Radio Roundup
Oct. 28th, 2015 06:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tealinGreetings, internet! I've been banking up radio ... for you. In my decade of Radio 4ism, I've come to recognise a few names – my 'radio canaries' – which get an automatic listen whatever they're attached to. Nearly all of them have come up this week so I've been pretty busy.
COMEDY
The Brig Society: Being a Lord - If you've been following UK politics you know the House of Lords is in the news. In this episode Mr Brigstocke explores why having an unelected body in a democracy can be a very good thing (aside from voting down punitive tax reforms, as we've seen).
Armando Iannucci's Charm Offensive from August 2008. Topical (now historical) surreal snark. Ah, memories. Radio Canary: Armando Iannucci
Dilemma - A panel of funny people are given increasingly complex moral quandaries to test their mettle. Hosted by Radio Canary Sue Perkins.
Just a Minute - always a reliable bet, the grand master of rhetoric games hosted both Sue Perkins and Andy Hamilton last week.
Mark Watson Makes the World Substantially Better: Diligence - the Welsh comedian and his poet and musician friends expound on this very useful virtue.
Saturday Night Fry - It's a nice gentle half hour of wit and whimsy, and though I linked to it earlier, I do so again for the selfish reason that this week I listened to Jim Broadbent on the radio whilst animating a scene for which Jim Broadbent did the voice.
Laura Solon: Talking and Not Talking - An episode of mad sketches in this brilliant series which I hadn't heard yet, heavens to Betsy. The last sketch makes me think she must have been introduced to cipout at some point.
DRAMA, COMIC:
John Finnemore's Double Acts: A Flock of Tigers and WYSINNWYG - You probably know Radio Canary John Finnemore from writing Cabin Pressure, but he does other stuff too, including this series of two-character half-hour one-act plays, which are entirely up to his already high standard.
A Trespasser's Guide to the Classics: Robinson Clusoe - a couple of comedy characters stumble into Defoe and ruin everything. Other episodes see the ruin of other classic literature, check them out.
Guards! Guards! - adaptation of the Discworld novel which pits a dragon against Samuel Vimes (good luck, dragon).
DRAMA, SRS
Orson Welles' Heart of Darkness - I've been moaning a bit about the decline of radio drama but this is great. It's based on the unproduced script for Orson Welles' adaptation of Joseph Conrad's book, and I have to say I prefer it to the original, even though it misses out the part with the rivets. Brilliant stuff. Do listen.
Cold Blood - Radio Canary Simon Bovey writes the very best kind of pulp action radio serials. His craft has improved since this early outing, but this Antarctic sci-fi thriller is chock full of oblique Scott references, which makes me squirm with glee. (Don't let me make a list, I will totally make a list.)
The Ambassadors - Dramatisation of the Henry James novel which, I admit, I only know through Kate Beaton's comic. I plan to listen, though, because it has Radio Canary Carl Prekopp in it.
DOCUMENTARY
Vital Mental Medicine - The story of the banjo taken on Shackleton's famous Endurance expedition (the one with the ship in the ice where "nobody" died). Airs Friday.
Letters of Vincent Van Gogh - A too-small insight into the famous artist; pairs well with Mark Watson's show about diligence, see above.
IDEK WTF
Recycled Radio - Gerald Scarfe is a famous British cartoonist, perhaps best known in the States for setting the style for Disney's Hercules. In this series ... he ... I don't know, 'curates a collection of clips' doesn't give any impression of how surreal or brilliant it is. Just strap in and enjoy the ride.
COMEDY
The Brig Society: Being a Lord - If you've been following UK politics you know the House of Lords is in the news. In this episode Mr Brigstocke explores why having an unelected body in a democracy can be a very good thing (aside from voting down punitive tax reforms, as we've seen).
Armando Iannucci's Charm Offensive from August 2008. Topical (now historical) surreal snark. Ah, memories. Radio Canary: Armando Iannucci
Dilemma - A panel of funny people are given increasingly complex moral quandaries to test their mettle. Hosted by Radio Canary Sue Perkins.
Just a Minute - always a reliable bet, the grand master of rhetoric games hosted both Sue Perkins and Andy Hamilton last week.
Mark Watson Makes the World Substantially Better: Diligence - the Welsh comedian and his poet and musician friends expound on this very useful virtue.
Saturday Night Fry - It's a nice gentle half hour of wit and whimsy, and though I linked to it earlier, I do so again for the selfish reason that this week I listened to Jim Broadbent on the radio whilst animating a scene for which Jim Broadbent did the voice.
Laura Solon: Talking and Not Talking - An episode of mad sketches in this brilliant series which I hadn't heard yet, heavens to Betsy. The last sketch makes me think she must have been introduced to cipout at some point.
DRAMA, COMIC:
John Finnemore's Double Acts: A Flock of Tigers and WYSINNWYG - You probably know Radio Canary John Finnemore from writing Cabin Pressure, but he does other stuff too, including this series of two-character half-hour one-act plays, which are entirely up to his already high standard.
A Trespasser's Guide to the Classics: Robinson Clusoe - a couple of comedy characters stumble into Defoe and ruin everything. Other episodes see the ruin of other classic literature, check them out.
Guards! Guards! - adaptation of the Discworld novel which pits a dragon against Samuel Vimes (good luck, dragon).
DRAMA, SRS
Orson Welles' Heart of Darkness - I've been moaning a bit about the decline of radio drama but this is great. It's based on the unproduced script for Orson Welles' adaptation of Joseph Conrad's book, and I have to say I prefer it to the original, even though it misses out the part with the rivets. Brilliant stuff. Do listen.
Cold Blood - Radio Canary Simon Bovey writes the very best kind of pulp action radio serials. His craft has improved since this early outing, but this Antarctic sci-fi thriller is chock full of oblique Scott references, which makes me squirm with glee. (Don't let me make a list, I will totally make a list.)
The Ambassadors - Dramatisation of the Henry James novel which, I admit, I only know through Kate Beaton's comic. I plan to listen, though, because it has Radio Canary Carl Prekopp in it.
DOCUMENTARY
Vital Mental Medicine - The story of the banjo taken on Shackleton's famous Endurance expedition (the one with the ship in the ice where "nobody" died). Airs Friday.
Letters of Vincent Van Gogh - A too-small insight into the famous artist; pairs well with Mark Watson's show about diligence, see above.
IDEK WTF
Recycled Radio - Gerald Scarfe is a famous British cartoonist, perhaps best known in the States for setting the style for Disney's Hercules. In this series ... he ... I don't know, 'curates a collection of clips' doesn't give any impression of how surreal or brilliant it is. Just strap in and enjoy the ride.
