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Only The Good Die Young
Only The Good Die Young
Oct 9, 2024 12:29 PM

Author:Shaun Prendergast,Full Cast,Kate Binchy,Siriol Jenkins,Shaun Prendergast,Kenneth Cranham,Neil Roberts,Okon Jones

Only The Good Die Young

A tense six-part techno-thriller, set during the era of George Bush and Boris Yeltsin

Mike Fisher has everything to live for: a stunning model girlfriend, who has just accepted his proposal, and a successful career as a computer programmer. So why would he suddenly resign, dress up in women's underwear and crash his car into a tree? And if he wanted to kill himself, why do it on his wedding day?

His death is ruled as suicide, but his fiancée Kim Drake is sure there's more to it than meets the eye. Determined to find out what really happened, she retraces Mike's footsteps across Europe, where she learns he'd been keeping crucial secrets relating to his highly sensitive job at Peregrine Communications Systems and his involvement with certain disaffected members of the European intelligence community.

Aided by ex-Stasi agent Otto, rock producer Charles Causley and Mike's brother, disabled cyperpunk genius Todd Fisher, she travels across Germany, Denmark and France in search of answers. But Kim's every move is being watched by the sinister Mr Stone, and her dogged investigations are putting her in terrible danger...

First broadcast in 1992, this hard-hitting, electrifying drama was created by award-winning writer and actor Shaun Prendergast, who plays Otto. It stars Siriol Jenkins as Kim, Kenneth Cranham as Stone, Neil Roberts as Mike, Okon Jones as Charles and Jack Klaff as Todd.

Production credits

Written by Shaun Prendergast

Produced and directed by Adrian Bean

Technical presentation by Wilfredo Acosta, Michael Atherton and Ian Pratt

Cast

Kim Drake - Siriol Jenkins

Mike Fisher - Neil Roberts

Anne/Optician's receptionist/Jean/Clearwater - Kate Binchy

Frank/Otto/Burns - Shaun Prendergast

Miss Gee - Ann Davies

Stone - Kenneth Cranham

Todd - Jack Klaff

DI Dear - Eric Alan

DS Love - Jonathan Tafler

John Maschler - Terence Edmond

Emma/Nurse Lewis - Caroline Strong

Mary/WPC - Nicola Boyce

Charles - Okon Jones

Wilson - Peter Gunn

Doris Meyer/Computer/Hotel receptionist - Joanna Wake

Helga/Prostitute - Melanie Hudson

DI Dear - Eric Allen

DS Love/Victor - Jonathan Tafler

Seeta Kumar - Mamta Kaash

Welkin/Journalist - William Roberts

Jill Noone - Alice Arnold

Nelson - Kenneth McClellan

Doctor - Teresa Streatfield

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 23 April-28 May 1992

©2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Reviews

There is a lot to be enjoyed as they dig into a subject that has underpinned their very different careers: the gap between the glowing aspiration and cracked reality of the so-called American Dream . . . there is some serious political and philosophical content here. Springsteen and Obama are articulate and idealistic orators, and the conversation relentlessly pushes towards the shared goal of reclaiming a liberal, progressive vision of America in post-Trumpian times

—— Daily Telegraph

This new book of conversations, photos and speeches is a beautifully presented, coffee table-friendly smorgasbord of uplift . . . Annotated versions of Obama speeches on their original notepaper, most movingly his passionate and compassionate eulogy for civil rights activist John Lewis ("like John, we have to keep getting into good trouble"), feel like a window on to history, as, to a lesser extent, do rather more pristine, handwritten Springsteen lyrics

—— iNews

One may be a songwriter and the other a politician but Bruce Springsteen and Barack Obama are both gifted storytellers who have crafted a story about themselves and their nation . . . Renegades reminds us that despite the hardness of the world and the challenges that demand to be faced there still exists the promise of better days

—— Sarfraz Manzoor

In this beautifully curated coffee-table book, which bulks up the extended podcast transcripts with photographs, annotated speeches and handwritten song lyrics to lend a degree of polished intimacy, these American heavyweights find the silver linings adorning even the darkest of clouds

—— The Times

Renegades: Born in the USA is human, vulnerable, smart, and passionate . . . Obama and Springsteen admire their country while considering its shortcomings and still come out the other side with a sense of patriotism and hope that spills over the bounds of a book

—— Associated Press

A collection of intimate and thoughtful conversations between the President and the Boss

—— Los Angeles Times

Do you dream of scoring an invitation to Springsteen's Colts Neck compound? Maybe strumming on those guitars, riding horses, riffing on the American experiment in the recording studio? Unless you're an American president, you're going to have to get in line. But in between daydreams, pick up Renegades. It's the closest thing to being a fly on the wall of an incredible friendship

—— Esquire

Tackles everything from gender identity, the thrill of a wig and why Scottish talent is often overlooked.

—— i News

Fantastic... feisty, opinionated and honest.

—— Daily Record

Full of one-liners and charm, this cheery memoir comes complete with valuable life lessons and tricks of the trade. Absolutely fabulous fun.

—— Best Magazine

With sky-high wigs and pin-sharp wit, Lawrence is one of the UK's most loved drag acts. Here the season two winner of RuPaul's Drag Race UK explains how humour is a lifesaver.

