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BBC Radio 4 has Poe and Kafka

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Roy, our UK correspondent, points out that BBC Radio 4 has two classic genre tales, the latter of which is read by Fawlty Towers‘ own Andrew Sachs – you remember him que?

The Pit And The Pendulum
By Edgar Allan Poe; Read by David Horovitch
1 reading – 15 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 4
Broadcast: Monday 15th January (15 mins).
Look for it on ‘Listen Again’ under Afternoon Reading.
David Horovitch reads Edgar Allen Poe’s spine-chilling tale of torture
Use the Afternoon Reading “listen again” service to hear the story.

Metamorphosis
By Franz Kafka; Read by Andrew Sachs
Five 15 Minute readings – [UNABRIDGED]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 4
Broadcast: Monday 15 – Friday 19 January 2007
Gregor Samsa awakes one morning to find himself transformed into a giant insect. The horrified reactions of his employer and his family have made this haunting parable on the human reaction to suffering into one of Kafka’s most famous and best loved works.
Use the Book At Bedtime “listen again” service to catch the entire reading.

posted by Jesse Willis

BBC Radio 4’s In Our Time Podcast tackles Life On Mars

In Our Time is a BBC Radio 4 podcast that covers the “big ideas” of our age. Each week the host, Melvyn Bragg, and three guests investigate the history of the ideas on a topic and debate their application to modern life. On offer this week is the history of Life on Mars |MP3| here’s the description

“For centuries there has been fierce debate about whether there is life on Mars and from the 19th century it was even thought there might be a system of canals on the planet. This insatiable curiosity has been fuelled by writers like H.G. Wells and C.S. Lewis and countless Sci-Fi films about little green men. So what do we know about Mars – its conditions, now and in the past? What is the evidence that there might be water and thus life on Mars? And when might we expect man to walk on its surface?”

Subscribe to the podcast:

http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rmhttp/downloadtrial/radio4/inourtime/rss.xml

posted by Jesse Willis

BBC7’s The 7th Dimension re-airs I Am Legend

BBC7’s The Seventh Dimension is rebroadcasting their unabridged reading of Richard Matheson’s classic 1954 novel I Am Legend! This mournful tale combines Science Fiction, Horror and Noir. It is, simply put, awesome.

When Robert Neville finds he is immune to the plague that has decimated the Earth’s population, he encounters unimaginable evil as he searches for a cure.

The reading starts Thursday January 11th 2007 at 6.30pm UK time. With a repeat at 12:30am that evening. Look for following episodes for the next eight weekday evenings. The narrator is Angus MacInnes, you may recognize his voice as that of Gold Leader from the original Star Wars movie. [LISTEN TO A CLIP]

posted by Jesse Willis

BBC Radio 7 re-broadcasts H.P. Lovecraft’s The Tomb

BBC7’s The Seventh Dimension is rebroadcasting their unabridged reading of an H.P. Lovecraft story that first aired on November 26th 2005.

The Tomb
By H.P. Lovecraft; Read by Ryan McCluskey
STREAMING AUDIO – Approx. 30 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Broadcaster: BBC7
Broadcast: Sunday December 10th at 6.30pm and 12.30am UK TIME [available via the Listen Again service for 6 days following]
Jervas Dudley inmate of an insane asylum describes the sinister events leading up to his incarceration. He tells of how he became obsessed with the tomb of a long-dead family of aristocrats and how his obsession tipped him over into madness when he entered their tomb and spent a night lying in an empty coffin.

posted by Jesse Willis

The Complete Chronicles Of Narnia set to Air on BBC Radio 7

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Christmas comes early this year! If you’re in the UK during December you’ll want to tune your DAB (Digital Audio Broadcast) radios to BBC 7. This because, The 7th Dimension slot has been virtually cleared for broadcasting The Complete Radio Dramatizations of The Chronicles Of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. The event begins Monday (December 4th), with Lewis’ first book in the series The Magician’s Nephew. But that’s just the start, The 7th Dimension will be broadcasting all seven books, over 28 dramatized episodes, from Monday to Friday in The 7th Dimension/Fantasy Zone slot throughout December and into January. The final episode of the final book in the series, The Last Battle, ends this epic on Wednesday January 10th 2007. It is a Narnia marathon!

For those poor folks outside the UK, like me, we’ll have to suffer by either trying to listen to the streaming broadcast on the BBC 7 site or more profitably, use the ‘Listen Again‘ feature which allows us to listen for up to 7 days after the broadcast in a web browser.

posted by Jesse Willis

BBC Radio 3 documents the life of H.P. Lovecraft

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BBC Radio 3 will be featuring a must listen documentary this Sunday in the “Sunday Feature” slot…

Weird Tales – The Strange Life Of H P Lovecraft
Radio Broadcast – Approx. 45 Minutes [DOCUMENTARY]
BROADCASTER: BBC Radio 3
BROADCAST: Sunday December 3rd 2006 @ 21:30 – 22:15 (UK TIME)

“Geoff Ward examines the strange life and terrifying world of the man hailed as America’s greatest horror writer since Poe. During his life Lovecraft’s work was confined to lurid pulp magazines and he died in penury in 1937. Today, however, his writings are considered modern classics and published in prestigious editions. Among the writers considering his legacy are Neil Gaiman, S.T. Joshi, Kelly Link, Peter Straub and China Mieville.”

This should be available via the ‘Listen Again‘ feature for 7 days after the broadcast too. This is exciting isn’t it?

Many thanks to Roy, or intrepid UK sleuth, for this exquisite find.

posted by Jesse Willis