Author: Rich

For King and Country

SFFaudio Online Audio

BBC Radio 7 - BBC7The Scarifyers: For King and Country
Full cast audio drama
Written by Simon Barnard and Paul Morris
Directed by Simon Barnard
Music by Edwin Sykes
Produced by Cosmic Hobo

Part one of series three of The Scarifyers, For King and Country, will be aired on February 22 at 6PM and 12AM GMT on BBC 7, continuing on consecutive Sundays in four parts. Each episode is available for six days after broadcast. Stars Terry Molloy and Nicholas Courtney.

‘Sir’ Harry Price, self-proclaimed ghost detective, has built a machine. His previous experiment – to turn a goat into a man – may have ended ignominiously, but now Harry plans to capture the spirits of the dead with his Price Ghost Captivator™. If he can make it work, that is.

Meanwhile, Londoners are being killed, in especially gruesome fashion, with their own electrical appliances. But most puzzling of all is the Faraday Murderer’s habit of leaving cryptic messages in 17th century English at the scene – cryptic messages that mention a certain Harry Price…

Age-old forces are stirring… The dead will rise… The Crown will fall. Can Lionheart and Dunning save King and Country? 

UPDATE: Okay, it’s up and streaming. Listen to part one of For King and Country here –right now!

Posted by RC of Radio Tales of the Strange & Fantastic

Yabba Habba – The Subtle Knife

SFFaudio Online Audio

BBC Radio 7 - BBC7 The Subtle Knife
His Dark Materials – 2 of 3
By Phillip Pullman
Dramatized by Lavinia Murray
Saturday January 3
9am, 8pm and 3am GMT

Full cast audioplay: Philip Pullman‘s award winning epic trilogy continues. 12 year-old Will escapes Oxford into the parallel world of Cittagazze, where he meets Lyra. Together they acquire the most powerful weapon in all the Universes – The Subtle Knife. With Emma Fielding and Ray Fearon.

BBC7 | The Subtle Knife | Schedules (stays online for 6 days)

Listen to part one, Northern Lights (The Golden Compass), here through Friday January 2.

Posted by RC of Radio Tales of the Strange & Fantastic

Selected Radiophonic Works

SFFaudio Online Audio

BBC Radio 7 - BBC7 Selected Radiophonic Works
BBC Radiophonic Workshop
Saturday, Dec. 20
8pm & 3am GMT

A selection of programmes showcasing the work of the Radiophonic Workshop, which provided music and sound for many BBC (radio & TV) programmes. Includes The Dreams, The Goons and Bath Time.

Most will be familiar with the Radiophonic Workshop’s Doctor Who theme, as well as sfx work for Doctor Who and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy radio and television series.

Note: Selected Radiophonic Works will be available online for six days, through Dec. 26.

Posted by RC of Radio Tales of the Strange & Fantastic

Fatherland

SFFaudio Online Audio

BBC Radio 7 - BBC7 Fatherland
Full cast audio drama in five parts
Based on the novel by Robert Harris
Adapted by John Dryden
Monday, Dec. 15  through Friday, Dec. 19
9:30AM, 8:30PM & 1:30AM GMT

The year is 1964, and it’s a week before Hitler’s 75th birthday. Nazi Germany won the Second World War, Churchill is living in exile in Canada, Joseph Kennedy is President of the United States, and King Edward and Queen Wallis are puppet monarchs of the United Kingdom. In this dimension, history took a very different turn in 1942 to the one we are familiar with.

If you enjoy alternate histories be sure to check out this audio drama adaptation of Robert Harris‘s novel set in an imaginary post-war Germany. In the story, Berlin cop Xavier March begins to uncover a terrible secret at the heart of the totalitarian state. See, nazis…they really needed to lighten up a bit, but they didn’t and they certainly don’t in this chilling story. Fatherland stars Anton Lesser, Peter Ellis and Andrew Sachs, is very well produced and gets a solid recommendation from yours truly.

Remember that all BBC7 programs stay online for six days so if you miss one just check the schedule.

Posted by RC of Radio Tales of the Strange & Fantastic

Slipstream & Silent Planet

SFFaudio Online Audio

BBC Radio 7 - BBC7 Slipstream
Full cast audio drama
Written by Simon Bovey
Directed by Marc Beeby
5 episodes
Begins on Monday, November 24
Episodes air daily at 6PM and 12AM GMT

March 1945 and the Allies’ victory in Europe is a forgone conclusion. But then over a hundred RAF bombers are shot down in one night by a shimmering aircraft. Is this a new terror weapon? One that could turn the tide of war back in the Germans’ favour?

I enjoyed Slipstream. I’ve read other perhaps more original war themed science fiction stories, yet this one, in this case a cleverly conceived audio play, still sticks with me. Probably because it manages to elevate a fairly stock “secret weapons of the Luftwaffe” idea a step or two further with…sheer oomph. Slipstream is ballsy, it takes chances and the performances are good, particularly “Barton”, the mission team leader, the kind of character that you “love to hate”. Really nice production as well, rounding Slipstream out to a solid three out of four stars for me. Maybe three and a half if I’m feeling generous. See what you think.

BBC Radio 7 - BBC7 Out of the Silent Planet
Written by C. S. Lewis
Read by Alex Jennings
Unabridged – 12 episodes
Begins on Monday, November 24
Episodes air daily at 6:30PM and 12:30AM GMT

Out of the Silent Planet is the first novel of C. S. Lewis’ highly regarded “Space Trilogy” (followed by a hands down classic, Perelandra, and the concluding book of the series, That Hideous Strength). It’s basically an old fashioned adventure story that becomes a strange kind of interplanetary epic. One thing to note to first timers, this isn’t rockets, robots and ray guns material. These novels are much weirder, more allegorical, more spiritual and bizarrely alien, revealing the real history and truth behind what we humans think we know about the history of the solar system (and of the workings of the cosmos at large).  Good gooey stuff, and Out of the Silent Planet whets the appetite…for goo.

Remember that all BBC7 programs stay online for six days after they air. To catch up on the 7th Dimension selections, just keep an eye on the schedule here.

Posted by RC of RTSF