Best known as one of the leading Irish poets of her generation, Paula Meehan is also an accomplished and much-admired playwright, and her stage work has been performed by, among others, Team Theatre Company, Rough Magic, Calypso Theatre Company and The National Theatre Company at the Peacock. As well as her work for stage, in recent years she has also written for radio, a medium which provides particular scope for the oral and sonic qualities so often admired in her writing. Music for Dogs presents, for the first time in print, a selection of that work for radio from a poet of "perfect pitch" (Midwest Book Review). Janey Mack is Going to Die, The Lover and Threehander were all written for and first performed on RT Radio 1.

'Joyous, wise, reassuring and laugh-out-loud funny. I love these two women so much.' Elizabeth Day 'I can say with full confidence that Jane Garvey and Fi Glover are the two funniest women on planet earth right now.' Dolly Alderton 'A book like no other. Honest and very, very funny. Some bits made me want to cheer - a sentence on parenting teenage girls was so good I may get it tattooed on myself, possibly in Hebrew.' Sara Cox 'You'll laugh, you'll nod your head so vigorously in agreement that you'll end up with whiplash and you'll buy a copy of this book for all your friends for Christmas. If you loved the late, great Victoria Wood, then you'll love Fi and Jane too.' Red magazine Award-winning broadcasters Fi Glover and Jane Garvey don't claim to have all the answers (what was the question?), but in these hilarious and perceptive essays they take modern life by its elasticated waist and give it a brisk going over with a stiff brush. They riff together on the chuff of life, from pet deaths to broadcasting hierarchies, via the importance of hair dye, the perils and pleasures of judging other women, and the perplexing overconfidence of chino-wearing middle-aged white men named Roger. Did I Say That Out Loud? covers essential life skills (never buy an acrylic jumper, always decline the offer of a limoncello), ponders the prudence of orgasm merchandise and suggests the disconcerting possibility that Christmas is a hereditary disease, passed down the maternal line. At a time of constant uncertainty, what we all need is the wisdom of two women who haven't got a clue what's going on either.

British Radio Drama, 1945-1963 reveals the quality and range of the avant-garde radio broadcasts from the 'golden age' of British radio drama. Turning away from the cautious and conservative programming that emerged in the UK immediately after World War II, young generations of radio producers looked to French theatre, introducing writers such as Samuel Beckett and Eugene Ionesco to British radio audiences. This 'theatre of the absurd' triggered a renaissance of writing and production featuring the work of Giles Cooper, Rhys Adrian and Harold Pinter, as well as the launch of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Based on primary archival research and interviews with former BBC staff, Hugh Chignell places this high-point in the BBC's history in the broader context of British post-war culture, as norms of morality and behavior were re-negotiated in the shadow of the Cold War, while at once establishing the internationalism of post-war radio and theatre.

Born in Ireland, Louis MacNeice was sent to England for his schooling, to Marlborough, and then went on to read classics at Oxford. His professional life began as a lecturer in classics but in 1941 he joined the BBC and for the next twenty years produced programmes for the legendary Features Department, including his own celebrated radio play, The Dark Tower, which was broadcast for the first time in 1946, with original music by Benjamin Britten.

Described by the author as 'a radio parable play', written in response to the rise of fascism in Germany and the events of World War II, The Dark Tower stages the debate about free will with reference to the ancient theme of the Quest, but in modern contexts exporing sexuality, gender, family and geography.

"'"The Dark Tower is in my view the best piece of writing ever done for radio.' George MacBeth

A practical guide to writing radio drama and getting it produced, by a leading radio dramatist and a hugely experienced radio drama producer who have both created award-winning dramas for the BBC. For writers, radio drama offers a remarkable degree of creative freedom, a unique relationship with an audience listening at home or on the move, and a wealth of opportunities to earn a living. But writing for radio is also a very particular craft, with its own distinctive conventions, techniques and pitfalls. And you need to know how the industry works to stand the best chance of getting your play commissioned. This book, written from the dual perspective of a writer and a radio drama producer, tells you all you need to know about: What works well on radio, and what doesn't How to hook listeners from the start, and how to keep them listening How to format your script How to research and contact the right producer for your play What to expect after you've received a commission What happens when you're in the recording studio Full of practical advice, tips and invaluable inside information about the industry, it also includes extracts from many outstanding radio dramas and a series of writing exercises to help put ideas into practice. So You Want To Write Radio Drama? is an essential guide for anybody who wants to write a radio play, whether you're a first-time writer or one currently working in a different medium. It will also be of help to those already involved in making radio drama, or who simply want an insight into how it is written and made.

