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BBC Radio 4, 9 July 2010
A tale of overweening ambition sardonically read by Martin Jarvis, "The
Taipan" tells of an eponymous central character living in Shanghai during colonial times who is extremely satisfied with life.
He has plenty of money, a taste for liquor and good food, a successful business, an overweening sense of superiority (he has
lasted longer than most expatriates in China, despite his gargantuan appetite), and an unshakeable conviction that he had
at last "beaten them all" - in other words, his rivals.
However the calm of his world is abruptly shattered when he passes the local cemetery
to find two coolies digging a new grave. Unable to communicate with them in Chinese, he cannot discover who it is intended
for. Despite numerous enquiries amongst the expat community as well as the locals, no one can help him, and he becomes haunted
by the belief that it is actually his own grave. He makes every effort to return to Britain, but dies of a heart attack before
he can do so.
A tale with a clear moral - pride comes before a fall - "The Taipan" captured
the arrogance of many Britons who spent their lives abroad during the period of empire. It would be nice to report that attitudes
have changed, now that Britain has lost its status as a world power; but my own experience of fraternizing with Britons abroad
proves that this is seldom the case. The producer was Rosalind Ayres.
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