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2014-06-13T13:12:11+00:00

Editor’s note: Radio 4’s latest Dangerous Visions season returns with Iain Glen as The Illustrated Man in a dramatisation of Ray Bradbury's iconic short story collection. Written in 1951, these short stories are noted as one of the defining works of 20th century Science Fiction and are adapted now for Radio 4 by Brian Sibley. In the dramatization a young traveller encounters a vagrant on the road who claims his tattoos come to life after dark and have the powers of prophecy. Here, Sion Smith, Editor of Skin Deep Magazine talks about how the novel inspired him.

Ray Bradbury's iconic book featuring a man with prophetic tattoos, adapted by Brian Sibley

SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES">Dangerous Visions on Radio 4

2011-06-13T09:36:00+00:00

Michael McDonough working in the studio on Bradbury 13 in 1984

I decided as a very young man in the late 1970s to someday adapt Ray Bradbury's stories into the audio format.

I was very influenced by the sound in the movies back then, and having grown up near Hollywood I met Ray Bradbury through some friends. He immediately loved the idea of adapting his work into radio. I received a grant from National Public Radio in 1983 to produce thirteen half-hour dramas for national broadcast and Ray was very ive of the idea.

I chose stories from his works that I felt would work in the audio environment and went to work adapting them into radio scripts. My intent was for the audience to feel like they were watching a movie as they listened to them, so I wrote the stories with film-style settings and transitions in mind.

I set about recording original sounds, and manipulating them in the studio on multi-track tape machines to create a library of sound material to use in the shows. I recorded everything from rocket engines test firing in the Utah desert to bullets ricocheting off of rocks and dirt roads to 1950s cars and trucks for the show.

I decided not to update Bradbury's scripts into the current time era, but kept them in their original settings of the 1950s and 60s when they were written, so the sounds were appropriate for that time period.

I hired two friends who were budding music composers, Roger Hoffman and Greg Hansen to write original music for the shows, and a live orchestra was recorded in the studio. The music in the series is patterned after and heavily influenced by legendary British film composer Bernard Herrmann, who wrote many fantasy and dramatic films scores for many classic films including Psycho, The Day The Earth Stood Still and Cape Fear.

On the technical side, I decided to record the actors using a binaural microphone set up which simulates true stereo sound. Two Neumann U-87 Studio microphones were used, placed the same distance from each other as the human ears. The same rig was used to record the Foley sounds, which are footsteps on dirt, cement and various surfaces to make the actors sound as if they are moving about.

Finally, I was able to hire legendary Hollywood voice talent Paul Frees to introduce each story and voice the closing credits. His credits include numerous motion pictures, including George Pal's original War Of The Worlds, many Disney cartoons, and the voice of Disneyland's attractions Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion.

The finished shows were broadcast on over 250 NPR radio stations throughout the United States, and won the prestigious George Foster Peabody award in 1984. All in all, it was a work of love!

Michael McDonough is the writer, producer and director of Bradbury 13

Listen online to Bradbury 13 on the Radio 4 Extra website for seven days after broadcast.

Bradbury 13 is on Radio 4 Extra, Saturdays at 6.30pm for 13 weeks.

Find out more about the making of Bradbury 13 on the Ray Bradbury fan site.

Visit Michael McDonough's website

2011-04-24T10:00:00+00:00

Hello again,

I've been reading your comments and on the blog and elsewhere and wanted to respond to some of the points that people have made. I commented last week on the blog and Streetlight2 has identified some of the other things many of you are asking about so I've based my answers around them:

The presenters on 4Extra - what's the thinking behind changing them from the R7 team?

Now that Radio 4 Extra is aligned with Radio 4, the presentation teams are working together. Some of the Radio 4 presenters were keen to work on Radio 4 Extra, which is very different from reading the news on Radio 4! Of course Jim Lee, a stalwart of Radio 7/4Extra, has worked on both networks for over 8 years and Alan Smith, who was with Radio 7 in the early days, is now back with us again. Former Radio 7 presenters will have the occasional presence on 4Extra; in fact you can hear Helen Aitken in a couple of weeks interviewing a comedy troupe performing a Sherlock Holmes spoof.

All of the presenters have other work of course, both on radio and television, and fans of Alex Riley can see him popping up regularly on BBC Three.

What about the lack of drama programming?

The drama remit for Radio 7 was originally to broadcast a minimum of 50 hours per week. As Radio 4 Extra, we committed to a minimum of 55 hours of drama per week, and we actually broadcast more than that. You might be surprised to know that on Radio 4Extra, we broadcast on average of 68 hours per week, including of course the 24-hour overnight repeats.

