Thursday, July 16, 2009

The Night they tried to kidnap the Prime Minister

I tend to groan whenever I alight on Radio Four's Afternoon Play while driving. However, yesterday's was superb. Written by Martin Jameson, it gave a fictionalised account of the (actual) 1964 attempt to kidnap the, then, Prime Minister, Sir Alec Douglas-Home. I thoroughly recommend listening to it on BBC iPlayer here. There's a particularly wonderful performance by Tim McInnerny (Captain/Archdeacon/Duke Darling and Lord Percy from Black Adder).

The playwright engineers a wonderful moment of vulnerability for the Prime Minister as he is menaced by spirited Aberdonian students. In the end, he foils the plot by plying the students with the collected delights of a Fortnum and Mason hamper and some excellent beer.

My favourite line is when Douglas-Home cries out plaintively:

What is the point of being Prime Minister if nobody takes any notice!

Indeed.

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