Author:Deborah Wain,Full Cast
The BBC Radio 4 play, ‘Notes to Self’ by Deborah Wain is a drama about Alzheimer’s disease based on real experiences, and is interwoven with recordings of music sessions carried out in care homes and day centres in the UK.Doreen has been in a care home for two years. Her son Robert visits but finds it hard to have a meaningful relationship with his mother, unlike his partner Karen. A performance at the home, reveals music to have a powerful effect on Doreen - but can it offer an opportunity for Robert to make a new connection with her?Directed by Nadia Molinari, and last broadcast on 20 January 2011. Music performed by David Barnard, James Dinsmore and Rebecca Watson, with participants in the Lost Chord music session at The Linney Centre and residents and carers at the Richmond Care Home.Starring Lina Basset as Doreen, Jeff Hordley as Robert, Cherylee Houston as Karen, Kellie Shirley as Dor, William Ash as Harry and Ruth Alexander-Rubin as the care-assistant.
Borrowed Time is a witty, creative and exciting tale of manipulation by an alien intelligence, in which the real villain happens to be compound interest.
—— Daniel Tessier , http://www.doctorwhoreviews.co.ukthe writing and acting are so tight they're in danger of cutting off your blood supply
—— Jane Anderson , Radio TimesCabin Pressure is one of the best written, cast, acted and directed comedies on anywhere.
—— Gillian Reynolds , Daily TelegraphThe more I listen to John Finnemore's Cabin Pressure, the more I think what a stonking masterpiece it is. Perfect in every department.
—— Philip Pullmanno-holds-barred
—— Listvery funny but also very moving
—— The London Papervery funny
—— Hampshire Viewthere are moments here that shine with the genius for observational comedy for which Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders (the Fatty of the title) are famous
—— GuardianDawn writes (with) tenderness, caring and oodles of charm. Well-paced, it's a reminder of why she has been a staple of the British comedy scene since the early 1980s
—— Guernsey PressAnyone perparing for another dry, identikit celebrity autobiography is going to be delighted by these hilarious memoirs
—— SheFrench can still cut the comic mustard
—— Time Outwhile much of the book's tone is that of the unassailably jolly Dawn we all expect ... other letters are tear-jerkingly poignant and none more so than those she writes to her late father Denys French
—— Daily ExpressFor all her honesty anyone hoping for a light-hearted romp will be delighted ... While her charm shines throughout, the more intense moments stay with you in a way that most celeb autobiographies can only strive for
—— Sunday Expressyou'll be captivated by her witty and warm style
—— PrimaSelf-depracating yet never self-pitying, irreverent yet never truly cynical, she comes across as a woman genuinely at ease with herself ... French is engaging company, and at her best she writes about heartbreak and elation with such grace that her book is impossible to dislike
—— Boston Standard