Category: Online Audio

BBCR4: The Tale Of The Knight, The Witch And The Dragon

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

A few folks out there have been saying we need more audio drama coverage. In answer to this I thought I’d give more play to more of the AD recommendations that come my way. Today, I draw your attention to one episode of “the best-remembered and most often privately-recorded of all BBC Radio Drama series” – Saturday Night Theatre. SNT was broadcast on BBC radio stations from 1943 to 1997. One of the BBC’s flagship radio drama programs, it showcased both adaptations of literature and all-original plays. Most of these recordings are lost (a full listing of SNT broadcasts is available HERE), but through the good graces of fans in the U.K. some of these lost shows are becoming available once again. That’s where this particular play comes in. Bill Hollweg of Broken Sea Audio Productions sez:

“I listened last night and this is BY FAR the best Fantasy AD since LOTR [The Lord Of The Rings] by the BBC- you will be AMAZED at the stereo mix- there’s a scene with a winding stair case in a castle that will knock your socks off

Plus Capt Picard [Patrick Stewart] as a knight the has seen better days is just FANTASTIC! This is not a small kids tale but a great FANTASY!!!

ALL MIXERS should LISTEN TO THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

BBC Radio 4The Tale Of The Knight, The Witch And The Dragon
By J.C.W. Brook; Performed by a full cast
1 Broadcast – Approx. 84 Minutes [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 4 (Saturday Night Theatre)
Broadcast: Saturday 8th April 1978
“…a story of the past… the past of the imagination where all things are possible. A tale of power, love, sacrifice and of when the last fingers of myth and legend, sorcery and magic, trailed across the Earth before the world was so. It is a cosy world at peace. Where war is a make-believe and people know their place. A set, defined, established land of order and tranquility where evil only lies in the past… but that past approaches fast.”

Cast:
Patrick Stewart … The Knight, Sir Hugh of Monreth
Peggy Paige … The Witch Kavern
Anthony Newlands … The King
Elizabeth Proud … The Princess Edith
Gavin Campbell … Sir Edmund
Henry Knowles … The Herald
Marcus Campbell … Ian, Sir Hugh’s Page
Sheila Grant … Jane, The Princess’s Gentlewoman
Kate Binchy … Marianne, The Witch’s Daughter
Kenneth Shanley and Jonathan Scott … The King’s Subjects
Timothy Bateson … Scrimp, the Story Teller
Peter Howell of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop … sound effects and score
Directed by Ian Cotterell

Available for download via Mediafire |HERE|

Posted by Jesse Willis

TVOF: Interviews with Hal Clement, Poul Anderson, A.E. van Vogt, Isaac Asimov and Frederik Pohl

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

TVOF - The Voices Of FandomThe Voices Of Fandom, is a website I’ve just discovered. It has interviews, radio shows, testimonials and a lot more (like the fan made Ray Bradbury audio drama). Here is just a fraction of the cool recordings found over on TheVoicesOfFandom.com:

1982 Interview with Hal Clement – |MP3|
Raw unedited original interview recorded for the Science Fiction Radio Show (KOCV).

1982 Interview with Poul Anderson – |MP3|
Raw unedited original interview recorded for the Science Fiction Radio Show (KOCV).

1982 Interview with A.E. van Vogt – |MP3|
From The Science Fiction Radio Show (KOCV).

1972 Interview with Isaac Asimov and Frederik Pohl – Part 1 |MP3| Part 2 |MP3|
Raw interview material for an unfinished show.

T The Voices Of Fandom is a great resource for Science Fiction fans and scholars alike. Check it out.

[via Blue Tyson @ HuffDuffer.com]

Posted by Jesse Willis

BBC Radio 4: The Quest by Jonathan Holloway

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Radio Times - Today's Pick - The Quest (Jane Anderson)BBC Radio 4There’s an upcoming five part “surreal” Fantasy radio drama starting on BBC Radio 4 next week. Be sure to add it to your Radio Downloader subscriptions. It airs during the oddly named “Woman’s Hour Drama” slot. Sez BBC:

This week’s Woman’s Hour Drama presents a surreal, humorous and moving allegorical retelling of Thomas Mallory’s Morte d’Arthur, starring Mark Gatiss as Merlin and Julian Rhind-Tutt as Arthur.

In a 15th-century Britain that resembles the Favellas of Rio, Arthur is Merlin’s protégé; but the magician despairs – human frailty has defeated Utopia.

