The Afternoon Play
BBC Radio 4
Monday 27 April 2009
Two Pipe Problems (Part 01)
Michael Chaplin's drama returns to The Old Beeches retirement home for elderly thespians and the company of William and Sandy, two actors who still nurse a certain affectionate animosity towards one another since they starred as Holmes and Watson in a 1960s TV series.
The pair become embroiled in making sure that the course of true love does run smooth. It begins with a proposal of marriage, but they are once again pressed into service to solve a mystery. Just why does the bridegroom suddenly call the wedding off?
Sandy Boyle ...... Stanley Baxter
William Parnes ...... Richard Briers
Dolores Sweet ...... Julia McKenzie
Sir Trelawney Hope ...... John Rowe
Godfrey ...... Joseph Mydell
Mary Winter ...... Jillie Meers
Isadora Klein ...... Susan Wooldridge
Hugo ...... Stephen Critchlow
Directed by Marilyn Imrie
A Catherine Bailey production for BBC Radio 4.
Sandy decides to travel to Greenock on Clydeside to collect his Freedom of the City award. As he has no living relatives or close friends, he invites William to accompany him on condition he behaves himself. Once again Stanley Baxter and Richard Briers play the two elderly detectives who solve mysteries by stealth and intuition.
When Sandy and William arrive in the old shipbuilding town, they meet the Provost's secretary Moira. It becomes clear that his hosts really know virtually nothing about Sandy - in fact Moira asks to interview him so she can write up the Provost's speech for the ceremony.
The following day, Sandy shows William around his birthplace. They visit the tenement where he was born and meet a man he was at school with. He isn't wholly friendly and, when they return to the hotel, there is a message: "Do you know how much pain you left behind. Why?". Sandy is anxious, especially when another message appears on the morning of the ceremony: "Why, oh why? Now it's your turn to feel the pain. You will suffer as others have suffered".
So the race is on to uncover who exactly is out to get Sandy and why. The solution to the riddle is finally revealed at the Freedom of Greenock ceremony, when the roots of everyone's resentment are uncovered.
Director : Marilyn Imrie A Catherine Bailey production for BBC Radio 4.
Credits
Sandy Boyle.....Stanley Baxter William Parnes.....Richard Briers Provost.....John Sessions Station Assistant.....John Sessions Moira.....Gabriel Quigley Janice.....Maureen Beattie Macca.....Gordon Kennedy Train Guard.....Gordon Kennedy
Two new Two Pipe Problems, broadcast just a few days ago on BBC Radio 4:
HERE, DOGGIE
Anne Reid and Honor Blackman join Richard Briers and Stanley Baxter in this latest Two Pipe Problem, written by Michael Chaplin.
The Old Beeches care-worker Karen has a new pet; Poppet, a rambunctiously badly behaved Scottie dog.
Manager Mary issues an ultimatum - the pet goes, or you both go, and Sandy persuades another resident ,a retired variety artiste called Norman Naylor who once had a dog-novelty act, to start training the dog on the nearby common.
His wife Nelly, who also lives in the home, sees this as yet another opportunity for her husband to return to his old philandering ways.
And one day, he doesn’t return, and neither does Poppet.
William and Sandy follow Norman’s trail to an elegant home near the Common, belonging to a retired BBC Home Service announcer called Diana, with whom Norman and Poppet have taken residence. Norman confesses he met her on the common where she was exercising her dog.
Nelly appears, and tells Diana of Norman’s skill at picking up women via ‘his bloody dogs’. Norman sadly acknowledges it’s always been the best way to go a-wooing. Meanwhile Poppet takes off through an open door and heads for a main road nearby, followed by Norman. Tune in to find out what happens next!
Cast:
Sandy Boyle ..... Stanley Baxter
William Parnes ..... Richard Briers
Karen .....Tracy Wiles
Norman/Postie/Post Office Clerk ...... Sam Dale
Mary ..... Jillie Meers
Poppet the Dog/PC Marlowe/Tedious Customer ..... David Holt
Diana ..... Honor Blackman
Nellie ...... Anne Reid.
