Juliet Ace Radio Drama
Well-known radio writer who has done lots of well-known work, including episodes of "The Archers". I met Juliet recently, and didn't realise how much radio work she had done ... I have expanded the page as much as I can. Any further information much appreciated.
Speak No Evil ....1980
16.9.1980/1105 Elizabeth Morgan/John Griffiths/Rhys Powis, 30m
Dreams Remembered ....1983
5.2.1983/1405 Steve Hodson/Petra Markham, 30m.
A Time Between Comets....1983
10.12.1983/1405 Iwan Jones/Rhys Thomas/Simon Williams/Guto Harri, 30m.
MODEL ANSWERS....1985
Afternoon play, 3 Jul 85.
EMBROIDERIES...1986
Afternoon play, 18 Feb 86.
The Red Shoes ....1986
25.2.1986/1100 Anna Massey/Martin Jarvis, 30m.
JONATHAN GEORGE CAN WALK ON THE WATER....1986
13 May 06, Afternoon play.
CROWN HOUSE....1988
By Peter Ling & Juliet Ace. With Martin Jarvis, Jane Asher, Margaret Rawlings, Dinah Sheridan, Richard Pasco, Barbara Leight Hunt, Gayle Hunnicut, Dominic Rickhards. R4, 30.10.88 - 18.12.88. Produced by Graham Gauld. 8 30m episodes.
DIGRESSIONS....1988
17/11/88. Afternoon play.
THE SPUR....1990
Monday play, 8 Jan 90. Land deals, an ex-farmer and an illegal cock-fighting ring. With Christian Rodska, Anthony Jackson, Vincent Brimble, Anne Morrish. Producer Shaun MacLoughlin.
LOBBY TALK....1990
22.11.90; Juliet Ace & Vic Aiken.
Jacob's Folly....1992
10.3.1992/1400 Jennie Linden/Paola Dionisotti/John Church, 30m.
TRUTH CONFINED....1993
8 Apr 93. Afternoon play.
*TWIN REACTION....1995
BBC Police drama by Juliet Ace. 3 x 60m stories.
(1) 7thAug95. Look Again.
(2) 14thAug95. Come Follow.
(3) 21stAug95. Double Trouble.
Look Again: Alice and Belinda are identical twins. They have always wanted to be detectives, and because of a computer error, they begin at the same North London police station on the same day. With Jenny Funnel, Carolyn Backhouse, Eric Allen, Cornelius Garrett, Lindsay Mack, Ian Sanders, Rachel Oldfield, Paul Nicholson, Janet Dale, Marilla Robson, Brian Gear, Jilly Bond. Producer Shaun MacLoughlin.
Double trouble: Can't remember the plot, but I recall a very unpleasant rape scene in this episode.
Love Story....1997
Juliet Ace's dramatisation of Erich Segal's romantic novel of the 1970s. With Ingri Damon, Mark Leake and Patrick Allen.
Director Ned Chaillet. Saturday play. 30 Aug 97, 60m, R4.
*The Captain's Wife....1998
R4, 8 May 98. Every two years, there is a
new captain - and a new captain's wife. Mattie,
played by Patricia Hodge, is there for them all,
moving, over the years, from the centre of the table
to the captain's side. She observes the Navy at play
and provides exotic relief - until she is ready to
change herself. Director Ned Chaillet.
BBC7 rpt, Feb. 08. Juliet Ace's monologue of a woman married to a civilian working in the Navy. Over several years she feels she is just an appendage to her husband and longs to be more like a Captain's Wife. So begins her rebellion.
The New Look....1999
By Juliet Ace. 28 May 99. Last in a trilogy of plays about Mattie Jones's childhood in South Wales. `Celluloid Lady'. It is 1948 and Mattie is fascinated by Mona Morgan and her daydreams about Hollywood film stars, as she pulls pints in her father's pub. With Stephanie Wookey and Jennifer Hill. Director Tanya Nash. Rpt. 20 Sep. 02.
Episode titles:1: 14 May 05 Tailor's Tacks; 2: 14 May 99 Beeny's Camiknickers; 3: 28 May 99 Celluloid Lady.
HER INFINITE VARIETY....1999
By Juliet Ace. 5 x 15m modern plays for Shakespeare's women. I only have details of three of them, as follows:
(1) 6thDec99. WRITING TO VERONICA.
(2) 7thDec99. TALKING TO MY SHRINK.
(3) 8thDec99. DIARY OF A DUTIFUL DAUGHTER.
PRIVATE PAPERS....2000
By Margaret Forster, dram. Juliet Ace, beginning 24 Jan 00. 10 x 15m. A family history. With Angela Pleasence, Nicola McAuliffe, Simon Armstrong, Jenny Funnel. Producer Tanya Nash.
SMALL PARTS....2000
45m, afternoon play 21 Aug 00.
