In this single play, a group of people seeking to escape the modern world find their remote island paradise is not safe.
Disillusioned movie star Hugo Bastin (Barry Jones) persuades a group of companions to leave civilization behind and start a new life on a remote South Pacific island. The small community, including Shirley Marsh (Ursula Howells) and Johnny Quale (Terence Alexander), hopes to create an idyllic sanctuary far from the troubles of the post-war world. However, their dream of escape is shattered when they learn their island has been selected as the site for an atomic bomb test, forcing them to confront the very anxieties they sought to flee.
Adapted by the influential Head of BBC Television Drama Val Gielgud from his own stage play, this production captured a distinctly post-war mood. The story, concerning a retreat from civilization threatened by atomic-age technology, gave a topical urgency to its drama of escapism. Broadcast live, the play was an early example of television drama engaging directly with contemporary anxieties. Gielgud’s script used the enclosed island setting to build a drama of ideas, creating an effective vehicle for its lead actor as the conflicted idealist.
Broadcast: BBC, 1 Episode, 20 June 1950
Written by: Val Gielgud
Settings by: James Bould
Production by: Val Gielgud, Kevin Sheldon
Main Cast: Barry Jones (Hugo Bastin), Ursula Howells (Shirley Marsh), Terence Alexander (Johnny Quale), Avice Landon (Edith Bastin), Jane Cotton (Gloria Selwyn), Paul Demel (Heinrich Maltzman), Frederick Schiller (Stefan Birnbaum), Colin Tapley (Daniel B. Delane), Gerald Metcalfe (Naval Officer)
