Tag Archives: London

First Cut Returns To C4

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Channel 4 Commissioning Editor Aysha Rafael has commissioned 12 x 30 minute First Cut films which will TX early summer.

The First Cut strand showcases original and bold documentary films by up and coming first time directors as part of Channel 4’s continuous commitment to nurturing new and diverse talent. It first launched in 2007 and now in its sixth year. These forthcoming films chronicle a range of fascinating stories from the world’s first IVF lottery, a finishing school for Chinese students in London, Britain’s oldest stand-up comic – to the moving story of the mother of one of Ian Brady’s victims who is making one last plea to him to reveal where her boy is buried.

First Cut Commissioning Editor, Aysha Rafaele said: ‘First Cut continues to be one of the very few platforms on primetime TV for emerging film making talent in the UK. I am proud that Channel 4 continues to showcase and support distinctive singular documentary films and is always open to introducing fresh new opinions and ideas. This new series of First Cut once again delivers a run of thought-provoking films from a variety of talented first-time directors.’

Films for the 2012 run will include:

The Harry Hunters
Since the marriage between Kate Middleton and Prince William, Prince Harry has been thrust into the spotlight as the most eligible bachelor in Britain. Handsome and third in line to the throne, the remaining Prince has become an object of desire for girls across the globe. The Harry Hunters follows five girls on their quest to snag a royal including Cassie who grew up in rural Iowa watching Disney movies and dreaming she would one day marry Prince Harry. She’s done her background research and has a plan – to hit his favourite haunts – from Polo clubs to exclusive Mayfair nightspots. Production Company: Rare Day; Producer and Director: Emily Hughes; Exec Producers: Emily Renshaw-Smith and Peter Dale.

Dear Mr Brady
This sensitive and poignant film tells the story of Winnie Johnson, and her son Keith Bennett who was horrifically murdered by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley in the 1960s. Out of the five victims of the Moors Murderers, only Keith remains buried on Saddleworth Moor. Almost 50 years after Keith’s disappearance, Ian Brady still refuses to say where he buried the 12-year-old boy. Now 78 years-old and recently diagnosed with cancer, Winnie refuses to give up her quest to find and bring home her eldest son and makes one last plea to Ian Brady to tell her where he buried Keith. Dear Mr Brady examines the extraordinary relationship between Manchester Matron Winnie Johnson and Britain’s most notorious serial killer, Ian Brady, and reveals how Winnie has coped with every mother’s worst nightmare. Production Company: Century Films; Producer and Director: John Coffey; Exec Producer: Liesel Evans.

Fraud Lord
Lord Davenport is the extraordinary tale of ‘Fast Eddie’ Davenport and his spectacular fall from grace. How did this titled London socialite end up sentenced to 7 years behind bars? He was already notorious for a lifestyle that was said to include orgies, fast cars, and dodgy property, even before he hit the front pages following his conviction for a multiple-million pound financial fraud. Davenport has property around the world and who could not be impressed by his website which includes a gallery of photographs showing him at parties that were attended by the likes of Mick Jagger and Paris Hilton. It turned out he used the movie star pseudonym James Stewart to execute his multimillion pound con. Production Company: Ronachan Films; Producer and Director: Ruth Reid, Exec Producer: Helen Littleboy.

Stalked
Stalked is the story of how one man became entangled in the murky waters of 21st century sexual manners; and how easily the word of one person can transform your life, causing you to question your own past, and fear your own innermost thoughts. When a single, thirty-something writer living in London awoke to find a woman he’d met just hours earlier saying she loved him, an alarm bell started to ring. Six months later, his life changed for the worse. Told through dramatized sequences and interviews with friends, family, workmates and neighbours, Stalked reveals how a confident young man ends up as a terrified victim. What are the rules of contemporary sexual politics? How does it feel to be transformed on the say-so of one person, from victim to sexual assault suspect? And why does nearly everyone view the idea of a man being stalked by a woman as a joke? Production Company: ACME Films; Producer and Director: Lottie Gammon; Exec Prod: Jaimie D’Cruz.

