Saturday 15 August 2009

Middle Ditch 34



The Send Off

Drake becomes very upset during Alan's funeral and gets carried away.
Jim, Susan and Anna have doubts about who fathered Sarah's unborn baby.

This episode features in order of appearance

Christine McLaughlin as the Announcer
Jeremy Drake as Farmer Drake
Keith Walton as Jim
Sue Tarrant as Susan
Sorani Mkandawire as Anna
Jay Ramsay as Bishop Ramsay

Editing and sound effects by Helen Hardy and David Caddy
Written and directed by Monique Caddy

46 comments:

Reader Wil said...

Stone me! It's getting curiouser and curiouser! Again a very intriguing episode!
Thanks for your comment! I had relatives who slept in "bed stees" And once when we stayed with them we were allowed to sleep in one.But you know more about them then I. When we came to The Netherlands after the war I also wanted to have "klompen/ clogs", but it was very difficult to walk in the snow, like you said in your comment.

Middle Ditch said...

Thanks Reader Wil.

Spoony Quine said...

Arrrgh! Need sound on computer! I will go to the Mac! Yes!!! That will make it better!

I'll be back.

Oh, BTW, you ironically got to my art blog just before I posted a new one!

Anonymous said...

Getting better all the time.

David Caddy said...

I enjoyed this episode as it showed the vulnerable side of Drake. A compelling ensemble piece, as ever.

Charles Gramlich said...

Good one. Kind of weird to see Jay Ramsay there. I just posted about a book by a Jay Ramsay, which turns out to be a pseudonym for Ramsey Campbell.

Anne Lyken-Garner said...

Ha! Empty coffin indeed. I did like the solemn voice 'LET US PRAY...' it was funny because of the pace and emphasis in the voice.

'Stone me' was said a bit too many times I think, but this is just my opinion. Especially when it was shouted out in the middle of two other people having a conversation.

This is really tight writing and the actors are getting better and better. Well done!

jmsjoin said...

Stone me! I have been a bit busy but held on to this as I look forward to hearing. It is a few minutes of sanity. Another good one!

Middle Ditch said...

S E E Quine, I'll be at your blog shortly. You know how much I love to see your new posts.

Thanks Aggie, I'll be at yours soon too.

Hi David, yes, I agree and Jed played his part tremendously, showing all the emotions.

Middle Ditch said...

Hey Charles, how weird is that? Well, that Jay Ramsay is definitely not our Jay Ramsay, the Bishop.

Anne, don't forget that Drake is very upset. After all soon after he discovered that Alan was his son, Alan died. And as he always says stone me when shocked or upset, I'm not at all surprised he says this so many times. Thank you for the compliment about tight writing and thank you for complimenting the actors. I will pass it on to them.

Middle Ditch said...

Thanks Ruela, the episode where your art is mentioned is still a long way away. I will let you know.

Thanks Jim, it's always good to see you.

Devin said...

I agree with Aggie-Reader Wil -David Caddy and others!! another wonderful episode of Middle Ditch-tee hee love Drake's trademark "stone me" -love and hugs to all of you!!

Middle Ditch said...

Thanks Devin.

Helene said...

Just popped in to check in on ya and say hello! Hope you are enjoying the summer! Its so terribly hot here right now, but I am not complaining! I would rather have the heat than the cold anyday!!

cherie said...

ms. monique, this is brilliant, and i have missed you for a long time! well' was his son in there at all? how was it anna's fault? and why were they all talking at the same time, even after the ceremony has already started? very interesting!

Middle Ditch said...

Hi Helene, good to see you. The weather is not too bad here at the moment. Not too hot anyway, but I wish the rain would stay away for a week or so.

Hi Cheri, of course his son was in there. Drake was just very upset and the reason it's Anna's fault? Well, that will be revealed in another episode.

And just having the ceremony would be very boring, so a few words here and there kept it going nicely.

Thank you both very much for visiting and commenting.

BernardL said...

A very unusual ceremony for the departed. I'm with Drake. I'd want to see inside.

Middle Ditch said...

I would love to see you do that BernardL. I mean that in the friendliest possible way of course.

:-D

Rick said...

Monique, my speakers went out so I can't hear this episode! I'll be back when I find a 12 year old to fix them. This is so frustrating because I've been waiting for this episode. Ouch, I notice SEE Quine has the same problem...

Middle Ditch said...

Hi Rick, no problem. something like this happened to us a long, long time ago, when we invested in a very new video recorder, when connections and tuning were in it's infancy, and we had to find a twelve-year old to fix that for us.

