OTR Review: X Minus One "Universe"

Series Name: X Minus One
Episode Title: Universe
Original Air Date: 5/15/55
Available On: Relic Radio Thrillers Podcast October 5, 2009
Sound Quality: Good

I was very excited when Jim from Relic Radio announced that he was going to play this episode as it was one of my all-time favorite radio stories back in the 90s when I was listening to a cubic ton of OTR. "Universe" is based on a science fiction novel by the Grandmaster Robert Heinlein.

This story takes place in an enormous space ship that has been drifting in space for ages untold. The people have forgotten that there is any world outside of the ship itself. Their God is Jordan who created the ship and all it's people. When you die your soul takes "the trip" where your soul joins with Centaurus where there is enough food and constant joy.

"Universe" opens with two scientists, Hugh and Alan, traveling 24 decks up to meet with John the Witness, an aged sage from whom the story of Jordan has been passed through the generations. Hugh is at the crossroads of life where he is doubting the spiritual dogma he has been fed and he is hoping that the old man will help quell his crisis of faith. John the Witness' words offer no comfort to Hugh. Rather he gets more and more riled up that the old sage has no story to offer beyond the same basic story that's been told to school children for centuries. Hugh ends up in a scuffle with John the Witness and accidentally kills the man. Alarms are sounded and the Hugh and Alan make their escape to the upper levels, where no sane man would go as these upper levels are the haven to the mutants.

From there the story continues to get more and more interesting. The hideous mutants and their leader Gregory are fantastic characters and the journey that Hugh takes, his spiritual awakening, is a fantastic tale. The story is surprisingly downbeat and holds a dim view of organized religion but throughout that view it also offers a kernel of hope. I gather from reading a wikipedia brief that the actual story by Heinlein differs quite a bit and has a completely different ending. I'm surprised to hear this as the ending is so darned fitting it's hard to imagine it going any other way.

The writing is terrific, the pacing is constant and it feels that far more than thirty minutes of material is fit in here without ever coming across as rushed. There is plenty of action but the action never gets in the way of the philosophical underpinnings. Just as it should be in the best of science fiction.

In addition to the fantastic writing, we are treated to a fantastic cast and wonderful direction. The actor who plays Gregory is of particular note as he captures the mutant's intelligence and nobility perfectly. Truly this story can be held up as a perfect piece of radio science fiction drama and it is one that I recommend everyone listen to!

Obviously 5/5 Golden Masks, this is probably the most 5/5 of any of them so far. Please download this one if you haven't already!


Here's the cover to the magazine where Universe first appeared. Apparently in the future swimming trunks are the outfit of choice for all men, even the two-headed ones!

Modern Audio Review: Doctor Who - The Stuff Of Nightmares

Series Name: Doctor Who
Episode Title: The Stuff of Nightmares (Hornet's Nest Part One)
Released: September 2009 by BBC Audiobooks

Rarely in my life has anything seemed so totally custom-built for my particular tastes. It's like someone saw a laundry list of everything I'd want in an audio adventure and checked them off.  Favorite science fiction show? Doctor Who, Check!  Favorite Doctor, long absent from the role? Tom Baker, check!  Favorite Doctor Who author?  Paul Magrs, check! (though Lawrence Miles, Robert Holmes, Peter Ling and John Lucarotti are all up there as well)  Could something so custom to my taste possibly live up to expectations?  Yes it could and did!

The story opens with Captain Mike Yates, an occasional companion of the 3rd Doctor's. He's reading an ad in the paper that seems to have been written for him and him alone.  We follow Mike's journey to a small house in Sussex where he meets the Doctor, now in his 4th incarnation.  The Doctor is embroiled in a drawn out conflict with a legion of hideously re-animated taxidermist's stuffed animals.  The Doctor must nightly mesmerize wolves, bats, badgers and other beasts to hold them at bay.  But can he keep it up?