—— Daily Express

To read over the words to these 154 songs is to be impressed not merely with McCartney's productivity but with the fertility of his imagination and the potency of his offhand, unfussy style ... giddy playfulness and unguarded experimentation. They're a joy to read because they exude the joy their maker took in their making.

—— David Hajdu , The New York Times

The text is accompanied by beautifully reproduced illustrations, including personal snapshots, formal portraits and memorabilia. The result is a hybrid of collected lyrics, memoir and picture book, a composite form resembling the all-round character of McCartney's musicality ... The Lyrics is a rewarding portrait of an exceptional songwriter.

—— Ludovic Hunter-Tilney , Financial Times

From All My Loving to Your Mother Should Know, the former Beatle illuminates a life spent puzzling how to get from the beginning of a song to its end

—— David Hepworth , Observer

Paul McCartney's storied career has been a long and winding road paved with songwriting gold. Thankfully, these fab volumes do it justice

—— The Sun

engrossing ... reading it is like watching genius - which McCartney undoubtedly was and fitfully remains - in the process of creation, summoning something out of nothing

—— David Honigmann , Spectator

The Lyrics is stunningly beautiful and a masterpiece of book design, a true joy for bibliophiles. Paul McCartney has fashioned, through the explorations of his songs with the poet Paul Muldoon, a fascinating insight into his life and creative genius. The booksellers of Waterstones are proud to celebrate this magnificent and deeply original book.

—— James Daunt, Waterstones

This lavishly produced two-volume boxed-set, which took five years to compile, is destined to be under many Christmas trees.

—— Roger Lewis , Daily Mail

The Beatles used to chuck lyric sheets in the wastebasket after recording a song: Linda McCartney fished them out and saved them. The Lyrics is the deluxe version of her scrapbook, a ... handsome, two-volume compendium of Paul McCartney's work as a lyricist, accompanied by photos and Macca's engaging reminiscences.

—— Ludovic Hunter-Tilney , Financial Times, Best books of 2021

Paul McCartney never wrote an autobiography. He argued that his remarkable life story is "all in the songs" - the hundreds upon hundreds of timeless, instantly engrossing classics that have become the soundtrack to Western culture. One hundred and fifty-four of these musical gems are gathered in The Lyrics - a gripping commentary on the inspiration for the tunes, their making and the characters they portray. ... McCartney's commentary throughout feels candid, enlightening and at times philosophical. His insight into the makeup and meaning of the lyrics is illuminating and entertaining, adding layers of depth to the already rich texture.

—— Hannah Gal , The Critic

Sir Paul has arranged 154 favourite compositions alphabetically, with lots of glossy photos. But in the essays that accompany each song, his underlying purpose is to affirm his status as a writer ... what fan will not enjoy a meander that feels like a long private audience with one of the Fab Four?

—— Economist

Paul McCartney's delicious The Lyrics is a treasure trove. Gloriously illustrated with old snaps, posters with the Beatles' bottom-of-the-bill, handwritten set lists, lyrics on scraps and exhausting tour lists criss-crossing Britain.

—— Celia Imrie , Waitrose Weekend

The Lyrics is sumptuously made to a standard associated with high-end art publishers. It is lovely to hold and to touch and to look at. There are countless beautifully reproduced photographs, of McCartney - who in his younger years ravished the lens - his mother, father, brother and aunties, his wives, his children, his friends and notable collaborators. Many of the pictures are published for the first time. There are also handwritten lyric sheets festooned with doodles, scribbled diary entries, gig posters, newspaper reports, pictures of first pressings ... This book is ... more like an autobiography, done McCartney's way. Rather than publish a conventional life story, he has opted to tell this life through songs and pictures ... His eloquence is found in his art: next to the splendour of the songs ... The book showcases McCartney's lyrics ... the songs make up a larger canvas, or mosaic, that the artist himself is only now stepping back to contemplate.

—— Ian Leslie , New Statesman

Stating in the introduction to this two-volume gift edition that he has no intention of writing a memoir, Paul McCartney presents his songs as the next best thing, leaving us to mine their words as a guide to his life and world view.

—— Will Hodgkinson , The Times

These two beautifully produced hardbacks give a lot of bang for your buck. Macca recalls the inspiration behind 154 of his songs and the collaborative process of writing them, his stories taking in Lennon, Linda and fame, and there's a trove of photographs and memorabilia from his personal archive. He says the time has never been right to write a full memoir, but this collection is brimming with insights into the man and the music.

—— Charlotte Heathcote , Daily Express

A deliciously decadent tale of sex, tragedy, celebrity, surfboards and tanned skin in 1980s Malibu.

—— The Times

I absolutely loved her book.... It's an absolute blast to read

—— Alice- Azania Jarvis

JACKIE COLLINS, BUT BETTER Sacrilege to say "better", I know, but there we are. Set in the 1980s, Taylor Jenkins Reid's Malibu Rising is wonderfully written, intensely evocative and concerns the model/ surfer children of a rock star. Tons of glamour, tons of sharply observed insights about sibling relationships, plus a massive party. Beach read par excellence. See also her brilliant Daisy Jones & the Six, which is heaven (more rock stars).

—— Anonymous

When we picked up Malibu Rising, the new novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid, we could barely put it down

—— That's Life

You'll never want this book to end, it will suck you in and spit you out!

—— Muddy Stilettos
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