AN ENGLISHMAN ABROAD - By Alan Bennett. BBC Radio drama starring Simon Callow.

An Englishman Abroad - By Alan Bennett. BBC Radio drama starring Simon Callow.
An Englishman Abroad is drama based on the true story of a chance meeting of actress Coral Browne with Guy Burgess, a member of the Cambridge spy ring who spied for the Soviet Union while an officer at MI6.
It is 1958, and in a squalid flat in Moscow, double-agent Guy Burgess is hiding from the world. When he is visited by actress Coral Browne, he is overjoyed to see someone from his former life in England. Starved for information, Burgess interrogates her about English society gossip, and cajoles her into taking home measurements for a new pinstripe suit from his London tailor.
Cast:
Guy Burgess.....................Simon Callow
Coral Browne....................Brigit Forsyte
The Tailor......................Robert Pickavance
Tollier/Shop Assistant..........Peter Swander

[@carolthomas8528]

I cried at the end of this play on television just because it was over . It’s a brilliant play written by a brilliant man .

[@allangilchrist5938]

It's a good version but it makes me appreciate how brilliant the television version is with Alan Bates, Coral browne and the rest of a first class cast.

[@peterkleinman3526]

Bates did drunks very well.

[@allangilchrist5938]

A much underestimated actor. Strange how some become "stars" and others don't.

[@johnglenn30csardas]

Thank you for uploading this brilliant piece.

[@stuarthastie6374]

I think Alan Benett studied Russian...

[@harveyhudson76]

Excellent! Thank you for the upload!

[@redstrat1234]

Excellent

[@tonycavanagh1929]

Where is the vid, cant find it anywhere.

[@stuarthastie6374]

I think Alln Benett os havinga go at "Eton Mess"...

[@nicolajames5998]

Lovely 😍

[@evacameron6288]

Can you upload The Witches ready by Simon Callow?

[@scoppio07]

Anyone know where you can get the Alan Bates TV film? Seems impossible to track down.

[@michaelhelme6313]

I've a poor quality copy of it if you want to download.

[@scoppio07]

@@michaelhelme6313 Oh yes, it would be great to see it again.

[@michaelhelme6313]

@@scoppio07 Ok. I'll post the link soon.

[@scoppio07]

Thanks very much. Whenever you have time.

[@michaelhelme6313]

@@scoppio07 Here's the file you wanted. Great performance by Alan Bates. Funny/poignant. www.dropbox.com/s/wbuo7wivvp53krn/an%20englishman%20abroad.mp4?dl=0

[@stuarthastie6374]

The one problem with this play is the central motive (measuring for a Saville Row Suit). In fact this requires skill tand training to get it right. In the trade this suit would be called an abortion, were it made up. Tailors keep records of previous measurments and deformaties.

[@johnglenn30csardas]

True, but they had all the measurements from his other suits made when he lived in London. The tailor looks at them and says that he has evidently gained weight. So if they combined the old measurements with the new and expanded proportionally, a decent suit could likely be made.

[@stuarthastie6374]

@@johnglenn30csardas it could be the best cloth and beautifully made but her measurments could not be trusted. I did hundreds, was trained and trained others, to avoid mistakes. I bet the tailor made provision for letting out or taking in. Burgess was probaby most interested in a Savlle Row lable to flash.

[@michaelmayoh656]

Well they made the suit and he was happy with it!

[@stuarthastie6374]

@@michaelmayoh656 i thimk the stoty has heen embellished with spme n nonsense, known in the theatre as "Business". The origina l anecdote being he said she said.. Isusspect Alan Bennet is a Ready toWear kind of guy with his bicycleclipps in hhis pockett.

[@michaelgibson4705]

“ I think we have Mr Guys measurements on file, “Madam “if it’s not true it should be

[@nw133]

The woman in this play doesn't sound Australian she sounds like Judi Dench!

[@FigaroHey]

No, there's a depth in Judy Dench's voice that isn't in this woman's voice. Not that this woman is bad; just has higher tones on her vowels than Judy Dench.

[@jeremyparsons4940]

Coral Brown was Australian but didn’t sound it a lot of the time

[@johnglenn30csardas]

If you want to hear the real voice of Coral Browne, watch the 1983 TV film of this piece by John Schlesinger in which she plays herself. She was indeed from Australia, but as an actress in England had lost the accent from down under. The Schlesinger film is one of my favorite things on the screen. Just brilliant. Alan Bates plays Burgess in a bravura turn. It’s impossible to get except by a laborious download from Pirate Bay. Well worth the price of admission.

[@stuarthastie6374]

She sounda Australian when angry.

[@cotswoldcuckoo775]

She is the actress who probably most famously played Thelma in Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads, a very talented lady too.

[@xmaseveeve5259]

TOO QUIET.

[@robertsmuggles6871]

No wonder 'Mr Guy' drank himself to de@th.

[@michaelhelme6313]

Yes! Not the smartest of moves - to Cold War Moscow.🥴

[@Stormlucy111]

The volume is too low. Can't listen to this.

[@th8257]

Works fine for me.

[@richardfurnish843]

good but the music/songs are awful.