A Tale of Two Chinas
China has an increasing impact on the UK. The Peking pound now props up the British housing and education market, Chinese hunger for haute couture accounted for a third of the spending in 2010 London Christmas sales and almost half of London’s Canary Wharf apartments are Chinese owned. The largest number of foreign students in the UK are Chinese, but they can find it hard to comprehend British culture. This is where Anglo-Chinese businesswoman Carrie Waley comes in. Carrie escaped to the UK from Beijing and now runs a strict, straight-talking finishing school for Chinese students studying here, eager to learn British customs and snap up the top international jobs, but also to take on the ‘correct’ etiquette, fashion and business persona. The film follows Carrie back to Beijing as she revisits the places of her childhood and hears her mother talking for the first time, about their family’s humiliation and persecution during the Cultural Revolution and asks if China too can reconcile past and present? Production Company: Keo Films; Producer and Director: Frankie Fathers; Exec Producer: Katie Buchanan.

Britain’s Oldest Stand Up
Chelsea Pensioner, 90-year-old Jack Woodward has a dream: to revive his career as a stand-up comic and perform on stage at the Hammersmith Apollo. This film follows Jack on a heart-warming journey as he attempts to make it in the modern world of stand-up comedy. Jack has grown restless and is looking for a challenge and wants to do one last gig to rival them all. His comedy CV is already impressive – he cut his comedy teeth in working men’s clubs in the North, performed on troop ships during WW2 and was a BBC warm-up comic in the 1960s. He complains that comedians today swear too much, but can they actually teach him a thing or two about modern comedy and help him update his act so he can compete with the best of them? For an old dog learning new tricks, the road to the Apollo will be littered with obstacles, both practical and emotional. But the reward will be the opportunity for Jack to feel the buzz of a live audience once again – and to finally achieve a life-long ambition. Production Co: Testimony Films; Producer and Director: Clair Titley; Exec Producer Steve Humphries.

Win a Baby
Fertility problems affect one in seven couples in the UK so when single mother Camille Strachan announced back in July 2011 that she would be launching the world’s first IVF lottery, it caused both a media storm and provoked a huge ethical debate. The scheme comes at a time when more and more people are citing a ‘postcode lottery’ with regards to receiving IVF treatment on the NHS and promises a monthly chance of winning a luxurious all-inclusive fertility treatment package worth £25,000, all for a £20 ticket online. Win a Baby follows Camille as she prepares and launches the first lottery of its type in Britain and meets the people who are planning on entering in the draw. Production Company: Roast Beef Productions; Producer: Danielle Clark; Director: Joseph Martin; Executive Producers: Mike Lerner and Martin Herring

What’s My Body Worth?
Could selling your hair, fingernails or eggs make you rich? Filmmaker Storm Theunissen examines the reality of the body parts industry and embarks on a hilarious yet painful personal journey; trying to sell every bit of her body she legally can from a lap-dance to her own eggs. Setting her sights on Hollywood – the market leader in egg-brokering for IVF – Storm learns that model looks and intelligence could easily net you $15,000. Egg donation must be altruistic in the UK and What’s My Body Worth is a timely contribution to this moral minefield. In April this year, the UK government is tripling the payment for expenses to £750 in a bid to solve a shortage of these donors. The film also follows Storm as she aims to discover whether her body is worth more dead than alive. Production Company: Ronachan Films; Producer and Director: Storm Theunissen; Executive Producers: Monica Garnsey and Angus Macqueen .

Interview with Homeland creators Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa

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Writers and creators, Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa talk 24, the process behind Homeland and ‘misunderstanding’ while shooting in Israel with Claire Danes.

When did you first become aware of Gideon Raff’s original Israeli television series Prisoners of War upon which Homeland is based, and what was the thinking surrounding the decision to adapt a U.S. version from the Israeli original? How is it similar/different to its predecessor?

Howard: I became aware of Prisoners of War when I got a call from my agent, Rick Rosen, who was stepping off a plane from Israel. He represents Keshet – the television company responsible for In Treatment, among other formats – and he said, pretty definitively, “I have your next show.” He described it briefly and it sounded good, and I suggested that it might be something Alex and I could do together (since Alex also happens to be a client of Rick’s). But the truth was, Alex and I were both so deep into the eighth season of 24 that when we agreed to do the project, we had no idea how different our final product would be from the original. So while the source material offered some compelling ideas for us to work with, making it work as a series for a U.S. and, really a global audience, required some wholesale reinvention from us.

What were some of the challenges in both story and character with translating Gideon Raff’s original vision? What are some of the factors involved in writing for an Israeli audience versus and American audience?