Directed by Marilyn Imrie
Produced by Catherine Bailey
A Catherine Bailey Production for BBC Radio 4.
(To hear or save the recordings, left click on the relevant title.)
Joanna David, James Fleet and Geoffrey Palmer join Richard Briers and Stanley Baxter in this new Two Pipe Problem by Michael Chaplin.
William and Sandy are to appear at a Sherlock Holmes Convention, held at a hotel just around the corner from Holmes’ mythical haunts in Baker Street. Sandy isn’t keen but succumbs to William’s desperate need to be in the spotlight once more.
Sandy finds the display of ‘fan-dom’ absurd: the packed memorabilia stalls, and one fan’s observation that he thought he’d died years before. He also finds the political infighting threatening to tear the Society apart faintly ridiculous. But William is in his bombastic element, to such an extent that he has a very public and painful row with Sandy, who quits the convention and catches the Metropolitan Line back to the Old Beeches.
William occupies centre-stage at that night’s dinner flourishing a meerschaum lent to him by a zealous member of the Baker Street Adventurers, which was used by Basil Rathbone in the first Holmes films. During the dinner the society’s internal tensions, prior to elections at the AGM next day, spill over, but after a bibulous evening, William rolls into bed, still with the precious pipe in his possession.
He wakes up the following morning and discovers that it’s gone. He travels to the Old Beeches in a panic, begging Sandy to return to the Convention to help him, and solve the mystery, which he does, using Holmesian precepts and restoring their friendship in the process.
Cast:
Sandy Boyle ..... Stanley Baxter
William Parnes ..... Richard Briers
Mortimer Tregennis ..... Geoffrey Palmer
Roger Butterworth ..... James Fleet
Beryl Butterworth ..... Joanna David
Underground Worker/Hotel Receptionist ...... Matt Simandl
You beat me to it! I just logged on with the intent to post these. I think that these are the best two episodes so far and I look forward to even more.
Lots of good fun.
Riklaa > Anson (Bob) RobertsNovember 8, 2012 at 6:11pm
Two Pipe Problems - 1 A Rose by Any Other Name
Comedy drama by Michael Chaplin, featuring mystery-solving retired thespians William and Sandy.
Episode 1. A Rose by Any Other Name 128/44
The Old Beeches, retirement home for thespians in the London suburb of Pinner, has seen a remarkable number of cases solved over the years by William Parnes (Richard Briers) and Sandy Boyle (Stanley Baxter).
For those new to the drama, Briers and Baxter play a couple of actors whose heyday was in the 1960s when they starred in a popular TV series as Holmes and Watson. In theory, they despise one another. In practice, they share more ties and bonds than they care to acknowledge. All of this gives rise to a pleasurable mix of acerbic wit, super sleuthing and a touch of pathos.
Barry Cryer, Geoffrey Palmer, Honor Blackman and the late, great Ken Campbell have all enjoyed starring roles in previous stories and this time the ageing hams-cum-detectives are working with the brilliant Anne Reid.
A baby is abandoned in the porch of the Old Beeches. Why leave it there, not at a church or a hospital, asks Sandy? The arrival has a profound effect upon William who, it turns out, was adopted. But the baby truly unsettles the usual machine-like efficiency of Mary (Jillie Meers), the kind-but-steely matron of the retirement home. While the residents enjoy a day of baby-sitting, it’s left to Sandy and William to find the girl’s mother. Hankies at the ready for the ending... About this programme
Part one of two. William and Sandy are two actors who used to star together as Holmes and Watson in a 1960s entrenched ideas TV series, and now live in a retirement home. The ageing thespians discover a baby in the doorway to the Old Beeches, and the residents are horrified by the implications of the child's abandonment. Michael Chaplin's comedy, starring Stanley Baxter and Richard Briers. Cast and crew Cast
Sandy Stanley Baxter William Richard Briers Karen Tracy Wiles Mary Jillie Meers
Replies
Two Pipe2: I Love a Lassie
128K
Sandy decides to travel to Greenock on Clydeside to collect his Freedom
of the City award. As he has no living relatives or close friends, he
invites William to accompany him on condition he behaves himself. Once
again
Stanley Baxter and Richard Briers play the two elderly detectives who
solve mysteries by stealth and intuition.
