Radio Dramatisations (Page 1)

When an attendant checks on a new patient at the lunatic asylum, he witnesses the man, Talbot, undergo a horrifying transformation. The attendant is brutally torn apart and Talbot escapes. On the Yorkshire Moors two young American men are backpacking. Hitching a ride to East Proctor, they call at a small pub called The Slaughtered Lamb where a frosty reception awaits them, especially when they question the pentagram and candles on the wall. Unwelcome, they are dispatched back out on to the Moors with only a single warning to stay on the path. Faced with a seven mile walk to the next town in torrential rain, matters deteriorate further when they hear the sounds of a predatory animal circling them. Jack is attacked by a wolf and David is injured before the special constable, George Hackett, one of the unsociables at the pub, kills the beast with a shotgun. Before falling unconscious David sees that what was a wolf is now a naked man.

David wakes up in a hospital in London to be told by Doctor Hirsch and Nurse Alex Price that his friend Jack is dead. He is sedated after becoming hysterical, but later contradicts the police report that the attacker was an escaped madman. As far as David is concerned it was definitely a wolf. The police learn that Talbot's real name was Hackett, the same as East Proctor's special constable. Meanwhile, David's parents are on board an aircraft approaching Heathrow Airport when it is taken over by the people's Liberation Front. When his father tries to protest, he is shot. This scene within a scene turns out to be another in a series of nightmares surrounding death which David experiences in the hospital. To make matters worse his dead friend Jack appears to him in a state of decomposition and tells him they were attacked on the Moors by a lycanthrope, a werewolf. Jack explains that he is cursed to walk the Earth in limbo until the bloodline is broken and the last werewolf is destroyed. David is told he is that last werewolf; he must kill himself. 

When David is discharged from hospital, the attractive and sympathetic Nurse Alex gives him a place to stay, and very soon they are a couple. From limbo Jack watches them make love in the shower. He is urged by Larry, one of many undead from the werewolf line, to persuade David to kill himself quickly so that they can pass on. Larry, he discovers, is the werewolf that killed him on the Moors ("I'm really pissed off at you for killing me, Larry!" "I've said I'm sorry, haven't I?"). This time when Jack appears to David, he tells his disturbed friend that the next day at the full moon he will become a werewolf. Needless to say, David thinks he is losing his mind. Intrigued by his ex-patient's werewolf delusions, Dr Hirsch pays a visit to The Slaughtered Lamb pub in East Proctor, where he receives a very cool reception from George Hackett and the other patrons. The urgent warnings of a young villager are abruptly cut off by the special constable. 

Meanwhile, David is left alone while Alex goes to work the nightshift at the hospital. He eventually undergoes a hideous transformation and disappears into the night. Dr Hirsch and Alex, concerned about David's mental state, attempt to contact him without success. That night a series of gristly murders are reported in and around Central London. In East Proctor the patrons of The Slaughtered Lamb press George Hackett into taking action, as the dark secret has now extended beyond their community. David wakes up the next morning naked and in the wolf enclosure at London Zoo. After persuading a little boy to lift a woman's fur coat from a park bench, he makes his way back to Alex's flat. He feels fit and invigorated, like a new man. 

When Dr Hirsch learns that David has returned he instructs Alex to bring him straight to the hospital, but when the taxi driver starts to talk about the brutal killings of the night before David realises he was responsible. He separates himself from Alex, telling her he's not safe to be with. Jack makes a final appearance, beckoning David into a seedy Leicester Square porno cinema. David is introduced to his victims from the night before. One more time they try to persuade him to commit suicide, but the full moon rises causing David to undergo his metamorphosis. Although the police arrive on the scene, the werewolf David breaks through the barriers created at the cinema and causes havoc through the streets around Piccadilly Circus. 

Dr Hirsch and Alex arrive at the scene half-believing the werewolf story. Apparently, Hirsch's ancestors from Eastern Europe were very big on legend and superstition. It turns out that 200 years before, the people of East Proctor migrated from Eastern Romania. The werewolf David enters a theatre, but is then cornered in an alley by the police. Alex manages to slip through unseen into the alley, where she attempts to protect the beast. However, George Hackett turns up with a shotgun and puts an end to the curse. With Alex at his side, the werewolf turns back into David. He is dead... and free. 

Eric Meyers (Sargeant Bullock in Batman: Knightfall, The Human Torch in The Amazing Spider-Man, and David here) went to college in the US with the brother of John Landis (the director of the original 1981 film). He thought it might be a good idea for Dirk Maggs to do the story for radio. Dirk met with John Landis to talk about the project; he was emerging from the Abbey Road studios after recording music and a voice-over for his film The Stupids. With him was veteran actor Christopher Lee, and Dirk got to meet them both for the first time. Initially, Dirk was reluctant to take on what was essentially a recycled movie; it wasn't what he considered his Audio Movies to be all about (people still approach him and say, "You do radio versions of films." which is not the case. There has only been one: this one.). A successful meeting changed Dirk's mind, however. Landis was keen for this to go ahead and gave Dirk permission to flesh-out and extend the story with original material, which eventually ran to more than fifteen percent of the running time. Landis also did everything he could to push through clearances. 