Howard: The imagined homecoming of two long-time POWs was really the dramatic engine of Gideon’s story. While this has a deep and immediate resonance with Israeli society (the capture of Gilad Shalit by Hamas for the last five years has been a national crisis) we have no analogous situation in the U.S. While Gideon’s was essentially a family drama, ours became a psychological thriller when we posited the possibility that the returning soldier had been turned into a terrorist and was being sent back here as the tip of the spear of a major terrorist attack on U.S. soil.

How did your experience on working on 24 influence your decision to do Homeland?

Howard: It felt like an opportunity to explore some of the same themes which we are still grappling with ten years after 9/11 – national security versus civil liberties, the nature of real threats versus imagined threats which we create out of our fear – but in a more nuanced way than we would ever achieve in the relentless pedal-to-the-metal narrative that 24 required. And while 24 was born and came of age in the shadow of 9/11, so much has changed in the world since then, the complexities and tangled consequences of our military actions being one of them, and Homeland lives in this far more complex world we now find ourselves trying to navigate as a nation.

Homeland premiered in the US almost directly after the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Was that a conscious decision?

Howard: It was just a confluence of events, which in the end turned out to be quite fortuitous, as did a number of other things. Osama bin Laden was killed when we were on Episode 2, eerily like the scene of Damian’s rescue; the Arab Spring. So a lot of the issues, you know, that seem to be a conflation of war on terror and the two wars we find ourselves in. This is after Abu Ghraib, after Guantanamo, after the prosecution of two wars of questionable merit. So this looks at the price to this country of what happened to us ten years ago. So the timing of it, I think, is significant, accidental, and fortuitous.

Both 24 and Homeland share similar themes of national security, terrorism and politics. Can you talk about your interest in exploring these subjects and how the two shows differ in their approaches?
Howard: Although the real-time format of 24 gave it a certain energy and a seeming realism, the fact that it told a story inside the course of a single day inevitably made it embrace improbabilities. So the idea of exploring themes like national security, terrorism and politics was subverted to the rigorous requirements of an almost impossible format. Because Homeland isn’t bound by the real-time format, we’re able to dramatise relationships and story arcs that take place over a longer time period, which has given us an opportunity to explore some of the same themes in a deeper and more nuanced way.
Alex: We also wanted to address the experience of veterans. The conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq are arguably the longest wars in U.S. history. Members of the armed forces are struggling with Post-Traumatic Stress and physical disabilities in record numbers. How will their experiences overseas find a context once these soldiers are back home? Brody’s journey is a way to ask that question in depth. What was he was fighting for? Just what are the values of his homeland? “24” existed in a real post9/11 world. And Jack was an action hero. In response to that, ten years later, things have become deeper and more complex. And the heart of this show is really psychological, how America is dealing with that tenyear period. And now it’s post Osama bin Laden.

Tell us about the cast. How did Claire Danes and Damian Lewis come to join the production? And can you describe the greatest attribute and flaws in the characters they play – Carrie Anderson and Sgt. Nick Brody?

Howard: Claire Danes was our first choice from the moment we sat down to write the pilot. She had just appeared in Temple Grandin and we were blown away by her performance. We even named the character Claire in our first draft. As much as Alex and I were fans of Damian’s from Band of Brothers, he became our first choice when we saw him in an independent movie called Keane.
Alex: Carrie has an extraordinary passion for life; her mental illness gives her an unparalleled intuition and appetite. But the highs give way to crippling lows, and that can be an intensely lonely experience. Brody trained as a sniper. He’s focused. He has incredible will. He’s survived an experience that would break most people. He’s also a soldier with a strong sense of duty and justice. As the season unfolds, we’ll learn how his eight years in captivity changed him, or just uncovered something he always carried inside him. Carrie and Brody are a great match in this season-long cat and mouse game. Each harbours secrets. And each understands the other in a way that no one else can. They have an intense connection-despite the fact that they might have radically opposing goals.

What can you tell us about the end of these 13 weeks? Will you solve the mysteries of Damian’s character?

Howard: This is a very, very interesting narrative experience. We’ve all discussed it. The first conversation we had with Damian and Claire was, how long can we keep the “is he or isn’t he” of it alive without feeling like we’re annoying the audience. And I think we have found a really satisfying way to tell that story where this uncertainty is actually compelling. And the answer is that we hope, that we answer those questions at the right time.

Are you working with any official consultants from the CIA or another government agency to advise on storylines? How do you make the plotlines authentic?

