The SFFaudio Podcast #247 – READALONG: On The Beach by Nevil Shute

Podcast

The SFFaudio PodcastThe SFFaudio Podcast #247 – READALONG: On The Beach by Nevil Shute; read by Simon Prebble. Jesse fends off illness to lead us in an intriguing discussion about Nevil Shute’s apocalyptic novel. This podcast features Jesse, Jenny, Seth, and Paul.

Talked about on today’s show:
Reversed seasons in Southern Hemisphere; novel originally serialized in London weekly periodical The Sunday Graphic; “on the beach” as naval phrase meaning “retired from service”; the novel almost universally acclaimed by critics and readers alike; what is the ideal time frame for an end-of-the-world scenario?; On The Beach as bleak existential novel; the author’s avoidance of political or religious polemic; 1959 movie starring Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, and Anthony Perkins; Australia as a secular nation; Earth Abides by George R. Stewart; Endgame by Samuel Becket; the novel as a metaphor for terminal cancer patients; The Star by Arthur C. Clarke; abstract sterile end-of-world mechanics, a “cosy catastrophe“; 2008 BBC radio adaptation; 2000 TV movie starring Bryan Brown, modernized and featuring a much more optimistic tone; Roland Emmerich’s disaster flick 2012; could the novel’s characters done more to ensure the continued survival of humanity?; fallout shelters, “duck and cover!”; Chernobyl; rampant alcoholism; euthanasia; attitudes toward media–were newspapers responsible for the war?; regression of technology in the novel; The Waveries by Fredric Brown; we wish the Cosy Catastrophe genre would supplant Paranormal Romance; reflection of a pre-WWI era arms race; 1959 movie version tackles Cold War paranoia; U.S. government’s criticism of the novel; Five Years by David Bowie; faced with the end of the world, our panel would evidently read Marcel Proust; needless revisions in film adaptations; much action takes place “off the page” in the novel; lookism; The Scarlet Plague by Jack London; Simon Prebble’s excellent audio narration; George Orwell’s 1984Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl and logotherapy; Jay Lake and his bout with cancer; Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, adapted by Alfred Hitchcock, and how we’re haunted by the people who are no longer with us; the novel’s three-dimensional characters; Nevil Shute employs typical British understatement; Lord of the Rings‘s Denethor and the idea of hopelessness; Egyptian tomb goods and attitudes towards death; Jesse plans his funeral rites.

On The Beach - illustration by John Rowland

On The Beach - Ralph Lane adaptation - RADIATION

Scorpion at Bremerton - illustration by Ralph Lane

ON THE BEACH - illustration by Ralph Lane - glass bricks

GENERAL - On The Beach by Nevil Shute

Posted by Seth Wilson

BBC Radio 7: Planet B (series 2), The House On The Strand, A Stir Of Echoes

SFFaudio Online Audio

BBC Radio 7 - BBC7BBC Radio 7 has two “NEW COMMISSIONS” that should draw many a wandering ear. First up a Richard Matheson novel A Stir Of Echoes! Scott reviewed the UNABRIDGED Blackstone Audio version not too long ago |READ OUR REVIEW|. Julie and a few other folks will also be excited to learn that the second Planet B series begins this week too. Among the re-runs for the week ahead is a BBC7 commission 2005. The House On The Strand is a 1969 novel by Daphne du Maurier. I suspect most of the new releases will turn up on RadioArchive.cc sooner or later, or you could use Radio Downloader, either of those will work. Planet B (Series 2), on the other hand, is available via podcast and the first episode is already in the feed!

Planet BPlanet B (Series 2) – The Tender Trap
By Matthew Broughton; Performed by a full cast
1 |MP3| – Approx. 30 Minutes [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 7
Broadcast: Sunday at 6pm and midnight
Kip is looking for love on the dating site, The Spark. But he gets more than he bargains for when a mysterious woman explodes into his world. Produced by James Robinson.
Starring:
Joseph Cohen-Cole
Tessa Nicholson
Emerald O’Hanrahan
Chris Pavlo
Melissa Advani
Adjoa Andoh

Podcast feed:

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

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

The House On The Strand by Daphne du MaurierThe House On The Strand
By Daphne Du Maurier; Read by Julian Wadham
12 Broadcast – Approx. 6 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 7
Broadcast: Tuesday – Friday at 6.30pm and 00.30am
Daphne Du Maurier’s masterpiece is a beguiling combination of romantic atmosphere, haunting psychology and assured storytelling. The tale revolves round the narrator Dick Young, who escapes from his troubles in the form of a new drug, which transports him six centuries back in time. But his attempts to change history bring terror to the present and throw his own life into the balance.

