Ethereal, engaging and unusual, Charlotte Bronte's tale of isolation and requited love makes a fine three hour audio production. While this BBC Audio version may not attract the rave reviews of the original book's fans - George Eliot says: 'Villette! Villette! Have you read it?'; Virginia Woolf describes it as Bronte's 'finest novel' - it pulls the stops out in an attempt to spice up the classic yarn.

It's Bronte's third and final novel, published two years before her death - inspired by her language studies at the Pensionnat Heger in Brussels.

Villette is the most intense of Bronte's tales, with psychosexual and existential undercurrents. Audio adapter James Friel handles this well, with whispered soliloquies reflecting the heroine's mindset, developing a strong philosophy and motivation for her. Some of the theatrics don't work - the narrative is atmospheric enough without hokey effects. As one character says (about Lucy,) 'the emotion is all the more powerful for being contained.' Villette is still a worthy attempt to update a well-loved antique roadshow.

The star of this meaningful morsel is so-quiet Lucy 'Crusty' Snowe (Catherine McCormack). A simple and decent Protestant, she's the first to admit that she's 'not demure or neat by nature… steady, good and sensible.' Supporting characters include Lucy's husband-to-be Paul (James Laurenson), an autocratic schoolmaster. Further love interest Graham (Joseph Fiennes) is a fickle man, always 'sun or rain.'

The insidious Ginevra (Nancy Caroll) is described by her friends as a mighty doll and a featherbrained girl; she promises to be more interesting than the heroine. Lucy's giggly English pupils feign illness so that they can meet the local doctor, like extras in an ad for Italian sauce. There's also a mysterious nun ('…from beyond the grave, or child of my sad malady?')
There's a slow start to wade through, detailing Lucy's childhood and setting up the characters. Friel dispatches the sequence as quickly as decency will allow.

As the story speeds up and Lucy finds work as a schoolmistress, the number of coincidences also increases. The synchronicities may cause a belief hazard for some listeners; Lucy has a habit of bumping into characters who will become important later in the story.

Fortunately Lucy is interesting enough to hold our attention over the course of the narrative. There's no fairy tale ending here: she'll have to work for a living and struggle to make ends meet. Her dreams and inner voice make her life well worth a listen. Her insecurities are believable and her brushes with insanity are frightening. She's 'well used to being invisible,' but not always passive. She refuses to be anybody's shadow - not even that of a 'bright lady' like her love rival Paulina (Elisabeth Dermot-Walsh.)

Although we find out what happens to many of the characters, we are still left with some coyly unanswered questions. Not least of which: why is the story named after the town of Villette? Perhaps the heroine's name wasn't regarded as snappy enough.

'It does not always do to be a mere looker on at life,' Lucy carefully states. But sometimes it suffices to listen.

This blog has been hi-jacked. OK, not really. I'm John Hood, one of Nick's friends from the hazy daze of undergraduate study in the UK. And sometime 'technical support' for his online endeavors.

Nick wrote a haunting poem (performed by Bob Sessions) as part of his screenplay for December Duet (1996) and, yesterday, I created an MP3 file for podcast. Please enjoy.

Your normal superior service will be resumed soon...

This is me, driving.

July 15th was a big milestone for me. It marked 2 years to the day since I arrived in the USA, a timorous immigrant who didn't know his American arse from his elbow.

2003 was an exciting, unsettling year for me - moving to the States was like stepping into a parallel universe, where everything was subtly different from my cosy (if chilly) British world. I launched myself into work for the local newspapers and a quirkily-run theatre company, and had my confidence knocked early on when I landed in traffic court for that most heinous of South Carolina crimes, being "too foreign-lookin'".

These days, I don't find driving so scary any more, although I still obey the rules of the road and even stick to the speed limit, to the disgust of my friends Heather, Christie and Trevor. I don't think I'd still be here without their support and I feel very lucky to have found them.

One day my arrival here will be a distant memory and I'll feel like I've earned the right to call Charleston my home town. Until then I'll continue to feel a little strange in this extraordinary land - a feeling I've had to learn to get comfortable with.

Giant spiders are always tough to tangle with, but at least Dick Barton never had to battle Carolina roaches.

This daft, facile and utterly compelling serial was first recorded in 1946. In the bleak days of post-war rationing, radio listeners sought escapist entertainment and that's exactly what they got. Despite the protestations of stuffy critics, the adventures of Dick Barton - essentially children's fare - rapidly became popular with the whole family.

This BBC Audio release treats us with Barton's first adventure, and delivers the danger and excitement promised by its famous frenzied theme tune. Although the Beeb failed to retain any version of the show, some kindly soul made a clear off-air copy of the 1972 rerecording for our delectation.

The original stars reunited for the '70s version. Noel Johnson sounds great, with a commanding presence that anyone would heed. Snowey White (John Mann)'s a little croaky - that makes him all the more endearing as he backs up the hero.

The most surprising thing about Barton and his boss, products of innocent '40s adventure series, are their fascist tactics. In one scene spy chief Colonel Gardiner (William Fox) tortures a prisoner with a giant mutant spider; in a later escapade, Barton shoots an unarmed hostage! These antics are a far cry from later episodes, where the action was toned down for fear of distressing the kiddies. Any references to alcohol or girlfriends were excised.

Character development consists of turncoat scientists and Dick Barton's chauvinism. Romantic interest Jean Hunter (Margaret Robertson) is quite a heroine: she can handle herself in a scrape, and put up with Dick's sexist remarks to boot. BBC stalwarts Richard Hurndall, resident kindly old scientist, and Michael Kilgarriff, large vocally and physically, are as dependable as ever.

Despite battling spiders, rats and evil henchmen, Barton always has a simple way out of a fix. The villains are so busy being fiendish that they make foolish mistakes and get caught out. This lessens the threat that they pose, but audiences still enjoy similar delights today - from the Saturday teatime nonsense of Alias to the adventures of a more sophisticated special agent called James Bond.

New Look

There are some people who are so talented that it makes an average guy like me sick. And then there’s folks like Melissa Garrard, who’s exceptionally talented but far too cool to despise. She’s revamped the Cat City site for your delectation – check it out and let me know what you think of the new look.

Melissa submitted a short film called Together for this year’s Folly Felder Film Festival, and also created a spoof commercial for Kitty Couture (hip clothing for cats and dogs). She scripted, presented and animated the ad. You’ll find samples of her work at Mellimay, an eclectic collection of artworks, many with a manga flavor.