Tag: BBC (Page 2 of 4)

BBC Must Not Become BCE

7360Some folks are quite concerned with the latest budget considerations for the famous British Broadcasting Corporation. Public radio has a long history of audio drama in England, and if the mother country wants to avoid the terrible state that conservatism has placed the CBC in Canada, they might do well to listen to the words of Sir David Attenborough from this Guardian article:

“There is plenty that viewers can do. Politicians don’t wish to be the people who are branded as getting rid of the BBC. They know that the BBC holds a very precious place in a large proportion of voters’ minds and they can’t play fast and loose with it as they would wish.

“When I saw what the [funding] deal was I thought, that’s terrible, that’s a distortion. What the BBC will say, and I daresay they are right, is the alternative was something worse.”

He added: “The basic principle of public service broadcasting is profoundly important. If we lose that we really lose a very valuable thing, you are throwing away one of the most precious things that we have.”

Let’s hope that cooler heads prevail and the people speak up before the BBC gets gutted.

Syrian Soap

_89261757_singer_think976While Radio Alwan operates on a shoe-string budget, its dreams and creativity are surely gifts of avarice. This article from BBC News explains the power of this Syrian soap opera on the radio:

A sorrowful woman’s voice begins to sing – and even if you don’t speak a word of Arabic you can guess that the radio soap opera Sad Northern Nights is going to dig much deeper than the usual kitchen-sink drama.

“She’s lamenting her lost homeland,” Sami, Radio Alwan’s special projects director smiles ruefully. “She’s singing, “we want to come back to you, we want to be reunited, we won’t wait until tomorrow until all your wounds are healed.”

 

 

Getting Fresh with the Archers

coldoughsStoke-on-Trent seems to be just getting stoked now that their alternative soap to The Archers has gotten national attention. The Colcloughs is the first radio drama to be made outside of BBC‘s London headquarters. Check out the full story from The Stage:

A radio soap opera first aired in Stoke-on-Trent 25 years ago is to be featured on national radio for the first time.

Written by a team led by Coronation Street writer Tony Perrin, The Colcloughs aired for one series on BBC Radio Stoke in 1991 – and was the first BBC radio serial drama to be made outside the Corporation’s London headquarters.

Creator and producer Mike Hopwood, who has masterminded the revival, said the show still sounded like a fresh alternative to The Archers, which he described as “a bit mundane and quite middle class”.

Claiming The Colcloughs could “complement” the BBC Radio 4 drama soap, Hopwood said: “Having heard it all again recently, I am confident it remains as relevant and entertaining today as it was in 1991. It’s a real shame it was only ever heard once – on one local station.”

He added that daily airings mean that audiences will now be able to “make a date” with the show more easily than when it was first aired.

“When the drama launched, we only had the capacity to produce one midweek episode, with a repeat at the weekend. But now the serial is ‘on the shelf’ it can be rerun daily… so our audience can more easily make a date with it,” Hopwood said.

It is hoped that a second series could be funded and commissioned if the revival is a success.

The Colcloughs’ 15-minute episodes will air daily from May 16 on RNIB Connect Radio – a station for blind and partially sighted listeners – at 6:40pm.

An agreement with Equity has been reached to ensure the original actors are paid royalties for the reruns.

Blake Sets Sail

It was with some sadness that fans of Blake’s 7, the powerful series created first for the BBC by Terry Nation from 78 to 81, heard of the death of Gareth Thomas. His reprisal of the role in The Liberator Chronicles in 2012 created a whole new generation of fans.

The Telegraph has the story:

…Gareth Thomas passed away this morning, 13th April 2016, from heart failure.

“Our thoughts are with his wife Linda, and his family and friends.”
Blake’s 7, which was created by Terry Nation and ran from 1978 to 1981, follows the travails of Blake, a political dissident banished from Earth for his part in a series of uprisings.

Along with other prisoners and a telepathic alien, Blake leads a guerrilla war from his spacecraft, Liberator, against the totalitarian Terran Foundation regime.

Blake was controversially killed off in 1981 but Thomas reprised the role in 2012 for an audio series called The Liberator Chronicles.

Though Thomas will be most fondly remembered for his role as the intergalactic resistance leader, he enjoyed a varied acting career that began in 1965 when he played Benvolio in a TV adaptation of Romeo and Juliet.