A Stir Of Echoes by Richard MathesonA Stir Of Echoes
By Richard Matheson; Read by Trevor White
5 Broadcasts – Approx. 2.5 Hours [ABRIDGED]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 7
Broadcast: Monday – Friday at 1.30pm, 8.30pm and 1.30am
Tom Wallace lived an ordinary life in a seemingly normal neighbourhood until his brother-in-law hypnotises him; a chance event that awakens psychic abilities he never knew he possessed. Now he can hear the private thoughts of the people around him, and learns shocking secrets he never wanted to know.

Posted by Jesse Willis

BBC 7 the Week Ahead: Daphne du Maurier, Tanith Lee and more

SFFaudio Online Audio

BBC Radio 7 - BBC7BBC Radio 7’s The 7th Dimension commissioned the following to mark the centenary of du Maurier’s birth…

The Blue Lenses
By Daphne du Maurier; Read by Emma Fielding
2 Parts – Approx. 60 Minutes [ABRIDGED]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 7 / The 7th Dimension
Broadcast: Sunday at 6.30pm and 12.30am
“One of the most celebrated and best-loved British authors of the 20th Century, wrote this dark fantasy exploring the sinister side of human nature. Marda West, whilst recovering from a serious eye operation, discovers that her vision has been heightened to a frighteningly new degree of clarity and the darker aspects of the human psyche which people prefer to keep hidden are on full display.”

Also from du Maurier, “First broadcast on BBC7 in 2005, a beguiling combination of romantic atmosphere, haunting psychology and assured storytelling”…

The House On The Strand
By Daphne du Maurier; Read by Julian Wadham
12 Parts – Approx. 6 Hours [ABRIDGED?]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 7 / The 7th Dimension
Broadcast: Monday to Friday at 6.30pm and 12.30am
First published in 1969 to critical and public acclaim, and was du Maurier’s personal favourite of all her novels. The tale revolves round the narrator Dick Young, who escapes from his troubles in the form of a new drug, which transports him six centuries back in time. But his attempts to change history bring terror to the present and throw his own life into the balance.

Also available in the week ahead, a chance to listen again to this popular, thought-provoking and gripping BBC7 thriller from 2006…

Jefferson 37
By Jenny Stephens; Performed by a full cast
4 Parts – Approx. 2 Hours [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 7 / The 7th Dimension
Broadcast: Monday to Thursday at 6pm and Midnight
“Set in the not too distant future, clones are made purely for those who can afford it, as spare-parts for surgery. The story tells of the life for these clones and the ways in which they are de-humanised – but their fundamental humanity cannot be thwarted.”

And, another chance to listen to this BBC7 commission from 2003…

Red As Blood
By Tanith Lee; Read by Stella Gonet
1 Part – Approx. 30 Minutes [ABRIDGED?]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 7 / The 7th Dimension
Broadcast: Friday at 6pm and Midnight
“This dark study of the Snow White fantasy”

All of these programs will be available via the “listen again” feature for a week after airing.

Posted by Jesse Willis

BBC Radio 4: The Birds by Daphne du Maurier + More eh?

SFFaudio Online Audio

Hey, more for the BBC, one on today, another on Saturday!

Most of the national BBC radio stations have been carrying a lot of Daphne du Maurier related programming of late. This, no doubt, to mark the centenary of her birth. In particular there’s an upcoming new radio production of her most famous work…

Online AudioSaturday Play – The Birds
Based on the short story by Daphne du Maurier; Performed by a full cast
1 Broadcast – Approx. 1 Hour [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 4
Broadcast: Saturday May 26th 2007 @ 14:30-15:30

Listen during the Saturday Play “Listen Again” program.

Also upcoming is a show one listener describes as: “Not particularly memorable from its first outing.” It’s a comedy series, set in 2012 – the second season, made up of four parts, starts Thursday night.

Online AudioDeep Trouble
By Jim Field Smith and Ben Willbond; Performed by a full cast
4 Parts – Approx. 30 Min. X 4 [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 4
Broadcast: Begins Thursday May 24th 2007 @ 23:00-23:30
The antics of an incompetent Royal Navy crew of the nuclear stealth submarine HMS Goliath. This episode: Disaster is threatened in the form of a new crew member, a noxious gas and a bad haircut.

Thanks go to Roy for this info!

posted by Jesse Willis

BBC Radio 7 has a Daphne Du Maurier novel

Online Audio

BBC 7's The 7th DimensionBBC7’s the 7th Dimension has just started an unabridged reading of a Daphne Du Maurier novel. Described as “[A] gripping tale of history mixed with horror, and an original approach to time travel. Of all her works it was apparently the author’s favourite.”

The House on the Strand
By Daphne Du Maurier; Read by Julian Wadham
12 half-hour segments – Approx. 6 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
BROADCASTER: BBC Radio 7
AIRING: Monday to Friday at 6.30pm adn 12.30am UK Time

This will be avilable via the Listen Again service shortly after it airs.

Jesse