Doctor Who has been appearing on audio for 10 years through the Big Finish company.  Those familiar with Big Finish's output may be a tad confused about what to make of the delivery of this story.  Rather than having every scene acting out amidst a storm of sound effects, we have a series of monologs punctuated with the occasional acted out moment.  This is a style that would be radically out of place if Sylvester McCoy's Doctor were the lead, but this isn't McCoy, this is Tom Baker, a man whose voice is the most recognized in England, and whose voice is full of such passion, delight and obvious joy, that many in England paid simply to have his voice read their text messages.  Like the animals in the story I was mesmerized by his delivery and cannot imagine a better fitting format for Baker than monolog.  Especially when this monolog is written by Paul Magrs whose style is perfectly suited to darkly surrealistic material, steeped in a brooding sense of the macabre.  You could listen to an acted-out, sound effects-laden battle between The Doctor and an animated stuffed Badger, or you could hear Tom Baker tear into delicious dialog and prose, describing every moment in horrific detail.  I know which method I prefer, and it's to my delight that the production team chose the same route.

One of my favorite aspects of the writing, is the genuine love for the characters and the source material that Magrs displays.  Also I appreciate his childlike sense of animism.  Children have innately warm feelings toward objects such as cars, toys and certainly taxidermists' stuffed animals.  In "The Stuff of Nightmares" the Doctor shares this trait, feeling terrible that he must battle these beautiful and ancient beasts.  In a "tough guy" approach, the Doctor would tear unfeelingly through the animals, and the story would have been the sorrier for it.

Special note must also be made of Richard Franklin who does an excellent job reprising the role of Mike Yates.  Frankly, Franklin's an actor that never impressed me one way or the other on TV, but here he's fantastic!  He moves through a variety of emotions, starting the play as an aged and slightly world weary man, but you hear amazement and joy sneak into his performance as the story continues and he becomes more enmeshed in the Doctor's world.

There are a few flaws here and there but nothing that detracts to any real degree.  Baker takes a few minutes to fully get into it, and the housekeeper's delivery is a little flat.  Also some of the dialog has been obviously changed from Nick Courtney's Brigadier character who was originally slated to appear instead of Yates.  Bits like the Doctor naming his dog "Captain" and calling Yates by his title rather than his name would have worked more naturally with the Brigadier.

In "The Stuff of Nightmares" the positive vastly outweighs any minor nitpicks and the story comes out as obvious  5/5 Golden Masks quality.

Modern Audio Review: Right Ho, Jeeves

Story Name: Right Ho, Jeeves
Author: P.G. Wodehouse (adapted)
Released by: BBC Worldwide

I thought it best to review some of that "modern audio" that is spoken of in the tagline to this blog and what great place to start! Fans of the Jeeves and Wooster characters, whether it be through the original books, the television series or the numerous audio adaptations will have a lot to enjoy in this particular version, as will those as yet unacquainted with the duo.

For the uninitiated, Bertie Wooster is a man in the prime of life who may be rich in cash but is lacking in the brains department. His butler Jeeves more than makes up for Bertie's lack of wit and Jeeves, always of a stiff upper lip, can be counted on to pull poor Bertie out of trouble, usually of his own making.

I downloaded my copy of this 3 and a quarter audio here off of audible.com. In this version, Michael Holden plays Jeeves and Richard Briers plays Wooster. As Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie are probably the most famous pair to inhabit these esteemed roles in their popular television adaptations, I was curious to hear how Hold and Briers stacked up - very well indeed is the answer! Holden is a terrific Jeeves, every word spoken seeps with a delightful and subtle disdain for the parade of dizzy-headed idle rich. Briers' take on Wooster is with such gusto and go-getter-ism that you can't help but like the man despite himself.

The story that takes place amidst the whirlwind of jokes, wild situations and gags is relatively simple. Gussie Fink-Nuttle, a fish-faced man with an obsession with newts, is in love with the soppy Madeline Bassett, a friend of Bertie's cousin Angela. He's asked for Jeeves' assistance in the affair of the heart, which rather raise the rankles our Mr. Wooster, who feels he is more fitted for the task. After his Aunt Dahlia also enquires after Jeeves' assistance in repairing the relationship between her daughter, the aforementioned Angela, and her fiance Tuppy Glossop. On top of this, it appears Jeeves disapproves of Bertie's new French coat.  Well it's enough to cause Wooster to declare that Jeeves has lost his skill and it is Bertie alone who can fix all problems! Of course, as you can well imagine, this does not go well and the several hours that follow the set-up move through the various fall-outs of Wooster's plans.

