Troy (BBC radio drama)
Encyclopedia
Troy is a trilogy of radio plays, first broadcast in 1998 on BBC Radio 3
. The cast is led by Paul Scofield
, who came out of retirement to take part. Troy was written by Andrew Rissik and produced by Jeremy Mortimer
. The trilogy is a companion piece to King Priam, Rissik's earlier more optimistic take on the story in which Scofield took the title role.
The three parts of Troy are
Troy was repeated the year following its first transmission and has been broadcast on BBC Radio 7 every year from 2004 to 2009. It has also been broadcast in other countries, for example by ABC Classic FM
in 1999 and 2000.
s critic Robert Hanks summed up its approach to its subject as follows: "If Troy has a theme, it is accepting what life throws at you, the grace that is left when ambition and possessions and everything else you thought made life enjoyable have been stripped away". He praised the play's "boldly conceived, always searching approach to the story and its infinite meanings" and the strength of the casting, though he had qualms about the score and how the language shifted between the archaic and the modern. Colleague Sue Gaisford had no such reservations stating "Jeremy Mortimer's production of Andrew Rissik's trilogy is probably the greatest radio drama [anyone] could ever hear". She praises the language as "spare, poetic, beautiful", noting the use sometimes of iambic pentameter
and extended imagery. Ken Garner of The Express on Sunday
noted that "most of the acting was intimate, understated, with long monologues. Only in the conflict between Achilles (Toby Stephens) and Hektor (Michael Maloney) did language and delivery match the violent action." In contrast to Hanks, he saw the score as a positive element "It still made sense stripped of verbal passion. Nick Russell-Pavier and David Chilton's martial music supplied the tension bled out of the script." In summation, "This was a Trojan War for our time, a tale of intimate, everyday human weakness; they sought 'the life of quietness', while knowing their desire was destroying it."
The cast also includes James Hayes, James Laurenson
, Eleanor Bron
, Ian Hogg
, Deborah Findlay
, David Harewood
, Oliver Cotton
, Lindsay Duncan
and Saeed Jaffrey
.
BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music and opera, but jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation...
. The cast is led by Paul Scofield
Paul Scofield
David Paul Scofield, CH, CBE , better known as Paul Scofield, was an English actor of stage and screen...
, who came out of retirement to take part. Troy was written by Andrew Rissik and produced by Jeremy Mortimer
Jeremy Mortimer
Jeremy Mortimer is a British director and producer of radio dramas for BBC Radio. He is the son of John and Penelope Mortimer. His credits include The Pattern of Painful Adventures and radio adaptations of Daphnis and Chloe , Philomel Cottage and The Time Machine...
. The trilogy is a companion piece to King Priam, Rissik's earlier more optimistic take on the story in which Scofield took the title role.
The three parts of Troy are
- King Priam and His Sons
- The Death of Achilles
- Helen at Ephesus
Troy was repeated the year following its first transmission and has been broadcast on BBC Radio 7 every year from 2004 to 2009. It has also been broadcast in other countries, for example by ABC Classic FM
ABC Classic FM
ABC Classic FM is a classical music radio station available in Australia, and internationally online. It is operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation . It was established in 1976 as "ABC-FM", and later for a short time was known as "ABC Fine Music" , before adopting its current name...
in 1999 and 2000.
Critical reception
When Troy was first transmitted it received much praise. The IndependentThe Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
s critic Robert Hanks summed up its approach to its subject as follows: "If Troy has a theme, it is accepting what life throws at you, the grace that is left when ambition and possessions and everything else you thought made life enjoyable have been stripped away". He praised the play's "boldly conceived, always searching approach to the story and its infinite meanings" and the strength of the casting, though he had qualms about the score and how the language shifted between the archaic and the modern. Colleague Sue Gaisford had no such reservations stating "Jeremy Mortimer's production of Andrew Rissik's trilogy is probably the greatest radio drama [anyone] could ever hear". She praises the language as "spare, poetic, beautiful", noting the use sometimes of iambic pentameter
Iambic pentameter
Iambic pentameter is a commonly used metrical line in traditional verse and verse drama. The term describes the particular rhythm that the words establish in that line. That rhythm is measured in small groups of syllables; these small groups of syllables are called "feet"...
and extended imagery. Ken Garner of The Express on Sunday
Daily Express
The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...
noted that "most of the acting was intimate, understated, with long monologues. Only in the conflict between Achilles (Toby Stephens) and Hektor (Michael Maloney) did language and delivery match the violent action." In contrast to Hanks, he saw the score as a positive element "It still made sense stripped of verbal passion. Nick Russell-Pavier and David Chilton's martial music supplied the tension bled out of the script." In summation, "This was a Trojan War for our time, a tale of intimate, everyday human weakness; they sought 'the life of quietness', while knowing their desire was destroying it."
Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Paul Scofield | Hermes Hermes Hermes is the great messenger of the gods in Greek mythology and a guide to the Underworld. Hermes was born on Mount Kyllini in Arcadia. An Olympian god, he is also the patron of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of the cunning of thieves, of orators and... |
| Julian Glover Julian Glover Julian Wyatt Glover is a British actor best known for such roles as General Maximilian Veers in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, the Bond villain Aristotle Kristatos in For Your Eyes Only, and Walter Donovan in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.-Personal life:Glover was born in... |
Priam Priam Priam was the king of Troy during the Trojan War and youngest son of Laomedon. Modern scholars derive his name from the Luwian compound Priimuua, which means "exceptionally courageous".- Marriage and issue :... |
| Michael Sheen Michael Sheen Michael Christopher Sheen, OBE , is a Welsh stage and screen actor. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, England and made his professional debut opposite Vanessa Redgrave in When She Danced at the Globe Theatre in 1991... |
Paris Paris (mythology) Paris , the son of Priam, king of Troy, appears in a number of Greek legends. Probably the best-known was his elopement with Helen, queen of Sparta, this being one of the immediate causes of the Trojan War... |
| Michael Maloney Michael Maloney Michael Maloney is an English actor.Born in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, Maloney's first television appearance was as Peter Barkworth's teenage son in the 1979 drama series, Telford's Change.... |
Hector Hector In Greek mythology, Hectōr , or Hektōr, is a Trojan prince and the greatest fighter for Troy in the Trojan War. As the first-born son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba, a descendant of Dardanus, who lived under Mount Ida, and of Tros, the founder of Troy, he was a prince of the royal house and the... |
| Geraldine Somerville Geraldine Somerville Geraldine Margaret Agnew-Somerville is a British actress best known for her roles as Detective Sergeant Jane "Panhandle" Penhaligon in Cracker, and Lily Potter in the Harry Potter film series.-Early life:... |
Helen |
| Toby Stephens Toby Stephens Toby Stephens is an English stage, television and film actor who has appeared in films in both Hollywood and Bollywood. He is best known for playing megavillain Gustav Graves in the James Bond film Die Another Day , Edward Fairfax Rochester in the BBC television adaptation of Jane Eyre and Philip... |
Achilles Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles was a Greek hero of the Trojan War, the central character and the greatest warrior of Homer's Iliad.Plato named Achilles the handsomest of the heroes assembled against Troy.... |
| Emma Fielding Emma Fielding Emma Georgina Annalies Fielding is an English actress.-Biography:The lapsed Roman Catholic daughter of a British Army soldier, Fielding spent much of her childhood in Malaysia and Nigeria, and a period in Malvern above her grandparents' betting shop... |
Andromache Andromache In Greek mythology, Andromache was the wife of Hector and daughter of Eetion, and sister to Podes. She was born and raised in the city of Cilician Thebe, over which her father ruled... |
| Geoffrey Whitehead Geoffrey Whitehead Geoffrey Whitehead is an English actor. He has appeared in a huge range of television, film and radio roles. In the theatre, he has played at the Shakespeare Globe, St... |
Nikanor |
The cast also includes James Hayes, James Laurenson
James Laurenson
James Laurenson is a New Zealand actor, who has performed many classical roles on stage and television.Laurenson was born in Marton, New Zealand...
, Eleanor Bron
Eleanor Bron
Eleanor Bron is an English stage, film and television actress and author.-Early life and family:Bron was born in 1938 in Stanmore, Middlesex, to a Jewish family of Eastern European origin...
, Ian Hogg
Ian Hogg (actor)
Ian Hogg is a British actor.- Early life :He is the son of a doctor and was educated at Durham School, Durham University and the Central School of Speech and Drama...
, Deborah Findlay
Deborah Findlay
Deborah Findlay is an English actress.Her TV credits include Gillian in the ITV drama The Last Train , the recurring character Greer Thornton in 4 of the 6 episodes of State of Play, and in the episode The French Drop in Foyle's War. She also appeared in 4 episodes of the 2001 series of The...
, David Harewood
David Harewood
David Harewood is a British actor.-Biography:David Harewood was born and grew up in the Small Heath area of Birmingham, England, where he attended St. Benedict's Junior School and Washwood Heath Comprehensive School. As a schoolboy, he excelled at all sports—from sprinting to basketball to rugby...
, Oliver Cotton
Oliver Cotton
Oliver Cotton is an English actor, known for his work on stage, TV and film.After training at the Drama Centre London, he has worked extensively at the Royal National Theatre playing in many productions including The Royal Hunt of the Sun, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Much Ado About...
, Lindsay Duncan
Lindsay Duncan
Lindsay Vere Duncan, CBE is a Scottish stage, television and film actress. On stage she won two Olivier Awards and a Tony Award for her performance in Les Liaisons dangereuses and Private Lives , and she starred in several plays by Harold Pinter. Her most famous roles on television include:...
and Saeed Jaffrey
Saeed Jaffrey
Saeed Jaffrey OBE is an Indian-born British actor, who has done numerous British movies. He was born in Malerkotla, Punjab...
.