The acting talents of Jenny Agutter, Brian Glover and John Woodvine (Woodvine's rich voice would be perfect for audio book narratives, if he hasn't already added that to his repertoire) were secured to reprise their film roles and bring continuity to the project. Also turning in sterling performances as David and Jack, the American backpackers, are Eric Meyers and William Dufris (Judge Caligula in Judge Dredd - The Day The Law Died, and the title character in The Amazing Spider-Man) respectively. William Dufris has made it known that this project is one of his career works he's most proud of.

As in the film, the best humour comes courtesy of conversations between David and his dead friend Jack. For example: "It looks like I'll have to get used to entertaining corpses. Take a seat." "I'd better stand. I seem to leave bits of myself behind when I sit." Another example is: "I came to see you." "You've seen me, now go away and decompose somewhere else. I will not be threatened by a walking meatloaf!" In the brand new opening sequence there is a clever exchange between a Inspector Villiers and his subordinates: "There's enough blood. Where's the body?" "Over here. And over there." "Another bit over here, sir." Another powerful moment, particularly because there are no other actors to play off of, is the scene when David is left alone in Alex's flat on the night of his first transformation. He tries out the TV: "ITV - soccer match, BBC1 - insipid documentary, BBC 2 - insipid documentary, Channel 4 - insipid documentary presented by midget transvestites..." And he checks his appearance: "Everything looks the same in the mirror. No incipient werewolf characteristics. Snarl! Growl! Grr!" 

Due to the horror content and some bad language, An American Werewolf in London was first broadcast in three-minute segments in a late night BBC Radio 1 slot, again mixed by Paul Deeley in superb Dolby Surround Sound. To create the guttural wolf sounds a pig and English badger noises were used in the mix. Eric Meyers was recorded using a stereo capsule on a boom so that there would be the feeling of frantic movement. 

The dramatisation was released in its 110 minute entirety on cassette and CD later in 1997 (ZBBC 1994). Sales were respectable, but feedback was surprisingly quiet. However, the industry obviously appreciated the piece as Dirk's script was nominated for the Writers' Guild Award for Best Dramatisation, and the production won the 1997 Talkie Award for Best TV or Film Adaptation. A slightly truncated version of the complete Audio Movie aired on 13th September 2003 on the BBC World Service as its Play of the Week, during the themed Monster Season. The BBC World Service has a global audience of 150 million.

(Review by Ty Power. A shorter version of this review originally appeared on my previous website 2004).  

Unlike Superman, Batman is an exciting character with a broad canvas to work with. There's plenty of depth to this dark hero who is by day millionaire businessman Bruce Wayne and by night a costumed vigilante. It is important, however, to portray the Batman as it was originally intended, as a sinister, single-minded semi-psychotic. This is what happens in the two Tim Burton films, it's the arrangement for the award-winning animated series and, thankfully, it's very much the format here for radio.

John Paul Valley inherits the identity of Azreal the Avenging Angel from his father, a member of a secret society called the Order of St. Dumas. As the mental conditioning threatens to overwhelm his own personality, Bruce Wayne helps him to maintain a semblance of normality.

Meanwhile, there's a new player in Gotham City. Born in prison to a drug-addicted mother, Bane has been raised on Venom, a super-steroid which, when injected, boosts muscle strength a hundredfold. Bane wants to take over as crime lord and sees the Batman as his only real obstacle. Attacking Arkham Asylum, he creates a massive breakout of all the sociopaths Batman has spent years putting away. Standing back and watching with satisfaction, Bane sees our hero become steadily more run-down as he sets to the obligatory task of rounding-up the criminals, starting with the low-key hoods. When the Batman is merely a shadow of his former self, Bane steps from the shadows and, in front of a terrified populace breaks the Dark Knight's back and drops him from a rooftop.

Awnings break his fall, and Tim Drake and faithful manservant Alfred Pennyworth are quick on the scene as bogus paramedics to spirit him away. Tim Drake has been in training as the new Robin, since Dick Grayson left to become Nightwing. Bruce Wayne, now in a wheelchair as the result of a supposed car accident, refuses Alfred's pleas to rest. Seeing Gotham dissolve into chaos, Bruce has no choice but to hand over the mantle of the Bat to Jean Paul Valley, and send him out in his costume with the new Robin.

Jean Paul defeats Bane by depriving him of the Strength-inducing Venom, but the mental conditioning of Azreal the Avenging Angel takes a firm hold. Adapting the Bat costume into a tough body armour, he uses the gauntlets to fire bat-shaped razor blades. In battles he becomes steadily more ruthless and cruel, and eventually allows a man to die. Robin is shunned and blocked from entering the Batcave, and the neglected Wayne Manor is falling to ruin. 

Meanwhile, Bruce and Alfred are in England following up a lead on the kidnapped Doctor Kinsolving, his recent back injury expert physiotherapist. Under aristocratic aliases they invite themselves to the Hunley Ball, where a demonstration of psi-energy is taking place involving the kidnapped Kinsolving. Bruce is accidentally caught in a backlash whilst attempting a rescue, and his back is miraculously healed, but at the cost of mental regression to childhood for Doctor Kinsolving.