In the 1930s radio stations filled the airwaves with programs and musical performances about rural Americans -- farmers and small-town residents struggling through the Great Depression. One of the most popular of these shows was Lum and Abner, the brainchild of Chester "Chet" Lauck and Norris "Tuffy" Goff, two young businessmen from Arkansas. Beginning in 1931 and lasting for more than two decades, the show revolved around the lives of ordinary people in the fictional community of Pine Ridge, based on the hamlet of Waters, Arkansas. The title characters, who are farmers, local officials, and the keepers of the Jot 'Em Down Store, manage to entangle themselves in a variety of hilarious dilemmas. The program's gentle humor and often complex characters had wide appeal both to rural southerners, who were accustomed to being the butt of jokes in the national media, and to urban listeners who were fascinated by descriptions of life in the American countryside. Lum and Abner was characterized by the snappy, verbal comedic dueling that became popular on radio programs of the 1930s. Using this format, Lauck and Goff allowed their characters to subvert traditional authority and to poke fun at common misconceptions about rural life. The show also featured hillbilly and other popular music, an innovation that drew a bigger audience. As a result, Arkansas experienced a boom in tourism, and southern listeners began to immerse themselves in a new national popular culture. In Lum and Abner: Rural America and the Golden Age of Radio, historian Randal L. Hall explains the history and importance of the program, its creators, and its national audience. He also presents a treasure trove of twenty-nine previously unavailable scripts from the show's earliest period, scripts that reveal much about the Great Depression, rural life, hillbilly stereotypes, and a seminal period of American radio.

John Bell collects scripts from his radio show 'Thought for the day', offering a religious perspective on matters of current social and international importance.

The 1938 Orson Welles broadcast of ""The War of the Worlds"" was a landmark in the history of entertainment, sparking a public hysteria in America and a series of subsequent broadcasts around the world that elicited similar responses. This book examines the historic broadcast indepth. It covers all aspects of the phenomenon including fascination with Mars; H.G. Wells' novel; Orson Welles and the making of the broadcast; initial reactions and the resulting 'fog of war'; anxieties underlying the panic; and the aftermath. Chapters also look at later broadcasts in the United States, Latin America, Brazil and Portugal, and address the likelihood that a similar panic could happen again. The original script of the 1938 ""The War of the Worlds"" radio broadcast, written by Howard Koch, is included.

March 1978 saw the first ever transmission of Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy on BBC Radio 4; the beginning of a cult phenomenon. March 2020 marks the 42nd anniversary of that first transmission - 42 being the answer, of course, to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything. To mark the occasion, Pan Macmillan are bringing back into print The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: The Original Radio Scripts with an introduction from Simon Jones. The collection also includes the previously 'lost' Hitchhiker script from the 25th anniversary edition, 'Sheila's Ear' and the original introductions by producer Geoffrey Perkins and Douglas Adams. This collection, which is a faithful reproduction of the text as it was first published in 1985, features all twelve original radio scripts - Hitchhiker as it was written and exactly as it was broadcast for the very first time. They include amendments and additions made during recordings and original notes on the writing and producing of the series by Douglas Adams and Geoffrey Perkins. For those who have always loved Douglas Adams, as well as for his new generation of fans, these scripts are essential reading and a must-have piece of Adams memorabilia. This special anniversary edition will accompany reissued eye-catching editions of the five individual Hitchhiker books coming in March 2020: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, Life, the Universe and Everything, So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish and Mostly Harmless.

