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Humphrey Bogart - NBC Final Tribute

Posted by Robert on June 10, 2012 at 9:30am

Humphrey_Bogart_by_Karsh_%28Library_and_Archives_Canada%29.jpg Here is a final tribute to Humphrey Bogart that aired on NBC two days after his death on January 14, 1957.

Profile 57-01-16 Humphrey Bogart

Rogers of the Gazette

Posted by Robert on November 22, 2010 at 7:30pm

Rogers of the Gazette aired on Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m. on CBS Radio starring Will Rogers Jr.(October 20, 1911–July 9, 1993), son of legendary humorist Will Rogers (1879–1935).

Homespun, slow-spoken Will is the friendly editor of a country newspaper who struggles against the pressures and prejudices of small-town life. He drops gems of wisdom in his razzing voice, perhaps in a questioning manner, of his humorist father.

Rogers of the Gazette 1953-10-22 Eula Horner And The County Fair

Download more shows in the Times Past OTR Archives

Here is a post I did back in May that ties in quiet well.

The Story of Will Rogers was a 1952 movie biography of humorist and movie star Will Rogers. Starring in the production was Will Rogers, Jr. Jane Wyman.

William Penn Adair "Will" Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was a Cherokee cowboy, comedian, humorist, social commentator, vaudeville performer and actor.

Known as Oklahoma's favorite son, Rogers was born to a prominent Indian Territory family. He traveled around the world three times, made 71 movies (50 silent films and 21 "talkies"), wrote more than 4,000 nationally-syndicated newspaper columns, and became a world-famous figure.

By the mid-1930s, Rogers was adored by the American people, and was the top-paid movie star in Hollywood at the time. Rogers died in 1935 with aviator Wiley Post, when their small airplane crashed near Barrow, Alaska Territory.

Below is the original movie trailer, and also the radio version from Hollywood Radio Theater as AFRS called it. But also known as episode 812 of Lux Radio Theater. The radio version has the original stars Will Rogers, Jr. and Jane Wyman.

Kind of interesting to watch the movie trailer, and then listen to the radio version.

Hollywood Radio Theater (Lux AFRS) 53-01-12 (812) The Story of Will Rogers (HQ)

New Podcast "Times Past Western Theater"

Posted by Robert on May 26, 2011 at 10:00am

I had several request to renew the old westerns podcast. This time it will be under the new heading "Times Past Western Theater". It is handy to subscribe to a podcast and have the new content come automatically to your media player. Would welcome any suggestions for shows to add to the podcast. Leave your suggestions in the comments section below. The new home for the podcast and all the methods to subscribe can be found here. http://timespastwesterns.blogspot.com/

The Story of Sam Spade

Posted by Robert on July 12, 2011 at 7:30pm

Dashiell Hammett's SAM SPADE is surely one of the most important figures in the entire private eye genre. He made his debut in 1929 in the pages of Black Mask, in the serialized first part of The Maltese Falcon, and the genre has never been the same. He's a "hard and shifty fellow," a partner in the Archer and Spade Detective Agency of San Francisco. He doesn't particularly like his partner, and he's not above sleeping with his wife, but when Miles is murdered, he swings into action, and ends up mixed up with a quest for a priceless statuette, a rara-avis, called the Maltese Falcon.

The Story of Sam Spade

Three film adaptations were based on it in 1931, 1936, and 1941. The first two were not all that great, but the third time was the charm. The Maltese Falcon, released in 1941 by Warner Brothers, written and directed by John Huston, and starring Humphrey Bogart as Spade was an amazing, powerful piece of work.

And in the forties, Spade was a staple of the airwaves, thanks to The Adventures of Sam Spade, a popular radio show, featuring Howard Duff in the lead role, and sponsored by Wildroot Hair Oil. In fact, a series of single-page comic strip/hair tonic ads appeared in magazines, newspapers and comic books, featuring Spade shilling for Wildroot Hair Oil. (The ads were drawn by Golden Age artist Lou Fine, who later went on to do the Peter Scratch comic strip.)

In fact, the only real sequel to The Maltese Falcon was not produced for either prose or film, though, but for radio. Both The Adventures of Sam Spade and the great mystery anthology show Suspense were both produced by the same man, William Speir. During the first year or two that Sam Spade was on the air, Suspense was an hour show, hosted by Robert Montgomery. To get fans of Suspense listening to Sam Spade, Speir produced a special one-hour Spade episode called "The Kandy Tooth Caper" and aired it on Suspense.

