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Radio Roundup
Sep. 17th, 2015 05:10 pmWelcome back to what now seems to be the main purpose for this blog, connecting the unwary citizens of the internet with great radio! Hurrah! ... Well, I've been busy.
COMEDY
On the Hour - The avalanche from the archives continues as they roll out this brilliantly absurd classic send-up of news broadcasting.
Newsjack - Radio 4 Extra's crowdsourced topical comedy show, which I am glad to see is hosted again by Nish Kumar.
Bigipedia 2.0 is still rolling, with the story of the Cacophony Stealth Bomber in Episode 3
The 99p Challenge continues its barmy reign, in episodes even funnier in retrospect: here is posited for laughs a 'Celebrity 99p Challenge' which the intervening years have made just that, and in this episode Sue Perkins judges a cooking competition. Also featured: Beat the Clock, what might worry Bobby McFerrin, the auction of a 10p piece, and time travel.
Mitchell & Webb continues to delight ... if you know their work you'll know you only need their names to know it's good, so ... there you go.
Old Harry's Game - "Satan ponders the meaning of happiness, while Elvis Presley gets locked in a crate." Yup.
DRAMA
And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie's classic, in a radio adaptation from what I am beginning to think of as the golden age of radio drama, which seems to be fading somewhat, alas. Anyway this is a brilliant production and highly recommended – please bear in mind the stage audiences have kept the secret for decades, so don't go blabbing!
Caesar! - Not a musical, despite what the exclamation mark may imply. A series (series!) of excellent radio plays based on the histories of the Caesars by Suetonius.
DOCUMENTARY
The Story of NPR - NPR was where I lived in high school; a bit of a trip hearing it documented objectively on Radio 4, even if it doesn't answer 'what happened?'
Calvin and Hobbes - another icon of childhood given the excellent BBC documentary treatment.
The Long View this week connects the PR side of modern space exploration with that of Antarctic expeditions!!! and in doing so visits SPRI!!! so you get to hear my happy place and the joy of primary documents (as well as the intersection of Lensfield Road and Hills Road, at which I regularly shake my fist).
In other collisions of real life and Radio 4, The Museum of Curiosity takes a look at the history of computing, and brings onto its panel my longtime friend and sometime mentor the great Sydney Padua, eminent authoress of The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage, to discuss her specialty subject, for once (I presume) not over a pint after a long country walk.
Secrets and Spies - Edith Cavell was an English nurse working in Belgium who was shot by the Germans in WWI. New research into her activities suggests she may have been playing a more serious game than originally thought.
Brambles - the natural history, ethnobotany, and other facets of the humble and ubiquitous blackberry.
THINGS YOU MAY LIKE (EVEN IF I DON'T)
The Martian Chronicles - It's got a great cast led by Hayley Atwell and Derek Jacobi, and is a gorgeous production of a sci-fi classic. Personally, while I love both Ray Bradbury and BBC radio drama, I don't find they mesh well; you may not have my hangups.
Absolutely - When this group appeared on Sketchorama a few years ago, my R4-listening friends and I were baffled as to why the audience was losing it over acts that just weren't that funny. And then they won the award for best scripted comedy? The intro to this show may hold a clue, in that Absolutely had been on Channel 4 umpteen years ago, so there may have been a nostalgia factor I was missing out on – and to be fair their new sitcom Reluctant Persuaders does have some genuine LOLs – but I put this link to you in the hope of hearing whether you 'get it' or whether you think they released nitrous oxide in the radio theatre.
COMEDY
On the Hour - The avalanche from the archives continues as they roll out this brilliantly absurd classic send-up of news broadcasting.
Newsjack - Radio 4 Extra's crowdsourced topical comedy show, which I am glad to see is hosted again by Nish Kumar.
Bigipedia 2.0 is still rolling, with the story of the Cacophony Stealth Bomber in Episode 3
The 99p Challenge continues its barmy reign, in episodes even funnier in retrospect: here is posited for laughs a 'Celebrity 99p Challenge' which the intervening years have made just that, and in this episode Sue Perkins judges a cooking competition. Also featured: Beat the Clock, what might worry Bobby McFerrin, the auction of a 10p piece, and time travel.
Mitchell & Webb continues to delight ... if you know their work you'll know you only need their names to know it's good, so ... there you go.
Old Harry's Game - "Satan ponders the meaning of happiness, while Elvis Presley gets locked in a crate." Yup.
DRAMA
And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie's classic, in a radio adaptation from what I am beginning to think of as the golden age of radio drama, which seems to be fading somewhat, alas. Anyway this is a brilliant production and highly recommended – please bear in mind the stage audiences have kept the secret for decades, so don't go blabbing!
Caesar! - Not a musical, despite what the exclamation mark may imply. A series (series!) of excellent radio plays based on the histories of the Caesars by Suetonius.
DOCUMENTARY
The Story of NPR - NPR was where I lived in high school; a bit of a trip hearing it documented objectively on Radio 4, even if it doesn't answer 'what happened?'
Calvin and Hobbes - another icon of childhood given the excellent BBC documentary treatment.
The Long View this week connects the PR side of modern space exploration with that of Antarctic expeditions!!! and in doing so visits SPRI!!! so you get to hear my happy place and the joy of primary documents (as well as the intersection of Lensfield Road and Hills Road, at which I regularly shake my fist).
In other collisions of real life and Radio 4, The Museum of Curiosity takes a look at the history of computing, and brings onto its panel my longtime friend and sometime mentor the great Sydney Padua, eminent authoress of The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage, to discuss her specialty subject, for once (I presume) not over a pint after a long country walk.
Secrets and Spies - Edith Cavell was an English nurse working in Belgium who was shot by the Germans in WWI. New research into her activities suggests she may have been playing a more serious game than originally thought.
Brambles - the natural history, ethnobotany, and other facets of the humble and ubiquitous blackberry.
THINGS YOU MAY LIKE (EVEN IF I DON'T)
The Martian Chronicles - It's got a great cast led by Hayley Atwell and Derek Jacobi, and is a gorgeous production of a sci-fi classic. Personally, while I love both Ray Bradbury and BBC radio drama, I don't find they mesh well; you may not have my hangups.
Absolutely - When this group appeared on Sketchorama a few years ago, my R4-listening friends and I were baffled as to why the audience was losing it over acts that just weren't that funny. And then they won the award for best scripted comedy? The intro to this show may hold a clue, in that Absolutely had been on Channel 4 umpteen years ago, so there may have been a nostalgia factor I was missing out on – and to be fair their new sitcom Reluctant Persuaders does have some genuine LOLs – but I put this link to you in the hope of hearing whether you 'get it' or whether you think they released nitrous oxide in the radio theatre.
