Radio Waves - The Slide
 
 


Looking back at the world of radio
This issue we look at a radio drama which went on
to appear on tv in a different form - for part of a different series
 

I think it would be fair and accurate to say that, of the PPS members who are interested in and collect radio shows their main interests lie in classic comedy, more recent sci-fi dramas or the older classics such as The Archers. Of course this is and is meant to be a generalisation, but I suspect most dramas of the last fifty years are, and will remain, forgotten. So why is it that an obscure horror serial from 1966, sandwiched between the 'Jet Morgan' and 'Arthur Dent' eras, has enjoyed such a renaissance over the last few years? I refer of course to The Slide.

New town, new terror

For the uninitiated, The Slide was a seven part serial written by Victor Pemberton and produced by John Tydeman ( immortalised in Sue Townsend's Adrian Mole books ). Broadcast on the BBC Light Programme between February and March 1966 the serial involves the appearance of a large fissure in the new town of Redlow in Kent. Redlow is the dream of MP Hugh Deverill, but when torrents of seething mud start emerging from the fissure scientist Joseph Gomez is brought in to study it against Deverill's wishes . It eventually appears that contained within the mud is a reproducing organism with the power of mind control over people. As the sea of mud expands and becomes a living killer, Redlow is declared a disaster area, and the country is put on a state of emergency as other fissures start appearing. Deverill goes mad and tries to sabotage Gomez' attempts to defeat the mud. Ultimately Gomez defeats the mud with infra-red light and all the controlled victims restore their senses, although Deverill is killed in the final battle.

Background and casting

Pemberton was working as an actor when future Doctor Who producer Peter Bryant commissioned him to write this seven-part radio serial. Bryant migrated to television before the series was produced, but remembered Pemberton when he became script editor and subsequent producer on Doctor Who.

Most of the cast were staple radio actors, and although Pemberton's great friend David Spenser was given the plum role of the young hero Dr. Ken Richards, the main roles of Gomez and Deverill were given to well-known radio actors Roger Delgado and Maurice Denham. Denham in particular had a long history of radio, particularly comedy with his regular appearances in such classics as Much Binding In The Marsh, and by the early sixties was gaining a reputation as an great dramatic actor.

The serial was received very well with both the public and the BBC with fans including film producer Milton Subotsky, who went as far as to contacted Pemberton and the BBC with a view to turn the serial into a film. Pemberton went on to greater success as a script editor and writer for television, and The Slide disappeared into memory. The ending had been left open for a sequel and, indeed one was planned but never written. So why has it come back after all these years? Simple - its influence on the classic Doctor Who, Fury From The Deep.

Adapted for television? How so?

Fury... and The Slide are, in many ways, the same story adapted in two forms. For mutated parasitic mud read mutated parasitic seaweed. Even the characters are in effect the same; Deverill is Robson, Ken Richards and fiancee Janet become Harris and his wife Maggie and Home Office official Margaret Davies is basically Megan Jones. Even Joseph Gomez is absorbed into the character of the Doctor in the teleplay. None of this is to say that the story of Fury... is unoriginal; those fans who saw it still rave about it, and those of us who never did consider the soundtrack one of the best. The basic idea of The Slide itself, with its fissures and aggressive mud had been done before in the 1956 Hammer film X The Unknown. However, The Slide has the depth and characters missing from both that film and, arguably, Fury From The Deep. The Slide is in many ways more interesting, as it does not depend on prior knowledge of the characters or premise as Fury... does. The sound effects evoke the menace of the mud in a way unachievable on television or film, and Pemberton weaves in a number of sub-plots which only add to the depth.

A treasured collectable

With the discovery of Tomb Of The Cybermen in the early Nineties, Fury... inherited the crown of "most-missed Doctor Who story". As always happens when fan interest takes control, every conceivable aspect of the production is scrutinised so, as its true precursor , it was only a matter of time before The Slide resurfaced. As well as being an excellent and involving radio drama, it is of great interest as the opposite side of the Fury... coin. It is debatable how much interest it would have today should it not have been reworked for television, but is nevertheless one of the very few radio productions of the time to have achieved "collectable" status. All seven episodes exist in excellent quality and are available in many PPS collectors' collections.

The Slide

Episode 1 - Moment Of Silence 13.2.66
Episode 2 - Down Came A Blackbird 20.2.66
Episode 3 - Analysis 27.2.66
Episode 4 - Heartbeat 6.3.66
Episode 5 - Danger Point 13.3.66
Episode 6 - Time Limit 20.3.66

article copyright PPS / R.Berry 2000