This volume presents eleven radio scripts written and produced by the poet and writer Louis MacNeice (1907-1963) over the span of his twenty-year career at the BBC, during which he wrote and produced well over a hundred radio scripts on an impressively wide variety of subjects. This volume's selection of scripts, all but one of which is published for the first time, illustrates the various ways that MacNeice re-worked one particular and recurrent source of material for radio broadcast - ancient Greek and Roman history and literature. The volume thus seeks to explore MacNeice's literary relationship with classical antiquity, including engagements with authors such as Homer, Thucydides, Aristophanes, Xenophon, Petronius, Apuleius, and Horace, in a variety of types of programmes from wartime propaganda work, which used ancient Greek history to comment on the international situation, to lighter entertainment programmes drawing on the Roman novel. MacNeice's educational background in classics, combined with his skill as a writer and his ability in exploring radio's potential for creative work, resulted in programmes which brought the ancient world imaginatively alive for a massive, popular audience at home and abroad. Each script is prefaced by an individual introduction, written by the editors and guest contributor Gonda Van Steen, detailing the political and broadcasting contexts, the relationship of the script with classical antiquity, notes on cast and credits, and the reception of each script's radio performance amongst contemporary listeners. The volume opens with a general introduction which seeks to contextualise the scripts in MacNeice's wider life and work for radio, and it includes an appendix of extant MacNeicean scripts and recordings.

Mit der dreibandigen Jubilaumsedition zum 100. Geburtstag liegen erstmals Helmut Heissenbuttels spate Schriften zur Literatur in gesammelter Form vor. Sie enthalt bislang nur verstreut veroeffentlichte Texte und zeichnet wesentliche Entwicklungslinien des essayistischen Werks nach. Der dritte Teil beinhaltet Aufsatze zu Poetik und Literaturtheorie, Gattungen und Geschichte radiophoner Literatur sowie Comic und Science Fiction, ebenso wie autobiographische Essays, Interviews und Schriften zum Kulturbetrieb. Er versammelt ausserdem Texte zum Kriminalroman aus allen Phasen von Heissenbuttels jahrzehntelanger Auseinandersetzung mit dem Genre.

'Joyous, wise, reassuring and laugh-out-loud funny. I love these two women so much.' Elizabeth Day 'The two funniest women on planet earth right now.' Dolly Alderton 'I want to be Fi and Jane when I grow up.' Clare Balding 'A book like no other. Honest and very, very funny. Some bits made me want to cheer.' Sara Cox 'If you loved the late, great Victoria Wood, then you'll love Fi and Jane too.' Red magazine Award-winning broadcasters Fi Glover and Jane Garvey don't claim to have all the answers (what was the question?), but in these hilarious and perceptive essays they take modern life by its elasticated waist and give it a brisk going over with a stiff brush. They riff together on the chuff of life, from pet deaths to broadcasting hierarchies, via the importance of hair dye, the perils and pleasures of judging other women, and the perplexing overconfidence of chino-wearing middle-aged white men named Roger. Did I Say That Out Loud? covers essential life skills (never buy an acrylic jumper, always decline the offer of a limoncello), ponders the prudence of orgasm merchandise and suggests the disconcerting possibility that Christmas is a hereditary disease, passed down the maternal line. At a time of constant uncertainty, what we all need is the wisdom of two women who haven't got a clue what's going on either.

A gripping BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of Neil Gaiman's bestselling and much-loved novel When his father dies, Fat Charlie Nancy discovers that not only was the late Mr Nancy actually the god Anansi, but that he also has a long-lost brother, Spider, who is everything Fat Charlie is not. When Spider begins to take over Fat Charlie's life, flat and even his fiancee Rosie, Fat Charlie is forced to make a pact that lands him in trouble with the gods themselves... Anansi Boys is a story of love, laughter, music and murder, old gods and new tricks that takes Fat Charlie from his home in South London to Florida, the Caribbean, and the very Beginning of the World itself. Or the End of the World. Depending on which direction you're coming from. Jacob Anderson stars as Charlie, and he has written and performed a specially commissioned song - 'Charlie's Song' - which forms part of the magical fabric of Anansi Boys. Dramatised for Radio 4 by the award-winning Dirk Maggs (Neverwhere, Good Omens, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), the stellar cast of this series also includes Joseph Marcell, Lenny Henry, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Adjoa Andoh,Julie Hesmondhalgh and Julian Rhind-Tutt, as well as a cameo appearance from Neil Gaiman himself. Duration: 3 hours 15 mins

