BBC – Page 44 – SFFaudio

Ray Bradbury’s The Veldt on BBC Radio 4 next Tuesday’s

SFFaudio Online Audio

Our U.K. contributor “Roy” has found an SFFaudio gem in the Radio Times schedule for next…

Afternoon Play: The Veldt
By Ray Bradbury; Performed by a Full Cast
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 4
Broadcast: Tuesday 22nd May -14:15-15:00 (U.K. Time)
“An updated version of a classic SF story by Ray Bradbury, adapted from the stage play by Mike Walker, about a playroom that becomes a beguiling tempter, drawing two young children into secret, deadly adventures”

This should also be available via the Radio 4 Afternoon Play “Listen Again” service for 7 days following the broadcast.

posted by Jesse Willis

BBC2 plans a Star Wars documentary

Online Audio

Our eagle eyed U.K. correspondent, Roy, sez that BBC Radio 2 has something of interest starting later this week…

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the release of the original Star Wars movie, BBC Radio 2 has a two part programme that will feature interviews with the actors, musicians, producers and directors who worked on (or were influenced by) the film….

Star Wars – 30th Anniversary
2 Parts – Approx. 50 Mins [DOCUMENTARY]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 2
Broadcast: Fridays May 18th & 26th 2007 @ 19:00-19:30 (U.K. Time)

It is likely that both parts will be available via BBC R2’s ‘listen again‘ service. Thanks Roy!

posted by Jesse Willis

BBC Radio 2 Science Fiction Comedy pilot Daydream Believers

Online Audio

Our UK correspondent, Roy, has written in with a last minute addition… Daydream Believers on BBC R2 13:00-13:30 Saturday 5th May (hey that’s today!) Roy writes:

“This is apparently a pilot show only, but the BBC has promised a series if successful. SF Comedy (of both the TV & Radio varieties) often falls flat on its face and is one of the most difficult sub-genres, but Mitchell & Webb are riding high on TV at the moment so there is cause for optimism.”

I’m gonna give it a try, here are the details if you’d like to too…

Daydream Believers
1 Broadcast – [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 2
Broadcast: Saturday 5th May- 13:00-13:30
“[A] Sci-fi comedy in which David Mitchell and Robert Webb star as tetchy novelist Ray and his flatmate Colin and, in a parallel space adventure concocted by Ray, as Baron Amstrad and his bothersome android companion Info.”

This show has already aired, but it is available via ‘listen again‘ service. Thanks Roy!

posted by Jesse Willis

BBC Radio 3 and 4 PLUS KFAI all have Spec. Fic Audio

Online Audio

Our U.K. contributor “Roy” has clued us in on two cool BBC Radio programs coming next weekend…

The Saturday Play: Haunted Hospital
By Trevor Hoyle; Performed by a Full Cast
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 4
Broadcast: Saturday 5th May 2007 – 14:30-15:30 (U.K. Time)
A ghost story, set in a hospital and featuring two parallel storylines, one contemporary and the other set in the late 1800s, the latter drawing on real historical events. First broadcast in July 2005.

This should also be available via the Radio 4 Saturday Play “Listen Again” service for 7 days following the broadcast.

Blindness
By Jose Saramago; Translated by Giovanni Pontiero.
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 3
Broadcast: Sunday 6th May 2007 – 20:00-21:30 (U.K. Time)
“A driver waiting at the traffic lights goes blind & becomes patient zero in a contagion that sweeps through a city. The authorities isolate the blind in a mental asylum. Blind thugs take over. When all are blind, all the rules change.”

This should also be available via the Radio 3 “Listen Again” for 6 days following the broadcast.

Roy also points out that KFAI‘s Sound Affects program, host by Jerry Stearns, is running a 10 part series from ZBS called The Incredible Adventures Of Jack Flanders. This 1978 series will be in the last ten programmes before KFAI removes Sound Affects for its current slot. You can listen to the latest two programmes via the RealAudio format (including part 1 of The Incredible Adventures Of Jack Flanders) HERE. For more info on the Jack Flanders series check out THIS article.

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

BBC WorldService has Kenyan Science Fiction

SFFaudio OnlineAudio

BBC World Service’s African Performance contest for 2006 was won by a Kenyan teacher and columnist John Rugoiyo Gichuki. His 2006 entry, Eternal Forever, is Science Fiction! This guy won for 2004 as well (though that one wasn’t an SF play as far as I can tell). Hopefully there will be more Speculative Fiction entries for the 2007 contest. The good news, you can listen to the 2006 winner and the runner ups (none else are SF) HERE. Details on Eternal Forever itself follow…

Eternal Forever
By John Rugoiyo Gichuki; Performed by a FULL CAST
1 REALAUDIO File – Approx. 30 Minutes [RADIO DRAMA]
BROADCASTER: BBC World Service
BROADCAST: April 2006
Set in the year 2410, in the United States of Africa, it is the tale of Kwabena whose wife and son have mysteriously disappeared. His desperate search to find them brings him into contact with a scientist, Dr. Chishedi, who has helped to create a top secret parallel world into which his family have been transported. Kwabena is given the opportunity to join them in this unknown world, but it’s a big decision to make as it will change his life forever.

Via [JMX and his Silent Universe]

posted by Jesse Willis