As Head of Programmes launching Radio 7 over 8 years ago, and faced with a blank sheet of paper, I was keen to schedule longer drama on the archive station, and introduced two 90 minute plays at weekends, plus a 75-minute Woman's Hour archive omnibus on Sundays. The omnibus has been popular, and to build on that we have introduced a second 75 minute omnibus on Saturdays, made up of the previous week's Radio 4 Woman's Hour serial. With adding some new elements to the schedule, we stopped broadcasting the 90 minute drama on Sundays, but brought in the 60 minute children's/family drama slot, commissioning 8 new dramas in the process.

But of course, radio stations evolve and as with any radio station we will continue to review our output.

On Radio 4 Extra I was also keen to retain the 60 minute dramas, daily from Monday to Friday, plus the daily 45 minute dramas. These have included Fortunes of War, Howard's End and Ben Hur, three terrific and substantial dramas, plus currently for Easter, the landmark Dorothy L Sayer's production, The Man Who Would be King, in twelve 45 minute episodes. We have had good on these productions, and are planning to follow-up with the Complete Smiley dramatisations, beginning in May.

The 7th Dimension and Crime and Thriller hours have remained the same, with the 1.00am repeat of the Crime and Thriller Hour being re-instated for the night owls from the week beginning 16 May.

Complaints about broadcasting The Archers, Ambridge Extra and Desert Island Discs. If some of these programs are available on Radio 4, then why put them on Radio 4 Extra?

Following the research and consultation we undertook, the BBC Trust wanted to ensure that there wouldn't be too many changes in the re-branding and in fact 85% of the Radio 4 Extra schedule has remained unchanged.

The Archers and Desert Island Discs are very popular strands, so we decided to build on these strengths to attract Radio 4 listeners (many of whom were/are unaware of the existence of Radio 7).

Regarding The Archers, we considered some archive programming, but with some missing programmes this would be difficult to sustain; we also felt that a repeat of the omnibus was not quite right, so the decision was made to commission a short, new Archers serial - Ambridge Extra. This will be running until the end of June, followed by a summer break.

I was interested to note that in the most recent podcast chart, Ambridge Extra came in at number 2 - just behind Adam and Joe.

When I started Radio 7, archive Desert Island Discs was on my shopping list, and I was keen to group the DID programmes in batches featuring The Comedians, The Actors, The Musicians etc. I have always thought that listeners would value the opportunity to hear archive editions of DID and the launch of 4Extra provides this as does the new DID website, updating information on the castaway, linking into the schedule when possible. For example, we began with children's authors, and when Jacqueline Wilson was last week's castaway, we broadcast one of her readings on the 4 0'Clock Show.

We will be following up with The Authors and The Comedians.

Any change to a network can be difficult to accept, and when the idea was initially mooted to change Radio 7, I it I had my reservations.

Like some listeners, I was concerned that the station might become too serious.

However, I truly believe that there are many benefits in being so closely aligned with Radio 4. Some fresh ideas have been introduced, but at the same time I feel that we have managed to retain the entertainment essence that launched Radio 7 eight years ago - we continue to bring you great radio comedy and drama.

It would be impossible to please all of our listeners all of the time, but I hope that all of you manage to find entertaining programmes to listen to on Radio 4 Extra most of the time,

Best wishes

Mary

Mary Kalemkerian is Head of Programmes at BBC Radio 4 Extra

The photograph is from the BBC picture library. The caption reads "Picture shows (l-r) Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden, Jo Kendall, David Hatch and Bill Oddie, five young comedians from the world-travelled 'Footlights Revue' Cambridge Circus, who star in the new comedy revue series I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again, which begins in the BBC Light Programme on Monday 4th October, 1965."

2009-10-23T15:21:26+00:00

Editor's note: here's a first for the Radio 4 blog. A post by a fictional character. Kip Berenger will make his appearance in series 2 of Radio 7's Planet B, starting on 29 November. He spoke to lead writer Matthew Broughton:
I suppose you'd call me a heavy . I'm going to say that up front -even if it makes me sound a bit geeky. But, I'm a big fan of virtual game playing - and Planet B goes further than any other. It's out there. It's serious. I don't want to sound over earnest. But my brain and I spend a lot of time in Planet B.
I'm totally comfortable in its 'virtual universe of infinite possibility.' It was that tag line that attracted me - that and "Planet B where you can be whoever you want to be." I was curious immediately. They were saying it was somewhere I could lose myself - and that's what happens with all the best games - total immersion.
Of course, what I know now, that I didn't know then - is that Planet B is much more than just a game. It's a wild wild place.
Planet B is made up of millions of virtual worlds - big and small - each different in nature and sophistication.
I love that I can hop from world to world. You never know what you're going to get - or how you're going to get it! My favourites have genre themes. It's like starring in your favourite films. One moment you're in a Western having a high noon gunfight with someone calling themselves East Clintwood - the next you're being chased by zombies - or having an intimate date with the most beautiful woman in the world. It's a ride.
Some of the harming games can be pretty edgy. I've been 'killed' on more than one occasion. It makes things more authentic. You're thrown out, and have to log back in and start again... There are cheats too. Experienced gamers can get ahead. I'm an experienced gamer and a good one. (I feel like a tool writing that last sentence - but if I don't blow my own trumpet no one else will.)
People talk about Planet B being 'dangerous.' Well... it is owned by a corporation, that has an iffy 'history'... and some people are not what they seem. Rogue avatars (avatars not controlled by human beings) can be unpredictable. And... You do hear horror stories about people dying for real while their minds are online... but I read somewhere that every year people die by drinking tea that's too hot. So what are you going to do? I'm not unduly worried. It keeps me on my toes.
I'm completely aware that Planet B is a universe created by architects and technicians - but, as soon as you your brain - that's it - the real and the virtual blend - and they've got you. You know... In a good way! (I think...)
Things have been changing recently. Keeps it interesting. I could live in Planet B full time. And maybe, one day, I will.
Kip Berenger is... erm... a character in a comedy drama series

