Diary of a Madman (animation)
| Genre | Comedy/farce |
|---|---|
| Home station | BBC Radio |
| Created by | Richard Williams |
| Written by |
|
| Directed by | Richard Williams |
| Produced by | Ned Chaillet |
| Edited by | John Whitehall |
| Narrated by | Kenneth Williams |
| Original release | 3 February 1991 – present |
This performance is rather a curiosity amongst Kenneth Williams' work as it was originally started in 1963 as a soundtrack to a short animated film of Nicolai Gogol’s classic tale.
The fate of this film was similar to another of Richard Williams' films that Kenneth Williams did voice-over work on, The Thief and the Cobbler. Having, unfortunately, never been completed, the narrations performed by Williams survived, and it was this that was remixed by the BBC and broadcast.
The discussions about the film took place at Kenneth Williams' flat at 11.30am on 14 May 1963, with the recording actually taking place on the 23rd. The recording session started at 10.30am and continued throughout the whole day, finishing at 5pm.
It was nearly thirty years later, a few years after Williams' death, that the BBC re-edited the soundtrack with the first broadcast on Radio 4, at 8.00pm on 3 February 1991. There was a repeat soon after this.
Dramatisation by James Burke, music by Peter Shade
The last purported broadcast was on ABC Classic FM on Wednesday 31 March 1999 at 8pm (Australia). The recording does still exist in the BBC archives.
