The State of the Art
by Iain M Banks
BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play
5th March 2009
128K
Paul Cornell's dramatisation of the science-fiction novel by Iain M Banks. A spaceship from The Culture arrives on Earth in 1977 and finds a planet obsessed with alien concepts like 'property' and 'money' and on the edge of self destruction. When Agent Dervley Linter decides to go native can Diziet Sma change his mind?
The Ship ...... Sir Antony Sher
Diziet Sma ...... Nina Sosanya
Dervley Linter ...... Paterson Joseph
Li ...... Graeme Hawley
Tel ...... Brigit Forsyth
Sodel ...... Conrad Nelson
Directed by Nadia Molinari
Part of BBC Radio 4's Science Fiction Season.
Replies
David Crawford, Radio Times reviewer:
Antony Sher stars in this dramatisation of Iain M Banks's "Culture" novella as the voice of The Ship, a super-intelligent, highly evolved entity - with a passion for collecting snowflakes. Sher may take top billing, but Paterson Joseph and Nina Sosanya also shine as members of The Culture General Contact Unit, Arbitrary, who arrive on Earth in 1977 to make a reconnaissance of the world, to see if it is ready to be brought into the fold of The Culture's intergalactic, utopian society. Joseph's character, Linter, decides to go native and Sma, played by Sosanya, is desperate to bring him back to The Culture. The passionate discussions between the two throw up a wide range of philosophical arguments, from humankind's inability to learn from the past, to whether or not there needs to be the possibility of evil for a true appreciation of good.
Thanks Bob! ------------------- R