This new edition brings together all of Beckett's dramatic writings for radio, television and film, offering works which range from eloquent comic naturalism to an eviscerated and pared-down symbolism. Above all, Beckett found his unique uses for the radio-play, a medium 'for voices not bodies', compacted of speech, sound and silence - and the plays in this volume intently explore the resources and limits of the sound-stage. My father, back from the dead, to be with me. (Pause.) As if he hadn't died. (Pause.) No, simply back from the dead, to be with me, in this strange place. (Pause.) Can he hear me? (Pause.) Yes, he must hear me. (Pause.) To answer me? (Pause.) No, he doesn't answer me. (Pause.) Just be with me. (Pause.) That sound you hear is the sea. (Pause. Louder.) I say that sound you hear is the sea, we are sitting on the strand. (Pause.) I mention it because the sound is so strange, so unlike the sound of the sea, that if you didn't see what it was you wouldn't know what it was. (Pause.). Hooves! Contents: All That Fall, Embers, Words and Music, Eh Joe, Quad, Film, ...but the clouds..., Ghost Trio, Nacht und Traume, Rough for Radio I, Rough for Radio II, Cascando, The Old Tune Preface and Notes by Everett Frost

Best known as one of the leading Irish poets of her generation, Paula Meehan is also an accomplished and much-admired playwright, and her stage work has been performed by, among others, Team Theatre Company, Rough Magic, Calypso Theatre Company and The National Theatre Company at the Peacock. As well as her work for stage, in recent years she has also written for radio, a medium which provides particular scope for the oral and sonic qualities so often admired in her writing. Music for Dogs presents, for the first time in print, a selection of that work for radio from a poet of "perfect pitch" (Midwest Book Review). Janey Mack is Going to Die, The Lover and Threehander were all written for and first performed on RT Radio 1.

More Audio Drama is the second collection of plays by Neville Teller, intended both for lovers of radio drama and for podcast producers who specialise in audio drama. Neville is a veteran radio dramatist, with more than 50 BBC radio plays under his belt and scores more produced and broadcast across America by the San Francisco-based Shoestring Radio Theatre. Back in 2019 he published his first collection of ten radio plays, Audio Drama. They have been so welcomed that he decided to make another ten available. Here they are - 10 more of Neville's plays for radio and podcast, all of which have been produced and broadcast. As in his first book, these scripts are offered to podcast producers with no strings attached. The books on which they are based are all literary classics in the public domain. No performance rights are required. Whether you are a podcast producer seeking fully realised audio drama scripts, or one of the worldwide listening audience who love radio drama with its power to create images in the mind's eye, More Audio Drama is a book to treasure and enjoy.

British Radio Drama, 1945-1963 reveals the quality and range of the avant-garde radio broadcasts from the 'golden age' of British radio drama. Turning away from the cautious and conservative programming that emerged in the UK immediately after World War II, young generations of radio producers looked to French theatre, introducing writers such as Samuel Beckett and Eugene Ionesco to British radio audiences. This 'theatre of the absurd' triggered a renaissance of writing and production featuring the work of Giles Cooper, Rhys Adrian and Harold Pinter, as well as the launch of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Based on primary archival research and interviews with former BBC staff, Hugh Chignell places this high-point in the BBC's history in the broader context of British post-war culture, as norms of morality and behavior were re-negotiated in the shadow of the Cold War, while at once establishing the internationalism of post-war radio and theatre.

Kenneth Horne, Kenneth Williams, Betty Marsden and Hugh Paddick star in 20 episodes of the anarchic 1960s radio comedy. Round the Horne arrived on BBC radio in 1965, bringing laughter to Sunday lunchtimes throughout the land. It carved a niche in the history of broadcast comedy, a sketch show which prodded the boundaries of propriety and innuendo. At its heart was the suave and upstanding Kenneth Horne, around which revolved the multiple naughty personas of Kenneth Williams, Betty Marsden, Hugh Paddick and Bill Pertwee. Among the parade of regular characters were Julian and Sandy, the camp couple of resting thespians happy to turn their hands to anything, Rambling Syd Rumbo the musical cordwangler, Fiona and Charles the passionate duo, and J. Peasemold Gruntfuttock the world's dirtiest man. Meanwhile regular film parodies, spoof sagas and musical interludes peppered the mix. Round the Horne earned its place in the annals of comedy history, and is fondly remembered today as a groundbreaking series that influenced many more to come. Here the entire third series can be enjoyed once again, along with a PDF booklet featuring cast biographies and a full series history. Duration: 10 hours approx.

