Radio Times

Review by:

Jane Anderson

A perfect pastoral setting for the actress Brigit Forsyth, who plays an eccentric English woman called Joy, who has devoted her final years to creating an organic and water-wise garden in Greece. The rainfall is barely more than that of a desert, but Joy has managed to use plants and irrigation systems that are able to endure the scorching summers and freezing winters.

This play is based upon the actual experiences of Jane Shaw, a young woman who went to work as Joy’s intern in 2007 and encountered a chaotic, wild, sometimes dangerous but always enriching new life on the five-acre estate. Jane lived in a shed referred to as Alcatraz, after the prison, which she shared with a stuffed lion called Zeus. It’s a life-affirming story where good eventually wins out over greed.

About this programme

By Jane Shaw. A woman begins work at the Helikion Gardens, 30 miles from Athens, and run by the eccentric Joy. Scientists come from across the world to visit the facility for help with their research into global warming, and when it is threatened with closure the staff and local volunteers band together to try to save it. Drama, starring Brigit Forsyth, Verity-May Henry and Andonis James Anthony.

Cast and crew

Cast

Joy

Brigit Forsyth

Jane

Verity-May Henry

Pavlos

Andonis James Anthony

Tom

Conrad Nelson

Debbie

Deborah McAndrew

Crew

Producer

Pauline Harris

Writer

Jane Shaw

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