"The Kandy Tooth" from the popular old time radio series "Suspense." aired January 10, 1948 on CBS starring Howard Duff as Sam Spade. Based on characters created by Dashiell Hammett. The story of the return of the "Fat Man!" A sequel to "The Maltese Falcon," with "Joel Cairo," Wilmer's younger brother, and other characters from the film. This time, it's a search for a treasure worth more than the "Maltese Falcon!" William Spier speaks after the drama.

Suspense 48-01-10 (279) The Kandy Tooth (HQ)

A Collection of Short Crime Fiction Stories

Posted by Robert on June 20, 2023 at 10:15pm

The KCRW Production "Mean Streets USA" is a collection of short crime fiction stories, a highly-produced series, recorded and produced at KCRW. It features detective stories by contemporary and classic mystery writers like Walter Mosley, Sue Grafton and Michael Connelly, read by Stacy Keach, Sharon Lawrence, Meschach Taylor, Tony Plana and others.

These were recorded off the internet, but the quality is decent.

MS 1 The Angry Man by Ross Macdonald read by Stacy Keach part 1

MS 2 The Angry Man by Ross Macdonald read by Stacy Keach part 2

MS 3 Silver Lining by Walter Mosley read by Meshach Taylor

MS 4 Serpents Dance by Jim Fusilli read by Tate Donovan

MS 5 The Parker Shotgun by Sue Grafton read by Harriet Harris

MS 6 The Dead Their Eyes Implore Us by George P. Pelecanos read by Tony Plana

MS 7 Cielo Azul by Michael Connelly read by John Michael Higgins

List of My Old Time Radio Collection

Posted by Andrew John Godfrey on March 24, 2012 at 7:54am

This is a list of my old time radio shows and the first number is how many episodes of a show I have in the collection and the last number on the right is the total number of hours of that show:

