Setting Sail

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Piers Plowright, Soundsmith

BBC Radio 4 - Setting Sail

An exploration of death from 1985 by Piers Plowright and Malcolm Clarke.

An exploration of funerals and the grave, by Malcolm Clarke and acclaimed radio producer Piers Plowright, who died in July. Presented by Francis Watson. First broadcast in 1985.

An exploration of the funeral and the grave, with fascinating and moving contributions from undertakers, gravediggers, and others. Presented by Francis Watson and first broadcast in 1985.

This documentary was produced by Malcolm Clarke and the acclaimed radio producer Piers Plowright, who died earlier this year, and is being repeated on Radio 4 to commemorate his life and work in radio. The programme is a fine example of Piers Plowright’s craft – and remains an intimate and perceptive exploration of the process of dying, told from an array of perspectives.  

Piers Plowright described himself as a 'radio man'. He had grown up in a home where the wireless was moved into the living room of an evening for family listening. Others have called Piers the Godfather of the British Radio Feature. In a 30-year BBC career, which began in 1968 as a trainee in English By Radio, after which he migrated via drama to documentaries, his programmes received radio's highest accolade, the Prix Italia, on three occasions. Yet he remained always modest, a practised listener, a supporter of colleagues, a composer of sound, silence and word, and - for all his erudition and love of culture - a mischievous spirit. 

The guide in Highgate Cemetery was Francis Watson
Alison Waley remembered the death of her husband Arthur
Jill Tweedie considered the problem and Ivor Leverton and John Fry the business of dealing with death
The Coffin Maker was Sean Casey
The Embalmer Len Clarke
The Driver John Tyrrell
The Gravedigger Ray Rossen
The boat was rowed by Frank Sugg
The organ was played by Michael Jack
The recordings were made by Julian Walther
Setting Sail was compiled and produced by Malcolm Clarke and Piers Plowright in the BBC Radiophonic Workshop

(Photo credit: Lucy Tizard)

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