Category Archives: Audio Drama/Radio Plays

Moorgate: Inside/Outside. Audio Drama Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Jonathan Aris, Lorne MacFadyen, Lizzy Watts, Tyger Drew-Honey, Matt Addis, Joanna Brooks, Jessica Dennis, Paul Panting, Alistair McGowan, Barkha Bahar.

National tragedies have a habit of slowly fading from the memory over time, not least of all because those directly involved in the disaster will themselves succumb to the passing of time, but it is because of nature; we as citizens can carry placards in anger, we can weep in unison at the senselessness of the catastrophe, we can rage and demand tougher actions to keep people safe, and we will seek retribution against the one person we might hold responsible…even if it defined to have been caused by simple misfortune, or the most unfortunate of mistakes.

Moorgate: Inside/Outside. Audio Drama Review. full post

(497 words, estimated 1:59 mins reading time)

When Alan Met Ray. Radio Drama Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Paul Whitehouse, Harry Enfield, Don Gilet, Lee Ross, Tony Gardner, Mika Simmons, Simon Greenall, Phil Cornwell, Toby Longworth, Andrew McGibbon, Ian Pearce, Karen Bartke.

Out of adversity comes genius, from hardship come friendship that lasts a lifetime, and When Alan Met Ray in a T.B. sanitorium in post war Britain, when neither 18-year-old were expected to live much longer thanks to the disease the world called White Plague or Consumption ravaging their lungs and body, what came out of this terrible situation was a comradeship for Alan Simpson and Ray Galton that transcended disease and saw the pair became two of Britain’s much loved providers of comedy thanks to their working with Tony Hancock on radio and television, and the irreplaceable Harry H. Corbett and Wilfred Brambell on the sheer delight that was Steptoe And Son.

When Alan Met Ray. Radio Drama Review. full post

(466 words, estimated 1:52 mins reading time)

The Time Tunnel: The Nightmare Begins. Audio Drama Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Seán Carlsen, Rachel Handshaw, Safiyya Ingar, Jay Reum, Holly Ashman, Helen Bang, Edwin Flay, Nicholas McArdle, Fiona McClure, Glen McCready, Peter Rae, Flavie Ravenhill, Vitas Varnas.

There are many examples of cult American television series that have undergone the rounds of constant possible adaption for the modern eye, and most have failed to deliver upon the story first laid down in stone, instead deciding that the story had to be told again from the beginning with a brasher, edgier, and dare it be said, a more idealised portrayal when it comes to the relationships and the body of the self within the parameters of the narrative.

The Time Tunnel: The Nightmare Begins. Audio Drama Review. full post

(511 words, estimated 2:03 mins reading time)

V: Visitation. Big Finish. Audio Drama Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Annabel Baldwin, Janie Dee, Jack Myers, Geoffrey Aymer, Nicholas Briggs, Hannah Brown, Jesse Dunbar, John H Elson, Louise Falkner, Raj Ghatak, Helen Goldwyn, Kate O’ Rourke, Gesella Ohaka, Logan Ritchie, Arabella Smith-James, Andrew James-Spooner, Holly Spooner, Sam Stafford.

The allegories and symbols that were explicitly portrayed on the hit American television series V were so plain to the naked eye that the viewer never once had to question that the sci-fi classic was truly about the representation of war, collusion, consent by power, and the requirement of all citizens to take a stand against the evils of fascism.

V: Visitation. Big Finish. Audio Drama Review. full post

(597 words, estimated 2:23 mins reading time)

Sherlock Holmes: Short Stories. The Adventure of The Speckled Band. Audio Drama Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Hugh Bonneville.

One of Sherlock Holmes finest adventures, and a particular favourite of his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of The Speckled Band is always worthy of adaption; its use of sleight of hand and its ability to blend into the gothic marks out in the realm of stories such as The Hound of the Baskervilles, or even the sense of inevitable of doom as found in The Final Solution, as one of grandness and the science behind deduction firmly established.

