My Unenviable Envy of Mark Gatiss's The Unquenchable Thirst of Dracula (BBC Radio 4, 2017)
The Unquenchable Thirst of Dracula is Mark Gatiss’s audio adaptation of an unmade Hammer horror film from the 70’s, when the studio was in decline. With a weary Christopher Lee having finally walked from the franchise, it’s possible to read the screenplay by stalwart producer Anthony Hinds as either Hammer’s riposte to their absent star for bailing, or as an appeal to the actor to come back, in a kind of ‘this one will actually be really good, honest’ attempt at persuasion, for the Count is very much centre stage here, given much to do and say - more than in any of the Hammer Draculas except Scars of Dracula (1970). It’s intriguing to wonder who Hammer might have cast if Lee had remained steadfast in his refusal to ever again play the Bitey One. Presumably they would not have gone with John Forbes-Robertson again, unless everyone at the studio was ingesting way too many bad drugs. Whomever they would have picked, he would almost certainly have been better than Lewis McCleod, the actor playing Dracula in this version. McCleod, who once played Paul McCartney in a series of TV sketches, was the voice of Postman Pat (beloved under-tens kid’s BBC TV stop-motion animation from the early 80’s onward), and so I couldn’t help but listen to this otherwise splendid audio drama picturing the amiable ginger postie as speaking all of Dracula’s lines, which conjured up some fantastically weird imagery, particularly during the obligatory sexy bits. And Mcleod’s Dracula laugh is rubbish. But the rest of the cast is excellent, and the Indian setting, following the Far East in Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires, adds much to the story, though this being Hammer, and this being the 1970s, obviously the focus is on a Kali death cult. I’m sure Dr Who fan Gatiss got a kick at directing a character named Rani, but since Gatiss, as we’ve established, makes a living from indulging his inner fanboy, that’s part and parcel of the territory. There’s a fair bit of bad audio descriptive narration (by the splendid Michael Sheen), with lines like “Penny has to stifle a scream as a rat scurries across her foot,” and “As Prem turns from the coffin, the vampire’s eyes open,” and the whole thing is wrought with ornate Gatiss dialogue and has at least six endings, but I liked it well enough. A decent Monday morning’s work from Mr G, before he’s had his coffee and breakfast and his busy day really begins, because he’s off now to write, direct, and star in a Postman Pat vs Godzilla movie.
COUNTING DRACULAS - Binge-Watching the Vampire King by Vince Stadon
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