Radio On is a 1979 British road mystery drama film directed by Christopher Petit. It is a rare example of a British road movie, shot in black and white by Wim Wenders' assistant cameraman Martin Schäfer and featuring music from a number of new wave bands of the time, as well as established artists such as Kraftwerk, Devo and David Bowie.
Contents
Plot
The film is a journey through late 1970s Britain by way of a road trip from London to Bristol, with Robert, a DJ attempting to investigate the suicide of his brother.
Cast
David Beames as Robert
Lisa Kreuzer as Ingrid
Sandy Ratcliff as Kathy
Andrew Byatt as Deserter
Sue Jones-Davies as Girl
Sting as Just Like Eddie
Sabina Michael as Aunt
Katja Kersten as German Woman
Paul Hollywood as Kid
Adrian Jones
Cyril Kent
Bernard Mistovski
Nina Pace
Joseph Riordan
David Squire
Kim Taylforth as Girl Playing Pool
Trivia
The radio station where Robert is a disc jockey was based on the United Biscuits Network, which broadcast to factories owned by United Biscuits.
There are a number of references to the films of Wim Wenders, who is credited as associate producer. Early in the film, a copy of Patricia Highsmith's Ripley's Game is seen on a table in Robert's flat. Wenders' 1977 film The American Friend is based on this novel. The character played by Sting is called Just Like Eddie. In Wenders' film Kings of the Road, two of the characters sing along to the song Just Like Eddie by Heinz. And Lisa Kreuzer, who plays Ingrid, is looking for her daughter Alice. Kreuzer was married to Wenders for several years, and was in several of his films, notably Alice in the Cities.
Legacy
In his 2022 book Roadrunner Nick Gilbert revisits the film, the route and its resonances 43 years later and includes contributions from Petit and others involved in the film.