Christmas tidings

There are a few seasonal specials out there on the web. Firstly Radio Drama Revival has Waiting for Father Christmas, a drama about a woman reassessing her life from the wonderful Wireless Theatre Company and also a special Christmas episode of the Red Panda (in rhyming couplets!) from Decoder Ring Theatre. Buffy between the lines has also got several seasonal episodes with stories and a "Christmas EP"!
Update: Also the Sonic Society have a special "Jack and Shannon Christmas Card" with an extra special bonus for us Firefly fans!

If you're interested in old time radio shows there's also a list of episodes with Christmas themes to download for free at Old Radio Fun, with shows ranging from classic, to religious to super-hero and fantasy.

Of course the BBC has many special seasonal programs including

A ghost for Christmas
BBC7, 20th-21st Dec
Childrens ghost stories.

Adrian Mole at Christmas
BBC7, 24th-26th Dec
Adrian Mole's Christmas diary.

Jennings at School - Happy Christmas Jennings
BBC7, 24th Dec
The late Jennings author Anthony Buckeridge appears as Mr Wilkins in a seasonal dramatisation of life at Linbury Court School.

Hercule Poirot’s Christmas
and
The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding
BBC7 25th Dec
Seasonal Poirot mysteries by Agatha Christie

The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain
BBC7 27th Dec
Charles Dickens' last Christmas story is a vivid account of a man tormented by his past.

MR James at Christmas
BBC Radio 4 24th-25th Dec
Derek Jacobi introduces five new chilling dramatisations of MR James' ghost stories. MR James (1862-1936) was arguably the finest writer of ghost stories that England ever produced, influencing the likes of HP Lovecraft, Ramsey Campbell and Stephen King. Warning: apparently these are very scary!

Looks like there's lots of audio fun out there to share with/escape from the family!

Happy holidays!

Happy birthday BBC7!

The BBC digital radio station dedicated to drama and comedy, BBC7, is turning 5 on Dec 15th. I'm sure you'll all join me in wishing them a happy birthday, and thank them for all the wonderful stories they provide for us!

The special birthday edition on Saturday is playing requests from the listeners and includes

Theo: This delightful drama about the various owners of a rare cinnamon plush bear has always been a firm favourite with BBC 7 listeners. Written by Moya O'Shea it stars Martin Jarvis, Ross Livingstone, David Collings, Jane Whittenshaw and Stephen Critchlow. Directed by Tracey Neale, it was first broadcast in 1995.
12midday and 1am.

Diary of a Madman: This is another much requested monologue. The insight into the mind of a man sliding into madness is powerfully portrayed by Kenneth Williams. Originally broadcast in 1991, it was dramatised by James Burke from Nikolai Gogol's novel.
5.20pm, 11.20pm and 6.20am

as well as many popular comedies. The following week also includes some Christmas ghost stories to get us into the holiday spirit. All BBC7 programs are available as 'Listen Again' from their website for a week after broadcast.

News...

Well, I'm back from my vacation now so hopefully will be able to get back into posting regularly - apologies for the long absence.

In addition to this blog, I've also been asked to write some reviews for SFFaudio. For anyone who isn't familiar with this site, it is dedicated to science fiction and fantasy audiobooks and audio drama (hear their promo here) It's an amazing source of info with regular descriptions of new releases (commercial, internet radio and free podcast), general news and reviews, and I'm very proud to have been asked to write for them!

Estalvin's Legacy

Estalvin's Legacy is a new audio drama from Cossmass Productions. It's an epic sci-fi adventure set in Edinburgh (and the rest of the Cossmass!) with an elaborate plot (which requires some attention) and some interesting characters - I've really enjoyed the first few episodes and am looking forward to the next. It's great to see a production from the UK as well!

Ranging across the many parallel, and not so parallel, alternate realities of the Cossmass. Things aren't right in the greater reality know as the Cossmass. It encompasses thousands upon thousands of alternate realities. The stability of the Cossmass has been weakening. The collapse of an entire reality stream is no longer a mere theory.

The Kalsorin have an uneasy truce with the La'Shareti. Both have influence across several Reality Clusters. But the Kalsorin are keeping a secret from the La'Shareti that would bring a war that they could not win.

In a remote Cluster: Nicolas is older than he looks, and his memory is fading fast. Sarah and Peter have only known each other a short time when Liam appears. Liam has travelled the Cossmass for many years, always keeping out of sight of the Kalsorin. Until now.

Mystery, Adventure, Romance, Disaster and War across Alternate Realities.

Space Casey?

Space Casey is a new audio drama starting (I believe!) Nov 26th. (It's a bit advance notice, but I'm away on holiday for a couple of weeks with probably little internet(!), so there'll be little posting. Hopefully it'll be a good oopportunity to catch up on some listening though!) I don't know much about this project other than it's sci-fi and the website says

"Some heroines will steal your heart... This one will steal your wallet."

and that I immensely enjoyed the teasers (go and listen!). I'm hoping that the drama will be as good as the teasers!

Update: It seems I got the date wrong - it actually starts on Nov 28th.

Review: Fine Line Doctor Who

Fine Line is part of Westlake Films - a group of production companys producing fan made video and audio, including many based on Doctor Who. Fine Line have (according to the website) been producing Doctor Who audios since 1991, and have nine stories on the website. It's unclear whether these are still being made, but I hope so!

The thing which really appeals to me about these dramas is the writing - the plots are well thought out and original, and the 1-2 hour format allows time for some character development and plot twists. The writers don't try to place the series in a particular place in the 'Doctor Who time line', or try to write for a specific Doctor (which in my mind is pretty sensible), though there is continuity through the stories and a story arc over episodes 3-7. The acting is decent, though some actors are better than others. The one big problem with the earlier stories is that the sound quality is rather bad making them difficult to listen to, and there is some bad editing (missing or repeated bits). This does improve substantially through the series though, with the most recent episode (Madhouse) having very good sound quality and spooky sound effects to add to the haunted house atmosphere.

A Thanksgiving audio feast!

In honour of Thanksgiving BBC7 is running a special Stars and Stripes season of American dramas for the next three weeks. This includes dramatisations and reading of many famous American works including Last of the Mohicans, Little Women, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Handmaids Tale, Children of the Corn (Stephen King) and various works by Edith Wharton, Raymond Chandler and Kurt Vonnegut.