BBC Radio 7 has a cool sounding pirate play airing today that’s based on a 1920 novel. Here’s the description from the 1944 dust jacket of the paperbook:
“Mr. Farnol brings back the pirate days of the Spanish Main in this stirring book and not since “The Broad Highway” and “The Amateur Gentleman” has he created such a company of picturesque characters. It is a full-blooded, wholesome novel that captivates the reader.
Martine Conisby, Lord Wendover, embittered by his five years of slavery on the Spanish galleon Esmeralda, escapes during a sea fight to an English ship and makes his way back to England, determined to avenge himself on Richard Brandon, who was the cause of his father’s death and his own ill-treatment. Broken in body and spirit, he arrives home one night disguised as a tramp, just in time to save from the hands of robbers a beautiful girl, Lady Jane Brandon, the daughter of the man whom he has sworn to punish. In a tavern he meets a pal, Adam Penfeather, who unfolds to him the story of Black Bartlemy, an infamous pirate, and his treasure buried on an island– treasure of fabulous value that has been the dream and hope of roving adventurers along the Spanish Main for many years.
The engrossed reader will eagerly follow the adventures of the treasure seekers who set sail on the good ship Faithful Friend and the unique experiences of Martin and the fair Lady Jane – whose family the hero hated – as they found themselves alone on the island which contained the buried treasure. He will encounter some rogues as bloodthirsty as any pirates who ever sailed the Seven Seas, and discover love episodes that stir the emotions. Mr. Farnol has never made a wider appeal than in this, his first sea story.”
Neat huh? Here are the details…
Black Bartlemy’s Treasure
By Jeffery Farnol; Performed by a full cast
1 Broadcast – Approx. 90 Minutes [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 7
Broadcast: Saturday at 1pm & 1.30am
After spending “Five years of Hell” as a rowing slave, Martin Conisby returns to England to seek vengeance on the man responsible. Jeffrey Farnol’s swashbuckling tale of the high seas is dramatised by Michael Bartlett and stars Steven Pacey, Sean Barrett and Julia Swift. It was directed by Glyn Dearman and first broadcast in 1991. Jeffrey Farnol’s swashbuckling tale of piracy, love and death on a desert island.
Starring:
Stephen Pacey (Martin Conisby)
Sean Barret (Adam Penfeather)
Julia Swift (Joan Brandon)
Ronald Herdman (Roger Tressady)
Sean Arnold (Black Bartlemy)
Fraser Carr (Joel Bym)
Mark Straker (Abnegation Mings)
Andrew Wincott (Sir Rupert Dering)
Colin McFarlane (Smiling Sam Spraggons)
Theresa Streatfield (Marjorie)
Incidentally, there’s another Jeffrey Farnol novel over on LibriVox. And, the Jeffrey Farnol Appreciation Society has details on the follow up series, and more!
Posted by Jesse Willis
I second this recommendation! I first heard this play back in December 1992 – it was followed a few days later by it’s sequel, ‘Martin Conisby’s Vengeance’, which will likely be on BBC7 next week.
Both plays have their problems – I’m not wildly fond of the voice of the heroine, and some may find the archaic style of the language a bit self-conscious, but I consider the virtues of these productions to utterly outweigh these concerns.
The sound design, in particular, is positively cinematic – and it’s all enhanced by liberal use of W.E. Korngold’s score for the Errol Flynn pirate adventure ‘The Sea Hawk’.
Listening to these plays as a schoolkid, I first realised how much fun and excitement you could have listening to the radio, and I don’t think they’ve lost any of their old-fashioned appeal…