When Sandy and William arrive in the old shipbuilding town, they meet
the Provost's secretary Moira. It becomes clear that his hosts really
know virtually nothing about Sandy - in fact Moira asks to interview
him so she can write up the Provost's speech for the ceremony.
The following day, Sandy shows William around his birthplace. They
visit the tenement where he was born and meet a man he was at school
with. He isn't wholly friendly and, when they return to the hotel,
there is a message: "Do you know how much pain you left behind. Why?".
Sandy is anxious, especially when another message appears on the
morning of the ceremony: "Why, oh why? Now it's your turn to feel the
pain. You will suffer as others have suffered".
So the race is on to uncover who exactly is out to get Sandy and why.
The solution to the riddle is finally revealed at the Freedom of
Greenock ceremony, when the roots of everyone's resentment are
uncovered.
Director : Marilyn Imrie
A Catherine Bailey production for BBC Radio 4.
Credits
Sandy Boyle.....Stanley Baxter
William Parnes.....Richard Briers
Provost.....John Sessions
Station Assistant.....John Sessions
Moira.....Gabriel Quigley
Janice.....Maureen Beattie
Macca.....Gordon Kennedy
Train Guard.....Gordon Kennedy
I Love a Lassie Link
Capital! Thanks very much, Rick.
Variation on an old joke:
"Sandy's going to Greenock."
"Capital!"
"No, that's Edinburgh..."
Roger
LOL
Many thanks, Rick!
Cactus Bob
Two new Two Pipe Problems, broadcast just a few days ago on BBC Radio 4:
HERE, DOGGIE
Anne Reid and Honor Blackman join Richard Briers and Stanley Baxter in this latest Two Pipe Problem, written by Michael Chaplin.
The Old Beeches care-worker Karen has a new pet; Poppet, a rambunctiously badly behaved Scottie dog.
Manager Mary issues an ultimatum - the pet goes, or you both go, and Sandy persuades another resident ,a retired variety artiste called Norman Naylor who once had a dog-novelty act, to start training the dog on the nearby common.
His wife Nelly, who also lives in the home, sees this as yet another opportunity for her husband to return to his old philandering ways.
And one day, he doesn’t return, and neither does Poppet.
William and Sandy follow Norman’s trail to an elegant home near the Common, belonging to a retired BBC Home Service announcer called Diana, with whom Norman and Poppet have taken residence. Norman confesses he met her on the common where she was exercising her dog.
Nelly appears, and tells Diana of Norman’s skill at picking up women via ‘his bloody dogs’. Norman sadly acknowledges it’s always been the best way to go a-wooing. Meanwhile Poppet takes off through an open door and heads for a main road nearby, followed by Norman. Tune in to find out what happens next!
Cast:
Sandy Boyle ..... Stanley Baxter
William Parnes ..... Richard Briers
Karen .....Tracy Wiles
Norman/Postie/Post Office Clerk ...... Sam Dale
Mary ..... Jillie Meers
Poppet the Dog/PC Marlowe/Tedious Customer ..... David Holt
Diana ..... Honor Blackman
Nellie ...... Anne Reid.
Directed by Marilyn Imrie
Produced by Catherine Bailey
A Catherine Bailey Production for BBC Radio 4.
(To hear or save the recordings, left click on the relevant title.)
https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=90d69d7d7774e5c5#!/?cid=90d69d7d7774...
THE CASE OF THE MISSING MEERSCHAUM
Joanna David, James Fleet and Geoffrey Palmer join Richard Briers and Stanley Baxter in this new Two Pipe Problem by Michael Chaplin.
