Glyn Dearman
James Follett reports
" That over Christmas 1998 Glyn Dearman, the original producer of Earthsearch for BBC Radio 4, died in his London flat just before Christmas It seems that he fell down the stairs and broke his neck. The ironic thing is that Glyn hated lifts-- he never used them even though his office in Broadcasting house was on the 6th floor. He was an experienced stair-user " James Follett 1999
Glyn was the producer for the following Radio plays by James Follett for BBC Radio 4
The Devil To Pay 1st Broadcast 21st April 1979
The Long Lonely Voyage Of U-395 1st Broadcast 30th January 1980
Earthsearch I 10 Episodes 1st Broadcast January - March 1981
Earthsearch II 10 Episodes 1st Broadcast April - June 1982
He was a respected radio producer, achieving drama of the highest standards: "I, Claudius" and "Claudius the God", done at the Maida Vale studios, are examples of his work. There are different ways of getting decent results as a producer; Glyn did it by choosing the SMs (Studio Managers) most suited to the production, and being fully involved both with them and the actors, giving detailed notes about each bit of the script, more notes on later takes, and sometimes offering an extra pair of hands (an offer not always accepted!) at the mixing desk.
He produced some well-known plays including Andrew Sach's wordless "The Revenge", the surreal "Oedipus, Gunslinger" by Ian Weir, Stoppard's "Dissolution of Dominic Boot", the Earthsearch serials by James Follett, Estelman's "Sherlock Holmes v. Dracula", and Andrew Rissik's "Psychedelic Spy". He produced Rodney Wingfield's first radio play (Our West Ladyton Branch) and many others including Better Never than Late in which Leslie Sands played Detective Inspector Chew, a character considered by many to be the prototype for Jack Frost.
In the 1980s Glyn was the baddie in a special play written for Children in Need, called "The Dead Room", where most of the parts were taken by producers.
A number of Glyn's colleagues have spoken of the fun and interest of working in his productions. He was also a superb cook and a proficient DIY-er. It was a great loss to the world of radio drama when he died in an accident at home.
(in approximate order of transmission)
Mrs. Dale's Diary
Waggoner's Walk
1964 The Dissolution of Dominic Boot (T.Stoppard)
1968 Our West Ladyton Branch (R.D.Wingfield)
1973 Sins of Commission (R.D.Wingfield)
Sauce for the Goose (and other Georges Feydeau farces)
The Revenge (A.Sachs)
1979 The Tor Sands Experience (B.Stewart)
1981 A fall of Moondust (A.C.Clarke)
1981 The first men in the moon (H.G.Wells)
1981 Journey into Space
1981 The technicolour time machine (Gallagher)
1981 Earthsearch (J.Follett)
1981 Sherlock Holmes v. Dracula (dram. G. Dearman)
1982 Blythe thou never wert, Change of View, Normal Service (Melville)
1982 Earthsearch 2 (J.Follett)
1982 Project Genesis
1984 Oedipus, Gunslinger (I.Weir)
1983 Revelations
1989 R.U.R (Capek)
1990 Dan Dare
1990 The Psychedelic Spy (A.Rissik)
1991 Who Goes There?
The Miser (Goldoni)
Room with a View (Forster), rpt. BBC7 Apr. 2004
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