Penda's Fen
| Penda's Fen | |
|---|---|
Home video cover
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| Directed by | Alan Clarke |
| Produced by | David Rose |
| Written by | David Rudkin |
| Starring | Spencer Banks |
| Cinematography | Michael Williams |
| Edited by | Henry Fowler |
| Distributed by | BBC |
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Release date
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21 March 1974 |
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Running time
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90 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Penda's Fen is a British television play which was written by David Rudkin and directed by Alan Clarke. It was commissioned by BBC producer David Rose, and first broadcast on 21 March 1974 as part of the corporation's Play for Today series.
Set in the village of Pinvin, near Pershore in Worcestershire, England, against the backdrop of the Malvern Hills, it is an evocation of conflicting forces within England past and present. These include authority, tradition, hypocrisy, landscape, art, sexuality, and most of all, its mystical, ancient pagan past. All of this comes together in the growing pains of the adolescent Stephen, a vicar's son, whose encounters include angels, Edward Elgar and King Penda himself. The final scene of the play, where the protagonist has an apparitional experience of King Penda and the "mother and father of England", is set on the Malvern Hills.
Spencer Banks starred as Stephen, with a cast including Jennie Hesselwood, Ian Hogg and Georgine Atkinson. Music was by Paddy Kingsland of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.
Critics have noted that the play stands apart from Clarke's other, more realist output. Clarke himself admitted that he did not fully understand what the story was about. Nonetheless it has gone on to acquire the status of minor classic, win awards and has been rebroadcast several times on the BBC.
Following the original broadcast Leonard Buckley, The Times wrote: "Make no mistake. We had a major work of television last night. Rudkin gave us something that had beauty, imagination and depth."
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