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undone
by ben moor
'strange is good'
Undone was something I originally wrote in 2002 for Radio Light
Entertainment, but didn’t really get anywhere. I wrote a pilot script
and plotted a couple of other episodes, but like so many projects,
developmental drift happened where no progress is really made because
the next new thing has attracted the attention. Like some mossy abbey
ruins it kind of gets forgotten about. But in 2005 Colin Anderson
mentioned that BBC 7 were looking to commission some scifi comedy for
the 7th Dimension strand and I remembered Undone. I had written some
sketches for his innovative and exciting Milk Run show for Radio 1 and
we had made a pilot for a romantic comedy series called Branches in
2004. In late 2005 we heard a pilot programme for Undone had been
commissioned and would we please now go and make the show. Yikes. The
abbey ruins have a use.
First off we had to find a young comedy actress to play the lead role
of Edna Turner. She had to be bright and funny and inquisitive, bolshy
at times, scared at others. I had seen a show called Pray for the Souls of Martha and Veronica
at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2005 and met one of the actresses after the
show. This was Sarah Solemani and I knew she’s be excellent as Edna.
Just the right mix of confidence and sensitivity – the sort of things
she showed again when she amused loads of jaded hacks at the Radio
Christmas party. Duncan Wisbey was the man of many voices in Dirty Fan
Male, another show I saw at Edinburgh 2005 and he had the veratility
and charm to be kind Carlo and poky Billy. I would play Tankerton and
well, that was that.
Episode 1 - MIND THE GAPS
Edna Turner has just moved to London to
work on a listings magazine and is naturally excited. Her boss is the
friendly Carlo and while her bedsit isn't exactly a palace, she gets
down to work. An encounter at a music club with the strange Tankerton
Slopes leads her to travel to the bizarre parallel city of Undone and a
mission to send radical TV developer Marlboro Fagpacket back home.
Starring Sarah Solemani, Duncan Wisbey, Dan
Antopolski and Ben Moor.
Produced by Colin Anderson.
We recorded the pilot in January 2006 without knowing whether BBC7 was
going to commission any more episodes. So it’s the most naturally self
contained of the shows. Edna arrives, meets Billy, Carlo and
Tankerton and is sucked into the world of Undone. It all plays very
neatly as an Alice in Wonderland crossed with Neverwhere crossed with
Buffy crossed with lots of other things. I guess I’ve been influenced
by a lifetime of scifi so I can be accused of ripping off any number of
things for either the overall plot or individual scenes, but I would
hope the show comes over as pretty different to a lot of the radio out
there right now. We wanted to make a light scifi comedy drama that
takes the listener on a journey and I think the pilot achieves that
nicely.
As a half hour of radio, Mind the Gaps, (I didn’t think of titling the
episodes un-something until way later) is gentle and absorbing.
Virtually everything was recorded on location in and around the
Primrose Hill house of Marijke, the assistant producer. She also did
wonderful catering! Dan Antopolski was extremely funny as Marlboro,
very unworldly. Sarah was just perfect as Edna – she brought so much
more to the role than was on the page. And Duncan’s dual performance
was great too. I was OK as Tankerton, but I think I get a little more
bearable as the
series progresses.
First broadcast BBC 7 2nd October 2006
Episode 2 - Unappreciated
Edna
learns more about Undone while putting together an issue of Get Out on
her own. So she hardly has time to help Tankerton chase a naughty dog
who steals sausages.
Starring Sarah Solemani, Duncan Wisbey, Montserrat Lombard, Tim Key and
Ben Moor.
Produced by Colin Anderson.
Episode 2 works kind of as a second pilot for the series. It develops
the Edna/Tankerton relationship, shows her at work and introduces a
couple of characters who become important later on. As such it does its
job fairly well and answers a few questions the listener may still have
after the first episode, but overall I think I could have done it
better. The
chase sequence with the dog and the two pages is a bit clumsily
written but there
are some nice moments running through. Duncan plays the dog as if he
was born to the part and anyone who knows him would agree. Sarah is
very funny in the Heckhole sequence, in fact she’s very funny
throughout. Kate and Grant turn up for the first time but oh so
briefly. Tim Key is the shopowner too here – but in his performance he
decided that character wears a moustache which I think you can really
hear if you listen very carefully. Really.
I liked the Escher stuff in the script – we all feel like those monks
sometime – Sarah played those bits beautifully. I was sorry we had to
lose Carlo for a lot of the episode – I love what Duncan does with him
but it was important to set Edna’s job up and see her under a little
pressure. The in-store closed circuit illustration would have been a
bigger thing, but the first draft of the script was way too long so
like a lot of the series, it became a moment that is under-explained
but adds to the weirdness.
First broadcast BBC 7 3rd October 2006
Episode 3 - Unrivalled
All
Edna wants is to be a good friend to Kate and rather more than that
with Grant. But after an evening at the theatre things take a turn for
the worse.