Howard: Alex and I have very different processes when it comes to this. Alex tends to do a lot of research, and I tend not to because I’m lazy and I prefer to keep my imagination unencumbered by the facts – and usually find myself able to retrofit reality to what I need the characters to do. I find that plotlines are authentic when the characters are authentic – which is to say, act like people you recognise.
Alex: At the writers’ office, we do a significant amount of research in order to get the details right – and given the subject matter, it wouldn’t be a surprise to find that we’d been flagged for the terrorist watch list. We’re very lucky to have a few official consultants, including a contact at the CIA and the representatives of Muslims On Screen & Television. We even have an imam on set to work with non-Muslim actors to perfect their salat prayer rituals. But, as Howard says, the authenticity of the characters comes first.

Where is production set? Did any of the filming be on location in the Middle East?

Howard: The production is set in Charlotte, North Carolina, which will double as Washington DC and Virginia. For the pilot, we were able to film in Israel, which doubled as Baghdad. There was a little misunderstanding with the location person, and so there was a little bit of an adventure while we were there.

What do you mean by “misunderstanding”?

Howard: Well, it wasn’t like shooting in L.A. where you lock down a street and, you know, get a license from the city. This was a little bit more ad hoc than that, and so let’s just say certain people didn’t get distributed their location fee. And then the rumour circulated that we were actually CIA plants, and then you can imagine what happened.
Alex: And the next thing –
Howard: The next thing, Claire was being rushed away in a van by security.
Alex: Claire was in the back of a car going a hundred miles an hour out of town. We got it on film
Howard: We hope we’ll have the chance in the future to do some more remote shooting in that part of the world.

Frost would like to thank Channel 4 for this interview.

Sinitta, Michelle Gayle, Hayley Tamaddon, and Nick Ede {Spotted!}

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CELEBRITIES AND THEIR FAMILIES GET SOULFUL AT ALTITUDE 360° FOR GOSPEL BRUNCH

Celebrities are flocking to new celebrity hotspot Altitude 360° to taste a bit of soul food!

Glamorous Sinitta, Michelle Gayle, Hayley Tamaddon, and Nick Ede (to name but a few) along with their families enjoyed Gospel Brunch at Altitude 360°.

All were served up yummy soul food straight from the Deep South, with Brown sugar cornbread and sweet brioche followed by hearty dishes including the house speciality, barbeque ribs and spatchcock chicken on offer. The feast was then rounded off with indulgent desserts such as peanut butter and chocolate brownie and New York cheesecake – all whilst singing along to and enjoying the sounds of the world renowned London Community Gospel Choir.

The Goss

– Sinitta went along with her kids, and her mum who sang along with the Gospel Choir to ‘Amen’

– Sinitta was up and dancing at the table as the Gospel Choir sang personally to her

– Michelle Gayle sang along to ‘Say a little prayer’, and enjoyed a huge chocolate birthday cake, as the choir sang Happy Birthday to her personally

– Sinitta enjoyed the day that much, that she wants to go to Gospel Brunch at Alitude 360° every week, keeping her spot at her table! She said: “That was really special! We really enjoyed it!”

– Hayley Tamaddon loved the choir, and tucked into tasty barbecue chicken with black beans, yellow rice and napa slaw

– Sinitta enjoyed spinach, feta and caper omelette with fried potatoes and mushrooms, Michelle ate spatchcock chicken with cajun spiced potato wedges

Michelle Gayle also celebrated her birthday in soul style, given a huge, delicious, Mississippi mud pie chocolate birthday cake whilst being serenaded by the choir, surrounded by her friends!

After brunch, the celebrities along with the other guests were invited to head up to a private viewing gallery at the top of the Millbank Tower to enjoy panoramic 360° views of London, showing London’s spectacular monumental landmarks.

Gospel Brunch is a brand new experience at Altitude’s Millbank Tower venue. The Brunch takes place every Sunday on the 28th floor of the modern London venue with spellbinding views across the city. As Brunch becomes the meal to dine out for, celebrities are all making their way to the venue to get the soul sensation!

Gospel brunch takes place at between 11:30am and 3pm on Sundays, and is priced at £49 per person (inc VAT). More information can be found at www.altitudelondon.com/gospelbrunch

David Beckham For H&M

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David Beckham celebrates the launch of David Beckham Bodywear for H&M in London

This week in London, David Beckham celebrated the global launch of David Beckham Bodywear for H&M with an in-store launch, followed by a cocktail party at a pop-up gentleman’s club created especially for the occasion. At the in-store event at H&M on Regent Street, David showed the new television commercial, met with fans and signed the collection. Later, celebrities such as Bianca Jagger, Emma Bunton and Jessica Ennis joined David to toast his bodywear range. This debut collection is the first in a long-term partnership between David Beckham and H&M, and is available from today in 1,800 H&M stores worldwide, as well as online.

