Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: David Warner, Susannah Harker, Joseph Young, Neil Salvadge, Ian Hallard, Lucy Beresford, Michael Adams, Stuart Piper.

The lies we tell ourselves, the secrets we keep in our mind, are the endless triggers for Time to leak from the past and into the future, and what we may believe is our own private self being protected from admitting our failures, the darkness within, it has a habit of spilling out, thanks to Time, and infecting others, putting lives in mortal danger.

Many different authors have used Time as an aid to the weapon wielded by the individual or society at large, but it in the series Sapphire And Steel that the viewer arguably sees Time as the nefarious beast, calculating, insidious outside of its normal decayed past, mindful of the games that human’s play, that it can be if we allow it to be anything other a guide to the present moment in which we inhabit.

In the audio drama, The Lighthouse, directed by John Ainsworth and written by Nigel Fairs, fans of the series can feel the depth of anger that can brought to the surface when denial, secrets and lies are revealed, and when a person refuses to confront the possible happiness they may enjoy for the sake of keeping a so called respectable face for polite society. It is with added interest that the principal character of the piece, Joseph, is battling his own insecurity of being gay. In our own time the issue of sexuality, is one that is, for the most part, accepted and celebrated by humanity, and quite rightly so, but in the late 60s and 70s, and even going into the AIDS-dominated period of the 1980s, the notion of coming out was fraught with social upheaval, of snide remarks and often violence.

This sense of insight between the two periods is one that is remarkably insightful, and for a series such as Sapphire And Steel, to tackle the issue of deep self-loathing and the fear of violence because of the refusal to acknowledge love as a beautiful thing between two people, is one that still resonates across the ages; perhaps one that is as relevant in the modern day when people don’t accept for whatever reason, that someone loves someone of their own gender.

Whilst The Lighthouse perhaps doesn’t have the same effect on the listener, due to being only two episodes long instead of the usual four, it nevertheless has a resounding beat to it, one of drama, of fear and rejection at its uppermost limit, and for that it stands out as a wonderfully crafted Sapphire and Steel story.

Ian D. Hall