Tag: radioshow

Roald Dahl: In His Own Words

Sections: Information | Description | Fun Stuff | CD Cover

Information

  • Documentary that aired on BBC Radio 4’s Archive on 4
  • Originally aired on July 2, 2016
  • Presented by Sophie Dahl
  • Producer: Dixi Stewart

Description

With the help of his granddaughter Sophie, Roald Dahl tells his own remarkable story in the style of one of his much-loved books. Illustrated with newly discovered archive recordings and songs and music exclusively recorded by the cast and musicians in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Matilda The Musical at the Cambridge Theatre in London, this Archive on 4 marks the centenary of the writer dubbed ‘the best storyteller in the world’.

The programme contains excerpts from interviews with Roald Dahl on NRK, Op Reis with Ivo Niehe, Desert Island Discs with Roy Plomley, Parkinson, Wogan, Saturday Matters With Sue Lawley, Pebble Mill at One, Saturday Superstore, Whicker’s World, Start The Week, Bookmark, The World of Books, Meridian, The Friday Serial, The Many Lives of Roald Dahl, A Dose of Dahl’s Magic Medicine, Treasure Islands, PM & BBC News.

Fun Stuff

  • Clips from the episode:

CD Cover

Roald Dahl’s Language

Sections: Information | Description | Fun Stuff

Information

  • Documentary that aired on BBC Radio 4 program Word of Mouth
  • Originally aired on May 3, 2016
  • Presented by Michael Rosen
  • Producer: Beth O’Dea

Description

Michael Rosen on a new Roald Dahl dictionary collecting the amazing words he invented – like squackling, and wondercrump! With Dr Laura Wright and dictionary editor Dr Susan Rennie.

Fun Stuff

Roald Dahl: A Gremlin in the Works

Sections: Information | Description | Fun Stuff

Information

  • Documentary that aired on BBC Radio 4 program Seriously…
  • Originally aired on July 7, 2016
  • Presented by Gerald Scarfe
  • Also featuring Donald Sturrock
  • Wise Buddah production

Description

The cartoonist and illustrator Gerald Scarfe tells the story of one of the greatest movies never made.

Walt Disney sent a telegram to Roald Dahl saying he wanted to make a film based on Dahl’s 1942 book The Gremlins – $50,000 was invested, more than a year of pre-production time was spent but, in the end, the story of little creatures who sabotaged wartime planes never made it into our cinemas.

Gerald Scarfe, who has provided illustrations for both Dahl’s and Disney’s works, paints a picture of how an RAF myth nearly became a Disney classic alongside The Jungle Book or Mary Poppins. He reveals the factors that eventually became the project’s own ‘gremlins in the works’.

The programme features Dahl’s official biographer Donald Sturrock, who also directed Fantastic Mr Fox for TV, and Gerald was also given exclusive access to some of Roald Dahl’s original papers.

Fun Stuff

  • Instagram posts from the production company:

Going Solo

Sections: Information | Description | Covers

Information

  • Two-part BBC Radio 4 dramatisation
  • Originally aired on July 3 and July 10, 2016
  • What Dahl Did: wrote the original book Going Solo
  • Dramatised by Lucy Catherine
  • Directed by Helen Perry
  • BBC Cymru/Wales Production
  • Cast:
    • Roald Dahl – Patrick Malahide
    • Young Dahl – John Heffernan
    • Mother – Joanna Van Kampen
    • Mdisho – Eric Abrefa
    • Major Griffiths – Brian Protheroe
    • Mrs Griffiths – Clare Perkins
    • Miss Trefusis – Elizabeth Bennett
    • Sandford – Nick Underwood
    • Savory – James Lailey
    • Parkinson – Tom Forrister
    • Mackintosh – Sam Rix
    • Snakeman – Sean Baker
    • Sergeant – Jason Barnett
    • David – Stuart McLoughlin
    • Sister – Kirsty Oswald
    • Squadron Leader – James Lailey
    • Fitter – Nick Underwood
    • Medical Examiner – Tom Forrister
    • Commodore – Sean Baker
    • Carter – Jason Barnett
    • Pat Pattle – Brian Protheroe
    • Operator – Clare Perkins

Description

To celebrate the centenary year of his birth, a full dramatisation of Roald Dahl’s gripping autobiographical overseas adventure.

Beginning aboard the SS Mantola, Dahl sets sail for Africa at the tender age of 22. He experiences the remnants of colonial British life, filled with eccentric characters, and is thrown into a world as bizarre and surprising as any you will find in his fiction.

“Life is made up of a great number of small incidents and a small number of great ones.”

Stationed in Tanzania, Dahl is faced with the excitement of the wild; lions carrying off women in their mouths; fatal green mambas captured by snake men. But his savannah-sun-drenched life is interrupted when World War II erupts. Dahl is ordered to round up the German inhabitants of Dar es Salaam and experiences first-hand the horror of war.

