BBC Radio 3: Isaac Asimov’s The Foundation Trilogy

SFFaudio Online Audio

The Foundation Trilogy

BBC Radio 3The Foundation Trilogy
Based on the novels by Isaac Asimov; Adapted by Patrick Tull and Mike Stott; Performed by a full cast
8 MP3 Files – Approx. 8 Hours [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 3
Broadcast: 1973
Source: Archive.org
Adapted from Foundation, Foundation And Empire and Second Foundation.

Part 1 |MP3| Part 2 |MP3| Part 3 |MP3| Part 4 |MP3| Part 5 |MP3| Part 6 |MP3| Part 7 |MP3| Part 8 |MP3|

Directed by David Cain
Sound design by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop

Cast:
William Eedle as Hari Seldon
Geoffrey Beevers as Gaal Dornick
Lee Montague as Salvor Hardin
Julian Glover as Hober Mallow
Dinsdale Landen as Bel Riose
Maurice Denham as Ebling Mis
Prunella Scales as Lady Callia

[via Quasar Dragon]

Posted by Jesse Willis

Robert Sheckley’s Seventh Victim

SFFaudio Online Audio

Seventh Victim by Robert SheckleyGoing in, and liking Robert Sheckley, I was surprised how much I didn’t respond to his most famous short story Seventh Victim. Upon first reading it I didn’t think of it as terrific story. Nor did I think of it as having much in the way of intellectual heft. But, upon reflection, particularly after watching the film adaptation I am coming around a bit. Indeed, plenty of folks, it seems, think of Seventh Victim as an academic story. It’s been used in both introductory psychology and philosophy textbooks. It has been reprinted more than a dozen times in different anthologies or collections. The 1965 film adaptation, called The Tenth Victim (La Decima Vittima), prompted Sheckley to expand the short story into a novel under the same name (which spawned more novel sequels Victim Prime and Hunter / Victim.

Robert Sheckley’s short story Seventh Victim is the tale of a future earth in which men and women engage in a voluntary game of assassination. Upon its first publication Galaxy magazine’s editor, H.L. Gold, abstrusely compared it to Richard Connell’s The Most Dangerous Game. I see that. But I was more struck by its closer resemblance to the game played in the opening scenes of the 1985 film Gotcha!. That film was likely inspired by a 1982 movie, Tag: The Assassination Game – which itself certainly nodded towards The Most Dangerous Game (the name of the first victim in the film is Connally). And that movie, in turn, was likely inspired by a real game of fake murder played on university campuses at the time (it looks like it is still played today too). While the story itself isn’t available as an audiobook there are a couple of audio dramatizations (both use the same script):

Future TenseFuture Tense – The Seventh Victim
Adapted from a short story by Robert Sheckley; Adapted by Ernest Kinoy; Performed by a full cast
1 |MP3| – Approx. 27 Minutes [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: WMUK Special Projects
Broadcast: May 20th, 1974
Provider: Rimworlds.com
“The most dangerous game, said one writer, is Man. But there is another still more deadly!” First published in the April 1953 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction.

X-Minus OneX-Minus One – The Seventh Victim
Adapted from a short story by Robert Sheckley; Adapted by Ernest Kinoy; Performed by a full cast
1 |MP3| – Approx. 22 Minutes [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: NBC
Broadcast: March 6, 1957
Provider: Archive.org
“Tonight we go forward in time to the days when war has been outlawed – and in its place there is a system of carefully controlled legalized murder.” First published in the April 1953 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction.

Cast:
Lawson Zerbe …. Freeline
Terri Keane …. Janet
Frank Maxwell … Emanuel Gale
Ian Martin ….
Arthur Hughes …. Jerry
Fred Collins …. Announcer

[via Archive.org and Rimworlds]

Posted by Jesse Willis

Commentary: Print ads for Radio Drama

SFFaudio Commentary

Meta SFFaudioOne of the goals that I set myself with SFFaudio was to always add a picture to a post. That’s a tough job sometimes. Like right now for instance – I’m working on a post about CBS Radio Workshop. Because it was a radio show, rather than a TV show, there are no screengrabs to be found. I could make something up, of course, and have done so – more often than I’d like – but the ideal would be to find something to ground that art. I want it for whatever logo or typeface they included mostly because there would be more historicity to it than whatever I can slap together. Somebody in the CBS Radio Workshop publicity department, for instance, probably did up some print advertising at some point. That art would be in a magazine or newspaper somewhere – but finding that magazine or newspaper can be pretty tough. This is ever my problem.

These days, when I do a Google Image search for whatever it is I’m looking for, I too often find myself looking at some art that I made. To solve this problem I plan on archiving some of the finds I make – for my own future reference (and for anyone else too). In doing this publicly I am asking for your help.

Does anybody have a scan of an advertisement for the CBS Radio Workshop?

Here’s my fist contribution (from the Spring 1957 issue of Space Science Fiction) three full page advertisements for:

The Fine Art Of Eating” with Vincent Price

Sportopics” with Russ Hodges

The Windup” featuring Private Eye, Ed Noon with Chester Morris

American Agent” with Lee Bowman

Our Heritage” with Westbrook Van Voorhis

Gag Bag” with Peter Donald

The Frightened” with Boris Karloff

Your Economy” with T.H. Mitchell, L.L. B., PH.D.