“I am very proud to launch my Bodywear collection for H&M in London. It was amazing to see the product at the in-store launch after so many months of development and meet with fans. I loved the pop-up gentleman’s club, which felt both traditional and brand new. It’s the same mix I hope men will find in the Bodywear collection. It was an amazing evening to launch my new collection.” David Beckham.

“The debut of David Beckham Bodywear is a very special moment for us at H&M. It marks the beginning of a new kind of long-term partnership for H&M, one based on quality and excellent design to H&M prices. I am very excited to see how our customers will receive the David Beckham Bodywear collection.”
Karl-Johan Persson, CEO of H&M.

At the cocktail party, guests were treated to a unique David Beckham for H&M experience, with decor, food and drink designed to reflect not only classic gentlemen’s clubs but also David’s British roots. Live music was provided by the James Pearson Trio, direct from the infamous Ronnie Scotts club, followed by a DJ set by ”Mani” from The Stone Roses and DJ the Queens of Noize.

The event marks the debut of David Beckham Bodywear for H&M, a new collection which focuses on fit, function comfort and design. Designed by David’s in-house team and sold exclusively at H&M in around 40 countries worldwide, this first collection presents the nine key products which will go on to form the core of the range. The collection will develop seasonally with new styles, new fabrics and new patterns.

“Lots of people have worked with H&M, so why not David Beckham? I think it’s a really good idea. It means that now everybody can have a bit of him.” Suzy Menkes, International Herald Tribune.

Londoners Life 24 – by Phil Ryan

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Londoner’s Life 24 – By Phil Ryan
Abandon hope it’s snowing! I hope you all note that I your Frost London columnist predicted the snow! It arrived last night as I left a fantastic Thai restaurant on the Harrow Road (more of a café really as it’s the size of a large packet of cornflakes) But it’s called Boys Thai and its cheap and good. I got in the car to return home and all my fancy gizmos kicked in to stop me sliding all over the shop. But on my very slow and careful thirty minute journey home (usually fifteen) I passed three cars broken down and two crashes! Admittedly the wind was fierce and cold and the snow was falling steadily but wow. But it’s North London not Alaska. If the Iranians would switch from trying to make nuclear weapons to making snow we’d all be screwed! As I sit and write the airports across London are closed, the trains have virtually ground to a halt and only one or two tube lines are running a service. It’s barely three inches out there. I just measured it with a ruler.
And so my fortune tellers guide to the London media this week in sound bites (with the actual truth in italics).
Council spokesperson: “We had our gritters out immediately and found the snow fall outpaced our capacity. And of course our main priorities remain vital main roads as opposed to residential side streets” TRUTH “Sid and Kamil from the depot bumbled about a bit dropped a few tons of salt we had out the back in the remaining trucks we didn’t flog cheap five years back and went home. We haven’t got that much salt as it’s expensive and the lads don’t like going up side streets as they can’t drive at breakneck speed”
Airport spokesperson: “We would like to apologise to passengers for the ongoing disruption but we are attempting to maximise passenger safety” TRUTH “Listen cattle these planes ain’t cheap so we are not going to get any of them grubby or damaged just for you whiny lot. Plus what do you expect for £60?”
Government spokesperson: “The recent snowfall has been unprecedented however we have a good stock of road salt and are confident that our efforts to keep the roads and transport systems running will be successful” TRUTH “Suckers”
The Mayor “I would like to congratulate all my departments for their valiant efforts and my colleagues at TFL for keeping London moving” TRUTH “Every bloody year the same disaster er do you reckon the great unwashed will forget about it in the coming elections?”
So the cold weather will probably result in the usual paralysed city nonsense for a week or two and then we’ll forget about it and carry on like we do every year. My advice. Panic buy weird stuff to confuse the big 4 supermarkets. Don’t buy water and bread. Buy paper napkins and Peruvian Beaver tea.
And yes the London Mayoral elections are slowly unrolling. And of course it’s the usual two clowns. The Boris and Ken nonsense as usual. Not a decent candidate apart from that ex civil service woman Siobhan Benita who actually seems normal. But don’t quote me. You have Brian Paddick for the Lib Dems who seems to resemble Beaker from the Muppets more and more. His grand idea is to increase Police numbers in London until we all get our own constable apparently. Then for the Green Party that mad old bint Jenny Jones whose hair appears to expand year on year until she comes across as more of an animated shrubbery than a human. Her ideas include and I’m guessing here – free bicycles on the NHS – solar powered clothing and returning to living in caves to cut down on greenhouse gases. And in truth what do they all have in common? Taxation. Yes that’s about it. They all stand around dreaming up new ways to charge us for stuff that was once free and they promise us a glittering new future with wind powered triple decker buses made out of wicker and better schools etc etc. My local council Camden (or the Politburo as they are usually known) have been busily closing down most of the things we pay Council Tax for (begging the question what do I actually get for my money – answer – very little apart from an overbearing grim implacable bureaucracy) And now they’re handing over most of our libraries to small local consortia as they don’t want to pay for them anymore. And I like the idea in principle instead of them being closed and flogged to private vampiric property developers, although it’s great for Camden who can now waste even more of our money on digging up the streets on a monthly basis and voting themselves pay rises.
But local libraries could be the new community centres if the locals get it right. Cheap cafeterias, things for toddlers, the unemployed and the elderly. But how does it get paid for. Yes you’ve guessed it. We’ll have to pay for it. Not a lot mind I understand. A quid a go probably. Side effects local cafes won’t be delighted and nor will those who USED TO GET IT FOR FREE.
Ho hum. But finally back to the snow fall in London. I just watched the news and the truth is we’re doomed. Apart from the sounds of champagne corks popping in the British Gas offices I can hear nothing – just the sound of happy kids and damp parents from every park across town. But is it a problem? No buses no tubes no trains. Nah. Why? It’s a London thing.