Arriving back in Gotham, Bruce is told by Tim Drake that Jean Paul is out of control. Bruce decides to return to his former identity, but he is not yet ready to challenge the new Bat-pretender. Although physically fit, he is out of condition. He asks the Lady Shiva to train him; she asks him to wear the Mask of Tengu, appropriately a bat deity. However, she has told the masters of her order to kill whoever wears the mask. The restored Batman is obliged to satisfy honour in a fight to the death, before taking out the Bat-pretender in a manner which reconfirms his passion for human life.

Bob Sessions plays the title role, with Kerry Shale as Jean Paul Valley (also excellent as The Joker), Peter Marinker as Bane and Michael Gough reprising his role from the films as Alfred the butler. All performances are convincing, although the character of Shondra Kinsolving appears to have been included simply to throw a little psi-energy at the disabled Bruce Wayne at the appropriate moment. However, that lies at the hands of DC Comics and writers Chuck Dixon, Alan Grant, Doug Moench and Dennis O'Neil, who otherwise have created a fantastic tale.

There are villains aplenty: The Joker, The Riddler, Scarface, The Mad Hatter, The Ventriloquist and Film Freak; they're all here except The Penquin and Catwoman, it seems. All of the criminals are totally psychotic, but there are no hammed performances, which was my main fear. Even The Ventriloquist, who wears a sock on his hand and speaks in a squeaky voice, proves chilling rather than humorous. In this script it is not only the hoodlums who are psychotic, the entire city seems deranged, which is at least in keeping with the key character who faithfully adopts the traditional Dark Knight portrayal from the comics, lending the piece a mainly gothic horror feel.

To my untrained ears the quality of sound is nothing short of stupendous, although Dirk has gone on record as saying Knightfall was the first real effort to get to grips with Dolby Surround, and that mixing and panning can be much more focussed using Dolby 5.1. Nevertheless, the sound is best appreciated with multiple speakers or ideally through headphones. I first experienced this veritable assault on the senses in the early hours of a Saturday morning in 1994. In the dead of night the multitude of layered sound effects, followed by total silence at the right moment, left me at times shell-shocked, particularly at the conclusion of tape 1 when the Batman is 'broken' by Bane. The sound effects are plentiful, as they should be, and are ably assisted by Mark Russell's orchestral score, which is very reminiscent of the movies.

In 1993, when Matthew Bannister took over BBC Radio 1, he approached Dirk Maggs for a daytime serial. Dirk decided to revisit the popular Batman character (after previously adapting The Lazarus Syndrome) and Knightfall was born. There were sixty-five three-minute episodes separated into three volumes, "A Knight's Fall", "A hero's Quest", and "A Batman Reborn", adapted from the DC Comics arcs, "Knightfall", "Knightquest", and "Knight's End". The idea was to create the very first daily drama broadcast on BBC Radio 1. Although initially rather daunting for Dirk Maggs, the writing and recording ran pretty smoothly. It first aired in 1994 to instant success, the segments being slotted in easily between the chart records.

Batman - Knightfall was produced for BBC light entertainment and released in 1994 by the BBC Radio Collection (ZBBC 1612). All episodes were edited together to make one uninterrupted three-hour storyline with a relentless pace. Upon commercial release Knightfall reached No.1 in the Spoken Word charts in the UK.

I would strongly recommend anyone to beg, borrow or even buy a copy of Knightfall (the original tapes are out of circulation, but it finds itself on CD for the first time in 2007). You won't be sorry; this is a staggering achievement which immerses you in scenes of chaos and allows you to hang on to Batman's cape as he attempts to restore order. It kind of makes you wish for a film version, whilst realising it could never live up to the special effects inside your head. 

(Review by Ty Power. A shorter version of this review originally appeared in Dreamwatch Magazine 1994). 

This is the first of two audio CD releases from Fantom Films. There are five short stories, all read by Phil Reynolds, on three discs, with a total running time of 190 minutes. These are some of the more fantastical or macabre tales written by Sherlock Holmes creator and author of The Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Phil Reynolds is an experienced actor, writer and voice artist; he narrates these tales with a resoluteness of purpose, neither offering too much annoying inflection, or sleep-inducing low tones. Read on and be transported.

Most people will have heard of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and those who haven’t will surely be aware of Sherlock Holmes, one of the best-loved and most enduring literary characters of all time. Conan Doyle was an astute and intelligent man. His many accomplishments included, serving as a ship’s doctor, building up his own successful medical practice, studying the eye in Vienna, operating as a front line war correspondent, being knighted by Queen Victoria, and being appointed Deputy-lieutenant. He was an all-round sportsman, and extensively well-travelled, as well as being a life-long campaigner for the underdog. His written output is more than prolific. In his later years Conan Doyle expressed a deep interest in spiritualism and the supernatural, and conducted lecture tours on the subject.

