Author:Colin Swash,Tony Robinson,David Haig,Peter Serafinowicz,Ronni Ancona,Carla Mendonca,Alistair McGowan,Full Cast
Tony Robinson and David Haig star in this black-hole comedy about two space-age humans stranded on a friendly alien planet
Norman is an idealistic, Beethoven-loving revolutionary. Max is a boring but cheerful timeshare salesman who won't stop talking. Fellow passengers on a flight to the Moon, they're thrown together to become reluctant companions after the lunar shuttle's toilet cubicle explodes, crash-landing them both on the desert sands of a distant alien planet.
They are rescued by the friendly Oblivions, who could not be more delighted to see them. Having spent six years learning English from a discarded volume of Noël Coward plays, they're keen to practise the lingo - and learn more about the many mysteries that have baffled them. How do you mix a Martini? How does one play tennis? And what on Earth is misery?
Norman and Max are about to answer all their questions - as well as introducing them to fire, contemplation and baked potatoes. But their well-intentioned attempts to share the secrets of racquet-based games and sophisticated cocktails soon backfire. Perhaps providing the Oblivions with the priceless gifts of human civilization wasn't such a good idea after all...
Written by Colin Swash, whose numerous TV credits include Have I Got News For You and Mock the Week, this sci-fi sitcom stars Tony Robinson as Max and David Haig as Norman. Among the co-stars are Geoffrey McGivern and Lorelei King (The Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy), and guest stars include Alistair McGowan, Peter Serafinowicz and Ronni Ancona.
Production credits
Written by Colin Swash
Produced by Richard Wilson
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 9 March-13 April 1995
Cast
Norman - Tony Robinson
Max - David Haig
Stella - Louise Lombard
Macari - Michael Troughton
Captain Rossiter - Dan Strauss
Jane/Terayz/Suzy - Carla Mendonça
Tony - Geoffrey McGivern
Ken - Tom Hollander
Inspector Albermarle - Andy Rashleigh
Clive - Guy Witcher
Jonathan Ross - Alistair McGowan
Buzz - Peter Serafinowicz
Louise - Ronni Ancona
Voice of Ume - Lorelei King
Vince - Daniel Main
Sylvia Townsend Warner has to be one of the great under-read British novelists of the twentieth century. This, my favourite of her novels, has a disaffected Victorian wife falling for her husband's charismatic mistress, and discovering revolutionary politics along the way
—— Sarah WatersIt's a wildly leftist novel of love, war and death; Townsend Warner chucks the lot into her simmering story, but it remains skilfully crafted. Brilliantly entertaining and far ahead of its time
—— GuardianWith insight, malice, exquisiteness; in its wit, its instinct for style, its drawing-room urbanities, it will suggest at one time or another the work of a Rebecca West, a Virginia Woolf, an Elinor Wylie
—— The New York TimesBruce's spooky novel is lascivious and bloody, a tale of sexual awakening and dark desires that wreathes its leafy tendrils seductively around you, then tightens them until they start to strangle.
—— James Lovegrove , FINANCIAL TIMESDark and immersive; a feast of storytelling that lingers long after the last morsel's been consumed.
—— SAM LLOYD, author of The Memory WoodThis beguiling and unsettling debut had me hooked from the first page . . . a unique, strange and defiant folk horror story which lingers long in the memory.
—— DAILY EXPRESSA bewitching, beguiling, and deeply unsettling tale of one woman's strange life. It will ensnare you from page one and keep you riveted until the end.
—— CAITLIN STARLING, author of The Luminous DeadIn this storytelling masterclass, everything is inverted.
—— DAILY MAILA glorious, pitch-black fairytale of a book. Lush, strange and defiant. As soon as I finished it, I went straight back to the start and read it again.
—— KIRSTY LOGAN, author of Things We Say in the DarkOdd and unsettling, this might not be for everyone, but we thought it was magic.
—— HEAT magazineDark and magical, one of the best books I've read this year.
—— Books, Bones & BuffyA fairytale, a psychological portrait and a bleak drama.
—— New Books MagazineA brilliant and sinister debut.
—— Ginger Nuts of HorrorBeautiful, strange . . . hideously dark, delights in unsettling.
—— The BookbagCreepy and disturbing right from the start.
—— Spooky Mrs GreenA disturbing but brilliant narrative . . . a rare treat.
—— WOMAN'S WEEKLYA great tapestry of busy-ness . . . Walter's descriptive passage are marvellous
—— Francesca Carington , Sunday Telegraph
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