›

007 Audio Dramas' / Radio Plays / Audiobooks

2

Comments

  • JohnHammond73JohnHammond73 Lancashire, UK
    Posts: 4,151
    vzok wrote: »
    Shark_0f_Largo wrote: »
    Listened to part of the You Only Live Twice play on my way to work this morning. Michael Jayston has such a recognizable voice. I'll admit the name didn't ring a bell at first, but as soon as I heard him then, yes, it was quite obvious who he was, great actor and, as said above by @stag, a good voice for things such as this. I remember him from one of my favourite Only Fools and Horses episodes when he played Raquels' dad.



    That was when Del found the clock that made him rich wasn't it? Michael Jayston around the same time appeared with David Jason in a comedy series called "A Bit Of A Do".

    His voice is distinctive and very suitable for audio Bond.

    That's the one. A brilliant episode. Yes, he really does have a distinctive voice. Very easy to put a face to it.

  • KaijuDirectorOO7KaijuDirectorOO7 Once Upon a Time Somewhere...
    Posts: 189
    Having seen the OHMSS and YOLT plays, I must say I'm impressed...

    then hearing Ian McKellen in Goldfinger was DIVINE.
  • stagstag In the thick of it!
    Posts: 1,053
    As I said in another post I was dubious when I sat down to listen to my first 007 audio drama but have been a convert ever since. I think they're a great bridge between the films and the books.
  • TorgeirtrapTorgeirtrap
    Posts: 17,756
    Do like the few audio dramas I've heard of the BBC one's. Never been much of an audiobook guy. Are the Bond audiobooks worth checking out? If so, which one's stand out?
  • stagstag In the thick of it!
    Posts: 1,053
    @Torgeirtrap yes, most definitely. They are unabridged narrated versions of the books so while it might not be convenient to read (whilst commuting for example) you can listen. I haven't listened to them for a while and from memory they are each between seven and eight hours long.
    As for which one is the best I guess it depends on your personal book preferences.
  • TorgeirtrapTorgeirtrap
    Posts: 17,756
    @stag Good to hear! I was thinking about which audiobooks that has the best narrators. For example if Bill Nighy gives a great narration in Moonraker etc.
  • stagstag In the thick of it!
    Posts: 1,053
    @Torgeirtrap I have the ones narrated by David Rintoul

    This collection of narrators looks interesting:

    http://www.audible.co.uk/series?asin=B00HS4TWXC

    There are samples from them here:

    https://audioboom.com/posts/1109161-live-and-let-die-audiobook-sample
  • TorgeirtrapTorgeirtrap
    Posts: 17,756
    @stag Thanks for the links! I'll sure look out for the Rintoul adiobooks. That Audible collection looks interesting as well. From the samples, both Nighy, Lewis and Stephens sounded great. :)
  • stagstag In the thick of it!
    Posts: 1,053
    @Torgeirtrap the Rintoul books were available on you tube a while ago but I'm not sure if they are still there.
  • JohnHammond73JohnHammond73 Lancashire, UK
    Posts: 4,151
    Toby Stephens is James Bond again in Thunderball this weekend. Saturday the 10th of December at 2:30pm on BBC Radio 4.
  • stagstag In the thick of it!
    Posts: 1,053
    Shark_0f_Largo wrote: »
    Toby Stephens is James Bond again in Thunderball this weekend. Saturday the 10th of December at 2:30pm on BBC Radio 4.

    @Shark_0f_Largo, thanks for that.

  • vzokvzok
    Posts: 4,044
    Shark_0f_Largo wrote: »
    Toby Stephens is James Bond again in Thunderball this weekend. Saturday the 10th of December at 2:30pm on BBC Radio 4.

    Thanks for the reminder.

  • gt007gt007 Station G
    Posts: 1,182
    Re: the Audible audiobook collection,
    I've listened to OHMSS read brilliantly by David Tennant. I really enjoyed it. The rest of this collection is in my near future plans.
    Shark_0f_Largo wrote: »
    Toby Stephens is James Bond again in Thunderball this weekend. Saturday the 10th of December at 2:30pm on BBC Radio 4.
    Thanks for the heads-up, @Shark_0f_Largo. I've never listened to an audio drama before, but given the highly positive response I want to give Thunderball a go.