No. Of Shows CDs Name of Show Hours Total

44 same CD Maisie 22:00 22:00

1 same CD Breakfast Club 1:00 23:00

1 same CD Candid Microphone 1:00 24:00

2 same CD Groucho Marx 1:00 25:00

9 same CD Martin and Lewis 4:50 29:50

36 same CD My Favorite Husband 18:00 47:50

5 same CD Nazi Eyes 2:50 50:40

2 same CD Pete Kelly\’s Blues 1:00 51:40

100 1 Jack Benny 50:00 101:40

70 1 OTR Sampler 35:00 136:40

62 1 My Favorite Husband 31:00 167:40

296 2 Bob and Ray 100:00 267:40

360 4 Dragnet 180:00 447:40

190 2 Burns and Allen 95:00 542:40

138 2 Fred Allen 69:00 611:40

182 2 Life of Riley 91:00 702:40

869 9 Jack Benny 433:00 1135:40

199 1 Red Skelton 98:00 1233:40

96 1 Phillip Marlowe 48:00 1281:40

230 1 Cavalcade of America 115:00 1396:40

52 1 Damon Runyon Theater 26:00 1422:40

79 1 Gangbusters 39:50 1462:30

114 1 Inner Sanctum 57:00 1519:30

41 1 Mel Blanc 20:50 1540:20

101 1 Our Miss Brooks 50:50 1591:10

209 2 Christmas Collection 104:50 1696:00

106 1 OTR CAT Sampler 53:00 1749:00

54 1 The Bickersons 25:00 1774:00

52 1 Box 13 26:00 1800:00

381 4 Family Theatre 190:50 1990:50

60 20 cass Walter Cronkite 60 Best 30:00 2020:50

64 1 Abbott and Costello 37:00 2057:50

76 1 Bob Hope 38:00 2095:50

164 1 Groucho Marx 82:00 2177:50

60 1 Ozzie and Harriet 30:00 2207:50

249 3 This Is Your FBI 124:50 2332:40

290 1 Easy Aces and Mr. Ace 75:00 2407:40

510 6 Great Gildersleeve 255:00 2662:40

105 1 Phil Harris-Alice Faye 52:50 2715:30

95 1 Nick Carter 47:50 2763:20

734 7 Fibber McGee and Molly 367:00 3130:20

189 2 Command Performance 12:00 3142:20

2 1 2 Complete Broadcast Days 36:00 3178:20

183 1 Variety CD 91:50 3270:10

78 1 Richard Diamond 39:50 3310:00

102 1 You Bet Your Life 56:00 3366:00

30 1 Mike Shayne 15:00 3381:00

95 1 Sampler CD 47:50 3428:50

82 1 Jack Webb Collection 41:00 3469:50

52 1 Damon Runyon Theater 26:00 3495:50

255 1 Lum and Abner 64:00 3559:50

25 1 Rocky Forturne 12:50 3572:40

33 1 Milton Berle 16:50 3589:30

45 1 Big Band Remotes 22:50 3612:20

240 1 Easy Aces 60:00 3672:20

51 1 My Friend Irma 25:50 3698:10

539 10 Lux Radio Theater 535:00 4233:10

57 1 Dinah Shore Collection 28:50 4262:00

146 1 Couple Next Door 36:50 4298:50

38 1 Honest Harold 19:00 4317:50

64 1 Gangbusters 32:00 4349:50

186 1 Your Hit Parade 50:00 4399:50

146 1 Couple Next Door 36:50 4436:40

49 1 Richard Diamond 24:50 4461:30

71 1 Adventures of Maisie 35:50 4497:20

75 1 Father Knows Best 27:50 4525:10

182 2 Boston Blackie 91:00 4616:10

68 1 Nightbeat 34:00 4650:10

931 4 Lum and Abner 232:00 4882:10

201 2 Red Skelton 100:50 4983:00

367 3 Amos and Andy 183:50 5166:50

Part of shows 1 Bloopers and Outtakes 12:00 5178:50

65 1 Broadway Is My Beat 32:50 5211:40

101 1 Our Miss Brooks 50:50 5262:30

24 1 Martin and Lewis 12:50 5275:20

104 1 OTR CAT Sampler Vol. 2 52:00 5327:20

62 1 Sam Spade 31:00 5358:20

485 5 Gunsmoke 242:50 5601:10

94 1 Let George Do It 47:00 5648:10

81 1 Duffy\’s Tavern 40:50 5689:00

181 1 Mary Noble 40:50 5648:50

414 4 Bing Crosby 212:00 5860:50

68 1 Birthday CD 34:00 5894:50

129 1 Bill Stern 30:00 5924:50

117 1 Johnny Dollar Vol. 4 47:00 5971:50

61 1 Radio City Playhouse 30:50 6002:40

48 1 Railroad Hour 24:00 6026:40

88 1 Words of War 44:00 6070:40

88 1 Christmas Collection 44:00 6114:40

48 1 Nightwatch 22:00 6136:40

124 1 Christmas-Cinnamon Bears 50:00 6186:40

79 1 Jimmy Durante-Martin & Lewis 39:00 6225:40

48 1 Nightwatch 24:00 6249:40

81 1 Broadway Is My Beat OTR CAT 42:00 6291:40

232 1 Perry Mason 58:00 6349:40

25 1 Stand By For Crime 12:50 6362:30

96 1 Hopalong Cassidy 48:00 6410:30

94 2 Screen Director\’s Playhouse 47:00 6457:30

34 1 It Pays To Be Ignorant 17:00 6474:30

99 2 My Favorite Husband 44:50 6519:20

19 1 Curtain Time 9:50 6529:20

104 1 Guest Star 25:00 6554:10

175 2 Screen Guild Theater 87:50 6642:00

92 1 Theater Of Romance 46:00 6596:00

34 1 Bright Star 17:00 6613:00

205 2 Escape 102:50 6715:50

31 1 Nero Wolfe 15:50 6731:40

30 same Crime Club 15:00 6746:40

141 1 Grand Ole Opry 50:00 6796:40

122 1 Christmas Shows-Cinnamon Bears 61:00 6857:40

53 1 The Lineup 106:00 6963:40

258 3 Calling All Cars 129:00 7092:40

929 7 Suspense 464:50 7557:30

41 1 Six Shooter 20:00 7577:30

79 1 OTRCAT Sampler #5 43:30 7620:30

229 2 Wild Bill Hickok 47:00 7667:30

22 1 Arthur Godfrey 11:00 7678:30

61 1 Eddie Cantor 30:30 7719:00

29 1 My Little Margie 14:30 7733:30

102 1 Bickersons – Blondie 51:00 7784:30

174 2 Bob Hope 87:00 7871:30

56 1 Frances Langford 28:00 7899:30

85 1 Mr. District Attorney 42:30 7942:00

31 1 Henry Morgan 13:00 7955:00

68 1 I Was A Communist For FBI 34:00 7989:00

78 1 Information Please 39:00 8028:00

36 1 FBI In Peace And War 18:00 8046:00

49 1 Edward G. Robinson 24:30 8070:30

17225 178 8070:30

The 17,225 is the number of episodes…178 is number of MP3 CD\’s the shows are on…The 8070:30 is the number of total hours of old time radio in the collection.