This Age Of Ours” with Quentin Reynolds

Space Science Fiction Spring 1957 Inside Front Cover

Space Science Fiction Spring 1957 Inside Rear Cover

Space Science Fiction Spring 1957 Outside Rear Cover

X Minus One ad from the April 1956 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction:
X Minus One ad from the April 1956 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction

Here’s an X Minus One advertizement that appeared in Galaxy magazine’s May 1956 issue:

X Minus One AD from Galaxy magazine's May 1956 issue

Here’s an X Minus One advertizement that appeared in Galaxy magazine’s February 1958 issue:

X Minus One AD from Galaxy Science Fiction's February 1958 issue

Here’s an ad, perhaps the very first, for X Minus One that appeared in the September 1955 issue of Astounding:

X Minus One advertizement from Astounding September 1955

Here’s an ad for X Minus One that appeared in the September 1955 issue of Astounding:

X Minus One ad from Astounding October 1955

Here’s an ad for X Minus One that appeared in the November 1955 issue of Astounding:

X Minus One ad from the November 1955 issue of Astounding Science Fiction

An X Minus One advertizement from Astounding’s January 1956 issue:

X Minus One ad from the January 1956 issue of Astounding

X Minus One is “BACK ON THE AIR” – from Galaxy, August 1957:

X Minus One - "BACK ON THE AIR" - an ad from Galaxy, August 1957

Here’s an ad for The Shadow radio show that appeared in the January 1954 issue of Astounding:

Ad for The Shadow radio show (on the Mutual Network) from the January 1954 issue of Astounding

Ad for The Shadow from Astounding August 1952:
Ad for The Shadow from Astounding August 1952

An ad for The Shadow from Astounding January 1952:

The Shadow ad from Astounding January 1952

Ad for The Shadow radio show from Astounding January 1953:

Ad for The Shadow radio show from Astounding January 1953

Here’s a familiar looking ad (it uses art recycled from The Shadow) for Nick Carter, Master Detective on the Mutual Network:

Nick Carter Master Detective ad from Astounding April 1955

Stay Tuned For Terror – illustration by Dolgov from Weird Tales, September 1945:

Stay Tuned For Terror - illustration by Dolgov from Weird Tales, September 1945

Dimension X ad from Astounding Science Fiction’s August 1951 issue:

Dimension X ad from Astounding SF's August 1951 issue

Dimension X ad from from Astounding July 1951:
Ad for Dimension X from Astounding July 1951

Posted by Jesse Willis

Radio Drama Revival: Bradbury 13: A Sound Of Thunder

SFFaudio Online Audio

Radio Drama RevivalIf there is an exemplar of the excellence in modern American audio drama production it has to be the stunning centerpiece in the Bradbury 13 series: A Sound Of Thunder |READ OUR REVIEW|. And Radio Drama Revival has it! This podcast is an absolute must hear! It features the complete production as well as an excellent new interview with Bradbury 13 creator Michael McDonough. As host Fred Greenhalgh sez:

“[It’s] one of the most splendid productions ever to grace the annals of radio drama history. If you ever doubted how stereo sound changed the way we designed sound effects, let this production convince you.”

That’s no hyperbole. When you put on a pair of stereo headphones you’ll be absolutely be blown away by the greatness that is A Sound Of Thunder.

Bradbury 13Bradbury 13 – A Sound Of Thunder
Adapted from the story by Ray Bradbury; Performed by a full cast
1 |MP3| – Approx. 58 Minutes [AUDIO DRAMA]
Podcaster: Radio Drama Revival
Podcast: March 11, 2011
“They were going back sixty million years to kill a dinosaur. And they mustn’t step on one single blade of grass, or all of future civilization might be destroyed.” First broadcast on NPR in 1984. Short story first published in Collier’s, June 28, 1952.

Podcast feed: http://feeds2.feedburner.com/RadioDramaRevival

First published in the June 28,1952 issue of Colliers Weekly

Ray Bradbury's A Sound Of Thunder, illustrated by Frederick Siebel

Illustration from Planet Stories:
Planet Stories - A Sound Of Thunder

Illustration by Franz Altschuler from Playboy, June 1956:
Playboy, June 1956 - A Sound Of Thunder by Ray Bradbury - illustrated by Franz Altschuler

Posted by Jesse Willis

New Releases: Blackstone Audio monthly catalogue for March 2011

New Releases

Blackstone AudiobooksTucked into the bottom of the latest batch of audiobooks to hit my PO Box there was a 16 page booklet featuring this month’s Blackstone Audio titles. So, with my expensive new scanner, I turned it into a PDF. Amongst other fascinating titles included in it (check page 12 for a biography of Lucrezia Borgia) you’ll find the much anticipated Brain Wave by Poul Anderson (read by Tom Weiner), an all-new Richard Matheson novel, and a collection of Orson Scott Card tales entitled Flux: Tales Of Human Futures. And, in addition to all the audiobooks, I am also reminded that Blackstone Audio has also been releasing NEW professional audio drama! In this month’s calatlogue there’s a new audio dramatization of The Mark Of Zorro (starring Val Kilmer) on the back page, and the third installment of The New Adventures Of Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer (Vol. 3) is in there too, and it of course stars Stacey Keach!

Have a look at the 16 page |PDF|

Posted by Jesse Willis