The five tales incorporated here cover this period in his life. The Horror of the Heights tells of the rumour of something unearthly seen at an extreme altitude by a pilot who has since been discredited and gone mad. A curious pilot seeks to uncover the truth for himself, and so takes his bi-plane higher than anyone has previously risen. Although an interesting enough idea, it is far too long in the telling, and in a subsequent age of space travel holds little intrigue. Suspend your disbelief big time for this one. Oh, and one more comment: the cover artwork rather gives away what the pilot encounters.

In The Lord of Chateau Noir, certain wartime atrocities are traced back to the Count of a relatively nearby manor house by a sergeant and a handful of soldiers. The potential prisoner doesn’t appear to be at home, but he will materialise and gain the upper hand with motives of his own. This one requires intent concentration; I listened to the story when distracted by other household matters, and found myself having to revisit the plot - a tale of active revenge.

The Nightmare Room, tells the story of an American aristocrat who falls in love with and marries a well-known dancer. She has given up her previous life touring Europe to be with him, and he treats her well. That is until he discovers that she intends to poison him, and has a lover. When the other man arrives at the house an unusual exchange of words takes place, culminating in a most unexpected conclusion. This one is an enjoyable listening experience, grounded in reality. It has the feel of a Tales of the Unexpected episode, but the ending is somewhat mundane - a bit of a disappointment.

The Ring of Thoth, has a scholar studying Egyptian antiquities at an exhibition when he falls asleep, and awakes to find a strange man performing a ritual in the middle of the night. This has the structure of a Sherlock Holmes story, in that a character is discovered and is compelled to tell his back story. It’s an interesting listen, but would have been greatly aided by having been played out rather than told in exposition.

The Brazilian Cat is probably the best of the bunch on offer here. It follows the exploits of a destitute young nobleman who visits his rich cousin in order to ask him for a loan. The cousin is most cordial, unlike his plainly rude wife who wants nothing more than for him to leave as soon as possible. The cousin enthusiastically shows him his prize possession, a Brazilian big cat - and I don’t think it’s giving too much away to reveal that the cat has a distinct bearing in our hero’s peril. There is palpable tension inherent in this story, and a believable motive for the jovial man’s nastiness.

These are a curiosity, if nothing else. Their effect is greatly blunted by the years, so that what would have been astounding literary pieces in their time, are now, at best, average fair. Unlike Sherlock Holmes, these are not timeless classics.

(Review originally written by Ty Power for reviewgraveyard 2010) 

Gordon Way has been murdered and the innocent Richard MacDuff stands accused. Of course, Gordon knows that Richard is not to blame; at least his invisible spirit does. However, communicating with anyone living proves more than tricky. Without being officially asked, private detective Dirk Gently (who is more used to dealing with missing cats) takes on the case. Dirk believes in the holistic interconnectedness of all things, and it's a good job he does, because before long he finds himself having to piece together the bizarre events of a seemingly impossible conjuring trick, a Cambridge professor who has been around for far too long, an electric monk searching for its horse (which turns up in a bathroom), a vindictive spirit and a spaceship. And to make matters worse, the fate of the universe is in his hands. Not bad for someone dragged out of Cambridge University by the police, and who can't even pay his long-suffering secretary...

The various media of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy have made Douglas Adams a big name in literature, and particularly readers of science fiction and fantasy. Dirk Maggs, adapter, producer and director of this first Dirk Gently adventure, himself is no stranger to these genres. Having already adapted books three to five of the Hitchhiker trilogy in five parts, he now turns his experienced hand to the even more arduous task of dramatising Dirk Gently for BBC Radio 4. To my mind this would have been difficult because the novel contains many descriptive passages which needed to be made into character dialogue to avoid the obvious inclusion of a narrator. Therefore, we now have a speaking electric monk (which at times seems to pay homage to Marvin the paranoid android), and we have some verbal interaction from the ghost of Gordon Way.

The voice acting is considerably better than expected, bearing in mind certain fan base gripes about the choices. Andrew Sachs's Professor Chronotis I particularly enjoyed, along with Billy Boyd's Richard MacDuff and Toby Longworth's Electric Monk. Harry Enfield appears to play himself in the role of Dirk Gently, which is fine. The sound design and effects are top-notch, as we have come to expect from a Maggs production, but the music should be singled out for hitting all the right moods for each scene. The title music is fabulous, inspiring mystery and melancholia (at least in this reviewer).

So what do we have when we collect together an electric monk, a professor of chronology, a wandering spirit, and much more? Well, even after listening to it I'm not entirely sure. It's not a comfortable experience, as you're made to work for your payoff. This is not so much the fault of this audio piece as it is the mind of Douglas Adams himself. Being such a visionary, Adams' novel is teeming with a multitude of unrelated ideas, thoughts and opinions. Therefore, the utmost concentration is required to follow the plot.

Much as the liner notes say differently, I do think Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency works better in book form; you can read certain passages slowly as required, whereas an audio dramatisation of this nature has to motor along, making it difficult to absorb everything at once. Playing in the car or wandering around at home simply doesn't work; you need to lie-down, close your eyes and be transported. Even then you are rewarded when listening to the whole again. Dirk Maggs deserves much credit for turning a veritable cornucopia of events into a cohesive piece.

