Radio drama starring Ian Richardson, Richard Hurndall, Bonnie Hurren. Episode from the BBC radio anthology series 'Saturday Night Theatre'. Broadcast on 24 November 1973.
I read this book in my teen years (now late 50s) translated in different language. The feeling that left after reading this book never gone away all these years. Daphne Du'maurier was amazing writer.
I remember reading this as a teen and being very impressed and affected by the story. I went on to reading all her works and recently bought them all again in French to compare the versions.
I read the book version of this story about 25 years ago or more and was so intrigued by it that I’d have a copy with me all this time. I fantasized about making it into a screenplay and seeing it up on the big screen but I never did anything like that. I so much more enjoy Daphne than I do Agatha, but that’s just my personal preference. Thanks for putting this up so I could enjoy it and I did enjoy it.
I am norwegian, not too familiar with BBC. BUT I have heard many radio dramas ( at least 60-70) made by BBC today, and there are sooooo many amazingly good ones. Check out Arch Stanton and Jamie Mason`s uplaods. (amongst others) Btw..I read here this is so very good.It is pretty avarage to what I have heard recently.. DID NOT like the stort at all!! Just the acting!
I actually wished I’d had a paper book of it in my hands so I could read it more quickly! Absolutely loved it! Brilliantly performed; such depth of character and plot; and some history, science and ……..love. Very moving!
Warning - the sound goes from can't hear it to very loud in a flash. Not recommended for listening late at night with others sleeping. It is not possible to turn it down fast enough when there is a sudden very loud blast.
My intro to dumaurier was a book I picked up at my grandmothers house once. It was called, "the house on the strand." And it made me quit writing because I had already written something extremely similar and deciding I had no originality, stopped writing.
O dear. I stopped making “art” when I’d witnessed the sand dune formations in Namibia. The purity of form and light reduced me to tears borne from ecstasy I even dropped the camera. No way could you record such an experience. However the experience of such greatness can be absorbed such that it becomes apart of your experiential dna and then………..
+monoecumsemper Exactly: if the beeb had its way these old classics would be lying in some vault being forgotten instead of being appreciated by a larger audience.
+Yamam Alyousef Well, there are different archives, private collections and so on. In the end it is all about 'to strive, to seek, to find and not to yield' you know.
Thanks for this. Adore Ian Richardson and have been trying to finish this book for years. Have a strange issue with Du Maurier. Love it, but struggle to get through it. Something to do with the pacing. Maybe this will help open up the book for me.
Many years ago, Ian Richardson brilliantly read a collection called "Art of the Essay". Find it if you can. The perfect reader for the essays. My library used to have it on cassette, but now they no longer carry cassettes. My favourites are the Hunt and Leacock. Francis Bacon - "On Friendship" Joseph Addison - "Sir Roger DeCoverly In Church" Charles Lamb - "A Dissertation On Roast Pig" Robert Louis Stevenson - "On Falling In Love" James Henry Leagh Hunt - "On Getting Up On Cold Mornings" Stephen Leacock - "A, B and C - The Human Element In Mathematics"
Great cast, great writer her short story 'The Birds ' set in Cornwall had me spellbound, more so than the film..thought Hitchcock wrote it as a kid 😆 🤣
Daphne du Maurier had such an exceptional imagination. Extraordinary that she should have written "Rebecca" and that her short stories included "The Birds" and "Don't Look Now". Consider the huge gap in time between the film of Rebecca and the film of Don't Look Now. She was an extraordinary, unpredictable writer.
Unforgettable. If you like stories of the other side, you'll like "The Gables" here on YT: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Ot1sF7fkhMw.html ---Claud.
Roman Strange. Thank you for making this Radio Drama available for us to enjoy. Every second keenly held my interest. I had been getting bored lately with so many books that looked and sounded like they'd be a great mystery book to listen too. Not so. Twenty minutes in, it went Bla into boredom, and for the first time I hit the 15 sec.fast forward until it sounded interesting again. The book was filled with so much fillers and not wanting to use 15 sec fast forwarding I quit listening. I needed this book, every word used, needed to be there. I had thought at first it might be lame, not at all, it was a refreshing short story.🤗
I was a teenager living in Tywardreath when Daphne Du Maurier (though we addressed her as Lady Browning) wrote the novel, the drug idea was interesting.