Series two of Planet B starts on 29 November at 1800 (repeated at midnight) and continues weekly at those times.

Series one of Planet B is on Radio 7 now. Listen again here.

The clip at the top is a unique binaural trailer for the programme. Put your headphones on for a pretty absorbing effect. And you can embed the clip on your own blog or profile. Just click the 'embed' button, copy the code and away you go.

Here are three more trailers for the new series:

2009-07-07T07:54:18+00:00

You won't need me to remind you that Torchwood: Children of Earth is under way over there on the telly but you might not know that you've only got a matter of hours to the first of last week's Torchwood radio plays as an MP3 that you can keep forever (and the other two will expire in 24 and 48 hours respectively, of course). The BBC Cardiff drama department did some innovative work with the creative and rights people to liberate the three episodes for : a follow-up to last year's amazingly successful Big Bang Day .
The reaction online has been predictably huge and quite a good test for the BBC's nifty new 'buzz tracker' - a web site called Shownar that finds discussion of BBC programmes online and presents it visually. Try searching for your favourite programme and see what other listeners are saying about it.
Torchwood fans are evidently pleasantly surprised to see their favourite Sci-Fi brand show up on what they thought was their mother's radio station. This can only be good for the reputation of Radio 4 - and its drama output in particular.
The most entertaining blog post Shownar exposes is this one, by Stuart Ian Burns on the Behind the Sofa blog. Stuart's not entirely won over by the radio version ("generally underwhelmed" he says) but then this is the voice of a mega-fan and he does find some kind words for writer Anita Sullivan:
Sullivan clearly grasps what Torchwood was about. She captured the individual character voices beautifully, especially Gwen. She even picked up the television series's habit of moving the plot forward by having a Torchwood member leaving their keys in a motor vehicle.
I hope that Kate McAll and her team will be reading this one - I think there's a valuable fan's perspective on offer here. This is the kind of direct access to the opinions of listeners that these social media tools make possible. BBC programme makers will inevitably already have bookmarked Shownar.
With the national papers generally scaling back their in-depth coverage of radio (and drama in particular), the actors' trade paper The Stage is a reliable source of news and reviews. Last week was Torchwood Week on the site's blog, with a dozen posts about the series, mostly about Children of Earth but including this one about the radio plays: What did you think of Asylum">some_lauren):
It's a freaking Torchwood Radio Play. It should not make me cry damn it!

Torchwood: Children of Earth is on BBC1 at 2100 all week.

Listen again to the Torchwood radio plays here and them here.

Dan Taylor, leader of the BBC team working on Shownar, wrote about it on the BBC Internet blog.

2009-07-03T11:10:53+00:00

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00lskw2
Casting a radio drama can be one of a radio producer's most nerve-wracking jobs. To be honest, money is part of the reason. Actors, by and large, do radio for love because radio fees are, shall we say, modest compared to the bigger bucks offered by television, film or commercials. A part in a Saturday Play or a voiceover on major advertising campaign? No contest! What this means is that actors' agents rarely commit their clients to a radio job more than two weeks in advance - just in case one of those far more lucrative offers come in. So as the days tick down towards a recording, the air in the drama office is taut with anxiety. Will we get our dream cast? We consult Spotlight (a kind of glossy catalogue of actors and their CVs), we rifle through the huge file in the office marked 'Actors', and dredge our memory banks for people we've seen and heard in other productions. Eleri McAuliffe, BBC Wales Radio Drama Production Assistant has a brilliant memory for voices and always has plenty of good suggestions. I make lists - if Clooney says no, offer to Pitt, if he turns it down try Depp - OK, I'm fantasising a little but you get my drift.

The casting of the three Torchwood Afternoon Plays, however, presented an altogether different conundrum. How do you get an established cast, including John Barrowman, aka the busiest man in showbiz, into a radio studio in Cardiff to record three 45 minute dramas - something which would normally take around six days">Ianto Jones) - who would be needed for most of the time.