This first Dirk Gently adventure might fail to grab a casual mainstream listening audience, but it will most definitely appeal to Hitchhiker fans, readers of surreal fantasy and of course followers of Douglas Adams. I do remember enjoying the second Gently book, The Long, Dark Teatime of the Soul, rather more than the first, so I look forward to the broadcast of that adaptation.

(Review originally written by Ty Power for reviewgraveyard 2007) 

It's difficult to accept that nearly 35 years have passed since Slipback, which was first broadcast on Radio 4 25 July 1985. It was DOCTOR WHO's first foray on to radio after a few aborted attempts. The first project was a schools piece, in which the TARDIS was implemented to dramatically educate the younger masses regarding the progress of evolution on Earth. 

In the Seventies when Tom Baker was in the TV role, Victor Pemberton, writer of Fury from the Deep, penned an original story called The Pescatons. It featured the acting voices of Tom Baker and Elizabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith. Although it contained dramatic scenes, a heavy dose of explanatory narration stole much of the tension away. The Pescatons was released on to LP by Argus records, and was the first professional attempt to produce DOCTOR WHO in radio format. 

Another project which suffered from similar narration drawbacks was Genesis of the Daleks, a BBC Enterprises venture, adapted using the original audios from the TV story. Andrew Sewell and David Dupont of BBC Radio later rescripted it into a better edited version which made more sense to the listener and was aided by significantly less interruptions. It received a favourable reaction within BBC Radio, but never aired because they felt, with DOCTOR WHO still riding high on a wave of popularity, there was no room for a radio adaptation, particularly from a story which had already aired on BBC 1. 

That view was to change. When the Controller of BBC 1, Michael Grade, "rested" DOCTOR WHO for eighteen months, it was the perfect opportunity for a radio serial to fill the hiatus - or at least a small part of it. Understandably in the circumstances, the announcement of Slipback induced general derision from the tabloids. The BBC was accused of a huge cost-cutting exercise in making the established viewing audience simply listen and use the imagination. The countless necessary "Save the Doctor" campaigns were standing for no nonsense; no one wanted the radio to replace the longest running Science Fiction TV series in the world, and this view was not without some justification. 

However, Slipback producer, Paul Spencer, was quick to point out the huge exaggeration involved in what amounted to a coincidence. In comparison with a TV version, there was no denying the low production costs of radio - of course, no costumes, sets or visual effects were necessary; Slipback was not created as a replacement though, but as an extra medium for the Doctor. Radio 4 Controller, David Hatch, created a programme for young teenagers called Stereo Pirate Radio 4. Ideas were raised to fill the three hour live slots, one of which was DOCTOR WHO. 

The script was written by Eric Saward, the then TV Script Editor, and split into six ten-minute episodes, each with the standard cliffhanger. The finished product was aired over three weeks, two per show on Thursdays. The current Doctor of the time, Colin Baker, was joined by TV companion Nicola Bryant as Peri. Guest Stars included Jane Carr as the Computer, John Glover as Grant, Nick Revell as Bates and Snatch, and Valentine Dyall as Slarn. 

The TARDIS materialises in the future aboard a huge spacecraft, immediately after the Sixth Doctor has experienced a dream in which a voice tries to tell him about the "Eclipse of Time." A man-eating alien creature is rampaging through the walkways. The Doctor identifies it as a Maston, a species thought to be extinct. The captain has spores growing in his body at such a rate that an explosion could infect and ultimately kill the entire crew. Peri is accosted by unscrupulous policemen seeking art treasures stolen by Grant, one of the crew. The ship's computer has a foolish female voice, which is used for the explanatory dialogue. The heart of the computer emerges as a separate, more ruthless character, who it seems is behind the Doctor's dream. It intrudes into the Doctor's mind, stealing required information on time travel, and sends the ship back in time in an attempt to genetically alter the envolvement of life forms throughout history to extinguish anger and warlike tendencies. But it has miscalculated; the ship returns to the beginning of creation. The original identity of the computer dislikes what it has become and activates the ship's self-destruct mechanism. The Doctor tries to prevent this, but is stopped by the voice of a Time Lord, who informs him that this is meant to happen. It will be the Big Bang which creates the universe.

It was neither the best nor the worst script written for DOCTOR WHO, but it was suitably simplistic, fitting the requirements of six ten-minute parts. Saward did his best to make the relatively short serial as action-packed as possible, and in this he achieved much: the origins of the Big Bang, a disease-ridden captain, an art theft investigation, a twin personality computer, and a man-eating monster. There was also a conversation on the run between the Doctor and Peri - an action perhaps more suited to Peter Davison's Doctor - which could only have been attempted on radio. It was obviously intended to keep events moving apace, but sounds more than a little contrived.