 

 

The Wireless Theatre Company Presents THE STRANGE CASE OF SPRINGHEEL'D JACK

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The multi-award winning* Wireless Theatre Company proudly presents its first-ever audio serial:

THE STRANGE CASE OF SPRINGHEEL’D JACK

Starring Julian Glover.

Synopsis:

London, 1837. An inhuman fiend stalks the night. With no time to lose, brilliant young police constable, Jonah Smith, must unmask the monster before he strikes again. Follow our hero on a terrifying adventure as he races to solve… The Strange Case of Springheel’d Jack!  

Episode One: http://wirelesstc.wordpress.com/2010/12/24/the-strange-case-of-springheeld-jack-episode-1/

Episode Two: http://wirelesstc.wordpress.com/2011/06/27/the-strange-case-of-springheeld-jack-episode-ii-the-crypt-of-evil/

Episode Three: http://wirelesstc.wordpress.com/2012/01/27/the-strange-case-of-springheeld-jack-episode-iii-the-face-of-the-fiend/

All three episodes of this thrilling, award-nominated** audio serial are available to download free.

 

The Strange Case of Springheel’d Jack Cast:

Christopher Finney, Matthew Jure, Jessica Dennis, Jack Bowman***, Ben Whitehead, Colt Holt, Trevor Cuthbertson, Jamie Cartwright, Ceri Gifford, Simon Walters, Ashley Munson, Lizzie Goodall, Andrew MacBean, Caitlin Birley, Debbie Leigh-Simmons, Mariele Runacre Temple, Charlie Adams, with Jonathan Hansler, Nick Lucas, David Benson and Julian Glover.

Crew:

Writers: Robert Valentine and Gareth Parker.   Editor: Andrew Swann. Music: Francesco Quadraruopolo. Artwork: Jamie Egerton. Producers: Mariele Runacre Temple, Robert Valentine and Jack Bowman. Director: Robert Valentine.

Awards and Nominations:  

*Mariele Runacre Temple; Best Radio Drama Producer, 2009, Fringe Report Awards; Best Entertainment Producer, Best Online Multi Platform Creator, Radio Academy Radio Production Awards

**Mariele Runacre Temple, Robert Valentine and Jack Bowman; Radio Academy Radio Production Awards, 2011, nominated for Best Drama Producers.

***Jack Bowman; Radio Academy Radio Production Awards, 2011, nominated Best Radio Creative.

 

The Wireless Theatre Company’s mission is to keep radio drama and comedy alive and well in the 21st Century by creating original, relevant and exciting audio productions – both for radio lovers and the ‘Facebook Generation’ – which can be downloaded free to computers, iPods or MP3 players directly from the Wireless Theatre Company website. Wireless Theatre creates a platform for fresh new writers, up and coming acting talent and interesting new ways of producing audio theatre.