Wonderful acting. But also, what a wonderful story-teller Daphne Du Maurier was. BTW, can anyone explain the title to me? EDIT: It's OK. The Wikipedia entry ( which someone below linked to ) explains it.
I had a look at the "Internet Archive" the other week. I was able to find and download a copy of "Midnight House, The" but when I searched for other named dramas I obtained a list of dates and times of 'airing' a number of "Afternoon Theatres". Sadly there is a reminder that the BBC do not include the names of the individual plays. At circa 20 mb per 45 minutes It's not viable for me to take 'pot luck'. However you can listen to choices. One just needs to search the archive with some patience, I suppose.
This needs to be made to made in to a film as it under ground CULT classic in it's own right as the Birds And various works that Alfred Hitchcock did of her works
The best part is that the 14th century nobility characters were actually "all" real people ( you can look them up 😉) - I guess DdM simply forgot to ask them about their permission, before she involved them in all her intrigues, affairs and evil plots 😊
*SPOILER ALERT* . *SPOILER ALERT* Eight minutes in: *_A man who cain't say no._* Am thinking of song in *Oklahoma!* - the woman who sings: *I cain't say no!* .... *There is a BBC interview with du Maurier which shows her as the very model of an Englishwoman - in the bosom of the Establishment, very faithful to her past: medals and pictures of ancestors everywhere. I mention this because of the way she depicts the two men, graduates of Cambridge, and the way the wife of one of them is very much an 'unreasonable' outsider to their interactions (a friendship of two lofty creatures, dependent on rules/maleness, and place in hierarchy).* She is a brilliant writer, though: compelling. One of the greats of the 20th century.
The white knight stratagem staring Ian Richardson is a very good Television play from the series murder rooms the dark beginnings of Sherlock Holmes. Although not a audiobook recording it is still a good bedtime listen.
I can recommend the following which are personal favourites of mine, the 1st one has th most fantastic atmosphere & some of th best acting iv ever heard. So here they are :- 1) The Exorcism - A Christmas Ghost Story - BBC Radio Play Uploaded by hisime 13 2) Bad Memories by Julian Simpson. A BBC Radio Drama. Uploaded by Cecily Parsley. 3) M.R. James At Christmas BBC Radio Drama, uploaded by Cecily Parsley ( this has 5 wonderful tales & they are all M R James best) Hope you enjoy listening to them 👻🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
I love the book but, like the character of Richard, I always found his real life more irritating than Roger and Isolde from the past - especially the character of his wife. It's an easier read than listening! As for the moaners about the BBC I wish they'd give it a rest. The Beeb can't do right for doing wrong - if they show too many repeats, people moan. If they don't show any at all people moan. It's a fact that some programmes were deleted or lost, a lot of have been sold but for me the BBC is still making more diverse good quality programmes - whether it's drama or documentary - than a lot of the commercial channels. They still try out things that might only have a minority interest and I am glad that they do.
Who should play the fair Isolde Carminowe / Ferrers in a thriller movie or TV series based on this wonderful DdM novel? 😉 And the other parts? Which American actress is annoying enough to play the part of the nosy and BEEEP awful Vita? 😂
All comments are about the actors.. no comments about the novel or the author, Daphne du Maurier. Did anyone read the novel? No... If they had they would understand this is mediocre.
Yes, we comment about the actor because the story is, as you say, quite silly. I mean, who the hell would take an "experimental" drug to oblige a mad chemist friend?!
Are you ready for Heaven? Have you ever lied, stolen used God's name as a curse word (O-M-G)? According to God's law, you're guilty. But wait, God loves you, he made a way out. God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him will not die but have everlasting life. John 3:16 Please think about it. Repent/believe before the rapture, before the one world government. Jesus died for you,live for him. Love
