Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: David Warner, Susannah Harker, Muriel Pavlow, Daphne Oxenford, Ian Burford, Lois Baxter, Lucy Gaskell, Steve Kynman, Lisa Bowerman, Nigel Fairs.
Tied by the clock, humanity seems to be regulated to go from the cradle to the grave checking the clock, counting down the hours religiously, almost with devotion and loyal consistency, till we put up our feet and let the final hours swim past in smiles and surrounded by memories.
Tied by the clock, we forget to live in between Time, and we find that as the minutes go by, that we lose control of the hours that offer much, until we are either fortunate enough to stay in our homes and surrounded by family who have the time to help us live, or we are left with little choice but to be placed in a home, to fill Time in the presence of people that we may have nothing in common with, and where the youth of the day have no interest in being.
Arguably one of the issues to be faced in such circumstances is the lack of diversity, the building block of human society is to be surrounded by all depths of emotion, physical prowess and ability and the care of all ages; something that could be said does not exist within the environment of retirement homes, with the exception of staff who for the most part would rather be somewhere else. This sense of disproportion in social care is highlighted in Nigel Fairs’ Sapphire And Steel audio drama, Cruel Immortality.
Following in from the previous tale with almost seamless thoroughness, Cruel Immortality sees a Sapphire-less Steel arrive at a point where Time has moved on but remains stuck, frozen at a point where he himself becomes tired of the relentless, remorseless, march towards infirmity, sudden naps and endless cups of tea. It is in this moment that the listener is reminded of the beauty of the pairing, and to be without one, when one is lost in time, the partnership becomes unbalanced, unfruitful, and the sense of insecurity this provides within the dynamic is curiously fascinating, attention grabbing and gives the writing even more scope than might be first imagined.
A warning perhaps to not ignore those that we deem to be a burden, for Time has a habit of making their lives indispensable to us.
Ian D. Hall