Kidnapped (BBC Radio, 2016)
Jul. 15th, 2023 10:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
regshoeI have now listened to the recently-repeated radio adaptation of Kidnapped. On the whole it's a pretty good adaptation, an enjoyable show and I recommend it—it's available for another five days, so get on it soon if you want to listen.
This adaptation won me over very early on with a little preamble in which David says this:
Despite the big difference in media and adaptational styles, this and the NTS play have about the same length and structure (~two hours total, in two halves), and so I enjoyed comparing and contrasting the cuts and condensings made. The halfway point here is after the murder, where the NTS play put it at the shipwreck, and thus the first half of the book is much more condensed—Mr Campbell, Ransome and (to my sorrow) Jennet Clouston are all cut, and the pre-kidnapping plot is greatly shortened—and we get to spend more time with Alan and in the Highlands. I may quibble over the details, but that was a good decision! And in fact the first part of the Highland sequence is fairly condensed too (sadly including the loss of Corrynakiegh and the Only One Coat)... but it turns out that this was in order to spend the most time, and make the fewest cuts, where it really mattered: the quarrel! The quarrel, failed duel and making-up appear at length and in faithful detail (amongst the few changes made is that David's 'in my heart, I liked ye fine' becomes 'I loved ye fine'—now that's the sort of adaptational choice I can get behind!). And the height difference is preserved, and if anything emphasised even more than in the book. Good priorities here.
So the show lives up to the promise of that preamble: both in the bits kept from the book and the lines added, the emphasis throughout is very much on David and Alan's friendship, how much they like each other and how much they enjoy each other's company, and it is suitably adorable. The mood is a little more the hearty back-slapping kind than I prefer and there are more 'like a brother's than faithfulness to the book requires, but on the whole it was pretty good.
Owen Whitelaw is a great Davie; his voice suits how I imagine Davie sounding very well, and he gets across both the earnestness and courage of young Davie in the story and the wry humour of older Davie the narrator. Michael Nardone is not such a good fit for my idea of Alan, but he certainly has the energy for the character, and the two of them go very well together.
I also liked the use of music! There's a lovely Gaelic song in the intro (which I did not recognise, and which doesn't seem to be named anywhere on the website, sadly), and I was pleased to recognise Ian Bruce's 'Ye Jacobites by Name' used between scenes and at the end. Most of the songs from the book are there; Davie and Alan towards the end develop an adorable sort of counterpoint medley where Alan sings 'Hey, Johnnie Cope' and Davie sings 'Ye Jacobites by Name' at the same time. And Alan's bagpipes and Davie's appreciation for them are included (though Robin Oig and the pipe duel are cut; I thought it was a notable and good decision to keep Alan's piping despite that).
Both David's age of seventeen and his date of birth of 1733 are repeated from the book, which amused me. No, thought I, I'm not making this up, these adaptors can't count either... XD
I've been collecting information on Kidnapped adaptations for the website (there are lots of them!), and while there are relatively few that I'll be able to watch/listen to I think it might be fun to do a little project of checking out as many as I can and comparing them. Consider this a good start made, then. :)
This adaptation won me over very early on with a little preamble in which David says this:
That morning is etched upon my very soul: the commencement of a journey that would take me across the whole of Scotland, and expose me to peril, politics, and the greatest friendship a man can ever know....which was a promising start. It's a pretty straightforward adaptation in general, with cuts made to fit into the time available but otherwise largely faithful, and with many lines of dialogue and narration used more or less verbatim from the book.
Despite the big difference in media and adaptational styles, this and the NTS play have about the same length and structure (~two hours total, in two halves), and so I enjoyed comparing and contrasting the cuts and condensings made. The halfway point here is after the murder, where the NTS play put it at the shipwreck, and thus the first half of the book is much more condensed—Mr Campbell, Ransome and (to my sorrow) Jennet Clouston are all cut, and the pre-kidnapping plot is greatly shortened—and we get to spend more time with Alan and in the Highlands. I may quibble over the details, but that was a good decision! And in fact the first part of the Highland sequence is fairly condensed too (sadly including the loss of Corrynakiegh and the Only One Coat)... but it turns out that this was in order to spend the most time, and make the fewest cuts, where it really mattered: the quarrel! The quarrel, failed duel and making-up appear at length and in faithful detail (amongst the few changes made is that David's 'in my heart, I liked ye fine' becomes 'I loved ye fine'—now that's the sort of adaptational choice I can get behind!). And the height difference is preserved, and if anything emphasised even more than in the book. Good priorities here.
So the show lives up to the promise of that preamble: both in the bits kept from the book and the lines added, the emphasis throughout is very much on David and Alan's friendship, how much they like each other and how much they enjoy each other's company, and it is suitably adorable. The mood is a little more the hearty back-slapping kind than I prefer and there are more 'like a brother's than faithfulness to the book requires, but on the whole it was pretty good.
Owen Whitelaw is a great Davie; his voice suits how I imagine Davie sounding very well, and he gets across both the earnestness and courage of young Davie in the story and the wry humour of older Davie the narrator. Michael Nardone is not such a good fit for my idea of Alan, but he certainly has the energy for the character, and the two of them go very well together.
I also liked the use of music! There's a lovely Gaelic song in the intro (which I did not recognise, and which doesn't seem to be named anywhere on the website, sadly), and I was pleased to recognise Ian Bruce's 'Ye Jacobites by Name' used between scenes and at the end. Most of the songs from the book are there; Davie and Alan towards the end develop an adorable sort of counterpoint medley where Alan sings 'Hey, Johnnie Cope' and Davie sings 'Ye Jacobites by Name' at the same time. And Alan's bagpipes and Davie's appreciation for them are included (though Robin Oig and the pipe duel are cut; I thought it was a notable and good decision to keep Alan's piping despite that).
Both David's age of seventeen and his date of birth of 1733 are repeated from the book, which amused me. No, thought I, I'm not making this up, these adaptors can't count either... XD
I've been collecting information on Kidnapped adaptations for the website (there are lots of them!), and while there are relatively few that I'll be able to watch/listen to I think it might be fun to do a little project of checking out as many as I can and comparing them. Consider this a good start made, then. :)