 

Londoners Life 23 – by Phil Ryan

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Yes the cold snap is starting to hit London. Weather forecasts predict us being hit with snow flurries very soon. And we all know what London does when 2 centimetres of snow arrives! And just as we were coming to terms with the white death we then then got more scares over an oil depot going into receivership. Now we get stories about also being hit with petrol prices in London shooting up to £2.00 a litre and all of us freezing in our cars as we ran out of fuel in sub-zero temperatures on the M40. (Although I suspect they are just softening us up as they’ll get to that petrol price level within 6 months at this rate anyway regardless of oil depots closing – not including death on the M40) And for the first time ever I briefly toyed with the idea of one of those electric cars as I am noticing more of those blue charging posts as I whiz around town in my gas guzzler. But to be honest when all is said and done they are just old fashioned milk floats with a bit more comfort and zero style. I mean have you seen those G-whiz things. Is it me but does everyone who drives them look huge and somehow ghoulish – little eyes screwed in concentration as they avoid trying to hit a pigeon or a crisp packet which would probably spell instant death for them and anyone stupid enough to be their passenger. They look like damaged egg cartons with comedy tiny wheels where a human has been forced inside like some novelty act from Cirque du Soleil. And you can feel the smug waves coming off them from a hundred feet away. Look at me I’m saving the planet. But to balance it out they all look very weird and devoid of cool and have the tensile strength of a bowl of porridge. And yes I know the new Renault ones look a lot more cool – but still drive a Renault? However London of course is now leading the way with more and more electric vehicles now being put onto our streets to silently mow down children, the elderly and the slow moving. Many London Councils are rolling them out as Council vans and maintenance cars. Quiet death from your local service provider. Perhaps they’re thinning out the vulnerable in a bizarre cost cutting drive nothing would surprise me where local Councils are concerned. (I think Westminster have introduced recently culling of the poor haven’t they?) But the march of the electric car moves forwards. Green yes but you can’t hear them coming!!!! If I had my way I’d fit them all with a loud clockwork toy noise. That’d brighten up your day wouldn’t it?
One observation I’ll make is about the various foreign embassies we have across London. Some of them are in the weirdest of places. For instance Tonga’s embassy is in a residential street off the Hendon Way – how very glamorous. But others have very swish addresses in Knightsbridge and the West End. But my main thought is the amount of protests outside half of them. Concerned citizens of each country seem to now gather on a weekly basis to shout at those inside. I’m not sure the rulers of the various countries are paying much interest and my guess is they’re not actually in the building. The Ambassadors are probably somewhere else too – you know getting piles of Ferrero Roche at some fancy black tie function. So in effect the protesters are shouting at a bunch of secretaries and cleaners. But I realise they have to show these repressive governments that in London at least free speech is fine and dandy. Good luck I say. Although I do get a bit miffed when the protestors attack the poor police folk who turn up trying to keep the peace. I’m not sure it’s sending a signal to Syria to stop killing their own people by punching Constable Smith sharply on the nose. But when they protest here we’ll protect them which of course is right and proper. But then sometimes they shout about the fact that we in Britain shouldn’t let their bad governments stay in power while often shouting anti-western slogans. All very confusing I fear.
Now a new bugbear with me in 2012 is London Theatre ticket prices. They seem to be heading skywards and I’m not sure it’s healthy for good theatre. I realise that with rising rents and costs these shows are costly but come on. Half the theatres are up to £85 for a seat you can actually see the stage from and don’t even get me started on the cost of drinks and snacks. Just like cinemas and service stations it seems that theatres are now operating an ‘alternative universe’ policy. Whereby the costs of normal things are inflated to such an extent that people hand over the cash whilst still in a state of shock. On what world is a bag of Maltesers £5.00 and a glass of wine £9.50! I’d take all the impresarios knighthoods back just like they did to Mr Fred Goodwin. So Mr Macintosh and Mr Lloyd Weber tell me when is it reasonable to pay £5.00 for two mouthfuls of ice cream and £10.00 for a programme? A paperback novel costs less and has had a damn sight more creative energy poured into it. If you honestly want kids and anyone on a low income to embrace the theatre stop being so damn greedy. I originally thought that Wicked and Les Miserables were show titles not descriptions of how the pricing policy works and makes the audience feel.
Finally more rip off nonsense from The Olympic legacy Company. It seems that us Londoners have paid £93 billion pounds to give away land, housing and stadiums to a host of private companies who will charge us through the nose to either visit or use facilities we’ve already paid for! I think every scrap of Olympic housing stock should be turned over to Social Housing – after all it was paid for by the public. And the stadiums should be free to Londoners who paid for them whether they wanted to or not. And look out for the ridiculous concept of Stratford International Station whose train station doesn’t even connect to Europe directly! Instead you have to slope off back to St Pancras. Shouldn’t they just re-name it Stratford Local or something? But when you ask the locals they just shrug and smile about the whole fiasco. Do they care? No. It’s a London thing.

