Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
Cast: Paul Whitehouse, Harry Enfield, Don Gilet, Lee Ross, Tony Gardner, Mika Simmons, Simon Greenall, Phil Cornwell, Toby Longworth, Andrew McGibbon, Ian Pearce, Karen Bartke.
Out of adversity comes genius, from hardship come friendship that lasts a lifetime, and When Alan Met Ray in a T.B. sanitorium in post war Britain, when neither 18-year-old were expected to live much longer thanks to the disease the world called White Plague or Consumption ravaging their lungs and body, what came out of this terrible situation was a comradeship for Alan Simpson and Ray Galton that transcended disease and saw the pair became two of Britain’s much loved providers of comedy thanks to their working with Tony Hancock on radio and television, and the irreplaceable Harry H. Corbett and Wilfred Brambell on the sheer delight that was Steptoe And Son.
Tuberculosis is not a laughing matter, it is a disease that took almost half of those infected to an early grave, and yet, as the 45 minute drama is at pains to make clear, without either boy realising it, their time in the sanitorium was to lead to the flowering creativity that saw British comedy become the envy of the world in the late 1950s and through to day when Alan Simpson retired from writing.
The radio play, written by Ian Pearce and Andrew McGibbon, brings together the resounding pair of Paul Whitehouse and Harry Enfield in the elder men’s thoughts and reminisces and as the burgeoning respect for the two young men becomes clear as they bond in such a challenging environment, an almost defiant and rebellious spirit running through the veins of the future comedy writers.
When Alan Met Ray brings to the listener’s attention the state of healthcare after World War Two, the fledgling N.H.S. ill-equipped to deal with the numbers of sick people, but also the type of doctor that showed more care to proving their diagnosis than providing the patient with a modicum of hope in attempting something that might make a difference to their life.
The radio play is one of fondness, it connects with the idea that illness is not a barrier to the creative experience, indeed it can be an asset as your mind filters out the damaging aspects of life and instead focuses the attention on the innovative imagination, and there was so much ingenuity that was waiting to flow from Alan Simpson and Ray Galton.
From out of adversity can come inspiration, and the pair that bought Steptoe and Son and Hancock’s Half Hour to the masses overcame extreme odds and added, as the drama presents, a sense of beauty to the world. When Alan Met Ray is perfectly crafted drama from truth.
Ian D. Hall