When Joan Littlewood produced her autobiography, Joan’s Book, in 1994, Enyd Williams was quickly on to it. She turned it into A Book at Bedtime on BBC Radio 4 that Joan read herself.
In a merry coda to the stage director’s career, Enyd would ring, asking Joan if she would like to act in a radio play, and Joan would invariably accept. Among them was a Poirot, Evil Under the Sun, and a Miss Marple, Sleeping Murder.
Joan had started in radio in the second half of the 1930s, writing, performing and producing for the BBC in Manchester. Recording a play for Enyd proved to be a day out. Surrounded by actors, rather than watching them, Joan became a different person. Between scenes she chatted away, encouraging her fellow players, which they adored, and rubbishing directors, which they adored even more.
