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Afternoon Drama on BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4, 15 May 2013 Sometimes I feel at a loss for
words, while trying to comment on a radio production. This was certainly the case with Malcolm Pryce's comedy drama.
Set in the seaside resort of Aberystwyth, this was a complicated detective story involving private dick Louie Knight (Phylip
Harries) and his sidekick Calamity Jane (Catrin Stewart) investigating a case of the murder of Mr. Big Top, which leads them
into the seedy world of the End of the Pier Show. They meet a rogues' gallery of eccentrics, including the Amazing Mr.
Marmalade (Matthew Gravelle), and games teacher-turned-lion-tamer Herod Jenkins (also played by Gravelle). The plot
goes through a series of twists and turns until the real murderer has been exposed, while Knight and Calamity forge a close
relationship with one another in the process. It Ain't Over ... adopts the kind of technique associated with comic sketch
series such as Little Britain: Pryce takes a familiar situation and exaggerates it, so that we are drawn
into a world of grotesques. By doing so he satirizes the stylistic clichés associated with the film noir
genre; the cynical private eye, the idealistic yet independent sidekick, the suspects who initially refuse to admit anything
until they are cornered. Such strategies are perfectly acceptable, but I still think that we should identify
with the central character (i.e. the detective) in order to sustain our interest. Despite Harries' vocally appealing
performance, I did not really empathize with Louie Knight's struggles; and hence felt somehow detached from the story.
Nonetheless I did appreciate the efforts of a hard-working cast, especially Gravelle who played no fewer than four different
roles.
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