Radio review – BBC - “The Riddle of the Sands” (1994) *** by Erskine Childers

A very good adaptation of the famous novel, which I remember being disappointed by when I first read it – lots of mucking around on boats and very little hard core plot or action. But I’m guessing that was why the novel was so influential – it took an outlandish idea and made it believable. Amateur sailor Davies asks his pal Caruthers (what a great name for a British novel hero) for a yachting trip around the North Sea; Davies hasn’t told Caruthers that he thinks a German sailor tried to kill him and is wondering why. Enjoyable tale, with a genuinely clever plan by the Germans to invade Britain and a moving ending.