    Does anyone know whether it'll be up on BBC iPlayer to listen to on demand after the original broadcast?
  • MrcogginsMrcoggins Following in the footsteps of Quentin Quigley.
    Posts: 3,144
    Yes it will be on the Radio4 I player shortly after broadcast @gt007.
  • gt007gt007 Station G
    Posts: 1,182
    Thanks, @Mrcoggins. I'll definitely check it out.
  • vzokvzok
    Posts: 4,044
    Short notice, but when looking at today's Radio 4 EPG, I noticed there is a documentary at 10.30am today - "The Woman Who Invented James Bond."
  • JohnHammond73JohnHammond73 Lancashire, UK
    Posts: 4,151
    Just finished listening to the Thunderball radio play on BBC Radio 4. Very enjoyable. These audio dranas, from what I can gather, are extremely close to, or exactly as, the Fleming books. Unfortunately ive never got around to reading the books (something I want to change) but these give a great feel.
  • JohnHammond73JohnHammond73 Lancashire, UK
    Posts: 4,151
    Radio Alert - From Russia With Love will be playing on BBC Radio 4 Extra on Saturday 17th December at 6am and 4pm.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,270
    Shark_0f_Largo wrote: »
    Radio Alert - From Russia With Love will be playing on BBC Radio 4 Extra on Saturday 17th December at 6am and 4pm.

    Thank you for that.
  • JohnHammond73JohnHammond73 Lancashire, UK
    edited December 2016 Posts: 4,151
    No problem. I've also just noticed that, starting tomorrow, BBC Radio 4 extra also have Casino Royale playing. However, this will be done over 10 parts each day from tomorrow. Times are 11am and then repeated at 9pm.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,270
    Shark_0f_Largo wrote: »
    No problem. I've also just noticed that, starting tomorrow, BBC Radio 4 extra also have Casino Royals playing. However, this will be done over 10 parts each day from tomorrow. Times are 11am and then repeated at 9pm.

    It must be one of those Radio 4 readings. I think I remember that being on maybe 10 years ago on Radio 4.
  • JohnHammond73JohnHammond73 Lancashire, UK
    Posts: 4,151
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    Shark_0f_Largo wrote: »
    No problem. I've also just noticed that, starting tomorrow, BBC Radio 4 extra also have Casino Royals playing. However, this will be done over 10 parts each day from tomorrow. Times are 11am and then repeated at 9pm.

    It must be one of those Radio 4 readings. I think I remember that being on maybe 10 years ago on Radio 4.

    Cool. Time providing I'll try and have a listen.

  • vzokvzok
    Posts: 4,044
    Shark_0f_Largo wrote: »
    Radio Alert - From Russia With Love will be playing on BBC Radio 4 Extra on Saturday 17th December at 6am and 4pm.

    Thanks for that. I wish they'd repeat all of them. I never did catch Goldfinger.
  • JohnHammond73JohnHammond73 Lancashire, UK
    Posts: 4,151
    No problem @vzok

    On another note, I've changed the title of the thread so that it can be used for all things audio, whether it is radio plays, audio books etc.
  • timdalton007timdalton007 North Alabama
    Posts: 155
    Listened to the new Radio 4 adaptation of Thunderball Friday and I have to admit that it may well be my least favorite of the Jarvis & Ayers run to date. Something about it seemed off compared to the previous ones and I'm not sure whether it was the adaptation (which seemed clunky in places, especially the action sequences which has never really been an issue before) or maybe some of the performances (I just could not believe Tom Conti as Largo). It wasn't bad by any means but just not as good as I was expecting.

    Happy to see FRWL has been re-broadcast as I think it and Goldfinger are the best productions they've done to date.

    timdalton007
  • stagstag In the thick of it!
    Posts: 1,053
    Colonel Sun is available to listen to on you tube once again.



    Also check out the right hand side windows for more interesting Bond material.
  • JohnHammond73JohnHammond73 Lancashire, UK
    Posts: 4,151
    That's great. Cheers @stag.
  • timdalton007timdalton007 North Alabama
    Posts: 155
    Escalus5 wrote: »
    Jason Haigh-Ellery, Chairman of Big Finish Productions, revealed at a Doctor Who convention that he has attempted to get the rights to produce James Bond audio dramas for many years but with no success.

    I would love to hear original stories about Bond (preferably produced by Big Finish and their awesome group of writers) starring Timothy Dalton.