YOUNG VICTORIA....2001
Historical serial in ten parts of 15m. R4, Jan 2001.
Money for old rope....2001
3.12.01; rpt.1 Jul 03. Taking a few pills in the interests of scientific research and extra cash should not be a problem, but Jason finds there are
unexpected consequences. With Di Botcher, Aled Pugh, Jennifer Vaughan.
MARSEILLES TRILOGY....2001
Adapred by Juliet Ace from the film, from a tramslation by Margaret Jarman. Episode titles (all 60m): 1)Marius, 2)Fanny, 3)Cesar. With
Richard Johnson, Simon Scardifield, Monica Dolan, Andrew Sachs. Produced by Ned Chaillet.
*Blind....2002
R4, 27 Sep 02. More about Mattie Jones' childhood in South
Wales in 1953. In this episode, Mattie is fifteen. (see below)
*Dead-Heading the Roses....2003
R4,12 Dec 03. Celebrating Jill Balcon's 60th year performing
in radio drama. Balcon is joined by her son, Daniel Day Lewis.
Ariadne, a naval officer's wife, has become the benign queen of
death, arranging tasteful memorial services - which will include
her husband's. But before his departure he has plotted a final
fling. With Jill Balcon, Daniel Day Lewis, Cheryl Campbell,
Graham Crowden, William Hootkins. Director/producer Ned Chaillet.
The New Look....2004
19 Feb 04 - Part of a sequence of plays by Juliet Ace that focus on Mattie Jones' childhood in a small town in the South Wales of the 1950s. Part 4. Blind.
In "Blind", Mattie has reached adolescence. She is 15 and frustrated because she has to spend her Saturdays cooking for her grandfather and her blind aunt when what she really wants to do is speculate about sex and boys with her friend Merle or bury her head in yet another book.
Mattie's relationship with her aunt is a vexed one but, despite their arguments, she begins to understand something of what her handicap means to her.
One of Mattie's tasks is to read to her aunt and she finds that she wants to protect her from information that may distress her.
However difficult Mattie finds her aunt, she is unequivocal in her love for her grandfather, Dada, and she delights in the stories he tells her. When Dada becomes ill she discovers that making pastry is not the only challenge she has to face and that families can respond to adversity in unpredictable ways.
Young Mattie ...... Mali Harries
Older Mattie ...... Jennifer Hill
Director: Gilly Adams
Part 5. 20 Feb 04. Mattie and Bluebottle
In this last play in the series, Mattie Jones is on the brink of leaving home. It's 1955 and she is 17 years old, studying (so she pretends) for her 'A' Levels. Her parents have said she must go to teacher training college but Mattie still dreams of becoming an actress.
At home, Mattie uses her room to escape and to dream. She is still timorous of her parents but the thing that draws them together is The Goon Show. It's the one time they'll sit together as a family, around the wireless, sharing the jokes. At school, with her friend Millie, she covers up for her family life by endlessly quoting the Goons and by keeping a diary.
The girls are lazy at school and naïve about the world but they know they are on the brink of adulthood and desperate to be independent. But Mattie's mother manages to strike one more blow of humiliation on Mattie's first day of freedom at college.
The L-Shaped Room by Lynne Reid Banks....2004
23 Feb 05. 10 Episodes. This ground-breaking story of
middle-class Jane, pregnant and unmarried, has remained in
print ever since it was first published in 1960. In her
squalid, L-shaped bedsit, Jane has to overcome both her
own prejudices and those of 1950's society against her.
Dramatised in 10 episodes by Juliet Ace. Woman's Hour serial.
SKIN....2004
8 Mar 04. A monologue for Patricia Hodge, who plays Mattie, whose road to liberation and success sees her shedding her clothes on a naturist beach only to be asked for her autograph.
The Backward Shadow....2005
16 May 05. R4, Woman's Hour serial (10 episodes); sequel to ' The L-shaped Room'. Single mum Jane living with her baby in an inherited property. By Lynne Reid Banks. Dramatised by Juliet Ace.
CHOCOLATE FRIGATES*....2008
Jack prepares a leaving dinner for his captain whilst his own son is in action in Iraq. He thinks 'stiff upper lip', but his family
don't see how things can be normal. With Todd Carty, Lindsey Coulson, Jamie Kenna, Nick Sayce. Produced by Tracey Neale.
SHREDDER*....2008
2 Jun 08. Bella wants to go to her grave confident that her children will never know what a wicked woman she once was. But not even a shredder can wholly destroy the past. Bella ...... Gwen Taylor ,Edward ...... Stephen Thorne, Iris ...... Avril Elgar, Cybelle ...... Helen Longworth, Adam ...... Nyasha Hatendi, Simon ...... Steve Hodson, Raymond/Jimmy/Roger ...... Stephen Critchlow. Directed by Jane Morgan.
Asterisked plays known to exist in VRPCC collections.
Nigel Deacon, Diversity website.
