DailyAudio: The Death of Grass narrated by David Mitchell

THE DEATH OF GRASS narrated by David Mitchell

Written by John Christopher | Full cast drama | First broadcast 2009 | 5×15 minute segments | 70 mins approx.

A A grass virus from China spreads all over the world, sparking a food shortage crises that’s so dire governments resort to atom bombs to prevent their nations from slipping into barbarism. Two families from London set out to journey to the North West of England where one of their relatives has already prepared his sprawling valley farm for the worst.

Despite the slightly sci-fi premise of a root virus that turns grass black, this tale is a fairly dour post-apocalyptic struggle to survive in a new, scary world. The predictability is tempered by just one character, Perry, a former gunshop owner who begins to enjoy the new land of lawlessness and self-administered justice a little too much, proving too handy with his shotgun to ever be trustworthy. This stark, unpleasant character punctuates the plodding narrative with his increasingly violent actions.

This adaptation of John Christopher’s novel is a mixture of narration, provided by actor and comedian David Mitchell, and full cast drama. Anyone expecting Mitchell to emphasise lighter moments in the narrative will be disappointed because there are none to be found. There is nothing light or vaguely humorous. To my ears, it is odd to hear a voice I usually associate with comedy describing bullets slashing a looter’s body to bits as an outraged mother pumps an entire magazine into him, and it may be odd for your ears too. But Mitchell carries this play along, where the other characters do not. The main protagonists, apart from Perry, are indistinct ciphers. Some attempt is made late in the play to retcon some additional motivation but it’s too little too late.