Christopher Hodder-williams

Dechenradio · Joined: 05 Feb 2010 Posts: 5 Location: Leeds

Hi again, does anyone remember that brilliant play, "the higher they fly?
It was by Christopher Hodder-williams.
Stared Betty Huntley Right, Brian Hulette to name but a few.
Does it still exist?
Oh, how I'd love to hear it again.
Plot concerned an airliner, Captained by a Captaincrook.
As the plain leaves the ground, a part of the under carrage falls off.
A complex plot insues, involving a Captain disgraced because he was supposed to have fainted at the controols, a Blagard good looking, butwith more than a touch of madniss about him, An inocent American Passinger, "mr Hub" who is dragooned in to repairing the undercarrage. Wonderful play.
He wrote another one later, but I don't see it on this list of broadcasts? Maybe it was on the "afternoon plays"
Michael Gerwat.

Director_General · Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 2:07 pm Post subject:

The Higher They Fly was an excellent broadcast and I know copies of it still exist.

You have an excellent memory as I must admit I have forgoted many plays until somebody has reminded me of them.

DG

Dechenradio · Joined: 05 Feb 2010 Posts: 5 Location: Leeds

Hi again, First, thanks so much for replying to my topic. What a wonderful play that was, If copies do exist, couldn't this be a way, with the Beeb taking a cut of course, for folks who love these old plays so much, to be able to get them?
There could be a "bbc" archive store, specially dedicated to these older recordings. I'd be willing to pay anything to get hold of some of these older recordings. Betty Huntly Right gave such a wonderful performance in that play, along with everyone else. The tention, right till the end when.. Well, won't give the plot away, but there was also the love interest as well.
I put a message on BBC 7 message board about the fact that.. They keep repeating the same old dramas time after time. Can't they have an "archive" hour or something? If these wonderful plays do still exist, then lets have and share them with the modern generation.
Oh, how I wish they would put out an appeal for these recordings, if they don't have them in the archive.
I would give my eye tooth to hear them again. The Drama Rep spoke so wonderfully clearly, for someone with Cochlear implants, it's a god send, when you can understand every word, as I did yesterday, when I got "the war of the worlds 1967" I've just had "the slide" delivered, so they are out there!!
Michael Gerwat. Think I'll put up another message on the BBC 7 message board.

Director_General · Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 4:54 pm Post subject:

Michael

Apparently there is a load of unbroadcast material in the BBC archives, however they never get played because of "rights issues" or in other words money !!!

This was ont of the great dissapointments of the "Treasure Hunt" exercise. Many collectors, including myself returned lots of material to the BBC, some of it like mine did get re-broadcast but an awful lot just went into the archive and has never see the light of day again.