Tom Thumb Redux - Review - BBC Radio 4 11 Jan 2013

An awful lot of unrest in the world.

There tends to be a lot of shouting in radio drama - most of it in cars.

To be fair, they don't always shout - quite often there's a good deal of muttering and a stately pause as the actor girds him or her self for a good old roar. And sometimes it's in a field or outside a pub.

On a good day the shouting is enough to stop a passer-by in his or her tracks as they pass my office door. I smile weakly and say, "it's just Radio 4..."

Either that or it's someone washing up and reflecting on a few lessons learned in the previous 40 minutes.

Of course - I exaggerate. But not much.

Friday's play (sorry - DRAMA. I don't know why they don't call them plays any more. I am sure the meeting will have used the word contemporary more than once) was one of those absolutely ear-catching exceptions to the rule.  I listened to it again, tonight, and I insist that you do, too.

Ron Cook - actor

Tom (played by Ron Cook, pictured) is not having a good day when the story opens. It looks likely he's going to get the sack from his job as a research scientist (the money's run out and he doesn't seem the easiest man in the world to get along with, either at home or at work) - He feels fat and unloved.

I am not going to tell you much more of the plot - I hate that in reviews - but some rash, drink fuelled, self-experimentation leads to Tom ... shrinking. How he, his wife and his colleague deal with it and the situation it leaves them in makes for a splendid 45 minutes listen.

This is a prime example of when original radio drama works - it carries the listener, at first by comedy and then by horror, into the minds of the characters. We are right there asking ourselves how on earth the character might deal with the situation - and ultimately how we might react in similar (if unlikely) circumstances.

The dialogue, expertly provided by writer Melissa Murray, is augmented superbly by the un-credited provider of the music which fitted the mood perfectly. (Maybe it was just something plucked from the depths of the library by producer / director Marc Beeby - in which case a hat-tip to his decisions). Also the way in which the central character's voice was "shrunk" worked perfectly. No helium-filled comedy-squeeking, here. This was pitch-perfect.

The overall atmosphere of the piece was unsettlingly disjointed - an effect subtly created by breaking one of the rules of drama production. Instead of scenes smoothly and almost unnoticeably eliding into one another, these abruptly cut and re-started (a technique used in TV & film, but rarely in radio) to great effect.  And make sure you listen all the way to the end...

I wanted to confidently recommend a production in my first blog, especially to reluctant "not for me" non-drama listeners. Give this a go. Tell me what you think. 

Don't make me shout about it.

Click HERE. Tom Thumb Redux, by Melissa Murray. BBC Radio 4