Radio 4, September 24 2018, and on iPlayer

A new bride is forbidden to use one small key on a keyring… but curiosity is a dreadful thing…

The BBC’s “Get Carter” season continues with five short dramas based on Angela Carter’s 1979 book of fairytales, beginning with the title tale, a reworking of the legend of Bluebeard. It’s an updating – the Marquis has to travel to New York, leaving his new bride, who’s able to make phone calls to her mother – but the essentials of the tale are the same.

Carter’s weaving of words comes across in Olivia Hetreed’s adaptation, with the initial seduction and defloration of the heroine, Anne, brought to life well. Anne’s interactions with the blind piano tuner, Jean Yves, and her subsequent disobedience similarly draw the listener in, and you feel her panic as she discovers the secret of the room. For those who’ve not experienced Carter’s take on such stories before, I won’t go further, but the story doesn’t necessarily play out in quite the way you might expect.

Sophie Cookson and Jasper Britton make a strong central couple – the Marquis’ torn nature and agony at his own choices comes across clearly – and director Fiona McAlpine and sound designer Lucinda Mason Brown cleverly evoke both a timeless feel to the piece and enough indications of the modern world to earth it.

Verdict: A strong start. 9/10

Paul Simpson