The wonderful comic timing of the regulars and the guests play a grand testament to Wodehouse's genuinely hilarious dialog and his deft plotting skills. Wodehouse's wit is of the highest quality and the only issue with the story is, is that it is so consistently funny and outrageous that you almost get rather used to being entertained at that level and what might be a crowning belly-laugh in another production becomes merely a chuckle here because your belly is already hurting from laughing so much.

An easy 5/5 Golden Masks and highly recommended to all fans of comedy.

The cover here features Bertie Wooster in a relaxing bath with his favorite rubber ducky.

Pulp Review: The Shadow "Six Men of Evil"

Series: The Shadow
Story Name: #24: Six Men of Evil
Original Publication Date: February 15, 1933
Available In: The Shadow #13 "Six Men of Evil" & "The Devil Monsters" (Nostalgia Ventures / Sanctum Books, November 2007)

I decided to read this Shadow story next as it's the earliest in the original series' run that I currently own.  Years earlier, I'd only read the Shadow via the Bantam and Pyramid reprints that are primarily from the first few years of publication but it's been ages since I've read those, so I was curious to dive back into this period. The depiction of the Shadow in "Six Men of Evil" is definitely in line with what I remember from those early stories. Here he is more of an inhuman living shadow than a man which may diminish aspects of dramatic tension at times but it also sets up some remarkable scenes. Gibson's prose appears to be a little more florid here than in his later work. I'll be interested if, as I read more, if this observation regarding the earlier writing style holds true.

As for the story itself, it's a grand affair. Starting out in a Mexican desert with Six Evil Men returning from some mysterious doings in Mexico that has left all but one of them shattered. Charlie, the leader, is not shattered in fact he has a plan from crime that rallies the spirits of the others. It's a series of crimes that he insists even the Shadow won't be able to crack. Of course, we as readers know better but that doesn't diminish the subtle aura of doom that hangs over this intro chapter.

As the story moves on we witness a pair of crimes in various small towns in America wherein the perpetrator has an ironclad alibi. In each case the criminal is a well respected man of society with an unusual and rather ugly face who has just moved into town some eight months ago. The set-up and execution of these crimes are well handled in Gibson's hands and it's a testament to his skills that you don't miss the Shadow, who doesn't show up until a quarter of the way into the story.

Once the Shadow does appear we're granted my favorite scene of the novel. A bizarre cat and mouse scene where the Shadow first appears as Lamont Cranston to Thomas Rodan, one of the criminals who has recently had his rich wife and father-in-law disposed of for their fortune. Cranston claims to be interesting in buying local real estate from Rodan, an broker but his arch attitude and suspicious demeanor begins to shake Rodan.  The night after Cranston leaves, Rodan suspects he is alone at home but his is not alone.  The Shadow has followed hims and he appears as a haunting phantom of guilty conscious to the man. The Shadow laughs coldly and whispers accusations but never shows himself. It is a trick designed to unsettle the man and force his enemies' next move and the writing for this scene is simply fantastic. I want to hear it read out loud as the words simply ooze atmosphere.

Another favorite scene in the story happens much later in the novel, once the action has shifted to San Francisco's Chinatown. Here, the Shadow confronts the Chinese criminal Chow Lee, and their confrontation is a classic and leads to an interesting hint regarding the origin of the Shadow's girasol ring. Chow Lee is an excellent character and despite a short appearance of a few pages only he left a mark on me and I hope we see him again in the future of the series.

Gibson's portrayal of minority characters is of course rooted in the timeframe and genre he wrote, but in the case of Chow Lee here and Jericho in "The Golden Masks" it seems he affords them a bit more dignity than many of his contemporaries. A secret race of Aztecs that appear for a few chapters don't fair quite so well, but at least their overall intentions are humane.

The only con I have is, as mentioned above, I don't think Gibson's prose has the same level of precision that I've seen in other of his later stories. This is more than made up for by the strength of the stories' scenes, especially the two I noted above. I think this is an adventure that any fan of The Shadow is going to thoroughly enjoy!

5/5 Golden Masks




One face, six different men?  Is it possible?  Great cover that captures the weirdness of this adventure.