New arrival to this site, fantastic archive going back 10 years. First post, so hope this goes ok...
Tony Bagley - The Machine
BBC Radio 3
Broadcast: Tuesday 16th October 1990 @ 9:30 p.m.
"The Machine" imagines the effects of sound recording in Jacobean England. Set in 1602, Ned Prynne is a bailiff in charge of dealing with masterless men who end up on his doorstep, often on the scrounge. But he is obsessed by building a machine which can record the human voice.
Constructed with freshly cut sheep's gut, stretched tightly; paper treated with wax; spindles and needles; the machine retains the banter of delivery and unifies what is said and how it should be spoken; able to reach out and touch the past. For Ned, the machine is for him. Imagine the shock one would have if they heard words without the presence of the minds and bodies that engineered them. Words that cannot be sources to their masters; words alone - escaped, renegade words.
People will say it's someone long dead trying to seep back into the world of the flesh. Ned fears his process cannot be explained to those whose mind only sees magic. A machine that contrives to outlast flesh, that takes their earthly thoughts and holds them in an unearthly state, they will see only its heretic maker. He'll be punished for its powers, punished unjustly...
"The Machine" was winner of the 1990 Giles Cooper Award.
With James Bolam [Ned Prynne, the Bailiff of the Forest], Simon Treves [Richard Cornford, a Friend of Ned's], Paul Nicholson [Tyler], Stephen Sylvester [Thomas Blackton], Anthony Donovan [Master Heppenstall], David Bannerman [The Petty Constable], Kim Wall [The Boy, a Beggar], and Josephine Sinclair [A 14-year-old Girl].
Other parts played by members of the cast.
Producer Alec Reid in Bristol
Re-broadcast on Tuesday 23rd July 1991 @ 8:50 p.m.
Composer BBC Radio 3
Size 64.69 MB (89% Compressed)
Length 56 minutes 31 seconds
Channels 2 (stereo)
Sample Rate 44.1 KHz{CR}
Sample Size 16 bit
Bit Rate 160 kbps
Encoder FHG (Guess)
Encoder Settings Constant Bit Rate 160 kbps
Audio Quality Medium (Lossy)
Contains ID Tag [ID3v2.3 & ID3v1.0]
Channel Mapping Left, Right
File 19901016 Tue Tony Bagley - The Machine-stars James Bolam as Ned Prynne
Type VLC media file (.mp3) [.mp3]
Thanks to whoever uploaded this to the Internet.
Replies
Thanks for this piece look forward to listening.
Paul
GREAT !!!
Welcome to Times Past, Den.
I look forward to your future postings.
STAY SAFE
William
thanks William. I've been collecting radio for 20 years, but sadly now spread across multiple(too many) public/private shares/forums. Hats off to Cheops, Radioarchive and early archivers. Will upload more, let's see how this first post goes.
My holy grail of lost recordings is Put Out More Flags by Evelyn Waugh dramatised by BBC Radio in 1990.
I have checked around no one seems to have Put out More Flags. It is 1 of the 3 missing classic serials from 1990
Thanks, I thought as much.