For me, Slipback failed to convince. It contained many of the elements present in the Colin Baker tenure, but was let down by a number of technicalities. The plot was a straightforward one, with the Peri and police sub-plot an unnecessary diversion. Incidentally, the police sounded more like millitant union representatives. The foolish computer voice began to grate early on; even its own admission of possessing a silly voice could not lessen the burden. At least two of the characters were clichéd: Snatch was a brainless 'shoot em up' thug who pointed a gun at everything that moved; and the Service Maintenance Drone acted like a manically depressed butler, similar in many ways to Marvin the Paranoid Android from Douglas Adams' The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy. The cliffhangers were also disappointing. Rather than allowing the progression of events to reach a crescendo before abruptly cutting off, there was a few seconds of explanation before the Doctor shouted, 'No!' or 'Peri!' Hardly inspiring.

It's interesting to note that no other radio serials were produced between 1985 and 1989, while the TV series still ran. However, with new DOCTOR WHO missing from our screens since 1989, radio serials were once again acceptable. So what Slipback did achieve was to set a precedent. Barry Letts' The Paradise of Death, reuniting Jon Pertwee with Lis Sladen and Nicholas Courtney, enjoyed improved success and later inspired another offering, The Ghosts of N-Space, with the same winning team.

(Review by Ty Power. This piece originally appeared in Dreamwatch Magazine 1995). 

Just in case you’re from a small planet somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse and you’ve been spending your time stranded on prehistoric Earth with an ape-descended life-form - The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy tells the story of Arthur Dent, whose planet is destroyed to make way for an interstellar bypass. Along with mysterious friend Ford Prefect, the two-headed, three-armed ex-galactic president Zaphod Beeblebrox, and the trusty (or is that rusty?) Marvin the Paranoid Android, they visit the planet-manufacturing Magrathea, dine at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe, and learn the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything...

HHGG is quite simply an enduring (not to mention endearing) masterpiece. Since its original 1978 radio broadcast it's hardly aged at all, and its subsequent success has spawned books, records, a TV series, a feature film, four more radio serials, and no doubt a towel or two somewhere along the line. The first book was voted high in the nation's 100 favourite reads, and the audio book has won numerous awards.

Listening to this 4-CD set, newly remastered by audio movie maestro Dirk Maggs (who adapted books 3 to 5 of the series) is a good example of memory cheats. I was mildly disappointed by the main plot points (not because they're not fantastic - which they are - but because I know them too well) and pleasantly surprised by the myriad little asides, most of which I'd forgotten - such as the alien attack fleet which is swallowed by a small dog.

To say that HHGG is mad would be a monumental understatement. It's jam-packed with philosophical ideas and off-kilter but often true observations on life... an existentialist's dream. Personally speaking, the highlight of the original HHGG is the character of Marvin the Paranoid Android - the ultimate 'Grumpy Old Man'. The idea of a manic depressive robot in inspired. I've modelled myself on Marvin ("Life, don't talk to me about life." / "Do you want me to sit in the corner and rust, or just fall apart where I'm standing?").

Disc 4 of this set contains the 55-minute Douglas Adams' Guide to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The comments from Adams are always worth listening to, but the long-winded linking pieces spoken by The Book begin to grate after a while. If you want to hear the quotes listen to the audio - this is just labouring a point. However, this is just a minor quibble for an otherwise outstanding release.

(Review originally written by Ty Power for reviewgraveyard 2008) 

Arthur Dent is stranded on prehistoric Earth with one-time researcher for the guide Ford Prefect, except Ford has gone walkabout leaving Arthur with no-one to talk to but the trees. Just as he's making an executive decision to go mad, Ford returns blabbering about sub-ether waves and the space/time continuum. A Chesterfield sofa appears and starts swirling around. When Ford has them chase it and jump on, it deposits them through time to the middle of Lords cricket field, during an Ashes match between England and Australia. It turns out that it's the day before the Earth is due to be demolished to make way for an interstellar by-pass. Slartibartfast shows up in a strange new spacecraft, but so does a team of cricket-clad homicidal robots called Krikkits. As Arthur and Ford make their escape, Slartibartfast appears overly desperate to obtain the Ashes. Very soon Arthur finds himself dragged along on a reluctant journey to save the universe, and he doesn't even have time for a nice cup of tea and a cucumber sandwich...

For anyone who's spent the last 25 years somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse this is the third in the series of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy BBC radio dramatisations based on characters and situations created by Douglas Adams. It follows on from the two highly successful serials of the late seventies and eighties. In fact, The Tertiary Phase is the first to be adapted from the book version. I have to say I dislike the latter day renaming of these to The Primary, Secondary, and in this case Tertiary Phase; why can't the BBC just stick with The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, and Life, the Universe and Everything?

Some people, I'm certain, will complain about the apparent lack of continuity between the last series and this, but the truth is adapter, director and co-producer Dirk Maggs faced a difficult problem. The second radio series didn't follow the precise plotlines of the second book, and they have completely different endings. Although Dirk undoubtedly possesses the writing experience and ability to manipulate the story around to bridge the gap, Douglas Adams is said to have had no worries about continuity. Therefore, with a limited running time it was probably the right decision to crack on with this story. So we have Zaphod Beeblebrox suffering a double-psychotic episode, running off to Ursa Minor to prove some conspiracy theory, only to be found days later wandering the corridors of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy building looking for Zarniwoop, a free lunch and a stiff drink.

