BBC 4's Kate McAll Says Radio Really is a Woman's World

Kate McAll is an award-winning radio producer
for BBC Radio 4. Her most recent work for L.A.
Theatre Works was an adaptation of E.M. Forster's
"A Room with a View" which she directed.

Kate McAll is an award winning radio producer with BBC's Radio 4 whose been making radio dramas for 30 years and having a marvelous time.

Last year for LA Theatre Works, she presented a dramatization of “Daniel Deronda” starring Julian Sands that was very successful, so LATW's Susan Loewenberg approached McAll to come up with another production for the 2018-19 season.

McAll, who had just finished working again with Sands on the radio drama ”Cheeta: My Life in Hollywood”, was reminded of the classic romantic 1985 film “A Room with a View” and inspiration hit.

Rather than revisit the film, McAll went back to E M. Forster's original novel which was rich with vivid characterizations and humor. “It all just came together beautifully,” she says with a smile. “And having Julian able to be a part of it was just icing on the cake.”

She feels that It's part of her DNA to look for ideas of what would make a great drama, “But when sit in a brainstorming session -  failure!” says the soft spoken McAll. “My mind goes blank, it's embarrassing. But later on, when i'm doing something completely ordinary like laundry or the dishes, something brilliant will pop into my brain.” The nature of genius is truly mysterious.

As other forms of traditional entertainment fail by the wayside in the digital age, McAll has found there's actually a new generation of listeners who completely embrace the format of mp3 and podcasts to get their fill of culture.

And it hasn't been difficult to attract top name talent to inhabit the characters in a very freeing way. Young film and television stars such as Eleanor Tomlinson (Poldark) and Eugene Simon (Game of Thrones) have brought in their own fan base while classic Hollywood stars like Sands and John Malkovich who starred in the aforementioned “Cheetah” attract the traditionalist theater lovers.

When asked about the breadth of opportunities for women in the radio realm,  McAll admits that the BBC is fertile ground.

“When I came up at BBC, most of the production offices were fully female,“ she recalls. “Even the shows that were old-boyish like Doctor Who had a definite female presence.” She says the great thing about radio is that she can persuade the company to make a program, with no studio or creative team giving you input until you're in the editing stage. “Creatively you retain control all the way through the process,” she concludes. Definitely not the experience of most women in Hollywood.

What's next for the soft spoken McAll? She and her husband are preparing for their return to the UK. Since they don't care for flying, they travel by sea aboard the luxurious Cunard Line. “All in all, it takes about a month to sail around the Cape and up Africa to Europe,” she confirms “So we're flying first to Hong Kong where we will rejoin the ship and then several weeks at sea to return to Europe via the Cape and up to Africa. I'm quite excited about it, really it's a most civilized way to travel!”

It sounds like something the characters in Merchant Ivory World would fully embrace.

-- Lisa Lyons