 

Billie Piper Interview: A Passionate Woman.

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A Passionate Woman: Billie Piper plays Betty in the Fifties

 

Are you a fan of Kay Mellor?

“Yes, I loved Band Of Gold – it was my favourite show and one of the reasons I wanted to start acting. I couldn’t believe how compelling Samantha Morton was. It was a great series and Samantha was incredible. I’ve always loved Kay’s work.”

Did you feel pressured playing a character based on Kay’s mother?

“Naturally. It must have been quite emotional for Kay to watch this story being played out before her, however it was helpful and essential to have her around. Kay was able to paint a very detailed picture of her mother and she was keen for me to think about her mum in that situation.”

What drew you to the role of Betty Stevenson?

“I felt profoundly moved by the story. I’ve just had my first child and my marriage is young, it’s a testing time. I think Kay was reluctant to cast me – I begged for an audition. I felt confident with the accent but I’m sure that will be up for discussion! It was a tough job – lots of crying and screaming but well worth it though.”

Tell me about your character?

“Betty is a young wife – quite a peaceful character. She is emotional, sensitive, thoughtful, and compassionate. Not outspoken or feisty. Betty is very poor and lives in a block of flats with her husband, Donald. She loves her son, Mark – and it’s quite desperate love. She absolutely lives for him which plays out in the Eighties episode where Sue Johnston plays the role of Betty.”

Betty’s relationship with Donald seems complex – do you think she has ever been in love with him?

“Betty has an old fashioned relationship with her husband. He goes to work all day, doesn’t really talk to her that much, doesn’t ask her how she is doing – it’s all very practical. They don’t talk about how they are feeling. They both put up and shut up. Betty spent all day at home with the baby – she is not a modern woman, unlike her sister, Margaret.”

Betty seems to fall for Craze immediately…

“Betty is completely bowled over by Craze, this reckless polish neighbour who moves in. He is married to Moira who is the complete polar opposite to Betty. Moira is very liberal, outspoken, sexual – a great spirit which Betty is incredibly jealous of. I don’t think Betty has ever felt love or passion or lust like it before in her life. Craze sexually liberates her and teaches her things she never knew existed. Betty becomes obsessed with him which starts to become quite destructive.

“She has this enormous secret and she eventually confides in her sister Margaret – who is fiercely expressive, a rebel. She hates her husband and is desperate to sleep with someone else! She is so very different and the only one privy to Betty’s secret about Craze.”

Did you get to meet Sue Johnston, who plays Betty 30 years on?

“Yes, I did. We had a day’s crossover during filming – she’s so lovely and an amazing actress, I’ve always loved her. Sue sent me a lovely note to say if there is anything you want to know or talk about regarding the character to let her know.

“People change a lot over all those years and what happens when you are younger really shapes you as a person and so I didn’t want to mimic or do some imitation of her as Betty. We were doing our own interpretation of the character at that time – knowing what they know.”

Tell me about your character’s Fifties-style dresses?

“I really liked them. I find costumes massively helpful especially when you’re playing quite a well turned out character. Betty was obviously very poor although every button was sewn on properly; there were no loose hems, the collars were stiff – the clothes do start to relax after she meets Craze and they become more colourful and passionate! I love costumes and I love period costumes.

“It was freezing up there though and there aren’t enough clothes in the world to keep you warm – cold like I’ve never known it before!”

How do you think you’d have coped living Betty’s life the Fifties?

“I thought about it the whole time and it must have been just so hard. It’s not massively dissimilar to stories my Gran would tell me about how she brought her family up – seven kids, small house. It was so different for wives and mothers then. Never having enough money or having desires outside of the family home.

“Nowadays, we have a lot of opportunities as women to go out and work, socialise, confide in lots of people, network and we are endlessly banging on about how we feel. It was just taboo – those kinds of subjects. I have a very fortunate lifestyle.”