Covers

Boy

Sections: Information | Description | Covers

Information

  • BBC Radio 4 dramatisation
  • Originally aired on July 2, 2016
  • What Dahl Did: wrote the original book Boy – Tales of Childhood
  • Dramatised by Lucy Catherine
  • Directed by Helen Perry
  • BBC Cymru/Wales Production
  • Cast:
    • Roald Dahl – Patrick Malahide
    • Young Dahl – Tarkan Uzun
    • Teenage Dahl – Isaac Rouse
    • Mother – Joanna Van Kampen
    • Bressington – Daniel Noel
    • Thwaites – Devon Ruckley
    • Matron – Adie Allen
    • Dr Dunbar – Richard Nichols
    • Mrs Pratchett – Elizabeth Bennett
    • Corkers – Jason Barnett
    • Carleton – Tom Forrister
    • Williamson – Sam Rix
    • Ellen – Kirsty Oswald
    • Captain Hardcastle – Nick Underwood
    • Mr Cadbury – James Lailey
    • Grandfather – Sean Baker

Description

To celebrate the centenary year of Roald Dahl’s birth, a full dramatisation of tales from his own childhood. Sometimes magical, sometimes grotesque but always true, Dahl’s boyhood stories are as remarkable as the acclaimed fiction he would go on to write as an adult.

“An autobiography is a book a person writes about his own life. It is usually full of all sorts of boring details. This is not an autobiography.”

The story of Roald Dahl’s childhood is filled with excitement and wonder but also terror and great sadness. We learn of his experiences at cruel boarding schools, his daring Great Mouse Plot, the dangers of Boazers, the pleasure/pain of the local sweetshop and his time as a chocolate taster. Just some of the marvellous, extraordinary events that no doubt went on to inspire his best-selling books.

Covers

15 Minute Drama

Sections: Information | Description | Fun Stuff

Information

  • BBC Radio 4 program that aims “to provide a mixture of classic and contemporary drama, adaptations of books and original writing”
  • What Dahl Did: wrote five stories that were adapted as part of “Roald Dahl: Served With a Twist”
  • All Program Information

Description

In July 2016, BBC Radio 4 dramatised five of Roald Dahl’s short stories on 15 Minute Drama in honour of Dahl’s 100th birthday celebrations. The series was entitled “Roald Dahl: Served With a Twist”.

Charles Dance leads the cast as the urbane Storyteller in dramatisations of five classic tales by Roald Dahl. Bizarre and amusing by turns, these dark comedies are justly famous for their surprise endings, and for their rogues gallery of crooks, cheats and schemers.

The stories show Dahl at the height of his powers as a writer of adult fiction, combining black comedy with sly social satire. They are stylishly plotted, vividly characterised and made unforgettable by their breezy cynicism, presenting a hilariously bleak view of human nature.

Fun Stuff

Matilda

Sections: Information | Description | Fun Stuff

Information

  • A two part special on BBC Radio 4 on 20-27 December 2009
  • What Dahl Did: wrote the original story Matilda
  • Adapted for radio by Charlotte Jones
  • Directed by Clare Grove
  • Cast:
    • Lenny Henry as Narrator
    • Lauren Mote as Matilda
    • Nichola McAuliffe as Miss Trunchbull
    • Claire Rushbrook as Mrs Wormwood
    • John Biggins as Mr Wormwood
    • Emerald O’Hanrahan as Miss Honey
    • Kate Layden as Mrs Phelps
    • Ryan Watson as Michael
    • Joshua Swinney as Bruce Bogtrotter
    • Rhys Jennings as Nobby
    • Sinead Michael as Lavender
    • Lizzy Watts as Hortensia

Description

A five-year-old girl is a genius, but her parents are contemptuous of their daughter’s prodigious talents. The little genius resolves to save the school and her favourite teacher Miss Honey from the grip of its terrifying head Miss Trunchbull.

[Description from RadioTimes.com]

Fun Stuff

  • Review from Radio Drama Reviews Online

Desert Island Discs

Sections: Information | Dahl’s Choices | Fun Stuff

Information

  • Roald Dahl appeared on Desert Island Discs in November 1979 on BBC Radio 4
  • The show was presented by Roy Plomley
  • In the show, Dahl was asked for eight pieces of music, a book and a luxury to take if they were to be castaway on a desert island.

Dahl’s Choices

  • His favourite song choice was Agnus Dei by Giuseppe Verdi.
  • His book choice was The New Oxford Book of English Verse by Helen Gardner.
  • His luxuries were a still, grapevine cuttings and tobacco seeds.

 

Fun Stuff

Escape

Sections: Information | Description | Fun Stuff | Recordings

Information

  • Ran on CBS from July 1947 to September 1954
  • What Dahl Did: contributed at least one story
    • Episode 133: “Poison”
      • Originally aired on July 28, 1950
      • Produced and directed by William and Robeson
      • Adapted for radio by James Poe
      • Cast:
        • Jack Webb (of Dragnet fame) as Woody
        • Bill Conrad as Harry
        • Jay Novello as Ganderbai
        • Charlie Leung as the houseboy
      • Special music arranged and played by Ivan Ditmires
  • Buy this CD: 

Description

ESCAPE opened with the gripping voice of William Conrad booming out over the airwaves: “Tired of the everyday grind? Ever dream of a life of romantic adventure? Want to get away from it all? We offer you – ESCAPE!”. Moussorgsky’s “Night on Bald Mountain”, the show’s theme, assisted Conrad in creating the right opening atmosphere. (The actual series of questions used in the opening varied from week to week, frequently to match the goings-on of the times.)

[Description from Old-Time Radio, an excellent source of information]

Fun Stuff

Recordings