The Willows
During a canoe trip down the Danube, two old friends are marooned on an ever-shifting island of willows, where they find themselves at the mercy of forces they don't understand.
Bill Pullman (The Sinner, Independence Day, While You Were Sleeping) and Julian Sands (Warlock, Gothic, A Room With A View) play two old friends who take a midsummer canoe trip down the Danube.
Since they last met they've been through a war and a flu pandemic, but now life is opening up again and this river trip is a balm for the soul, at least at first.
Before long, they find themselves in a dreamy, shifting landscape of sandbanks and half-submerged forests of willows. They camp for the night on an island in the middle of the marshes but soon strange things begin to happen. The river seems to claw away the banks making the island smaller, eerie sounds are heard on the wind, and they feel a mounting sense of dread.
By morning, their canoe and oars have inexplicably been damaged. Marooned on this ever-shifting island of willow bushes, they find themselves menaced by forces they cannot understand.
Algernon Blackwood's novella, described by H P Lovecraft as the best supernatural tale in the English language, is adapted by Stef Penney.
Cast:
Gus . . . Bill Pullman
Michael . . . Julian Sands
Mother . . . Vesna Stanojevic
Innkeeper . . . Velibor Topic
Music composed by John Biddle
Sound Design by Iain Hunter
Artwork by Layrensij Ursa
Produced and directed by Kate McAll
A Rhiannon Media production for Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
Last on
More episodes
Previous
Broadcast
- Sat 17 Dec 2022 15:00Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
Opening Lines
John Yorke unpacks the themes behind the stories in Radio 4's weekend afternoon dramas.
The Shakespeare Sessions
Immerse yourself in Shakespeare’s world