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The play offered audiences a strange mixture of pagan relics, a student of the paranormal, the fear of an elderly man that he has brought down an ancient curse upon mankind which could ultimately lead its extinction, an alien plot to seize control of the planet and an ancient power older than time itself. All these ingredients were thrown together in a premise concerning the theft of a pagan statue which is broken up and hidden in vehicles transported on the ferry. This leads to the inexplicable and painful deaths of a variety of passengers. From such a strong idea, the play soon deteriorated into the kind of pretentious psycho-babble and "we're so outrageously intelligent" science fiction fare which marred the 1980s output in this genre, with what is ostensibly an overly long yet disturbing supernatural play set in the distant and potential future. With a multitude of passengers dying mysteriously or killing themselves in a variety of unintentionally comical manners, coupled with bizarre flashbacks and dream sequences, over-the-top performances and the strange alien plot torn straight from the unused pages of a Bodysnatchers-eque plot, Artemis 81 rapidly became more confusing than it was required to be. Whilst the production values were unquestionably high under the guiding hands of producer David Rose and director Alastair Reid, the play is in the end largely forgettable. Comic-book clichés as exemplified by the Angel of Life Helith (Sting) and the Emissary of Death, Helith's twin-brother Asrael (Roland Curram) underline how over-rated this play has become over the passing of time (good wears white, bad wears black, classic human dilemma of man caught between the two with a choice which could end the world). The play featured variable performances from Hywel Bennett as student of the paranormal and unscrupulous writer Gideon Harlax, Dinah Stabb, Dan O'Herilhy, Ian Redford, Margaret Whiting and Daniel Day Lewis. The play was globally exported but has never been released on either VHS or DVD.
The series was devised and written by David Rudkin, produced by David Rose and directed by Alistair Reid. The series was script edited by Roger Gregory. Further Reading: David Rudkin's homepage has further material on this production as well as Rudkin's other TV work. |
Publicity : A Tale With A Sting: I won't attempt to encapsulate the ideas of David Rudkin's wide-ranging play, Artemis 81 (Tuesday, 29 December, 9:00pm), except to describe it, as it was to me, as a "futuristic fantasy". But hovering over it is the influence of that great thriller director, Alfred Hitchcock, whom Rudkin has admired all his life, he says that he would have "dedicated this film to him, but now it's a homage to his memory".  Two other aspects intrigue me. First, it has a searching sense of place - its locations ranging from Denmark, East Anglia and Liverpool, from the Midlands to North Wales. And that gives the narrative a wider scope, deliberate on Rudkin's part. And there's the cast - which must be the most intriguing assembly of actors from different backgrounds ever attempted. There's Hywel Bennett (from Shelley), and Dinah Stabb (from the National Theatre), and Dan O'Herilhy (who was nominated for an Oscar for his part in Bunuel's Robinson Crusoe). Above all, there's "Sting", lead singer of The Police (you can also see and hear him with The Police - Montserrat 81, Saturday 19 December, 5:10pm), in his first major dramatic role. He is the Angel of Life, and was deliberately chosen as a present-day "god". His wife, of course, is actress Frances Tomelty, and he's now "going straight" again in a film version of Dennis Potter's Brimstone And Treacle. (Radio Times, December 19, 1981 - Article by Robert Ottaway). Synopsis : A Danish museum case shattered, the pieces of a pagan statue hidden in cars on a North Sea ferry, the subsequent deaths of ferry passengers, an old musician terrified that a curse upon him will cause the devastation of the Earth. Gideon Harlax, a successful young novelist of "the paranormal and unexplained", thinks he has found the material for a new book. But as Gideon coldly exploits human tragedies, angry powers from Man's ancient past are gathering. Artemis 81: What is in a pagan relic so compelling that Drachenfels (Dan O'Herilhy) is drawn to steal it? Gwen (Dinah Stabb) loves Gideon (Hywel Bennett) but he is withdrawn within, beyond her reach - a condition the Greeks called being "in the thrall of Artemis". Asrael (Ronald Curram) and Helith (Sting) fight for control of man's destiny. Text © Matthew Lee, 2004. |
