7th Dimension – SFFaudio

BBC7 re-broadcasting Algernon Blackwood’s The Willows

Online Audio

Previously aired on BBC 7, The Willows is a century old supernatural Horror story that H.P. Lovecraft described as: ‘The finest supernatural tale in English literature.’ Blackwood, is well regarded as one of the 20th century’s foremost writers of supernatural fiction and as Lovecraft, said of him:

“[Blackwood] is the one absolute and unquestioned master of weird atmosphere …[he] can evoke what amounts almost to a story from a simple fragment of psychological description. Above all others he understands how fully some sensitive minds dwell for ever on the borderland of dream, and how relatively slight is the distinction betwixt those images formed from actual objects and those excited by the play of the imagination.”

The Willows
By Algernon Blackwood; Read by Lawrence Jackson
4 X 30 Minute Episodes – Approx. 2 Hours [UNABRIDGED?]
BROADCASTER: BBC7’s The 7th Dimension
BROADCAST: Monday 6th to Thursday 9th of October 2008 at 6:30pm (repeats 12:30am) UK Time*
Two friends on a canoeing trip down the Danube decide to spend the night on a small island in a remote stretch of the river between Austria and Hungary. Little by little, they realize that malevolent supernatural forces, embodied by the island’s ubiquitous rustling willow trees, are at work against them, and what at first promises to be a straightforward camping expedition escalates into an ordeal of survival against a powerful agency from another dimension.

All four parts should be available via the BBC iPlayer service shortly after they air.

Also, there is currently a torrent for The Willows, over on RadioArchive.cc [FREE REGISTRATION REQUIRED].

posted by Jesse Willis

BBC 7: Brightonomicon by Robert Rankin

SFFaudio Online Audio

The Brightonomicon
By Robert Rankin; Performed by a full cast
Broadcast: BBC7 / The 7th Dimension
Dates: August 23 – November 15th, 2008
Production: Hokus Bloke & Ladbroke Radio

The Brightonomicon, the much-acclaimed novel by British fantasy author Robert Rankin, involves the grand high magus Hugo Rune, and Rizla his amnesiac assistant, in a strange quest to solve the mystery of the Brighton zodiac (twelve ancient hidden constellations) and thereby thwart the evil Count Otto Black’s mad scheme to dominate the world.

The book was adapted into a full-cast audio drama and released earlier this year (CD box & downloadable) and features a terrific cast of notables: David Warner (Hugo Rune), Rupert Degas (Rizla), Andy Serkis (Count Otto Black), Jason Isaacs, Martin Jarvis, Mark Wing-Davey, Sarah Douglas, Ben Miller and Michael Fenton-Stevens, among others. In short, the very best of the UK’s acting and comedic talent.

For the broadcast version, 12 adventures are spread across 13 half hour episodes which will be aired on the 7th Dimension program beginning this Saturday, August 23, at 6:30PM GMT (repeated at 12:30AM GMT), and then on consecutive Saturdays for 13 weeks through November 15th. As always, for online listeners, the BBC7 Listen Again service will keep each episode available for 6 days after it airs so you won’t miss a single one.

Note this disclaimer from The Brightonomicon website: The episodes are edited for radio…but no, that doesn’t mean we’ve removed naughty words or some of the more bizarre elements that make Robert’s work so fantastic…it means a few trims here and there to get the length down to 28mins30secs. Can you spot the bits that have gone? Missing the missing bits? Well fear not. You can always buy the full version as a beautiful box-set or as a delightful download…

Hey, that’s not so much a disclaimer as it is a come-on. I think they did it on porpoise! Seriously though, if I like what I hear on the 7th Dimension broadcasts, I may well take them up on it.

Posted by RC of RTSF

BBC7 celebrates Robert A. Heinlein Centenary with audio fiction

Online Audio

In honour of the 100th anniversary of Robert A. Heinlein’s birth, BBC7’s The Seventh Dimension is airing a special series of Heinlein stories. The first of which aired this last Saturday. First up was The Green Hills Of Earth, a Heinlein story he partially credited to a line from C. L. Moore and her story Shambleau (which also aired this year on BBC7). The Green Hills Of Earth is also one story with a distinction few others could possibly equal, it was quoted to listeners on the Moon – namely the crew of Apollo 15! Next Saturday the Heinlein Centenary celebration continues with Ordeal In Space. And, all this week, BBC7 is airing Methuselah’s Children. You can have a listen to The Green Hills Of Earth now, and for the next few days, via the Listen Again service. Same goes for the first episode of Methuselah’s Children. More details below..

