Kiss Kiss
Five tales from Roald Dahl
Dramatised by Stephen Sheridan.
Produced by David Blount for Pier Productions Limited
Broadcast Monday 11 to Friday 15 April 2011, Woman's Hour Drama
160/44; about 80 MB total; sound quality excellent
Charles Dance leads the cast as the urbane Storyteller in dramatisations of five classic tales by Roald Dahl, taken from the anthology, Kiss, Kiss. Bizarre and amusing by turns, these black comedies are justly famous for their surprise endings.
The stories show Dahl at the height of his powers as a writer of adult fiction, and are characterized by their deliciously cynical view of human nature and the relish with which they punish the charlatans, bullies and schemers who inhabit their world.
1 - William and Mary
Mary Pearl only thinks she's finally free of William, the tyrannical husband who forbade her all life's pleasures, when he dies after a short illness.
Mary.......Celia Imrie
William......John Rowe
Landy......Nigel Anthony
2 - Parson's Pleasure
Cyril Boggis, an unscrupulous antiques dealer, charms his way into people's homes disguised as a parson, all in a ruse to pick up neglected treasures for a song.
Cyril Boggis....Ronald Pickup
Rummins...David Ryall
Claud......John Baddeley
Lady Harcourt..Lucie Fitchett
3 - Royal Jelly - Beekeeper Albert Taylor and his wife Mabel, worry that their newborn daughter isn't eating properly. Albert gets an inspiration from his beloved bees.
Albert.....Chris Emmett
Mabel.....Rachel Atkins
Replies
Mrs Bixby - wife of a dull, New York dentist - is having an affair with a wealthy playboy known as the Colonel. When he decides to end their relationship, the Colonel gives her a mink coat as a keepsake, but she needs a plan to keep her husband from wondering where she acquired such an expensive gift.
Mrs Bixby / Miss Pulteney........Lorelei King
Bixby / Colonel /
Wilkins / Pawnbroker......Kerry Shale
5 - The Landlady
Billy Weaver has just arrived in Bath to take up a new job and books into a curiously deserted B & B. The landlady, who inhabits a sitting room filled with stuffed animals, is welcoming but odd.
Landlady.........Doreen Mantle
Billy Weaver.....James Joyce
Mr Greenslade...John Rowe
DAHL - KISS KISS 110414 MRS BIXBY AND THE COLONEL'S COAT.MP3
DAHL - KISS KISS 110415 THE LANDLADY.MP3