Nigel Kneale's 'The Road' - Resurfaced

Over here you can read an interview with the writer/actor/presenter Toby Hadoke about 'The Road'. This is widely considered to be a lost TV masterpiece by the legendary Nigel Kneale. A script still exists, but sometime after the show was broadcast in 1963 the BBC wiped the videotape.

Now a radio adaptation of this unusual ghost story will be broadcast this coming Saturday on Radio 4. It will of course be available on the BBC iPlayer shortly after premiering at 2.30 pm. And here are the cast, including (third from right) Hattie Moraghan, whose father directed the original TV version. And apparently an archivist found some of the original Radiophonic Workshop effects, which have been re-used in the radio play. Spiffing!



I have decided not to include spoilers in this little item, as 'The Road' is one of those 'ah, now I get it' twist ending stories. Set in the 18th century (aka the Age of Reason) it concerns a haunting in a forest that is believed to be related to an old Roman road. A country squire and an 'modern' intellectual gentlemen investigate, and argue over what the true nature of the mystery might be. Local rustic characters give their accounts. The audience, however, discovers an all-too-horrifying significance to the strange sights and sounds on The Road. I was particularly pleased to read that very little has been altered in the script, only as much as needed to make it work in audio alone.

Sometimes there’s a risk that Kneale’s reputation as a great ideas writer can obscure the fact that he knew exactly what he was doing with characters and dialogue too. “He was very good at character and this is a character piece,” Hadoke says. “It’s an argument between two men who have very different ideas and whose input into the plot is one of the most surprising elements. The ostensible goodie and the ostensible baddie are actually both responsible in their different ways for the terror that is unleashed, which is very clever.” You’ll need to listen in to discover which is which, but the two lead characters are local squire Sir Timothy Hassall (Adrian Scarborough) and visiting London intellectual Gideon Cobb (Mark Gatiss). Hadoke says, “The Road is a piece that’s known because of this brilliant genre concept, but actually what most of the play is about is two very well-drawn characters sparring with each other against the backdrop of a haunting. Kneale does that so well and you don’t need Hadoke to mess with it.”

I'm really looking forward to this. It is clearly a labour of love. I doubt it will herald a slew of Kneale remakes for radio, or indeed TV, but we can hope.