27 - Nigel Kneale Double Bill - The Road & Beasts: BABY

Thomas Nigel Kneale was a British screenwriter who wrote professionally for more than 50 years, was a winner of the Somerset Maugham Award, and was twice nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best British Screenplay. This year is the 100 anniversary of his birth.

Predominantly a writer of thrillers that used science-fiction and horror elements, he was best known for the creation of the character Professor Bernard Quatermass.. Kneale wrote well-received television dramas such as The Year of the Sex Olympics and, the 3rd highest scoring General Witchfinders classic, The Stone Tape in addition to the Quatermass serials. He has been described as "one of the most influential writers of the 20th century", and as "having invented popular TV".

Part One: The Road

The Road is a 1963 British television play by Kneale. It was broadcast as part of the BBC Television anthology drama series First Night. An Australian remake was aired the following year. However, no recordings of the play, renowned as "one of the great missing masterpieces of British television." are known to exist having been tragically wiped by the BBC.

So… we listened to the  BBC Radio 4 audio adaptation, written by Toby Hadoke and directed by Charlotte Riches, aired on 27 October 2018. The production starred Mark Gatiss as Gideon Cobb, Adrian Scarborough as Sir Timothy Hassall and Hattie Morahan as Lady Lavinia Hassall.

Part Two:  Beasts: Baby

Beasts is a 1976 British television series. Written by Nigel Kneale, it is an anthology of six self-contained episodes that feature the recurring theme of bestial horror. The series was made by ATV for the ITV Network.

We watch the most infamous of the series, episode 4 titled ‘Baby’ Starring Simon ‘Manimal’ MacCorkindale as a newlywed whose wife (played by Midsumer Murders Jane Wymark - Daughter of Patrick Wymark as seen in The Witchfinder General)  sees her pregnancy falls foul of ancient witchcraft.

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