Losing Patrick, Losing Lottie
Did I ever tell you about the day I became Head of Radio? There was a big ceremony involving lots of hooded figures carrying torches. To the sound of bagpipes and accordion music, I was led into obsolete analogue radio studio and asked to sup from the poisoned chalice. Thereafter I was handed a small wooden chest containing the programme budget.
No one mentioned it was leaking.
Once all the pomp and humiliation was out of the way I sat at my desk, picked up the phone and summoned the Head of Drama.
"Get me Patrick Rayner!" I yelled, "and tell him to bring me some scripts."
Oh, all right, I'm adding a bit of colour to this story, but the thrust of it is true. I did call Patrick and I did start to commission some drama.
The Radio Drama department at ´óÏó´«Ã½ Scotland has a world-class reputation. Think of some of those classic plays on Radio 4 - Sherlock Holmes, McLevy, Smiley, Paul Temple - and most of them came from Patrick or his small team of producers. But there was a period when drama dropped out of the Radio Scotland schedule, mainly because it's one of the most expensive genres to produce - on a cost per listener basis, that is.
Of course audiences in Scotland could still hear the work of Scottish writers and actors on the other ´óÏó´«Ã½ radio networks, but I always felt that we should be making space for stories that would have a particular resonance for listeners here. Our Head of Drama agreed and we've since commissioned about forty new plays - including many top quality productions that have come to us from independent companies.
I mention all this because we that Patrick was moving on to new pastures and leaving the drama department in the capable hands of Bruce Young. He, plus young producers like Kirsty Williams and Kirsteen Cameron are still part of one of the best radio drama units in the ´óÏó´«Ã½.
Kirsteen directed Sue Glover's recent play Losing Lottie which we aired on Friday but which I forgot to tell you about because I was in such an excited froth about our Grassic Gibbon weekend. It's still available on the iPlayer, though.
So best wishes to you Mister Rayner and here's to a very dramatic future.
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