Harry Enfield will star as Douglas Adams’ much loved detective, the enigmatic Dirk Gently, in the BBC Radio 4 broadcast of Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency in October. The entire series will be available as a three-disc CD set (RRP £15.99) and to download (£10.80), published by BBC Audiobooks, on 8th November. This commercial release will also contain nearly an hour’s worth of exclusive, extra material not included in the broadcast.
Featuring a star-studded cast, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency will be produced by the same award-winning team that made the conclusion to The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy. Harry Enfield is joined by Lord of the Rings actor Billy Boyd, Fawlty Towers‘ Andrew Sachs, The Golden Compass‘s Jim Carter and Peepshow‘s Olivia Colman.
Dirk Gently has an unshakeable belief in the interconnectedness of all things but his Holistic Detective Agency’s only success seems to be tracking down missing cats for old ladies. Then Dirk stumbles upon an old friend behaving bizarrely, and he is drawn into a four-billion year old mystery that must be solved if the human race is to avoid immediate extinction.
This first series of six 30-minute episodes is adapted from the book of the same name and directed by Dirk Maggs, himself chosen by Douglas Adams to conclude the Hitchhikers saga. The cast includes Billy Boyd as Dirk’s client Richard Macduff; Olivia Colman as Dirk’s secretary Janice Pearce; Jim Carter is Dirk’s nemesis DS Gilks; Andrew Sachs as Professor Reg Chronotis; Felicity Montagu (I’m Alan Partridge) as Susan Way, with Robert Duncan (Drop the Dead Donkey) as her brother Gordon; Toby Longworth (Star Wars) as the Electric Monk; and Michael Fenton Stevens (Nighty Night) as Michael Wenton Weakes. Guest appearances are made by Andrew Secombe (Star Wars); Jon Glover (Harry Enfield and Chums); Jeffrey Holland (Hi-De-Hi); Wayne Forester (Captain Scarlet) and Tamsin Heatley (Broken Sword).
Considered by many Adams fans to be as funny as, if darker than, Hitchhikers, the Dirk Gently novels reflect Douglas’ unique and funny take on matters as wide-ranging as consciousness, conservation, man’s place in the cosmos and crime. The first series features everything from quantum physics to missing cats, via Coleridge, Bach and an Electric Monk.
The cast and production team feature many old friends and colleagues of Douglas, including music composer Philip Pope. The production team, from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Tertiary, Quandary and Quintessential Phases is led by Executive Producer Helen Chattwell and the Producers are Jo Wheeler and Dirk Maggs.
The series begins in October and will also have its own dedicated webpages on www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/dirkgently featuring trailers, photographs, production diaries, video and competitions. Programmes will also be available on BBC Radio 4’s listen again service.
The CD (£15.99) will be available from 8th November at all good bookshops, online from www.bbcshop.com or by BBC Audiobooks direct mail.
Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency will be available to purchase as a download from digital retailers such as Audible, Audioville, Audio-Read, Overdrive, Mediabay, iTunes, 7 Digital, Simply Audiobooks, Spoken Network, TuneTribe and Plays on the Net.
Doctor Who: The War Machines
Published by BBC Audiobooks on 6 August 2007
Price £13.99, 1 hour 55 minutes on 2 CDs
CD ISBN: 9781405676922
Download ISBN: 9781405679701
First Broadcast on BBC1 in 1966, The War Machines sees the TARDIS returning to Earth in the present day. The Doctor detects strange vibrations coming from the newly – erected Post Office Tower, and sure enough it is discovered to be the centre of operations for WOTAN, a super-computer with designs on taking over the world. The Doctor enlists the help of Sixties swingers Ben and Polly, who then become his travelling companions.
William Hartnell plays the Doctor, with Jackie Lane as Dodo, Anneke Wills as Polly and Michael Craze as Ben. Linking narration will be provided by member of the original cast.
“Doctor Who: The War Machines” will be available from all good bookshops, online at www.bbcshop.com
Three Classic Sci-Fi releases for August 2007
- The Kraken Wakes
- The Slide
- Childhood’s End
Published by BBC Audiobooks on 6th August 2007, BBC Audiobooks continue their Classic Sci-Fi series with three new releases by Britain’s foremost science fiction authors John Wyndham, Victor Pemberton and Arthur C. Clarke.
The Kraken Wakes by John Wyndham
Duration: 1 hour and 25 minutes
2 CDs, Price £12.99, also available to purchase as a download
CD: ISBN 9781405677875
Download: ISBN 9781405666787
John Wyndham’s classic tale of monsters from the deep, alien invasion and ecological disaster comes alive in this full-cast BBC radio dramatization. At first, the fireballs seemed to be nothing more than a dazzling display of lights in the sky, plunging into the deepest oceans and disappearing without trace. But when ships started sinking inexplicably and the sea-lanes became impassable it seemed that the world was facing a threat of unprecedented proportions.
Mike and Phyllis Watson, both radio journalists, are caught up at the centre of events, well aware that it’s not the cold war or international conflicts that are causing these events, but something infinitely more deadly – an alien invasion. And that’s not all: the sea level is rising, the ice caps are melting, London and other cities are flooding, millions of people are drowning and ecological disaster looms. And whatever the alien beings are, they have begun to emerge from the sea…A science fiction story full of contemporary resonances, from the fear of global warming to the distrust of official information and propaganda, and the ultimate fear of a challenge to the supremacy of human beings on Earth.
This CD release also includes a detailed sleeve note recounting the making of the radio serialization, written by Andrew Pixley.