William and Sandy are to appear at a Sherlock Holmes Convention, held at a hotel just around the corner from Holmes’ mythical haunts in Baker Street. Sandy isn’t keen but succumbs to William’s desperate need to be in the spotlight once more.
Sandy finds the display of ‘fan-dom’ absurd: the packed memorabilia stalls, and one fan’s observation that he thought he’d died years before. He also finds the political infighting threatening to tear the Society apart faintly ridiculous. But William is in his bombastic element, to such an extent that he has a very public and painful row with Sandy, who quits the convention and catches the Metropolitan Line back to the Old Beeches.
William occupies centre-stage at that night’s dinner flourishing a meerschaum lent to him by a zealous member of the Baker Street Adventurers, which was used by Basil Rathbone in the first Holmes films. During the dinner the society’s internal tensions, prior to elections at the AGM next day, spill over, but after a bibulous evening, William rolls into bed, still with the precious pipe in his possession.
He wakes up the following morning and discovers that it’s gone. He travels to the Old Beeches in a panic, begging Sandy to return to the Convention to help him, and solve the mystery, which he does, using Holmesian precepts and restoring their friendship in the process.
Cast:
Sandy Boyle ..... Stanley Baxter
William Parnes ..... Richard Briers
Mortimer Tregennis ..... Geoffrey Palmer
Roger Butterworth ..... James Fleet
Beryl Butterworth ..... Joanna David
Underground Worker/Hotel Receptionist ...... Matt Simandl
Autograph hunter/Souvenir Stall holder ......James McGregor
Directed by Marilyn Imrie
Produced by Catherine Bailey
A Catherine Bailey Production for BBC Radio 4.You beat me to it! I just logged on with the intent to post these. I think that these are the best two episodes so far and I look forward to even more.
Lots of good fun.
Two Pipe Problems - 1 A Rose by Any Other Name
Comedy drama by Michael Chaplin, featuring mystery-solving retired
thespians William and Sandy.
Episode 1. A Rose by Any Other Name
128/44
The Old Beeches, retirement home for thespians in the London suburb of Pinner, has seen a remarkable number of cases solved over the years by William Parnes (Richard Briers) and Sandy Boyle (Stanley Baxter).
For those new to the drama, Briers and Baxter play a couple of actors whose heyday was in the 1960s when they starred in a popular TV series as Holmes and Watson. In theory, they despise one another. In practice, they share more ties and bonds than they care to acknowledge. All of this gives rise to a pleasurable mix of acerbic wit, super sleuthing and a touch of pathos.
Barry Cryer, Geoffrey Palmer, Honor Blackman and the late, great Ken Campbell have all enjoyed starring roles in previous stories and this time the ageing hams-cum-detectives are working with the brilliant Anne Reid.
A baby is abandoned in the porch of the Old Beeches. Why leave it there, not at a church or a hospital, asks Sandy? The arrival has a profound effect upon William who, it turns out, was adopted. But the baby truly unsettles the usual machine-like efficiency of Mary (Jillie Meers), the kind-but-steely matron of the retirement home. While the residents enjoy a day of baby-sitting, it’s left to Sandy and William to find the girl’s mother. Hankies at the ready for the ending...
About this programme
Part one of two. William and Sandy are two actors who used to star together as Holmes and Watson in a 1960s entrenched ideas TV series, and now live in a retirement home. The ageing thespians discover a baby in the doorway to the Old Beeches, and the residents are horrified by the implications of the child's abandonment. Michael Chaplin's comedy, starring Stanley Baxter and Richard Briers.
Cast and crew
Cast
Sandy
Stanley Baxter
William
Richard Briers
Karen
Tracy Wiles
Mary
Jillie Meers
Crew
Producer
Catherine Bailey
Writer
Michael Chaplin
A Rose by Any Other Name LINK
Thanks, Rick! I stupidly forgot to catch this one when it was transmitted.
Roger
-
1
-
2
-
3
of 3 Next