The Tape Recorder

The Tape Recorder is a 1966 television play by Australian Pat Flower.[1]

"The Tape Recorder"
Australian Playhouse episode
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 2
Directed byHenri Safran
Teleplay byPat Flower
Produced byDavid Goddard
Original air date25 April 1966
Running time30 mins
Guest appearance(s)

Jennifer Wright

It was originally broadcast as an episode of Australian Playhouse.[2]

Plot

Miss Collins arrives at a flat to start typing a story for a novelist. The flat is empty but the writer has dictated his murder story on to a tape recorder. As she types Miss Collins realises she resembles the central character in the story.

Cast
  • Jennifer Wright as Miss Collins
  • Wynn Roberts as the voice of the novelist

Production

It was filmed before Christmas in Melbourne in 1965.[3] Jennifer Wright was an English actor living in Melbourne.[4]

Pat Flower wrote it deliberately to keep costs down.[5] It was originally written as a two hander but director Henri Safran persuaded Flower to cut it down to a one-person piece.[6]

David Goddard, who produced the series, said the idea came from a lunch he had with Flower. She accused the ABC of wanting plays with one set, one actor and no dialogue because it could not afford anything else. Goddard said he bet she could not write one like that, so Flower did as a challenge. "It's a beauty," said Goddard. "Mind you, she cheated a little by inserting the tape recorder, if you want to get really academic about this. But the leading character never utters a word. And it holds you. The suspense is so great it makes you want to scream at times. It's a superb piece of drama, set in one room, one person and a tape recorder. And it's a beautiful piece of writing."[7]

Reception

The Sydney Morning Herald critic wrote that "the traditional formula of the short thriller was cleverly used, with never a letup in insidious suspense, and a sharply effective final twist to the story" based on "the alliance between the author's compact, ingenious plot and Henri' Safran's subtle production, which built up a taut, oppressive atmosphere within a single room."[8]

The Age said it "turned into a feat of endurance."[9] Another reviewer from the same paper said "the language was all very much old time melodrama" but thought "the acting was excellent and the settings were perfect."[10]

The Woman's Weekly said "it kept me right on the edge of my chair."[11] The Bulletin said it "had its faults" but was "a sight better than many of the mediocre importer series shown during 7pm to 9 pm hours."[12]

The Sunday Herald said that with the show "Australian Playhouse proved conclusively and triumphantly that it is a winner. The only question now is . . . where have all these writers been skulking? Have they been hiding under stones? Working on novels? Doing bits for Mavis? Or chewing their nails until a series like this came along? I may be a bit premature in Jumping for joy, but in scoring two hits in a row Australian Playhouse looks as though it might be more than a grab bag. "[13]

Later versions

It was also produced by the BBC in 1967 with Guy Doleman and Suzanne Neve. It was the first BBC production to be broadcast in colour. Drew Goddard, producer of Australian Playhouse, called this "a feather in our cap."[14]

It was later produced for television in Canada, Belgium, the US and Italy. It was also adapted for the stage and is arguably Flower's best known work.[15]

See also
  • List of television plays broadcast on Australian Broadcasting Corporation (1960s)

References
  1. "ABC's new drama series". Tribune (1459). New South Wales, Australia. 18 May 1966. p. 4. Retrieved 18 February 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. Vagg, Stephen (18 February 2019). "60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & '60s". Filmink.
  3. Harrison, Agnes (10 March 1966). "Playhouse series could shift drama from doldrums". The Age. p. 14.
  4. "Web of Fear". The Age. 21 April 1966. p. 15.
  5. Hershey, April (3 December 1966). "Picking the Flowers". The Bulletin. p. 46.
  6. "TV reviews". Sydney Morning Herald. 24 April 1966. p. 78.
  7. "Yes there are writers in Australia". TV Times. 18 May 1966. p. 8.
  8. "The Hitchcock Manner". Sydney Morning Herald. 26 April 1966. p. 10.
  9. "Teletopics". The Age. 28 April 1966. p. 14.
  10. Monitor (30 April 1966). "Television". The Age. p. 25.
  11. "PROJECT '66 LOOKS FOR THE ANSWER". The Australian Women's Weekly. 33 (50). Australia. 11 May 1966. p. 15. Retrieved 18 February 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. Roberts, Frank (7 May 1966). "TELEVISION Helping hand". The Bulletin. p. 49.
  13. "A Roving Eye on Mr Holt". Sydney Morning Herald. 1 May 1966. p. 90.
  14. "Teletopic". The Age. 21 December 1967. p. 12.
  15. Hall, Sandra (21 October 1972). "Lady into Sofa". The Bulletin. p. 52.


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