Who Killed Mrs De Ropp?
BBC4's Edwardian season continues with this adaptation of three stories by the satirical author Saki, aka Hector Munro, whose subversive writing scandalised early 20th-century society. The darkly comic tales revolve around a group of children who rebel against their tyrannical aunt (Gemma Jones). We asked Ben Daniels, the narrator, to fill us in...
How would you describe Who Killed Mrs De Ropp?
It's three Saki stories put together and it's a very intriguing way of portraying an interesting writer's voice. The production company also adapted Evelyn Waugh's Mr Loveday's Little Outing which I saw, so when they asked me to do this I said: 'Ooh yes!' It's like posh Jackanory! And the stories are great, he was a fascinating writer and so acerbic and witty, I love the way he kicks against Edwardian morals by being subversive and funny.
What do the three stories have in common?
They all have a very stiff aunt figure at the centre. And it ties in with Saki, aka Hector Munro's, real life. It sounds ridiculous but his mother was indirectly killed by a runaway cow who ran at her. She was pregnant and miscarried and never recovered. Then he went to live with incredibly strict aunts and a grandmother who beat him. So a lot of his stories have a domineering parent/guardian figure and also they link strangely with animals, so I can only think it connects with his mother's death and the people who eventually brought him up. He was very quiet and lashed out with his imagination and that ties in with the last story about a quiet little boy who hopes his ferret will kill his aunt.
They are quite dark aren't they?
Really dark and macabre. But I didn't know anything about him. I knew of him but I certainly hadn't read any of his work. Someone said he was a kids' writer but it almost works on both levels. Kids love them because they are very subversive because good kids and adults are killed. That adds a great fervour to it, which obviously wasn't there for children in Edwardian society.
What made you want to do it?
I'm very drawn to BBC3 and BBC4 projects because they are so experimental and not hugely reliant on audience figures and the budgets are very small so it's like guerrilla filmmaking. You all get together and go crazy for two weeks and work really hard and get something interesting at the end so I really wanted to be a part of it. Also I loved the style of storytelling to the camera and the period feel.
What was it like portraying the narrator and also being part of the action?
He's not really Saki himself, but Saki's voice is there within the writing and that came out in how we wanted the narrator to be. It's like a magician really stepping in and out of your own story and it was huge fun.
Did you enjoy working with the kids?
It was great being subversive with them. I was whipping them up into a huge frenzy of overexcitement and the chaperones loathed me but they couldn't tell me off. I stopped them from doing their schoolwork and I was a terrible influence but you need a bit of subversion in your life as a child.
Did you like the animation within it?
I haven't seen it, but I saw still drawings and it seemed very period but also very modern and very clever.
The drama keeps every word of Saki's, was that important?
I think it was. A couple of years ago I did a Ian Fleming drama for the BBC and that was in his own words, you can't change them, they were from interviews and reported facts and it's the same with this. It was a huge challenge to make it sound like storytelling as if you are talking and bring it off the page and make it move, because the sentences on Mrs De Ropp are very long. But he's a great writer and I'm glad I had the opportunity to come into contact with him and discover him.
Why is he almost forgotten?
I have no idea because he is just delightful to read. The stories are great bedtime reads and I've got a few of them because they are so short. He's brilliant and I really enjoy reading him, he's so funny and you get such a strong taste and flavour of Edwardian views. He's very covert, I think he was gay and there are lots of innuendos within his writing which are just very entertaining.
Do you think he was brushed under the carpet because the stories were so subversive?
Maybe because anyone that has a strong voice against the society they are in risks that. It's almost a cool thing now to kick against society but then it was a hugely difficult thing to do.
Was he almost a precursor to people like Roald Dahl?
Yes, the stories are very like Tales of the Unexpected. But Dahl was writing some of his stories specifically for kids and I think that's the difference, it seems like Saki is for kids but the adult voice is much stronger. People have asked if kids should watch it and I don't see why not, but they are not happy endings, there is something very adult about them.
What is he saying about Edwardian society?
I think he found it very strict and constricting but I think he also had a very good time within those constricts. He travelled a lot and from the little I've read about him he seemed to have a very interesting life. But it was because he got out and deliberately spent a lot of time out of England. He was kicking against the times but I don't know whether that was because of him personally or the society that he lived in.
Do we have an equivalent to him today?
I can't think of one because he's so unique. I suppose he had to be more subtle and cleverer then, so you could read his stories on more than one level.
What do you think we find so fascinating about the Edwardian era?
I guess now it seems relevant to the world that we live in where it seems more conservative because of what's happened over the last few years, there's a flavour of that coming back. It's also relatively close, that 100-year thing where we get interested in what happened a century ago.
Would you have like to have lived then?
Oh no! I liked the clothes, they were great, but I bet they were really smelly, all those layers of wool!
What was it like working with Gemma Jones?
Delightful. She's great and the wig she wears is to die for. She looked great, like some weird sci-fi creature from Dune when she was done up. I'm sure as I whipped the kids up into a state in a railway carriage in the first story she just sat there with her eyes closed thinking: 'Shut up Daniels, what have you done to them.' But I loved the fact that the seven-year-old girl said to me: 'You are so immature!' I felt my work was done.
Do you particularly like period drama?
I haven't done that era before. But generally, I don't choose roles in that way. I tend to go more for interesting characters and stories, I know some people are willing to play the same kind of thing but I feel if I've done it before I don't really want to do it again unless I need a new roof!
Will you be doing more of The State Within?
Oh I wish we could because it was great but I don't think it's going to happen because the audience figures were just too low but everyone I know watched it. It's such a shame because I thought it was brilliant writing and there is such an appetite for TV like that and I know the BBC were keen but people got confused by it. It's a shame we would rather watch something like How Do You Solve A Problem Like Joseph? or whatever it's called. Who cares?! It's hard when something comes along that isn't spoon-feeding people. We should have had a disclaimer at the beginning saying: 'You don't have to know who all these people are and for it all to make sense but go with the flow.' So I don't think it will happen but let's hope the writers do something else, I'm meeting them next week so I'll twist their arms.
Would you like to work in America more?
Yes but I also love working in England. I did a play out there and did the whole casting process thing but it's quite hardcore, you have to have a certain mentality to stick with it and think: 'this is what I want to do'. But it's a weird old world and it just felt really ungrounded and some people can cope with that but I can't. I'm really rubbish as schmoozing and I can't stand around a pool going: 'I am fantastic because…', I just find it embarrassing. I have nothing against people who do it, but it's a skill I don't possess. So I don't particularly want to go there if it means I have to do that, but I would if it's something like The State Within because I thought it was great to have a collaboration between Britain and America.
Is there anything you would like to guest star in?
Six Feet Under if it was still on, that was the best TV programme of all time, or Deadwood, any of those HBO shows I just love, I think they are great. I would love to play a villain in those. I'd also love to do Doctor Who and be a baddie, I would love to stride around in a pair of big leather trousers. I love Russell T Davies' writing I am such a fan. I got offered Torchwood but the part was too nice, I wanted to play someone nasty, bring on the teeth!
• BBC4 profiles the author in The Double Life of Saki on Monday.
[ IF YOU ♥ TV, VISIT OUR BLOG FOR NEWS, CLIPS AND GOSSIP ]
