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Documentary on Sir Thomas Malory and Le Morte d’Arthur

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BBC Radio 3‘s “Sunday Feature” had a cool 45 minute documentary about Sir Thomas Malory and his Le Morte d’Arthur. This was produced by the same guy who made the excellent H.P. Lovecraft documentary on BBC Radio 3 last year. Malory: A Tale of Two Texts aired on Sunday. The producer, Paul Quinn, says of it:

“Malory could be said to be a forgotten forbear of heroic fantasy! This programme, though, presented by professor David Wallace of the University of Pennsylvannia, concentrates on the different textual histories of the two versions: the long lost manuscript, and Caxton print version, produced within 15 years of each other but launched into different worlds.”

This is only going to be available via the ‘Listen Again‘ until Sunday, so get listening!

posted by Jesse Willis

William Hope Hodgson’s The House On The Borderland on BBC7

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BBC7’s The Seventh Dimension is airing a new commission of The House On The Borderland from their North Ireland producers this week. ~~No word on whether it is unabridged or not, but~~ you can hear it via the Listen Again service. Not sure who Hodgson is or what The House On The Borderland is about? Here’s a take one author’s opinion upon this work:

“A classic of the first water.” – H.P. Lovecraft

Wikipedia sez of it:

“[The House On The Borderland] is a milestone that signals the leaving of the realistic nature of supernatural fiction of the late 19th century. Hodgson follows out of the ghost story and the gothic to create a newer cosmic horror that leaves a great impression on the people who would become the great writers of the weird tales of the middle of the 20th century.”

The House On The Borderland
By William Hope Hodgson; Read by Jim Norton
4 Broadcasts – Approx. 2 Hours [ABRIDGED]
BROADCASTER: BBC7’s The 7th Dimension
BROADCAST: Tues. – Fri. at 6.30pm and 00.30am starting Sept. 4
Two friends camp near the ruins of an old house in a remote area in the west of Ireland, there they discover a manuscript which describes the terrifying experiences of the last owner of the house of the title.

posted by Jesse Willis

Global warming audio drama to air on BBC R4

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Our U.K. contributor Roy has his eye on an upcoming BBC Radio 4 programme. Roy writes:

“Coming up on BBC R4…

Drowning by Mike Walker @ 14:15 – 15:00 on Friday 7th September 2007. Says the Radio Times… ‘Mike Walker’s play set in a near-future Norfolk suffering the effects of global warming. Solicitor Richard Parker returns to his childhood home to clear his late aunt’s property but discovers nothing is as it should be. With just 24 hours to complete the task, he finds himself diverted by a series of extraordinary events.’ I don’t know how much this might qualify as ‘SF’, but Mike Walker does have a track record of previous genre productions on BBC radio (2025 in 1998 and Alpha in 2001).”

Thanks Roy, we’ll keep an ear out for it!

posted by Jesse Willis

BBC 7 re-airs Soldier by Harlan Ellison

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BBC7’s the 7th Dimension is re-airing a classic and relatively famous SF story from Harlan Ellison over the next two Sundays. Soldier, originally published in 1957 under the title Soldier Of The Future this is a time travel tale. Not as well known is that Ellison was drafted into the U.S. Army that same year and was trained as an Army Ranger. After leaving the military Ellison later adapted his story for a 1964 episode of the original The Outer Limits, and still later it was adapted, in a completely unauthorized but brilliant 1984 SF film, The Terminator.

Soldier
By Harlan Ellison; Read by John Sharian
2 half-hour segments – Approx. 1 Hour [UNABRIDGED]
BROADCASTER: BBC Radio 7 / The 7th Dimension
BROADCAST: Sunday at 6:30pm and 12:30am U.K. Time
“Set a thousand years into the future, Earth has become a nightmare of high-tech battlefields where few survive. From this world, soldier Qarlo is accidentally teleported back to the U.S. city streets of 1964 – to warn the human race of its capacity for self-destruction.”

Both parts will be available via the Listen Again service for six days after each broadcast.

posted by Jesse Willis

BBC7 / The 7th Dimension premiers 1st PODCAST!

SFFaudio Online Audio

BBC 7 and The 7th Dimension are premiering their very first podcast tomorrow! But it isn’t exactly what we were expecting…

HEROES The Official Radio Show
20 Part Series in 15 minute episodes
Broadcaster/Podcaster: BBC7 / The 7th Dimension
Broadcast: Saturday at 6.30pm and 12.30am (U.K. Time)
The NBC fantasy TV show Heroes just started airing on television channel BBC2 this week. The series is about ordinary people dealing with the discovery that they have extraordinary (superhuman) powers. This podcast (and broadcast) isn’t the actual series but instead it is what they are calling “the ultimate audio companion.” Features will include “in-depth discussions and analyses of the themes, characters and conundrums facing the characters.”

Subscribe to the podcast via this feed:

http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/bbc7/heroes/rss.xml

posted by Jesse Willis

Stanisław Lem’s Solaris to air on BBC Radio 4

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Both our regular U.K. contributor Roy, and a friend of SFFaudio, Paul Jenkins (of The Rev Up Review Podcast and The Plitone Revisionist podiobook) have written in to say that the latest issue of the Radio Times gives some brief details on an exciting new BBC Radio 4 “Classic Serial” that is set to be aired as two one-hour episodes beginning on Sunday July 29th…

Solaris
By Stanisław Lem; Performed by a full cast
2 One Hour Broadcasts – 2 Hours [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 4 / Classic Serial
Broadcast: Sunday Jul 29th 2007 @ 3 pm (UK Time)
The radio debut of ‘s science-fiction classic. A psychologist is sent to a run-down space station to find out what has happened to its crew. When his long-dead wife turns up, he finds himself in deep trouble.

Cast:
Kris – Ron Cook
Rheya – Joanne Froggat
Snow – Tim McMullan
Sartorius – Stuart Richman
Woman – Maxine Burth
Crew:
Producer by Polly Thomas
Adpted by Hattie Naylor
Repeated on Saturday at 9 pm

No other details available yet, but the Classic Serial website is here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts/classic_serial.shtml

Both episodes should be available via the ‘listen again‘ service after broadcast.

Thanks Paul and Roy! At only two hours it looks like they aren’t going with the Tarkovsky script for this one eh?

posted by Jesse Willis