Alastair Jessiman Radio Plays
16.07.04 Star Man
22.02.06 The Passion of Plum Duff
11.08.06 The Sensitive
28.11.07 The Sensitive, 2: The Hanged Man
27.03.08 The death of Magnus Sweet
date nk: The Devil's Alliance
NOTES
THE DEATH OF MAGNUS SWEET....2008
27 Mar 08, R4. At a remote Scottish public school in the late 1960s; two boys invent a fictitious fellow classmate. But they face a dilemma when everyone; even the headmaster; starts to believe that Magnus Sweet exists. Caspar ...... William Barlow Solly ...... Miles Jupp Headmaster ...... Gareth Thomas Uncle Bill ...... Michael Mackenzie
- ND comment ... It is rare but not unknown for teachers to invent a fictitious pupil when the Head or one of his cronies boasts he knows every pupil in the school. A few years ago a teacher friend told me how it happened in a village nearby.....so it was astonishing to hear a play with an identical plot. However - the action of the play goes a lot further than the harmless bit of fun which I heard about.....
THE SENSITIVE,2: THE HANGED MAN....2007
Thomas Soutar discovers some unsettling connections between his uncle's past and the murder of a young boy. AJ's second play about a psychic who helps the police with their inquiries. With Robin Laing, Sheila Donald, Michael MacKenzie. Producer: David Jackson Young.
THE SENSITIVE....2006
Offbeat thriller, where the pPolice call in a psychic to help find a missing woman. Thomas Soutar is adept at solving crimes - but is his extraordinary gift a blessing or a curse? 11 Aug 06, R4, 45m.
- ND comment: ..... I was expecting a nutty psychic ridiculed by the police yet being able to solve problems for them. I was pleasantly surprised, therefore, at an excellent story with good writing and an intelligent resolution to the plot. The BBC might commission more of these; I hope so.
THE PASSION OF PLUM DUFF....2006
Comedy about the clash of spiritual and human yearning, as an overweight Glasgow minister faces a mid-life crisis. When the 23-stone Reverend Plum Duff is suspected of having an affair with both the son and the wife of his session clerk, he turns to drink and his ukelele for support. 22 Feb 06, R4.
Star Man ....2004
On a visit home to Glasgow for his father's funeral, Tom's thoughts go back to 1974, the year when - as a 15-year-old schoolboy - he was fascinated by stars: astronomical stars in the night sky, glamorous rock-stars like David Bowie, and would-be local stars like the charismatic and sexually ambiguous Danny who he meets one day on the bus.
Tom (40) ...... Paul Young
Tom (15) ...... William Barlow
Tom's father ...... Finlay Welsh
Tom's mother ...... Carol Ann Crawford
Danny ...... John Kielty
Steve ...... Michael Stewart
Pork ...... Steven Cree
Produced and directed by David Jackson Young. Rpt. 2006.
OTHERS
THE DEVIL'S ALLIANCE
Commissioned by the Wellcome Trust. No other information at time of writing.
Nigel Deacon / Diversity website
