Radio Times: Review by:; Laura Pledger

Between 1976 and 1984, novelist, journalist and short-story writer Angela Carter turned out five plays for radio. On the 20th anniversary of her death, friends including theatre critic Susannah Clapp and writer and broadcaster Christopher Frayling recall how the wireless was the natural home for her comic eye, vivid narrative voice and inspired use of sound effects.

Excerpts from her works illustrate her keen sense of atmosphere — though apparently the production staff on Puss in Boots were less than appreciative of one passionate scene that required them to mix the sounds of bedsprings, two panting actors and music from the 1812 Overture. Pity — they did a hilariously good job.

About this programme

The writer's friends and colleagues Susannah Clapp, Carmen Callil, Marina Warner and Christopher Frayling, remember her dramas for radio, to mark the 20th anniversary of her death. Angela Carter wrote five plays, including the 1979 award-winning Come Unto These Sands, and adapted two of her acclaimed short stories - the Company of Wolves and Puss in Boots - for the medium she loved so much for its scope for storytelling.