The Green Hills Of Earth
By Robert A. Heinlein; Read by Adam Sims
1 Broadcast – Approx. 30 Minutes [UNABRIDGED?]
BROADCASTER: BBC7’s The 7th Dimension
BROADCAST: Saturday July 7th 2007
This is the poignant story of Rhysling, the blind space-going songwriter whose poetic skills rival Rudyard Kipling’s. This yarn is about a radiation-blinded spaceship engineer crisscrossing the solar system writing and singing some of the best lyrics in science fiction. In a fine display of writing skill, the spaceship and crew feel as real to the reader as a contemporary tramp steamer.

Methuselah’s Children
By Robert A. Heinlein; Read by Paul Birchard
6 Parts, Six 30-Minute Broadcasts – Approx. 3 Hours [ABRIDGED]
BROADCASTER: BBC7’s The 7th Dimension
BROADCAST: Weekdays July 2007 to July 16th 2007
Robert A Heinlein’s sci-fi novel about a group of families who can live for several hundred years.

posted by Jesse Willis

BBC7 broadcast of Algernon Blackwood’s The Willows

Online Audio

Previously released on BBC Radio 4, and with a different reader, The Willows is a 100 year old supernatural Horror story is endorsed by none other than H.P. Lovecraft! Old H.P. described it as: ‘The finest supernatural tale in English literature.’ Blackwood, is well regarded as one of the 20th century’s foremost writers of supernatural fiction and as Lovecraft, said of him: ‘he is the one absolute and unquestioned master of weird atmosphere …[he] can evoke what amounts almost to a story from a simple fragment of psychological description. Above all others he understands how fully some sensitive minds dwell for ever on the borderland of dream, and how relatively slight is the distinction betwixt those images formed from actual objects and those excited by the play of the imagination.’

The Willows
By Algernon Blackwood; Read by Lawrence Jackson
4 X 30 Minute Episodes – Approx. 2 Hours [UNABRIDGED?]
BROADCASTER: BBC7’s The 7th Dimension
BROADCAST: Monday 25th to Thursday 28th, 2007 at 6:30pm (repeats 12:30am) UK Time*
Two friends on a canoeing trip down the Danube decide to spend the night on a small island in a remote stretch of the river between Austria and Hungary. Little by little, they realize that malevolent supernatural forces, embodied by the island’s ubiquitous rustling willow trees, are at work against them, and what at first promises to be a straightforward camping expedition escalates into an ordeal of survival against a powerful agency from another dimension.

All four parts will be made available via the Listen Again service shortly after they air.

posted by Jesse Willis

BBC7 has C.L. Moore’s Shambleau

Online Audio

BBC Radio 7 has an new project Saturday, a reading of C.L. Moore’s classic Shambleau! The story was produced by Gemma Jenkins as a commission for the 7th Dimension. This is the most famous of Moore’s famous pulp adventure Northwest Smith stories. Shambleau was Moore’s first professional sale, it first appeared in the November, 1933 issue of Weird Tales and the sale netted her a cool $100.00. The hero of the story is Northwest Smith, a spaceship pilot and smuggler, who’ll remind you of both Indiana Jones and Han Solo both. Smith lives in a future in which humanity has colonized the solar system. The relationship of the planetary primitives, on these planets, to the earth colonists, is analogous to the situation between the Native Indians of the Americas or the Aboriginies of Australia to European colonials. Smith is a ruthless, self-serving, and cynical anti-hero with a core of goodness. “Shambleau” mixes themes of sexuality and addiction during Smith’s encounter with a strange female alien. Details follow…

Shambleau
By C.L. Moore; Read by; Read by Elizabeth McGovern
3 Radio Broadcasts – Approx. 90 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Broadcaster: BBC 7 / 7th Dimension
Broadcast: Saturday April 21st, 28th and May 5th at 6.30pm and 12.30am
“An adventure set on Mars, bounty-hunter Northwest Smith lands himself in trouble when he comes to the aid of a beautiful young woman who is being attacked by an angry mob.“

NOTE: Those outside the UK can get all of the above using the BBC7 Listen Again service for up to 6 days following the broadcasts.

posted by Jesse Willis