Negotiations begin with John Barrowman's agent. 'Can it be done in one day?' they ask, optimistically. 'No,' we reply, 'it can't! We need him for six.' 'Ok,' they counter, 'How about one and a half?' In the end we have to settle for two days, the only two days available in fact between the end of John's Saturday night television show and the start of his nationwide concert tour. We grab them and sign him up.
In the meantime, the writers (Anita Sullivan, James Goss and Phil Ford) are still working on last minute adjustments to the scripts. Usually a producer and writer work together on a script one-to-one. Again, Torchwood is different. It's a brand, with existing characters, a big back story, and a huge and dedicated fanbase - the facts, the character portrayals, the atmosphere and the story arc have to fit. So, in addition to my notes, every script is scrutinised by a Torchwood script editor, as well by Julie Gardner, the Exec Producer of the television series, and - most important of all - the great man himself series creator, Russell T Davies. John's availability, or lack of it, poses a big problem so a major creative decision is taken with John's storyline in Phil Ford's drama, The Dead Line. (You'll have to listen to find out!).

Meanwhile, the rest of the casting starts to fall into place. We pin down Tom Price (PC Andy Davidson) in between stand-up gigs, and Kai Owen (Rhys Williams) on a day when he isn't training for or actually running the London Marathon, and Gareth David-Lloyd is signed up the moment he flies back in from LA. I audition six young girls for the lead in Asylum, and ten Asian actors for key parts in Golden Age which is set in Delhi. At the back, well the front, of my mind, though, is a nagging worry. Eve Myles, a central Torchwood cast member, still hasn't been booked. She's 'technically' free, according to her agent, but 'her people' still haven't actually signed the contract. This is getting scary. Everyone else is in place. If Eve can't do these dates for some reason, the unpicking would be a nightmare - and the possibility of finding two other free days in Mr Barrowman's hectic schedule extremely unlikely. Eleri calls Eve's agent again. We can't do these plays without Eve. This is one show where you can't recast at the last moment - there can be no substitutes! Finally, we're given the go-ahead to book her. Phew.
Now, that schedule. I make a list of who is available on which days, then a list of who is in which scene with whom, and juggle it all to a conclusion. We will record the three plays, 74 scenes, in bits and pieces over a period of eight days. We're used to recording drama out of order but three plays, all jumbled up is something else! Eleri checks and double checks that every scene and every actor is ed for. We breathe a sigh of relief.

Then, disaster. Just as Eve's contract is about to be signed we get a call. Another offer has come in for her - it's a lead in a film with Trevor Eve which starts filming the same week as our recording. Eve's agent is apologetic but she has to encourage her client to take the part. (Who wouldn't? It's six weeks film work in a major production!) But Eve is also desperate to do the radio and doesn't want to let us down. 'Can she do both?' asks the agent. Eleri and I stare hard at the schedule once more feeling a bit overwhelmed by the prospect of taking the whole jig-saw apart and starting again. We have to fit in Eve's scenes around her constantly changing filming schedule. I spend the next three days on the phone to the producer of the film - and somehow, we manage it.

Before we know it, the first recording day is upon us. Once the red light goes on and the production starts, it all flies by at top speed. By the end of the eighth day we are dizzy and exhausted but elated - we've done it! Everyone turned up at the right time and in the right place. We've survived Eve being whisked away for a last minute love scene with Trevor Eve. We release Gareth only to find that he still has two lines to record! Happily they're on the phone so we record him from home, on the phone, which is why they sound particularly realistic! John's boundless energy has infected everyone and as he heads out of the building in his pale pink sweater and on to his next gig, we're sad to see him go - yet still buoyed up by the enthusiasm of all the actors and their terrific performances. As we leave for the day, Eleri and I look back at the wall chart. Only ten more days to go until the next recording. Tomorrow morning we start all over again!

Kate McAll is a Senior Producer, Radio Drama at BBC Wales

You can listen to all three of the Torchwood Afternoon Plays on iPlayer and, for the first time, the programmes as MP3 files to keep forever (or until the planet is vaporised by a belligerent alien race or something).

Kate McAll was Executive Producer and Director for all three episodes. Her Co-Producers were Brian Minchin for Golden Age and Lindsey Alford for Asylum and The Dead Line.

Theatre weekly The Stage has carried a lot of Torchwood coverage this week, including this page about the radio plays.

Thanks to Simon Hugo at Torchwood Magazine for permission to use the production pictures in this post.

Barrowman talks about his new talent show Tonight's The Night.

Torchwood Forum, a busy Torchwood Community site.

The new Torchwood TV series, Children of Earth, begins on BBC 1 on Monday 6 July and runs at 2100 every night for the rest of the week.