MORE SCREAMS IN THE NIGHT

RADIO 97

NIGHTFALL RETURNS NOV. 20

October 27, 1981.

       Be careful of the edge....Nightfall, CBC Radio's horror drama series returns to the last half hour of As It Happens, Friday, November 20 at 7.30 p.m. (8 in Nfld.). Your nefarious host Luther Kranst is waiting to pounce with a brand new series of half-hours guaranteed to scare you out of your wits. You have been warned.

       The season opener is Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu, dramatized by John Douglas and Graham Pomeroy. A variation on the vampire theme, this one has a bit more bite than usual as it delves into the psychology of friendship between two young girls. Guest stars Martha Henry and Douglas Rain appear with Dorothy Ann Haug, Eve Crawford, Douglas Campbell, Maureen Fitzgerald and Eric House.

       Burke Campbell's In the Eye of the Beholder (Nov. 27) concerns a crusty old farmer who receives a visit from a mysterious young man come to extract a hideous revenge for a wrong committed 20 years earlier. In Cemetery Stop by Margery Stewart (Dec. 4) a bus driver who may have been responsible for his wife's death, is obliged every night to drive past the cemetery where she is buried.

       A chilling psychological horror story, In the Name of the Father by Janet Bonellie, is slated for Dec. 11. Stephen Katz, a freelance stage, TV and radio director/producer whose work has been seen at the Shaw Festival, and in Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg and Vancouver, directed this one, along with In the Eye of the Beholder.

       Coordinating producer Bill Howell directed the other two, and will be producing at least half the season himself, along with Katz, Fred Diehl, Peter Boretski in Toronto and several regional producers.

       Howell is delighted with the way Nightfall has caught on with the public in Canada and in the States. CBC Radio has sold 26 episodes to National Public Radio in Washington and a very high 80% of its affilated stations are carrying it coast to coast. The Nightfall sale was the first time ever the CBC sold a radio drama series to another broadcasting organization.

       Urjo Kareda, director of script development for CBC Radio Drama, has commissioned scripts from Silver Donald Cameron in Cape Breton, Larry LeClair in P.E.I., Arthur Sarnuels in Montreal, Bill Gray, Calgary, Charles Tidler, Courtney, B.C., and Steven Freygood in Halifax.

       Some well-known actors are appearing in the series including Budd Knapp, Neil Munro, Murray Westgate, Jayne Eastwood, Dixie Seatle, Chris Wiggins, Ruth Springford and Hugh Webster, to name just a handful who have been cast to date.

       Nightfall began its reign of terror in July, 1980. Producer Bill Howell has some thoughts on the coming season: "Judging from audience response, horror is a very personal idiom. Our second season's success will be decided where it finally really matters out there in the world between each pair of ears. But I refuse to take any responsibility whatsoever for what the stories do to the people who tune them in by mistake, and the only person Luther Kranst has to answer to is himself."

       If Hallowe'en is here, can Nightfall be far behind?