By Ben Travers, adapted by Peter King
A Farce.
If only Stella and Henry had realised that they were both going to be in Coombe Puddy.
If only Henry hadn't missed his train home.
If only he hadn't agreed to impersonate a 'professional' dancer.
If only the dancer's wife hadn't been quite so lovely and if only Stella hadn't caught him in the bedroom of this creature....
Cast:
Henry.........Michael Williams
Stella.........Judy Dench
Wattle.........Trevor Nicholls
Minnie.........Polly James
Hank Dipper.........Colin Stinton
Pauline Dipper.........Belinda Walker
Lord Mellingham.........Freddie Jones
Helen Monk.........Dorcas Morgan
Peter......... Stephen Lashbrook
The Agent.........Norman Bird
Band Leader.........John Sampson
The Cowman.........William Simons
Party Guests.........Diana Olson & Eva Stuart
Music composed and played by David Chilton & Nick Russell Pavier
Directed by Peter King
The Dippers was written in 1921 and adapted as a play in 1922.
First broadcast on Boxing Day 1988.
Size 78MB. Length 86 minutes. Bitrate 128kbps.
Replies
Dear William,
Thanks for a great offering. I have always enjoyed Dame Judi Dench and her late husband, Michael Williams, and to have them together in this radio play is a really terrific treat.
Bob
A bit more about the playwright:
Ben Travers was born in Hendon in 1886 and was sent to Charterhouse in the reign of Queen Victoria. His school career was a complete failure and was terminated, as he himself asserted, by mutual consent. He then spent several years in commerce for which he displayed very little interest or aptitude, but in 1911 he found more congenial employment in the firm of John Lane, the publisher and founder of the Bodley Head.
His first play, THE DIPPERS, was produced by Charles Hawtrey in 1922. Then followed the celebrated Aldwych farces, A CUCKOO IN THE NEST (1925), ROOKERY NOOK (1926), THARK (1927), PLUNDER (1928), A CUP OF KINDNESS (1929), A NIGHT LIKE THIS (1930), TURKEY TIME (1931), DIRTY WORK (1932), A BIT OF A TEST (1933), and subsequent plays included THEKLA (1935), BANANA RIDGE (1938), SPOTTED DICK (1939), SHE FOLLOWS ME ABOUT (1943), OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE (1947), WILD HORSES (1952), NUN'S VEILING (1956), CORKER'S END (1968), THE BED BEFORE YESTERDAY (1975), and AFTER YOU WITH THE MILK (1980). He also wrote the English libretto for Lehar's THE THREE GRACES (1923).
Virtually all his farces of the twenties and thirties were filmed and other screenplays included POT LUCK, FOREIGN AFFAIRS, LADY IN DANGER and UNCLE SILAS.
He wrote five novels, two volumes of autobiography and a book on cricket.
During the 1914-18 war he was a Squadron Commander in the RNAS and RAF, and received the Air Force Cross, and in 1939 he rejoined the RAF as Squadron Leader. He was also the Prime Warden of the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers, Vice President of Somerset County Cricket Club, and President of the Dramatist's Club. In 1976 he was presented with a Special Standard Drama Award for his services to the Theatre, and he received the C.B.E. in the Queen's Birthday Honours.
When Ben Travers died in 1980, at the age of 94, the title of his book of cricket reminiscences was changed in characteristic Traver's form, from 94 NOT OUT to 94 DECLARED.
Oh, my ... caught in flagrante delicto by Dame Judi Dench! Not good. :>)
Thanks, William!