Sherlock Holmes: Short Stories. The Adventure of The Speckled Band. Audio Drama Review. full post

(405 words, estimated 1:37 mins reading time)

Sherlock Holmes: Short Stories. The Adventure of the Dancing Men. Audio Drama Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Hugh Bonneville.

Unless you have been privileged to find yourself curled up with the complete works, or have had the self-discipline to sit through the master of detective fiction’s presence on screen thanks to invaluable performances by Jeremy Brett and Edward Hardwicke, you could be forgiven for missing out on some of the more obscure tales that don’t involve the idea of glowing, spectral growling dogs, the plaster casts of Napoleon, or even the much admired trip to the falls of Reichenbach.

Sherlock Holmes: Short Stories. The Adventure of the Dancing Men. Audio Drama Review. full post

(404 words, estimated 1:37 mins reading time)

Philip Palmer: Precious Blood. Audio Drama Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Owen Teale, Oliver Ryan, Richard Corgan, Elen Rhys, Pooky Quesnel, Amy Morgan, Sian Rees-Williams.

It is an inalienable fact of life that there are people in this world to whom they believe the sun revolves around them, but who are so toxic, certainly narcissistic, enough to ensure that their actions not only elevate themselves in the eyes of their neighbours and fellow townsfolk, but are assured enough in their desires to make sure that their offspring are denigrated, caused undue suffering, and in the end could pay for their parent’s deceptions with their own lives.

Philip Palmer: Precious Blood. Audio Drama Review. full post

(401 words, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)

Central Intelligence. Audio Drama Series Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Kim Cattrall, Ed Harris, Johnny Flynn, Geoffrey Arend, Rob Benedict, Elena Delia, Kerry Shale, Matthew Marsh, Eric Meyers, Laurel Lefkow, Julee Cerda, Jennifer Armour, Philip Desmeules, Rufus Wright, Nathan Osgood, Dana Haqjoo, Akie Kotabe, Adam Sina, Bijan Daneshmand, Jamie Bogyo, Majid Mehdizadeh-Valoujerdy, Wayne Forester, Sarah Alles-Shahkarmi, Isabella Nefar, Walles Hamonde, Natasha Arancini, Hubert Hanowicwz, Will Hislop, Andi Jashy, Arita Sadiku.

Central Intelligence. Audio Drama Series Review. full post

(576 words, estimated 2:18 mins reading time)

Doctor Who: Stranded 2. Big Finish Audio Drama Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Paul McGann, Nicola Walker, Hattie Morahan, Rebecca Root, Tom Price, Tom Baker, Oscar Batterham, Stewart Clarke, Jeremy Clyde, Jon Culshaw, Joel James Davison, Annabelle Dowler, Ewan Goddard, Avita Jay, Anjli Shaw-Parker, Homer Todiwala, Venice Van Someren, Amina Zia.

Time and memory are not always compatible bed follows. Quite often the two fight each other for the supremacy of the human experience, one taking from the other without a second thought, almost at war in terms of progression.

Doctor Who: Stranded 2. Big Finish Audio Drama Review. full post

(511 words, estimated 2:03 mins reading time)

Doctor Who: Stranded – 1. Big Finish Audio Drama Boxset Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Paul McGann, Nicola Walker, Hattie Morahan, Rebecca Root, Tom Price, Tom Baker, Aurora Burghart, Jeremy Clyde, Alan Cox, Joel James Davison, Raj Ghatak, Robert Portal, David Shaw-Parker, Clive Wood, Amina Zia.

You may love somewhere and proudly call it a home from home, a favourite place to be, an affinity with the locals, a connection with its history; but if you find that you have become Stranded, marooned upon its beaches because your mode of transport has given up the ghost and no sign of rescue is forthcoming; then your paradise, that one place you like to visit and catch up with its inhabitants can suddenly turn into a world of dull routine, your visit now a land of disagreeable anecdotes as you understand the point of view by those always trapped in the grey where once you saw colour.

Doctor Who: Stranded – 1. Big Finish Audio Drama Boxset Review. full post

(521 words, estimated 2:05 mins reading time)