Starring Sarah Solemani, Duncan Wisbey,
Montserrat Lombard, Tim Key, Emma Kennedy and Ben Moor.
Produced by Colin Anderson.
My personal favourite episode of the series for many reasons. The
script was a lot of fun to write, has the neatest structure, and has a
couple of lines I love. We had to cut back the early scene at Smart
Alec's for reasons of length but it contained a sequence that really
explained why Tankerton does what he does. It was to do with the amount
of weirdness London can cope with and comparing it to the amount of
crime an economy needs to make it work – we might try and find a space
for it another time. Montserrat Lombard was just brilliant as Kate,
Edna’s less imaginative ‘twin’ – she and Sarah had worked together
before and their scenes were excellent. Tim Key was also fantastic –
ambiguous and nice but he played Grant with a smart edge I liked. And
Emma Kennedy got Jemima just right – dry and dismissive – and that’s
her with the happy cooking video too. Duncan, as ever, great,
especially with the burning phone. And Colin’s production is top notch
– some lovely sweeps between the realities here.
Troubled eggs previously featured in the stage show Poppy Day. The
segment at Grant’s play was originally going to be longer, but it
features flies which may be a set up for episode 5 (I say ‘may be’, I
mean is). Kate’s speech to Edna about her having made Undone all up is
literally the midpoint of the entire series and gets the listener to
question it too – everything you think you know hinges on this moment.
The two actresses played this beautifully. And the old lady scenes are
just great.
First broadcast BBC 7 4th October 2006
Epsiode 4 - Unfamiliar
When Mum comes to visit, Edna does her
best to keep the secret of Undone. But with Faceless Bureacrats
changing the map of London and the National Indecisiveness Society or
Association at large, it's not easy.
Starring Sarah Solemani, Duncan Wisbey, Emma Kennedy, Kevin Eldon,
Richard Herring and Ben Moor.
Produced by Colin Anderson.
Episode 4 was originally written when the show was first mooted about 4
years ago and has a couple of problems which I totally blame myself
for. You know what they are. Saying that, the story rattles along and
this episode means a lot to me because of the cast Colin assembled. I
first performed with Emma and Richard in the Oxford Revue of 1988 and
one day I’ll tell the story of how that all came about. I have remained
one of the biggest fans ever since and they have repaid my nerdiness
with way much kindness and friendship and so when they agreed to be in
a show I had written I was literally smiling with happiness. Kevin
Eldon, as well as being Britain’s funniest Buddhist, is a friend who I
travelled around America with back in the 1990s. Needless to say all
three were brilliant in the show. Sarah was lovely in this episode too
and Duncan’s performance as the Undone Carlo was another highlight.
The NISOA features here for the first time – it is mentioned also in Coelacanth which isn’t a bad
thing as it suggests both stories happen
in my own private universe, a place that nobody whatsoever has termed
MOORLAND. The faceless bureaucrats’ plan will become clearer if we get
a second series, as will the truth about Edna’s father, hinted at here.
The boyband tunes were composed by Duncan who sang them to me and then
I mauled them for the BBC audience. I thank you.
First broadcast BBC 7 5th October 2006
Episode 5 - Unravelled
The consequences of Edna's decision at the
end of episode 3 come back to roost as it looks like Tankerton has
quit. But what's with all the flies?
Starring Sarah Solemani, Duncan Wisbey, Tim Key and Ben Moor.
Produced by Colin Anderson.
Endings suck, especially when you know you want some things to be
resolved and not others. I loved writing these stories and I wanted
Edna to find some answers and discover more questions, some of which we
could explore in a second series. The return of Grant, the visit to
Tankerton’s flat and a mirror sequence to the pilot where Edna runs out
of the office gave some closure to the characters. And getting the two
Carlos to meet and chat was a delight. Duncan was brilliant here (and
that’s him playing the rehearsal room piano by the way for Grant – the
man is a marvel). Sarah was just great as Edna as well – the fear, the
awe, blooming great. And Tim Key makes Grant almost the hero of the
piece. Colin’s talent shines through here too – the flies, obviously
great, but that final moment is spine chilling.
When we heard the series was to be five episodes (including the pilot)
I knew I wanted a sci-fi climax to the story. A few of the seeds for
this episode were planted previously, but simultaneously the script has
a bit
of a rush to get to the action and an odd ploddiness of pacing.
Tankerton’s
wedding subplot should have either been emphasised much more or dropped
completely – as it is it’s a bit wasted, but of course there was
thought behind it (series 2. . .). But I think overall it's a good
way to end the series, not so much a cliff hanger, but a cliff
teeterer. I wanted audiences to want to know what happens next, but the
final few moments provide a certain conclusion (relating back to what
Kate accused Edna of in Episode 3) that I think listeners can make
their own resolution to the overall plot.
First broadcast BBC 7 6th October 2006
PICTURES
If you have any questions about the show, please use the
forum on this site or the BBC7
messageboard.
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