Night of the Ding-Dong

Night of the Ding-Dong is a 1954 stage play by Ralph Peterson. It was this second play, following The Square Ring. It is a comedy set in Adelaide just after the Crimean War about the locals fearing a Russian invasion. It is based on a real incident.[1]

Plot

In 19th century Adelaide, after the Crimean War, Colonial Administrator Colonel Beauchamp, trains a volunteer defence corps at the weekends, and worries about a Russian invasion. Idealistic schoolteacher Higsen, who is in love with Beauchamp's daughter, is more concerned with free education. Higsen asks Beauchamp to marry the latter's daughter but is turned down because education must give way to defence. When a Russian gunboat is rumoured to be near Adelaide, Beauchamp sets about whipping up the public into a frenzy in order to fund a standing army.

1958 British TV adaptation
Night of the Ding-Dong
Directed byJohn Nelson Burton
Written byPeter John Dyer
John Nelson-Burton
Based onplay by Ralph Peterson
Distributed byITV
Release date
1958
Running time
60 mins
CountryUK
LanguageEnglish

The play was adapted for British TV in 1958 as part of Armchair Theatre.

Cast
  • David Courtney as Marcus Higson
  • Hilton Edwards as Colonel Beauchamp
  • John Kidd as Morgan Nash
  • Andree Melly as Louise Beauchamp
  • Charles Morgan as Godwin Shedly
  • Peter Myers as Thaddeus Beauchamp
  • Athene Seyler as Mrs. Beauchamp senior
  • Ewen Solon as Harry Kelp
  • Joyce Worsley as Victoria Beauchamp

Reception

Variety said "What started out as an apparently serious and thought-provoking aplay quickly developed into rather pointless farce."[2]

1961 Australian TV adaptation
Night of the Ding-Dong
Directed byWilliam Sterling
Written byJeff Underhill
Based onplay by Ralph Peterson
Production
company
ABC
Distributed byABC
Release date
3 May 1961 (Melbourne, live)
12 July 1961 (Sydney, broadcast)
Running time
60 mins or 45 mins[3]
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish

The play was filmed for Australian TV. It originally aired 3 May 1961 on ABC's Melbourne station, and was recorded for showing on other ABC stations. The original broadcast was live.[4] It was the TV debut for Ann Charleston.[5]

Filmink magazine said the concept sounded "like the 1966 film The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!."[6]

Cast
  • Michael Duffield as Col Beauchamp
  • Madeline Howell as Victoria Beauchamp
  • David Mitchell as Marcus Higson
  • Anne Charleston as Louise
  • Campbell Copelin as Mr Kelp
  • Keith Hudson as Mr Smedly
  • Charles Sinclair as Mr Nash
  • Carole Potter as Abigail
  • Roland Redshaw as Captain Manley
  • Stewart Weller as Jeffries
  • Eric Conway as gardener
  • Nevil Thurgood as gardener

Reception

The critic from the Sydney Morning Herald thought that "uniform competence in acting could not-altogether suggest the whimsy inherent in" the play.[7]

See also
  • List of television plays broadcast on Australian Broadcasting Corporation (1960s)

References
  1. "THE RUSSIAN SQUADRON IN AUSTRALIAN WATERS". Illustrated Australian News (314). Victoria, Australia. 25 January 1882. p. 5. Retrieved 18 February 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. Review of 1958 British TV version at Variety
  3. "TV Guide". Sydney Morning Herald. 10 July 1961. p. 14.
  4. "TV Guide". The Age. 27 April 1961.
  5. "Scare Background to "Live" Comedy". The Age. 27 April 1961. p. 14.
  6. Vagg, Stephen (18 February 2019). "60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & '60s". Filmink.
  7. "Satirical Play on TV". Sydney Morning Herald. 13 July 1961. p. 6.


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