PERIMETER

released OUT NOW! 44 minutes available on iPlayer Broadcaster radio 4

Aired as part of Radio 4’s SF season Dangerous Visions, this one-off satirical comedy sets its sights on the way the struggling poor and the hyper-rich often live at close quarters.

In its near-future city, the haves and have-nots are separated by a huge electrified fence. Writers Josie Long and Liam Williams play, well, Josie and Liam, siblings who share a flat, but – initially at least – not a viewpoint on the fence. Liam scrapes a living repairing it; Josie belongs to activist group De-Fence. Then both get a chance to experience life on the other side.

Much of the humour stems from the ludicrous disparity in living standards, with the writers making good use of radio’s ability to paint absurd pictures: the luxurious homes of the well-to-do are so vast they have jacuzzi lakes, indoor meadows and log flumes!

However, the fact that the characters have the same names as their writer/ performers – while not important in itself – kind of seems emblematic. Instead of a thought-out world, it feels more like a tower of cards of gags.

On the plus side, Perimeter avoids falling into selfrighteousness. It’s so silly and self-deprecating that you never feel like you’re being lectured. And the way Long’s character remains insistent on seeing the rich as people, not monsters, is admirable. Calvin Baxter