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BBC Radio 4 will air Susan Hill’s The Man In The Picture

SFFaudio Online Audio

We all might want to have a listen to the BBC Radio 4 Book At Bedtime slot for next week. They’ll be airing a tale in five parts, Monday to Friday October, of a reading of a new ghost story from author Susan Hill. This is the author of The Woman In Black, which became a popular West End play (it is still running there, 18 years after it debuted). Thanks to our eagle eyed U.K. contributor, Roy, for the head’s up.

The Man In The Picture
By Susan Hill; Read by Nigel Anthony and Imogen Stubbs
5 Broadcasts – Approx 75 Minutes [ABRIDGED?]
Broadcaster: BBC RADIO 4 / Book At Bedtime
Broadcast: 10:45-11:00pm Monday to Friday October 15th to 19th

This chilling tale centres on a mysterious depiction of masked revellers at theVenice carnival that hangs in the college rooms of an old professor at Cambridge. One cold winter’s night, sipping whisky by the fire, the picture’s eerie secret is revealed by the ageing don. The dark art of the Venetian scene, instead of imitating life, has the power to entrap it. To stare into the painting is to play dangerously with unseen demons and to become a victim of its macabre beauty…

Also, each of the five parts will be available on the BBC R4 Book At Bedtime page the day after they air.

posted by Jesse Willis

BBC World Service RADIO DRAMA: Aliens From Cyberspace

SFFaudio OnlineAudio

BBC World Service’s “World Drama” slot currently has an online listenable radio drama specially commissioned for BBC World Service. Here is the description:

“A comedy inspired by incredible – and totally untrue – events. Set in the glamorous world of Hollywood, it deals with the possibilities that the internet now offers in helping people find true love. But have you ever wondered who you were chatting to? Or which planet they might be from.”

Aliens From Cyberspace
By Gary Ogin; Performed by a FULL CAST
1 REALAUDIO File – Approx. 60 minutes [RADIO DRAMA]
BROADCASTER: BBC World Service
BROADCAST: October 2007

Cast: Alun Armstrong, Lorelei King and Joanna Riding

Director: Marion Nancarrow

Click HERE to access the RealAudio or WindowsMedia file.

Also, on Sunday October 14th SFFaudio.com will be switching over to WordPress. A technical change that should go off without a hitch and provide more functionality for readers. But, our RSS only subscribers should take note, our new RSS feed will be:

http://www.sffaudio.com/?feed=rss2

posted by Jesse Willis

BBC 7 does Doctor Who’s eighth doctor Season One

Online Audio

Doctor Who begins a new round of rebroadcasts on BBC Radio 7‘s The 7th Dimension this week. All Paul McGann Doctor stories, all back to back, recorded by UK audio drama company Big Finish. These are what Big Finish calls their “New Eight Doctor Adventures Season One”. But it is hardly the first series from Big Finish to feature Paul McGann’s doctor. What most distinguishes it from previous series stories is a new companion, played by Sheridan Smith. Lucie Miller, as she’s called, is described as a “brash northern lass” whos is initially an unwilling passenger in the TARDIS. She has been placed with the Doctor as part of a “Time Lord witness protection programme.” This series of six stories was commissioned by BBC 7 from Big Finish. They first began airing in December 2006. This rebroadcast is likely to be followed shortly by “Season Two” of the “New Eight Doctor Adventures.”

Already available via the BBC7 ‘listen again’ service:

Doctor Who Blood of the Daleks – Episode 1 of 2
LISTEN NOW – [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: BBC7 / The 7th Dimension
Broadcast: Thu. Sep. 28th 2007
The Time Lord has plenty to deal with as an intruder appears in the TARDIS and the Daleks prepare to blight a damaged world.

Doctor Who – Blood Of The Daleks – Episode 2 of 2
LISTEN NOW – [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: BBC7 / The 7th Dimension
Broadcast: Fri. Sep. 29th 2007
Lucie realises the true intentions of their ‘saviours’. But could the Doctor really want the same thing as the Daleks?

Airing this week:

Doctor Who – Horror of Glam Rock
Broadcast – [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: BBC7 / The 7th Dimension
Broadcast: Mon. Oct. 1st @ 18:00-18:50 [Rptd Tue 12.00am]
he Tomorrow Twins are all set to conquer the pop world of 1974. But will their dreams survive an encounter with the Doctor?

Doctor Who – Immortal Beloved
Broadcast – [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: BBC7 / The 7th Dimension
Broadcast: Tue. Oct. 2nd 18:00-18:50 [Rptd Wed 12.00am]
The Doctor and Lucy arrive in a land of Zeus, Hera, Ganymede and…helicopters? .