Arthur’s impregnation of his half sister Morgana haunts Camelot in the person of Mordred, who is his mother’s lover and scourge to his father. The court of the “Round Table” is decadent. Arthur invents the “Grail Quest” to bring purpose to his knights and rebuild his reputation in a tortured land. The knights emerge into a world that hates them. Some are hacked or stoned to death.

Seeking Glastonbury, Galahad stumbles over the Grail while hiding behind the Spar convenience store in Wells. He and the Grail are taken up to an antiseptic Heaven in an elevator, 15 miles high. Mordred raises an army to defeat his brother/father and delivers Arthur’s death blow. The dying Arthur raises Excalibur to throw it into Deptford Creek, but the sword is snatched from his grip by a track-suited teenager. The expiring king, his vision clouding, sees Merlin kicked to death by a gang.

Rooted in Mallory’s 14th-century epic, the narrative focuses on the “Grail Quest” and the dubious personal and state politics that surround it.


BBC Radio 4 - The Quest by Jonathan HollowayThe Quest
By Jonathan Holloway; Performed by a full cast
5 Parts – Approx.75 Minutes [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 4
Broadcast: Monday August 24th to Friday August 28th August @ 10:45-11:00 (FM only) repeated @ 19:45-20:00.
King Arthur has been mortally wounded, and talks to Merlin as death approaches. Loosely based on the works of Sir Thomas Malory and Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

Arthur …… Julian Rhind-Tutt
Merlin …… Mark Gatiss
Morgan Le Fay/Agravain …… Jasmine Hyde
Lancelot …… Stephen Noonan
Guinevere …… Eleanor Tremain
Galahad …… Paul Mundell
Percival …… Mark Meadows
Leodegrance …… Paul Mundell
Lot …… David Collins

Directed by Tim Dee.

[Thanks Roy!]

Posted by Jesse Willis

SF in SF Recordings

Charles

SFFaudio Online Audio

The Agony Column The Agony Column has the following recordings of SF in SF:

Madeleine Robins |MP3|

Kage Baker |MP3|

Panel Discussion with Madeleine Robins and Kage Baker |MP3|

You can subscribe to the feed at this URL:

http://bookotron.com/agony/indexes/tac_podcast.xml

Posted by Charles Tan

FREE @ Audible.com – My Soul To Lose by Rachel Vincent

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Harlequin Books has been releasing audiobooks through Audible.com for a while now. They’ve even got an official webpage for their wares. What is new is that they’ve got a new “paranormal romance” series aimed at teenagers. It’s called “SOUL SCREAMERS.” Is this the start of a new sub-genre? A Sweet Valley High with witches? A Buffy with pining? Is there a market for YA Paranormal Romance? Would PG-13 Anita Blake interest you? If so, Audible.com’s got a novelette length tale to try out for free…

My Soul To Lose by Rachel VincentMy Soul to Lose
By Rachel Vincent; Read by Amanda Ronconi
Audible Download – Approx. 1 Hour 48 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Harlequin Audio
Published: 2009
Provider: Audible.com
Kaylee Cavanaugh’s trip to the mall ends with a brutal panic attack and a brainscrambling shriek she can’t stop. Her secret fear is exposed. It’s the worst day of her life. Until she wakes up in the psychiatric unit. But the hospital isn’t a safe place for Kaylee, and getting out won’t be easy because everyone thinks she’s crazy. Everyone except Lydia, who has a secret of her own…

Here’s a sample |MP3|.

There’s a |PDF| version available too.

[via Mary Burkey’s Audiobooker Blog]

Posted by Jesse Willis

Mister Ron’s Basement HAS MOVED!

misterron

SFFaudio News

Podcast - Mister Ron's Basement

Well, it took months, but Mister Ron’s Basement has moved, lock, stock, and podcasts (over 1400 of them) to a new server! The old server at slapcast.com is gone now, but for a while will do redirects to the new site, as long as you are not linking to a specific episode.

So just make it a point to bookmark http://misterron.libsyn.com or better yet, go over there and click on the iTunes link. Once in iTunes, if you click on the “subscribe” button, all 1400+ episodes become available for direct download through the program. You can get one, two, or even all of them if you wish!

Anyway, thanks to all the SFFAudio listeners and readers who have sent me comments over the years. New episodes have been coming every day since the first of August, and we are trying to make everything interesting and fun!

Posted by Mister Ron