Drama on 4 - The 5000

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South of the River

Summary

By Stephen Keyworth. At the end of his shift one night, London cabbie Barry Monk picks up two drunk sailors, Nikolai and Vlad. He and the Russians get on famously and they invite Barry back to theirs for some cards - in a Russian submarine moored secretly in the Thames. Starring Shaun Williamson and Alice Lowe

Review

Fiona Hughes

Barry Monk is one of the few London taxi drivers prepared to take a fare south of the river, but when he picks up two Russians and takes them to Woolwich he sort of wishes he hadn’t. They persuade him to join them for a game of cards and lead him down to the Thames to board their submarine.

Just like one of the cabbie’s shaggy dog stories, Stephen Keyworth’s plot goes from mad to barking when Barry (Shaun Williamson from EastEnders) is recruited as a spy. Once he is released to dry land, he is turned by MI5 agent Alice (Alice Lowe) when she gets into the back of his cab.

Throw in Dead Ringers’ Debra Stephenson playing Russian sleeper agent and chat show host Lorraine Kelly and the whole thing shifts into the realm of the positively surreal.

Credits

Cast

rolenameBarry MonkShaun WilliamsonAlice KarlssonAlice LoweLorraine KellyDebra StephensonNikolaiGreg KolpakchiVladPhilip BayntunVariousRichard Reed

Crew

rolenameWriterStephen KeyworthProducerSimon BarnardDirectorBethany Weimers