Clocks and Watches- Radio Plays
THE CLOCK STRIKES EIGHT....1947
Appointment with Fear.
THE SPEAKING CLOCK....1947
Appointment with Fear. Two classic tales
still worth hearing through the hiss and crackle of
half a century.
THE CLOCK (Australia, 1947)
A worthwhile "Fear on Four" type drama series. Titles of
shows held by VRPCC members: Starcrossed lovers,
Hazel, Only death is timeless, Guilty as always.
A CONCRETE CLOCK....1964
Message from a reader.........In 1964 or maybe 1965 I remember listening to a play which was about two people writing to each other in America and England where they were both building a concrete clock.
Is it possible for you to give me more information and maybe where I could get a recording?
Keith W.
To my astonishment I have found a recording of this .... I was recently sent a Nevil Shute play called 'Trustee from the Toolroom', a superb adventure which starts with a yacht being scuppered in a storm. About 30 minutes in, a concrete clock comes into the story ..... it stars Simon Lack & Inia Te Wiata. Saturday Night Theatre, 90m, 22 Aug 1964.....N.D.
IF YOU'RE GLAD, I'LL BE FRANK....1966
By Tom Stoppard. This is a surreal farce in which the voice of the speaking clock becomes human and runs out of control. Timothy West plays Frank, a dogged naval officer who has recognised the voice as that of his wife Gladys. He embarks on a frantic mission to rescue her from the toils of the Post Office and the tyranny of the 'third stroke' (at which the time will be ...').
ESCAPEMENT....1988?
Canada, 30min,
by J G Ballard.
A man finds himself caught in a time loop which is
getting smaller and smaller.
Half-an-Hour Behind The Times....1993
4 May 1993. A comedy in which a family look into the future. They're historic figures on a clock and their guide is the maintenance man. With Chris Brailsford, Olwen May, Joe Simpson and Finetime Fontayne.
THE CHIMES OF MIDNIGHT....1997
By Nick Fisher. Horror story originally from the "Fear on Four" series, involving an ancient clock.
The Clock of Heaven....1999
By Michelene Wandor, adapted from the book by
Dava Sobel. The story of John Harrison and his clocks-
how he devised a clock mechanism so accurate that sailors
could work out their longitude and hence where they
were. This changed the
art of navigation forever. 45 mins. Radio 4, 1999.
Starring Barbara Flynn, Nicky Henson, Finetime Fontayne.
Escapement....2002
by David Szalay, R4, 1415, 15 May 02. Phil Weston has
to find a watch...with Jack Davenport, David Timson,
Peter Marinka.
Nigel Deacon / Diversity website
Asterisked plays known to exist in VRPCC collections
