Yesterday at work, when writing catalog copy and assembling order forms and organizing name badges for the Retailer Summit, I listened to a several hours’ worth of BBC Radio dramas. Besides the first two episodes of “A Place of Greater Safety,” an adaptation of the novel about the French Revolution by Wolf Hall‘s Hilary Mantel, I also listened to Michael Butt’s “Unauthorised History: The Killing,” an intriguing drama about the death of Christopher Marlowe.
What’s interesting about it is the way it’s done, in the style of a documentary that you might find on the History Channel. Paul Rhys plays the narrator/documentarian who visits the various locations of Marlowe’s final days and talks with the people around him, building the story of Marlowe’s death with every interview. His journey to uncover the truth will lead him to the shadowy powers behind Elizabeth’s throne, and his narration grows with intensity as he nears what he believes is the truth. It’s well made and evocative, with a cast that includes Torchwood‘s Burn Gorman and Game of Thrones‘ Harry Lloyd.
If you’ve any interest in the Elizabethan period, this is worth spending forty-five minutes on.