I've been very remiss of late in sharing the science fiction that's on offer every week at BBC Radio 7. http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7/listenagain/monday/. You can listen to any show at any time, any day of the week. Each day's shows is available to listen to for 7 days.
So, what's on this week?
You can still listen to an ep from Tuesday for the next 20 hours or so..
TUESDAY
Atomic Tales
I've Got Your Number: Krank has created a brilliant think piece where all of mankind has a unique number. But what if your number was copied? Episode 3 of 6.
The Day of the Triffids
A visitor to Shirning threatens Bill's family and their future together. Episode 17 of 17.
Old Harry's Game (fantasy)
When the Professor and Thomas discover Satan's never been to sleep, they try to give him forty winks. First heard in May 2001. Episode 5 of 6.
WEDNESDAY
Animal Farm
Bill Nighy reads George Orwell's famous cautionary fable. The windmill is smashed, and Squealer swears it's Snowball's fault. Episode 3 of 5.
Atomic Tales
Land of Plenty: Futuristic tale set on Mars, where human food is stored in specially sealed Mag-cans. What if the can-openers malfunctioned? Episode 4 of 6.
Shambleau
A sci-fi thriller by American author CL Moore. A space bounty hunter lives to regret rescuing a young woman from attack. Episode 1 of 3.
THURSDAY
Married
Robin Lightfoot is grumpy yet happily single, then he wakes up to discover he's in a parallel universe, with a wife and kids. Episode 1 of 6.
Atomic Tales
Unstoppable!: The tension continues in the sci-fi serial as a space train hurtles towards Earth. Episode 5 of 6.
Shambleau
A sci-fi thriller set on Mars by American author CL Moore. Northwest Smith discovers the secret power of the alien woman he rescued. Episode 2 of 3.
FRIDAY
Animal Farm
Bill Nighy reads George Orwell's famous cautionary fable. Boxer becomes gravely ill, and the animals discover betrayal. Episode 5 of 5.
Atomic Tales
Night of the Cicadas: The cicada is a friendly chirruping insect, but what if it grew to a vast size and hungered for human flesh? Episode 6 of 6.
Shambleau
CL Moore's space thriller on Mars continues. Is Northwest's number up as he falls under the spell of the snake-haired alien? Episode 3 of 3.
SATURDAY
Heroes: The Official Radio Show
Jon Holmes and Xanthe Fuller analyse the action from the TV series. Send in your theories. Episode 8 of 11.
SUNDAY
Alpha
Tale about a computer so all-knowing that it seems to have an independent life of its own. Chilling award-winning drama.
Doctor Who: Commentaries
The Doctor Who cast and crew discuss the latest episode, Midnight.
and upcoming on MONDAY
The Voice of God
Fields of Thunder: A series of quakes rocks Australia. When Sam Rideout investigates, she stumbles into a nightmare of biblical proportions. Episode 1 of 5. (The popular serial written by the equally popular Simon Bovey.)
Methuselah's Children
Paul Birchard reads Robert A Heinlein's sci-fi novel about a group of families who can live for several hundred years. Episode 1 of 6.
Showing posts with label Robert Heinlein. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Robert Heinlein. Show all posts
Monday, June 16, 2008
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Audio drama review: Robert Heinlein's Ordeal in Space
For the next week, you can listen to a reading of the Robert Heinlein short story, "Ordeal in Space," on BBC Radio 7, aired to celebrate the 100th anniversary of his birth. (Which actually doesn't make any sense to me, because he was born on July 7, 1907 and died on May 8, 1988. However, BBC Radio 7 has a habit of repeating material over and over and over again - that is their raison d'etre - so presumably this was first aired on July 7, 1907 and is just being repeated now.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7/listenagain/sunday/
The story
The main character, Saunders, was a spaceman who has an accident in space, and develops a dehabilitating fear of falling as a result. This makes it impossible for him to return to his life on board spaceships, so he is doomed to spend the rest of his days on Earth, feeling less than a man. One day he is invited to the home of a new colleague at his place of work. That night, he hears a small kitten crying outside the high-rise building, trapped on a window-ledge. But how can he save it?
Review
A good narrator can save a poor story. A poor narrator can ruin a good story. This story is read by American Adam Sims, and I'm afraid he comes down on the poor side. He doesn't ruin the story, really, but he certainly doesn't augment it. I listened in spite of him.
He has the same kind of voice as Ed Bishop (of UFO fame) - kind of reedy and thin, with little inflection. He also barely varies his voice for each character - similar to William Hootkins who narrated Philip Dick's "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" (source for the movie Total Recall). Contrast their voices with those of the Brits who alter their pitches and registers and accents for each and every character....
As for the story - it's predictable. But then, I like predictable. I'm not sure that I believe in the psychology of it, but perhaps a cure for a phobia can happen as easily as seems to occur here...
Heinlein is an excellent writer, and most of his work up until a certain point is very good. So if you like Heinlein, or classic SF, you'll like this.
Adam Sims
He has only one entry at the IMDB, as a lab technician in the Lost in Space movie of 1998. That doesn't necessarily mean anything - IMDB is hardly complete.
I like Robert Heinlein's early work - his "juvenalia" such as Space Cadet and Podkayne of Mars, but don't much care for his later work. Friday, in particular, stank on ice, as far as I'm concerned!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7/listenagain/sunday/
The story
The main character, Saunders, was a spaceman who has an accident in space, and develops a dehabilitating fear of falling as a result. This makes it impossible for him to return to his life on board spaceships, so he is doomed to spend the rest of his days on Earth, feeling less than a man. One day he is invited to the home of a new colleague at his place of work. That night, he hears a small kitten crying outside the high-rise building, trapped on a window-ledge. But how can he save it?
Review
A good narrator can save a poor story. A poor narrator can ruin a good story. This story is read by American Adam Sims, and I'm afraid he comes down on the poor side. He doesn't ruin the story, really, but he certainly doesn't augment it. I listened in spite of him.
He has the same kind of voice as Ed Bishop (of UFO fame) - kind of reedy and thin, with little inflection. He also barely varies his voice for each character - similar to William Hootkins who narrated Philip Dick's "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" (source for the movie Total Recall). Contrast their voices with those of the Brits who alter their pitches and registers and accents for each and every character....
As for the story - it's predictable. But then, I like predictable. I'm not sure that I believe in the psychology of it, but perhaps a cure for a phobia can happen as easily as seems to occur here...
Heinlein is an excellent writer, and most of his work up until a certain point is very good. So if you like Heinlein, or classic SF, you'll like this.
Adam Sims
He has only one entry at the IMDB, as a lab technician in the Lost in Space movie of 1998. That doesn't necessarily mean anything - IMDB is hardly complete.
I like Robert Heinlein's early work - his "juvenalia" such as Space Cadet and Podkayne of Mars, but don't much care for his later work. Friday, in particular, stank on ice, as far as I'm concerned!
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