I’ve been meaning to write a little more about some of the radio I’ve been enjoying recently.
First up is Nebulous, Graham Duff’s sci-fi comedy starring Mark Gatiss. Series 2 has just passed the half-way mark – it’s broadcast at 11pm on Wednesday. It’s more of the same, and very very silly. I love it. There are some great guest stars too. This series we’ve had Kate O’Mara, Steve Coogan (rarely to be heard on the radio these days, but then Nebulous is produced by his production company) and the return of the fabulous David Warner who returns as the evil Dr Klench, Professor Nebulous’s arch-nemesis.
(Incidentally, I’ve only heard the first half of episode one, but I’m loving David Warner as Steel in Big Finish’s Sapphire and Steel radio productions. Susannah Harker plays Sapphire. I’ll write more when I’ve had a proper listen to both the plays I’ve got so far).
I’ve also just caught up with a recent Radio 4 Classic Serialisation of The Code of the Woosters, starring Marcus Brigstocke and Andrew Sachs as Jeeves and Wooster… well Wooster and Jeeves actually. The PG Wodehouse tales have dramatised roughly one million times over the years in various radio and television adaptations. Obviously, I loved the Fry and Laurie Granada TV version, and that probably conditions me when I come to a new version. I had mixed feelings over this. On the one hand Brigstocke as Wooster seemed absolutely spot on, but Sachs’s Jeeves wasn’t quite as commanding as I’d have hoped. What was quite a shock to the system was the manner of the production with whizzy sound effects all over the place. You really couldn’t ignore them, and I’m not sure how much I liked them.
I see that the BBC Audio Collection is releasing a Richard Briers/Michael Hordern version in a day or so. That might we worth a compare and contrast.
Oh, and way too late now, but Radio 2 had an excellent documentary about Trevor Horn in it’s Record Producers slot over the Easter weekend. They took apart many of his famous productions and explained exactly how they came to be. An absolutely fascinating listen. Hopefully it’ll get a repeat in the not too distant future.