction,
and are characterized by their deliciously cynical view of human nature and
the relish with which they punish the charlatans, bullies and schemers who
inhabit their world.
1. William and Mary
Mary Pearl (Celia Imrie), thinks she's finally free of William, the tyrannical
husband who forbade her all life's pleasures, when he dies after a short illness.
She subsequently learns, however, that - hoping to cheat the grave - he allowed
a scientist to remove his brain and attach it to a life support system.
This gives her the opportunity to get her own back....
Cast:
Storyteller .......... Charles Dance
Mary .......... Celia Imrie
William .......... John Rowe
Landy .......... Nigel Anthony
2. Parson's Pleasure
Cyril Boggis (Ronald Pickup) is an unscrupulous antiques dealer who charms
his way into people's homes disguised as a simple parson, hoping to pick up
neglected treasures for a song. One bright, Sunday afternoon however, all does
not go according to plan when, in the home of farmer Rummins, he discovers
a priceless Chippendale commode...
Cast:
Storyteller .......... Charles Dance
Cyril Boggis .......... Ronald Pickup
Rummins .......... David Ryall
Claud .......... John Baddeley
Lady Harcourt ......... Lucie Fitchett
3. Royal Jelly
In Royal Jelly we meet beekeeper Albert Taylor and his wife Mabel. Worried
that their newborn daughter isn't eating properly, Albert starts giving her
royal jelly - a highly nutritious substance fed by bees to the larvae of
their queens. The baby starts to put on weight. But Mabel begins to notice
other changes too..
Cast:
Storyteller .......... Charles Dance
Albert .......... Chris Emmett
Mabel ........... Rachel Atkins
4. Mrs Bixby and the Colonel's Coat
Mrs Bixby - wife of a dull, New York dentist - is having an affair with
a wealthy playboy known as the Colonel. When he decides to end their
relationship, the Colonel gives her a mink coat as a keepsake. Realizing
that her husband will wonder where she acquired such an expensive gift,
Mrs Bixby devises an ingenious plan to explain it away....
Cast:
Storyteller ........... Charles Dance
Mrs Bixby / Miss Pulteney ........... Lorelei King
Bixby / Colonel / Wilkins / Pawnbroker ........... Kerry Shale
5. The Landlady
Young Billy Weaver has just arrived in Bath to take up a new job.
He books into a curiously deserted B & B. The landlady, who inhabits
a sitting room filled with stuffed animals, is welcoming but odd.
Wondering if he's her only guest, Billy checks the register and sees
two strangely familiar names. Taking tea with her later, Billy suddenly
remembers reading in the papers that both her former guests disappeared
in mysterious circumstances. The landlady tells Billy that, like him,
each was a beautiful young man whom she didn't want to leave....
Cast:
Storyteller ........... Charles Dance
Landlady ........... Doreen Mantle
Billy Weaver .......... James Joyce
Mr Greenslade .......... John Rowe
A Pier Production for BBC Radio 4
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