I tend to see all of these since the original to be further (not necessarily linear) adventures for these imaginative but easily identifiable characters. Although the main plot is quirky and fun, it is also a clever manner in which to link together countless crazy but somewhat logical observations on... well, life, the universe and everything, really. We get to hear about planets, diverse races, spaceships, wars and time travel. In the case of The Tertiary Phase: the Campaign For Real Time, the Somebody Else's Problem Field, the Principles of Non-absoluteness, and the Bistromatic Drive. I tend to prefer the surreal conversations between Arthur Dent and his alien friend Ford Prefect. My favourite kind of humour is play on words, so you can perhaps understand why I so enjoyed the following exchange.

Arthur: "Why is there a sofa in that field?"
Ford: "I told you, eddies in the space/time continuum."
Arthur: "Then tell him to come and collect his sofa."

A character which is never represented enough for my liking is Marvin the Paranoid Android. Like a grumpy old man, Marvin is a perfectly perpetually pessimistic manic-depressive (try saying that when you've downed a few Pan-Galactic Gargleblasters!).

Returning to reprise their roles is Simon Jones as Arthur Dent, Geoffrey McGivern as Ford Prefect, Mark Wing-Davey as Zaphod Beeblebrox, Susan Sheridan as Trillian and Stephen Moore as the marvellous Marvin the Paranoid Android. Joining the cast is William Franklyn as The Book and, among others, Richard Griffiths as Slartibartfast, Joanna Lumley as the Sydney Opera House Woman, and Leslie Phillips as Hactar.

As everyone with two heads knows, Douglas Adams was a mad genius, and Dirk Maggs has done a fine job of adapting the chaos for radio and bringing it to life. My first impression when hearing this on radio was how the concept sounds modern and yet not out of place with the first two serials. Further demonstrating this fact Dirk has managed to incorporate Douglas Adams' own book-reading portrayal of Agrajag. The sound effects and atmospherics are well utilised and come across much better on this 3-CD set than on radio. There's also an extra 20 minutes of material not originally broadcast.

A great return for the gang, but I have a feeling the best is yet to come.

(Review originally written by Ty Power for reviewgraveyard 2004) 

Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun. Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-eight million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think audio movies are a pretty neat idea...

And so they are. This is the second of three radio serials adapted, co-produced and directed by Dirk Maggs, based on the late Douglas Adams' best-selling Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy of books in five parts. This time we concentrate on book four: So Long and Thanks for all The Fish, here named (against somebody's better judgement) the Quandary Phase.

Arthur Dent returns home on a Teaser spacecraft when he learns that the Earth has inexplicably popped back into existence, after the Vogon Constructor Fleet had destroyed it to make way for a hyperspatial express route. On the way to his cottage Arthur is given a lift and instantly falls in love with a seemingly demented young woman called Fenchurch, the same person who (just before the supposed mass hallucination of spacecraft appearing over the Earth and threatening to destroy it, before disappearing) had risen-up with a revelation of what had gone wrong with the world, and how people could finally live together in peace, only to promptly forget it again. Just before this hallucination all the dolphins had apparently left the Earth, leaving certain individuals crystal bowls inscribed with the words "So long and thanks for all the fish". Ford Prefect turns up looking for Arthur, and helps them to leave on a Xaxisian Robot Ship. Why is the Earth the same and yet so different? Arthur and Fenchurch have their suspicions and leave on a quest to learn God's Last Words to His creation. En route they meet an old friend in Marvin the Paranoid Android, who these days is on his last legs and mostly armless (geddit?).

It's been said, not least by Dirk himself, that So Long... doesn't lend itself so well to the audio medium. Or was it Mostly Harmless? Anyway, judging by the content of this one I strongly disagree. Okay, so this is Arthur's love story. Normally the idea of that alone would send me to exile on the planet Boredom. And those people hoping for lots of whizzing around the universe with Zaphod, Trillian, Marvin and Slartibartfast will be severely disappointed. But this is a Douglas Adams story and it's all about humour. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has never been about jokes, but rather observations on life. In that respect it reminds me of the classic Smith & Jones Head to Head sketches.

It has a much more linear structure than the Tertiary Phase, which was very good but crammed in so much that it was in fear of becoming disjointed if you didn't listen to an episode in one sitting. The plot probably isn't so strong as Life, the Universe and Everything, but it's a lot easier to follow. In fact, I personally enjoy the dialogue exchanges in set scenes much more than the main revelations of plot points. It's a very English humour, which probably explains why the film version of the first book doesn't work.

Rob McKenna, the lorry-driving rain god is great, and the way that Arthur punctuates his boring conversation with "Are we there yet?" is priceless. The constant interruptions to Arthur and Fenchurch's conversation at the station by June Whitfield's Raffle Woman is also very well handled. "Are you two in love?" she finally asks. "It's a little hard to tell," says Arthur, "we haven't had a chance to talk yet!"

There's plenty of crazy situations in this professionally recorded two-disc set. I liked the idea of Wonko the Sane sitting on a beach waiting for the end of the world, not realising it's already been and gone. Being a drummer himself Dirk Maggs even finds time to make fun of drummers and bass players too.