Doctor Who – Phobos
Broadcast – [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: BBC7 / The 7th Dimension
Broadcast: Wed. Oct. 3rd @ 18:00-18:50 [Rptd Thu 12.00am]
For extreme sport nuts, the fear is part of the rush. But the Doctor and Lucie are about to learn the true meaning of ‘Phobos’.

Doctor Who – No More Lies
Broadcast – [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: BBC7 / The 7th Dimension
Broadcast: Thu. Oct. 4th @ 18:00-18:50 [Rptd Fri 12.00am]
The Doctor and Lucie gatecrash a posh party, and get more than they bargained for. Namely vortisaurs and a crumbling spaceship.

Doctor Who – Human Resources – Episode 1 of 2
Broadcast – [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: BBC7 / The 7th Dimension
Broadcast: Fri. Oct. 5th @ 18:00-18:50 [Rptd Sat 12.00am]
Lucie Miller starts her first day in a new job. Or does she? Is it possible that her time with the Doctor was merely a daydream?

Airing next week:

Doctor Who – Human Resources – Episode 2 of 2
Broadcast – [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: BBC7 / The 7th Dimension
Broadcast: Mon. Oct. 8th @ 18:00-18:50 [Rptd Sat 12.00am]
Lucie Miller starts her first day in a new job. Or does she? Is it possible that her time with the Doctor was merely a daydream?

posted by Jesse Willis

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency to air next week

Online Audio

Paul S. Jenkins, host of the The Rev Up Review podcast and author of The Plitone Revisionist podiobook writes in to say: “BBC Radio 4 begins a dramatisation in 6 half-hour parts of Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, starring Harry Enfield [next week]” and that “there’s a big spread in next week’s Radio Times.” Paul goes on to say that “the episodes should be streamed live from the Radio 4 website, and should also be available for six days after transmission via the ‘listen again’ service.” Thanks Paul!

Here’s a pic of the assembled cast:

The cast of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency
Based on the novel by Douglas Adams; Performed by a full cast
6 Episodes of 30 minutes each – 180 minutes [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcast Begins: Wed. October 3rd 2007 @ 6:30 pm (GMT +0100)
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 4
“Dirk Gently has an unshakeable belief in the interconnectedness of all things but his Holistic Detective Agency’s only success seems to be tracking down missing cats for old ladies. Then Dirk stumbles upon an old friend behaving bizarrely, and he is drawn into a four-billion year old mystery that must be solved if the human race is to avoid immediate extinction.”

Have a listen to the audio trailer for the show |MP3|!

posted by Jesse Willis

BBC Radio 4 Documentary on the "2000AD" Comic Book Series

Online Audio

Roy, our spy in the UK has uncovered a plot to air a documentary on BBC Radio 4 that should be very interesting indeed…

Futureshock! The Story Of 2000AD is a half-hour documentary about the long running weekly comic book series that spawned such iconic British SF characters as “Judge Dredd”, “Rogue Trooper” and which also revived old ones, like “Dan Dare.” Comics writing greats like Alan Moore, Garth Ennis and Grant Morrison all got their start working on 2000AD “progs.” This should be a very informative show.

Futureshock! The Story Of 2000AD
1 Broadcast -30 Minutes [DOCUMENTARY]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 4
Broadcast: Saturday 22 September 10:30am – 11:00am
“Phill Jupitus tells the story of 2000AD. Over the past 30 years, the weekly British comic’s distinctive visions of the future have shaped the imaginations of a generation of young readers. Its dark and gritty tales, often set in a near future of post-apocalyptic urban decay, have changed the tone of science fiction.”

posted by Jesse Willis

Brian Aldiss story broadcast on BBC Radio 7

Online Audio

Aired on the weekend, BBC Radio 7, has the first of two parts of an abridged reading of Brian Aldiss’ Nebula Award winning 1965 novelette, Man In His Time. It was was adapted for radio to celebrate his 80th birthday, and is introduced by Aldiss himself. The story is about an interplanetary astronaut, who upon return home is flummoxed to discover that he experiences everything around him on Earth as 3.3077 minutes into everyone else’s future.

Man In His Time
By Brian Aldiss; Read by Jamie Glover
2 Broadcasts – Approx 60 Minutes [ABRIDGED]
Broadcaster: BBC7 / The 7th Dimension
Broadcast: Sunday Sep 16 & Sunday Sept 23 2007

Use the BBC Player’s ‘listen again’ service to hear part 1 which is online now – and listen for part 2 on this coming Sunday.

posted by Jesse Willis