Directing and Producing 'The Wizard's Spell' in the Marshall Cavendish Magical Music Box Series

by Tim Crook

I remember it was the fourth episode and I would not ordinarily have been asked to direct this as Richard Shannon and I had agreed a system where he would direct each episode and I would do the multi-track post-production. But Richard had gone on holiday and there was no-one else available.

The script (written by Mark Barratt from a story by Robert Brooks) had a sense of mischief, burlesque and farce. As we moved through each scene everyone seemed to revel in the humour.

There were magnificent performances from all the actors. Charles Grant was a suitably petulant and rather camp Rothbart. Beth Goddard was an excellent Odette who had to be played over the top. David Peart and the veteran radio performer Douglas Blackwell played the necessary pomposity and conceit that their characters demanded, and the two young actors Liza McLean and Mike Smith introduced cheek and flourish into the main parts of Sarah and Jamie. Radio sometimes reduces you to working on the most surreal and undignified of processes. The character Jamie at some point is turned into a frog and drops into a large pudding and consequently has an attack of the burps. Beth Goddard, now one of our leading television and film actresses, enthusiastically obliged with a series of burp takes in stereo.

This production simply turned into one of those days when everything clicked. The post-production seemed mellifluous as well. Music matched script and performance and vice-versa. Advice and help with sounds and music were provided in the post-production studio by Marja Giejgo.

IRDP entered the episode into the International Radio Festival of New York as an afterthought. We did not think children's drama was at all well represented and the Marshall Cavendish series appeared to buck the trend. In addition, unlike a lot of children's drama, it was not patronising. The concept of entertaining young people through a fun story rather than hitting them over the head with educational exhortations is what makes this series so good. We were pleasantly surprised when it won a gold medal for Best Children's/Youth programmes and even more astonished when it went forward for the Grand Award. It was being compared with august programmes made for adults by the BBC and the world's leading commercial networks.

But when I met the judges they convinced me why this series has been so successful. Filmic, pacey, almost Hollywood style production made the series attractive to young people. The use of music is subtle and effective and placed within a story telling context rather than educational instruction. The multimedia link up between cassette, CD, well illustrated partworks magazine and CD-Rom was original and exciting.

It was the first time I had been in the position to receive an award and I can tell you, holding the World Grand Award for Radio Entertainment in New York takes some beating. I could not believe my ears that IRDP had won the prize, having convinced myself that the 'more serious' programmes would be chosen.

Background graphic taken from an illustration of the Wizard by Bee Willey for Marshall Cavendish.

Page design by Marja Giejgo