Later, he enjoyed long stints playing Ron Radley in the ITV drama Parkin’s Patch, Adam Brake in the ITV drama Children of the Stones, and Charles McCallister in the ITV comedy drama Distant Shores, alongside Peter Davison and Samantha Bond.

Thomas’ last credit came in 2011 when he played Gareth Harper in the BBC hospital drama Holby City.

Sci-fi fans were were quick to pay tribute to Thomas on Twitter.

Safe etheric seas, sweet Prince!

Fixsoniced by The Archers

the-archers-2The tale of Helen and Rob Titchener, characters in the BBC’s radio soap opera “The Archers”, has an entire nation transfixed as the violent conclusion Sunday night’s past saw Helen stabbing her abusive husband in front of their young son. During the episode,  #TheArchers was trending on Twitter as tens of thousands of listeners vented their emotions. The benefits of such high drama was the Helen Titchener (nee Archer) Rescue Fund, which swiftly hit its target of raising 100,000 pounds ($142,000) for the domestic abuse charity Refuge.

Find out all about the dramatic events at the In-Cyprus Article.

Trap Released…

ackbarThe audio drama and Star Wars world is whirling at the news that Erik Bauersfeld passed away. Known widely as Admiral Ackbar from the famous Return of the Jedi episode of the original trilogy, Bauersfeld was known mostly as a radio man who acted for decades in our favourite medium. NPR has a great series of references to his iconic Star Wars character in this article about the Star Wars Voice Actor…  Bauersfeld stumbled into the famous role while working on an audio drama for Lucasfilm. A prolific and respected radio dramatist as well as a longtime fixture of Berkeley station KPFA, Bauersfeld worked in radio for much of his life. He adapted, performed and produced full-length productions of classic dramas for radio, including the work of Eugene O’Neill, Edgar Allen Poe, Guy De Maupassant, Franz Kafka and Fyodor Dostoyesvsky.

Audio Tips for Migration

somali-drama-640x480It’s not often that Brietbart mentions audio drama, but they took the time to talk about a BBC Radio Drama that they feel gave practical tips for illegal migration out of Somalia.

Of course, one might consider that the Old Time Radio series I Was a Communist for the FBI might be giving practical tips on being a Communist during the Cold War Era as well.

Read for yourself in the article: BBC Radio Drama Gave Tips For Illegal Migrants in Somalia and decide for yourself!

The Social Contract of Radio Drama

05DADDCE0000044D-3498014-image-a-10_1458262607996At the Sonic Society we try to demonstrate that radio drama opens up conversation in the areas of social and political concern. Many communities around the world may not have wide distribution to televisions or Internet, but they have radio. Radio can teach and delight (to borrow from Philip Sidney). Case in point, from The Daily MailHow The Archers helps abuse victims: Charity bosses say radio drama’s storyline about domestic violence has led to calls to national helpline increasing by a fifth speaks to the recent abuse of the character Rob Titchener bullying his wife, Helen Archer. According to the Daily Mail article, calls to the UK’s Domestic Abuse Help Line went up 17% and the show set up a giving page for charity refuge for abused spouses.

Read the rest of the article and consider how social conditions might improve in your area by a thought provoking conversation about the issues that affect your community.

Churchill’s Audio Adversary

churchillWinston may be a volleyball to some, a Ghostbuster to others, but to a nation at war he was also the man speaking about the finest hour. I don’t believe he meant the hour of contention. Television is achieving a kind of new Golden Age, and unfortunately that puts us straight in conflict with BBC’s finest radio. “The Father“, a wonderfully popular play by the French dramatist Florian Zeller. According to the article from the Telegraph Did Churchill Steal the Audience from this Brilliant Audio Drama, an embarrassment of riches coincides with a nine o’clock showing of “The Father” from BBC3, The Night Manager from BBC1 and Churchill’s Secret on ITV.

All the more reason to get them all on a subscription podcast!

The C in BBC Stands for Comedy

sc_simon_callowWhile the “C” in BBC actually stands for Corporation, it might as well, be comedy as BBC4 historical sit-com called “Plum House”. Starring Simon Callow, Miles Jupp and Jane Horrocks. The Chortle article describes the six-part series as one that shows:

Peter Knight, curator of Plum House, former dwelling of poet and artist George Pudding, with Jupp as Julian, his fogeyish but megalomaniacal deputy. Horrocks is Maureen, running the giftshop and more concerned with turning a profit than preserving Pudding’s legacy.

This crumbling comedy begins June 15 in an 11.30 am following the successful pilot from 2014!

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