Author:Dan Allum,Maryanne Loveridge,Sharon Loveridge,Dean Loveridge
A BBC Radio 4 drama by Dan Allum, ‘Atching Tan’ was recorded on location on a Traveller site, with all Traveller parts cast from the Traveller community. Originally broadcast as the ‘Afternoon Play’ on 23 November 2010. Lovvie Arkley is torn. Does she marry childhood sweetheart Nelius and live a traditional yet isolated Traveller life? Or does she renounce her culture to pursue a career in the outside ‘Gorgia’ world? Drama teacher John threatens to tip the balance. ‘Atching Tan’ first started life as a 15 minute radio drama pilot on BBC Three Counties, then went on to run over three years across eight counties in Eastern England on six BBC local radio stations. The successful series helped develop Traveller writers and actors, many of whom had never written or acted before and indeed come from a culture that views drama as an alien world. Several of the Travellers developed through the local radio series were cast in this play, and a number of the writers and performers have since gone on to work at the Bristol Old Vic, Channel 4, Soho Theatre and The Royal Court. With Candis Nergaard as Lovvie, Damian Le Bas as Nelius and Brodie Ross as John. Also starring Maryanne Loveridge, Sharon Loveridge and Dean Loveridge. With music by Howard Jacques, ‘Atching Tan’ was produced by Charlotte Riches and directed by Fiona Kelcher.
Smith’s performance is exactly as I’ve come to expect from him – flawless and exuberant when playing the Doctor, and inventive when it comes to breathing life into new characters
—— http://www.doctorwhoreviews.co.ukSmith and Corbett prove an excellent match when it comes to reading the narrative and portraying the various protagonists... writer James Goss has succeeded in creating... one of the strongest audio stories in the range
—— http://www.huntspost.co.ukStephen Fry is one of the great originals ... This autobiography of his first twenty years is a pleasure to read, mixing outrageous acts with sensible opinions in bewildering confusion ... That so much outward charm, self-awareness and intellect should exist alongside behaviour that threatened to ruin the lives of innocent victims, noble parents and Fry himself, gives the book a tragic grandeur and lifts it to classic status
—— Financial TimesHe writes superbly about his family, about his homosexuality, about the agonies of childhood ... some of his bursts of simile take the breath away ... his most satisfying and appealing book so far
—— ObserverThis is one of the most extraordinary and affecting biographies I have read . . . Stephen is . . . painfully honest when trying to grapple with his ever-present demons, and often, as you might expect, very funny
—— Daily MailThe writing is rhapsodic, intoxicated and very touching
—— Mail on Sunday[A] wonderful, self-lacerating autobiography
—— Humphrey Carpenter, Sunday TimesHe has produced a remarkable autobiography . . . It makes gripping, sometimes unbearably sad, sometimes confusing reading . . . exhilarating, humane, zany, literary
—— SpectatorNo one can make you feel quite like Stephen Fry can . . . Funny and tormentedly frank
—— Time OutHugely enjoyable . . . compulsively readable . . . Fry is excellent on the details of memory, too, and always able to embellish them with effortless erudition . . . this engaging, engrossing read is as honest a portrait of a young liar as one could hope to read
—— ScotsmanHe is bubbly, funny and charming, and he gives his fans plenty of material if they want to speculate on why he is both so gifted and so wayward
—— The TimesThe jokes . . . transcend the complexes of the joker, turning the Stephenesque into a national as well as a family treasure
—— GuardianNot so much an autobiography, more a way of life; discursive, funny, sometimes almost unbelievably sad, opinionated, nostalgic and very infectious
—— Claire Rayner, New StatesmanFry can be funny about anything
—— Good Book GuideSo charming and so acute that one cannot help forgiving him
—— Daily ExpressYou need to read this - period
—— Fact