The Slide by Victor Pemberton
Duration: 3 hours and 30 minutes
3 CDs, Price £15.99, also available to purchase as a download
CD: ISBN 9781405677851
Download: ISBN 9781405666794
Maurice Denham, Roger Delgado, David Spenser and Miriam Margolyes star in an atmospheric BBC full-cast drama from Doctor Who writer Victor Pemberton.
“Listen! Quiet! Everybody stand still for a minute. There’s something. Can’t you hear it?”
During an abnormal heatwave in March, the air becomes thick and dull. Nothing moves — you can almost hear the silence. Something was bound to happen…Redlow, a new town in Kent, was the dream of self-made man, Hugh Deverill, MP.At a crowded and restless town meeting, Janet Marshall faints due to the stifling atmosphere. She is helped by her friend Dr Ken Richards just as a sudden earthquake tears the room apart. A long, deep crack in a road is discovered nearby, and powerful tremors are felt along the South Coast.
When torrents of seething mud start emerging from the fissure, scientist Josef Gomez is called in: the mud contains a special organism that can control people’s minds. And it can kill. Declared a disaster area, Redlow becomes a state of emergency. Then other fissures appear…
Long absent from the BBC archives, this digitally remastered recording of The Slide features Roger Delgado, who went on to play The Master in Doctor Who.
This CD release also includes a detailed sleeve note recounting the making of the radio serialization, written by Andrew Pixley.
Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke
Duration: 1 hour and 55 minutes
2 CDs, Price £12.99, also available to purchase as a download
CD: ISBN 9781405677868
Steven Pacey stars as Jan Rodricks with Peter Jeffrey as Karellen in this powerful BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of Arthur C. Clarke’s apocalyptic vision of the future.
Alone many miles above the Earth, Jan Rodricks, the last surviving human, is witnessing the end of the world. As he watches, he records for the benefit of history how mankind was doomed…The massive spaceships appeared over every city on Earth, bringing the Overlords,a seemingly benign race vastly superior in technology and intelligence. Led by the enigmatic Karellen, they promised a new age of peace and prosperity, and with the help of UN Secretary General Stormgren, they eradicated poverty, disease and war.
But contentment has its price. As the years pass, culture, science and religion start to die, and there are those who question the road down which the Overlords are leading them.
For it seems the apparently benevolent and omnipotent masters of the Earth are themselves only the servants of a greater power: a power they have no choice but to obey…First published in 1953, Arthur C. Clarke’s tale of the evolution and eventual end of humanity has come to be seen as one of the great SF works.
Three brand new Doctor Who audiobooks read by three stars of the TV series
- The Last Dodo
- Wooden Heart
- Sting of the Zygons
Published by BBC Audiobooks on 2nd July, 2007
Duration: 2 hours and 30 minutes approx
2 CDs, Price £9.99
Also available to purchase as a download
Each of these brand new audiobooks is read by a member of “the Jones family” from the current series of Doctor Who. Freema Agyeman plays Martha Jones, the Doctor’s companion, whilst Adjoa Andoh plays her mum, Francine, and Reggie Yates is her brother, Leo!
The Last Dodo by Jacqueline Rayner
Abridged reading by Freema Agyeman (Martha Jones in the TV series)
CD: ISBN 9781846071775
Download: ISBN 9781405678841
Civilizations rise and fall, time moves on… and species die out. Extinction is a fact of life in the universe. But extinction doesn’t have to be for ever. The TARDIS arrives in the Museum of the Last Ones — a facility dedicated to preserving the final specimens of every species in the universe. But all is not well, and before long the Doctor and Martha are in deep trouble.
How will Martha react to the stasis cabinets and preservation techniques? What will happen if — and when — the stasis fields break down and the specimens escape? And how will the Curator of the Museum react to the arrival of the last surviving Time Lord?
Abridged reading by Freema Agyeman (Martha Jones). Written by Jacqueline Rayner.
Wooden Heart by Martin Day
Abridged reading by Adjoa Andoh (Francine Jones in the TV series)
CD: ISBN 9781405677752
Download: ISBN 9781405667111
The Castor, a vast starship, seemingly deserted, spinning slowly in the void of deep space. Martha and the Doctor explore the drifting tomb, and discover that they may not be alone after all…Who survived the disaster that overcame the rest of the crew? What continues to power the vessel? And why has a stretch of wooded countryside suddenly appeared in the middle of the craft? As the Doctor and Martha journey through the forest, they find a mysterious, fogbound village – a village traumatised by missing children and tales of its own destruction…
Read by Adjoa Andoh (who plays Francine Jones in the TV series). Written by Martin Day.
Sting of the Zygons by Stephen Cole
Abridged reading by Reggie Yates (Leo Jones in the TV series)
CD: ISBN 9781405677745
Download: ISBN 9781405667104
The TARDIS lands the Doctor and Martha in the Lake District in 1909, where a small village has been terrorised by a giant, scaly monster. The search is on for the elusive ‘Beast of Westmorland’, and explorers, naturalists and hunters from across the country are descending on the fells. King Edward VII himself is on his way to join the search, with a knighthood for whoever finds the Beast. But there is a more sinister presence at work in the Lakes than a mere monster on the rampage, and the Doctor is soon embroiled in the plans of an old and terrifying enemy. And as the hunters become the hunted, a desperate battle of wits begins – with the future of the entire world at stake…
Abridged reading by Reggie Yates (Leo Jones in the TV series). Written by Stephen Cole.