“Man of the Moment”: programme information

Here’s the programme information straight from the BBC press desk. The cast also includes Damian O’Hare as “Kenny Collins”.

Don’t worry if you miss it: the play will be available online after the broadcast.

Man Of The Moment
Easter Saturday 11 April
2.30-4.00pm BBC RADIO 4

As part of BBC Radio 4’s tribute to Sir Alan Ayckbourn, who turns 70 this April, the station broadcasts this dark comedy set around, and in, the swimming pool of a Mediterranean villa.

Vic Parks is, apparently, the man of the moment – a vicious criminal who, having spent nine years in jail for a botched bank robbery, has written his autobiography and is now a popular television celebrity.

Spending time in his idyllic Mediterranean villa, he has agreed to appear, poolside, on a television reality show called Their Paths Crossed.

The programme’s producer, Jill Rillington, plans to reunite Vic with the bank clerk, Douglas Beechey, whose actions unwittingly foiled Vic’s robbery and led to his time in prison.

Jill hopes to exploit the irony that, although Douglas had a brief 15 minutes of fame, the man who has found lasting celebrity is the villain. But the proposed documentary starts to free-fall and events take an extraordinary turn around the swimming pool.

The cast includes Janie Dee as Trudy Parks, Tim Piggott-Smith as Vic Parks, Lisa Dillon as Jill Rillington and Alex Jennings as Douglas Beechey.

Producer/Rosalind Ayres

( source )