Kenneth Horne, Kenneth Williams, Betty Marsden and Hugh Paddick star in 16 episodes of the anarchic 1960s radio comedy. Round the Horne arrived on BBC radio in 1965, bringing laughter to Sunday lunchtimes throughout the land. Over the course of sixteen weekly episodes it carved a niche in the history of broadcast comedy, a sketch show which prodded the boundaries of propriety and innuendo. At its heart was the suave and upstanding Kenneth Horne, around which revolved the multiple naughty personas of Kenneth Williams, Betty Marsden, Hugh Paddick and Bill Pertwee. Among the parade of regular characters were Julian and Sandy, the camp couple of resting thespians happy to turn their hands to anything, Rambling Syd Rumbo the musical cordwangler, Fiona and Charles the passionate duo, and J. Peasemold Gruntfuttock the world's dirtiest man. Meanwhile regular film parodies, spoof sagas and musical interludes peppered the mix. Round the Horne earned its place in the annals of comedy history, and is fondly remembered today as a groundbreaking series that influenced many more to come. Here the entire first series can be enjoyed once again, along with a PDF booklet featuring cast biographies and a full series history. 8 CDs. 8 hrs 21 mins.

Audio Drama is unique. There's no other book like it. First it's aimed at the vast audience for audio drama, whether in the form of traditional radio plays or as podcasts. For them, Audio Drama provides the opportunity to see how ten literary classics were dramatised for radio, and to recreate the performances for themselves as they read. Secondly, it's for all those podcast producers who are keen to exercise their imagination and technical skills by producing audio drama for their followers. These ten scripts provide the raw material from which podcasters can craft their own drama productions. The works on which they are based are literary classics and are in the public domain. The audio dramatisations - all of which have been, or are about to be, produced and broadcast either by the BBC or across the USA - are offered to the global community of podcasters with no strings attached. An experienced dramatist and abridger, with more than 50 BBC radio dramatisations under his belt, Neville Teller not only presents 10 of his scripts, but also explains something of how a radio drama script is crafted. Audio Drama fills a niche that will appeal on both sides of the pond, and more widely in the whole English-speaking world.

Cabin Pressure is set in the wing and a prayer world of a tiny, one-plane charter airline; staffed by two pilots, one on his way down, and one who was never up to start with. Whether it's dealing with a stuffed sheep, an angry princess or a rogue fruit tray, no job is too small, but many, many jobs are too difficult. Carolyn Knapp-Shappey, MJN Air's formidable boss, has employed two of the very cheapest pilots money can buy: Captain Martin Crieff, who's always wanted to fly and won't let a little thing like lack of ability stop him, and First Officer Douglas Richardson, smooth-voiced old sky god and eternal schemer. Passenger service is provided by the relentlessly cheery Arthur, proud inventor of both Surprising Rice and his own hat. Written by John Finnemore (John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme, The Now Show), Cabin Pressure stars Stephanie Cole as Carolyn, Benedict Cumberbatch as Martin, Roger Allam as Douglas and John Finnemore as Arthur. 'The more I listen to John Finnemore's Cabin Pressure, the more I think what a stonking masterpiece it is. Perfect in every department.' - Philip Pullman 'Unexpectedly brilliant' - Time Out 'An inspired new sitcom' - Observer 3 CDs. 2 hrs 48 mins.

A collection of BBC radio full-cast dramatisations of Jane Austen's six major novels Jane Austen is one of the finest writers in the English language, and this volume includes all six of her classic novels. Mansfield Park: On a quest to find a position in society, Fanny Price goes to live with her rich aunt and uncle. Northanger Abbey: Young, naive Catherine Morland receives an invitation to stay at the isolated Gothic mansion Northanger Abbey. Sense and Sensibility: Forced to leave their family home after their father's death, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood try to forge a new life at Barton Cottage. Pride and Prejudice: Mrs Bennet is determined to get her five daughters married well, so when the wealthy Mr Bingley and his friend Mr Darcy move into the neighbourhood her hopes are raised... Emma: Emma Woodhouse declares she will never marry, but she is determined to find a match for her friend Harriet. Persuasion: Eight years ago, Anne Elliot rejected a marriage proposal from a handsome but poor naval officer. Now her former love has returned... With an all-star cast including David Tennant, Benedict Cumberbatch, Julia McKenzie, Jenny Agutter, Toby Jones, Eve Best and Juliet Stevenson, these BBC radio adaptations are full of humour, romance, love lost and love regained.