    I've spoken with Jason Haigh-Ellery about the Bond audios as well and it's an interesting story. As he indicated when he was at Con Kasterborous in 2015, they got very close and planned to do FRWL as their first release. EON has to give an okay on any dramatization or adaptations of the Fleming novels (per their agreement with the Fleming estate) and EON backed out due to concerns over DVD sales being harmed(!). I've come to suspect that the fact that the Jarvis & Ayers productions for Radio 4 not being made commercially available (as well as the fact that Dr. No was meant originally to be a one-off) is why they've made so many of them.
    MajorDSmythe wrote: »
    As a collector of the Big Finish Audios of the 7th Doctor, I would be interested to see Big Finish make Bond audios. Either bring back past Bonds for new stories, or make full cast adaptions of the books with a new Bond, or even write new stories for a new Bond. Big Finish doesn't have to write their stories for a large audience like the show runners do, they're aimed specifically at the fans, so are able to experiment and takes risks more, so I would kill to see this attitude brought to the world of Bond.

    Haigh-Ellery indicated that they really wanted to do adaptations of the Fleming novels. He listed the actor they had cast as Bond but I can not for the life of me remember who it was now. I do recall that they were going to cast Nicholas Courtney (aka the Brigadier!) as M which I would have loved to have heard. Such a shame that EON backed out of the deal.

    timdalton007
  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    Posts: 13,978
    timdalton007 wrote: »
    Escalus5 wrote: »
    Jason Haigh-Ellery, Chairman of Big Finish Productions, revealed at a Doctor Who convention that he has attempted to get the rights to produce James Bond audio dramas for many years but with no success.

    I would love to hear original stories about Bond (preferably produced by Big Finish and their awesome group of writers) starring Timothy Dalton.

    I've spoken with Jason Haigh-Ellery about the Bond audios as well and it's an interesting story. As he indicated when he was at Con Kasterborous in 2015, they got very close and planned to do FRWL as their first release. EON has to give an okay on any dramatization or adaptations of the Fleming novels (per their agreement with the Fleming estate) and EON backed out due to concerns over DVD sales being harmed(!). I've come to suspect that the fact that the Jarvis & Ayers productions for Radio 4 not being made commercially available (as well as the fact that Dr. No was meant originally to be a one-off) is why they've made so many of them.
    MajorDSmythe wrote: »
    As a collector of the Big Finish Audios of the 7th Doctor, I would be interested to see Big Finish make Bond audios. Either bring back past Bonds for new stories, or make full cast adaptions of the books with a new Bond, or even write new stories for a new Bond. Big Finish doesn't have to write their stories for a large audience like the show runners do, they're aimed specifically at the fans, so are able to experiment and takes risks more, so I would kill to see this attitude brought to the world of Bond.

    Haigh-Ellery indicated that they really wanted to do adaptations of the Fleming novels. He listed the actor they had cast as Bond but I can not for the life of me remember who it was now. I do recall that they were going to cast Nicholas Courtney (aka the Brigadier!) as M which I would have loved to have heard. Such a shame that EON backed out of the deal.

    timdalton007

    Such a shame, indeed. The wring of the Big Finish Audios is far more than mere glorified fan fiction. Nicholas Courtney as M... ... ... ... he's got the voice, I can hear him as M my head.
    Odd that they should say that about the DVD sales, if there was a reason for that, it would probably be them milking the DVDs (2002, 2006, 2008 & 2012). We're due for a new set of covers...
  • timdalton007timdalton007 North Alabama
    edited December 2016 Posts: 155
    MajorDSmythe wrote: »
    Such a shame, indeed. The wring of the Big Finish Audios is far more than mere glorified fan fiction. Nicholas Courtney as M... ... ... ... he's got the voice, I can hear him as M my head.
    Odd that they should say that about the DVD sales, if there was a reason for that, it would probably be them milking the DVDs (2002, 2006, 2008 & 2012). We're due for a new set of covers...

    Courtney would have been a fine M on audio and, for Who fans anyway, it would have been worth listening to at least one to get his take on M.

    I know Haigh-Ellery has said he felt confused over the DVD issue, not quite understanding it. They had made additional attempts since then to try and make it work but it got nowhere, probably thanks to the Jarvis & Ayers adaptations for Radio 4. Now if only they could get around to doing a proper Moonraker adaptation!

    EDIT: According to an interview with Martin Jarvis, Moonraker is coming in 2018!

    timdalton007

Sign In or Register to comment.