X. Dell said...

I seem to be having problems with my sound (very low). No matter. This was a good episode. I'm already dying to know what Drake saw in the coffin.

dabrah said...

I'm having trouble with my sound too, or maybe it's my hearing that needs checking! But I enjoyed this episode all the same. Wonder what's in the coffin.

Elena Horowitz-Brookes said...

Hi Monique! I'll be back soon to have a listen.
I've been very busy and had to put blogging aside for
a while. Looking forward to having a dose of Middle Ditch!

jed said...

Good old Mrs Wood seems to be recovering well from all her ordeals in the hands of a new man.

Coming through loud and clear on my speakers, I'm
pleased to write.

Looking forward to the next episode.

Dr. Russell Norman Murray said...

Life insurance and a funeral, two costly things that are no fun.

Middle Ditch said...

Hi X.Dell, all I know is that farmer Drake tries to open the coffin. The poor man is very distressed. Not surprisingly so. First he learns that he has a son, then said son dies, then, apparently, Anna told him something which makes him believe that the coffin is empty! What on earth did she tell him? I believe we will find out in a future episode.

Middle Ditch said...

Hey Dabrah, thanks for listening and we will find out in due time what exactly is in the coffin.

Elena, good to see you again. You have been missed.

Hi Jed, I hope you are okay after saying goodbye to you son. And who knows, we soon might have a wedding. Wouldn't it be fun for the whole cast to go up north for the celebrations?

Middle Ditch said...

thekingpin, yes, I agree. Costly indeed. But if this would all be gloom and doom, I think it would be quite boring to listen to. After all, these are quirky tales of village life and hopefully I can keep them quirky indeed.

fizzycat said...

Will be back for a listen sound playing up again. Thanks for best wishes about parents, they are so much better this week.
Scourers really work!

fizzycat said...

Drake brilliant in this episode. Now at last have the sound but only part of the page loaded , no links very odd . Can nearly hear a 'stone me' in the background.

Middle Ditch said...

Nearly everybody seems to have a problem with the sound Fizz. Thank goodness you were able to hear Farmer Drake say "Stone me".

Commander Zaius said...

I'm curious, who is the father of Sara's baby?

cherie said...

ms. monique, how about i'm back! i don't know your take on awards but i had just given you the Honest Scrap Award. if you're ok with it, please head on over to my site and grab it from my sidebar! thank you so much!

~PakKaramu~ said...

Pak Karamu visiting your blog

Middle Ditch said...

Beach Bum, that would be telling, but as it is you, it's John, Alan's brother, both departed from this world. Sarah cheated on Alan, her husband of nine years, with John. She is a very, very naughty girl.

Middle Ditch said...

Cherie, I'm honoured, thank you. I don't take awards to my blog as it is the actors who give life to the serial and it wouldn't be fair on them, but thank you so much. It's great to receive an award.

Nice to meet you PakKaramu

~PakKaramu~ said...

Pak karamu reading and visiting your blog

Middle Ditch said...

Hello again PakKaramu

Leigh Russell said...

The characters keep developing in an entirely natural way. I wonder how far ahead you plan all this, Monique? It flows so effortlessly. In some ways you remind me of Dickens, moving from episode to episode, the creativity never flagging. You really have a remarkable talent. And, like Dickens, it's such fun!

Middle Ditch said...

Leigh, you are just too kind. Thank you for that lovely Dickens compliment.

How far ahead? Well we need to have at least 4 to 5 episodes recorded before putting it on the blog. With all the editing and sound effects added. This is at times exhausting work (ask Helen and David who are the masters) and I need to be ahead in writing the episodes roughly about the same amount before recording.

We like to record several episodes in one day and to make it worthwhile to come for a recording session(sometimes great distances traveled) we try to make sure that each of the actors are in more than one episode. This takes some organizing but so far so good.

•°°• IcyBC •°°• said...

Wow, Monique, this is such an exciting episode, and I can't wait to find out if Drake comes back..Sorry, I'm late on arriving, and doing my catch up now!

Middle Ditch said...

Hi Icy BC, no doubt that Drake will be back. He is such an important person in the story.

jed said...

I hope that Drake is coming back!!!!

Middle Ditch said...

Of course he will be back Jed. I wouldn't dream of writing him out (yet) :-D

Janice Thomson said...

Well now I can't wait to find out what Anna did to make Drake so upset...really enjoyed Drake's character in this one.

Middle Ditch said...

Well now Janice, all I can divulge here is that it has something to do with Anna's last surviving son. We will learn what it is in due course.