I was enjoying the first disc so much that I felt I would have to top the mark I gave the Tertiary Phase. However, I have to reluctantly say that there were a few scenes which seemed to stem the flow of that enjoyment. The flying scene and that of the old woman on the plane didn't work, and the only Ford Prefect scene, before his meeting with Arthur, which was fun to listen to was when he talks his way out of a gargantuan bar bill.

Perhaps the whole production could have been tightened-up a little by losing one episode, but what do I know?! There's a lot here to be enjoyed. Even the "...pretty neat idea" has been updated from digital watches to novelty ring tones! Roll on the next one.

 (Review originally written by Ty Power for reviewgraveyard 2005)  

Story two of the Radio One Judge Dredd adventures, Apocalypse War, recorded back to back with The Day the Law Died, brings together the same characters and voice actors as before, with some new additions.

Mega-City One falls victim to increasing outbreaks of Block Mania, citizen violence. However, the disruption caused is the first stage of a plan initiated by Supreme Judge Bulgarin of East-Meg One's Diktatorat to rule and enslave the people. The invasion force is led by War Marshall 'Mad Dog' Kazan, utterly ruthless and ambitious beyond the orders of Bulgarin. As the city erupts in turmoil and Chief Judge Griffin is brainwashed for the purposes of a propaganda stunt, only one man can ... Well, you get the picture.

This story, adapted from the original 2,000 AD comic version by John Wagner and Alan Grant, is significantly harder-hitting than its predecessor, though again the shock tactics so successful in Batman are missing; I've been a heart-pounding nervous wreck by the conclusion of certain prior releases. The 'To Be Continued' dialogue, along with the accompanying slamming sound, is a prime example of the impact of such moves.

Having now become accustomed to the portrayal of the central players, I fully expected a change of direction to complement the first tale. Frankly, this is not nearly so enjoyable. The plot lines are too similar: a power-crazed megalomaniac threatening, practically destroying, Mega-City One, and even many of the same locations were revisited. Perhaps it might have been better to attempt a different subject completely, rather than continue with Judge Dredd. Having said that, I hope to see - or rather, hear - more professional comic book stories in the near future.

Don't get me wrong, as far as radio plays are concerned the Dirk Maggs productions are way ahead of the field, and that includes this release. All performances are near faultless (I wasn't quite sure about Dredd's housekeeper Maria's dodgy Italian accent), although I prefer the Judge Hershey portrayal over that of Dredd which is rather clichéd.

Unfortunately, this release doesn't contain the entire musical score, but the Dolby Surround sound is superb. The major drawback I believe is that the majority of the time there is too much going on at once. It's difficult to absorb it all in its original three-minute segments, but it comes across significantly more comprehensible in a single sitting.

Extremely listenable, particularly side four of the tape version, wherein East-Meg One and Mega-City One launch missile attacks against each other. Dredd wins the war by subterfuge, which begins when he uncharacteristically surrenders after a successful silo assault.

(Review by Ty Power. This review originally appeared in Dreamwatch Magazine 1995)  

It's the late 1880s. After hearing the shocking news of his son Robert's death, Judge Matthew Deacon makes the journey from America to Cambridge University here in England in order to get to the bottom of the circumstances. He soon discovers a suicide note was left but that his body has not been found. Now convinced Robert might still be alive, he is approached by his son's best friend, Griffin, who informs Matthew of Robert's relationship with a beautiful young woman called Dorothy Northcott. The Northcott mansion is set amidst miles of desolate moorland. People seen reticent to venture on to the land after dark, and the name carries a fearful dread. However, Matthew is no shrinking violet. He visits the house looking for his son, and meets the cold head of the family, Mrs Northcott. Here he slowly uncovers a chilling family secret which extends back generations to when the house was built...

If Dark was a traditional ghost story in a (then) contemporary setting, then Night of the Wolf is similarly a traditional werewolf story in a more formal past setting. Victor Pemberton appears to be a very meticulous script writer, in this instance assuming that many listeners will possess no knowledge of previous tales of lycanthropy. In this sense it does cover every minute step of the mythos, but to those brought up on the tasty morsels that were the Universal monster movies and Hammer Horror this audio will come across as painfully slow. As many period pieces are, it's also over-dramatic in places. Matthew doesn't always react in the manner in which you would expect. Both as an educated man (a judge in America) and a scholar (his referenced researches in the supernatural field), it's simply inconceivable that Matthew would not previously have heard stories or fables about the manwolf, the full moon and silver bullets.

The pacing may be awfully slow, but the acting and characterisation is spot on. Fenella Fielding is outstanding as Mrs Northcott. When there are only inflections in the voice to base a reaction upon, rather than revealing expressions, it becomes all the more important to convey meaning - and this comes across succinctly, as it should. Another nicely understated performance is Ian Brooker's Professor Forrester (a sort of James Bond's Q).

So, very competently handled, and compelling in small doses, but rather tedious for a single-sitting.

(Review originally written by Ty Power for reviewgraveyard 2010)