Walk Softly, Peter Troy (SA)-----An Outstanding Detective Series

Posted by Robert on January 5, 2012 at 5:30am

Walk Softly, Peter Troy Detective Drama Aired on Springbok Radio from 10 December 1963 to 21 February 1964. This series was produced in the Durban Studios of Herrick Merril Productions. It starred Tom Meehan, John Simpson, and Merle Wayne. It was sponsored by Irving & Johnson, who also sponsored the "Gunsmoke" series which "Walk Softly, Peter Troy" replaced. A sequel to this series was heard on the English Radio Service from 19 May 1964 to 28 November 1964. The sponsors, Irving & Johnson, reportedly disliked the series, which is why it was discontinued on Springbok Radio and moved to the English Service.

This was the first series on the English Service that came from an independent production house, not produced by the SABC. There was an Australian version of this radio series produced prior to the South African productions. Let me repeat that last sentence for those who did not read it the first time…There was an Australian version of this radio series produced prior to the South African productions. Several recordings of the Australian productions have survived, and they are routinely sold and traded within the OTR community, mislabeled as South African productions.

The Blonde With The Delicate Air

All Shows

(563mb)

Walk Softly, Peter Troy (SA).zip

Jack Benny's Golden Memories of Radio (HQ at 320 kbps)

Posted by Robert on February 12, 2012 at 3:00pm

Recordings narrated by Jack Benny and Frank Knight.

JBGM Side 01 - Remember The Golden Days Of Radio.mp3

You can find the set in OTR Collections Group

All Star Western Theater

Posted by Robert on January 14, 2012 at 10:00am

All Star Western Theater (8/11/46 - 8/14/48) were 30 minutes musical western shows combined with with good old western stories. The shows aired on Sunday featuring Foy Willing and The Riders Of The Purple Sage plus plenty of top cowboy guest stars like Johnny Mack Brown, Cisco Kid and Pancho, Ken Curtis and many others. Sponsored by Weber's Bread.

All Shows

All Star Western Theater.zip (618mb)

Singles

Guilty Party (BBC)

Posted by Robert on June 9, 2013 at 8:37pm

"Guilty Party" is a problem in Crime detection in which you are invited to match your wits with a panel of experts - John Arlott, F.R. Buckley and Robert Fabian. So began a typical episode of the long running panel show. It was written by Edward J. Mason and produced by Tony Shryane.

The shows started with a dramatised crime play, the panel then decided on a line of investigation and cross examined the suspects, who gave unscripted answers to their questions. This cross examination should then lead the panel to the Guilty Party!

Jimmy Brown the Newsboy - Flatt and Scruggs

Posted by Robert on September 22, 2012 at 9:38pm

With ample doses of talent, spirit, and charisma, Flatt and Scruggs rose to the popular peak of the bluegrass heap during their 17-year association with Columbia. With Lester Flatt's casual vocal style and Earl Scruggs's groundbreaking banjo technique, the Foggy Mountain Boys brought bluegrass into the country mainstream more so than either Bill Monroe or the Stanley Brothers.

Earl Scruggs is the great innovator and master of the 5-string banjo; but many do not know that he was also excellent on the guitar. This song, Jimmy Brown the Newsboy, features Earl on lead guitar.

Earl said that he learned a lot about guitar from his friend and neighbor, Mama Maybelle Carter. His style is very similar, except for finger movement.

Night Watch (Maybe the first reality Cop Show)

Posted by Robert on December 19, 2011 at 6:00am

CBS brought NIGHT WATCH to the air for its short run on April 2, 1954 to Apr 21, 1955. NIGHT WATCH was the first show to bring live police drama to the air. Police Reporter Don Reed accompanied Officer Ron Perkins, bringing with him a tape recorder to capture the action. Don Reed actually carried a dry-cell powered reel to reel tape machine on his back and had a concealed microphone inside a flashlight casing. Reed went on to be one of the first traffic helicopter reporters, and Perkins eventually was elected Mayor of Culver City.

Very unique show that is often overlooked because of the short run. This is a true reality cop show from the past. What an overlooked gem.

Click here for All files in one zip

The Loner (Created by Rod Serling)

Posted by Robert on July 27, 2011 at 9:00pm

The Loner was an American western series that ran for less than one season on CBS from 1965 to 1966, under the primary sponsorship of Philip Morris. This is a great western series that is over-looked. Great acting and stories with lots of popular guest stars. The series was conceived and written by none other than Rod Serling, fresh off the successful network run of his legendary Twilight Zone series.

The show was set in the years immediately following the American Civil War. Lloyd Bridges played the title character, William Colton, a former Union cavalry officer who headed to the American west in search of a new life. Each episode dealt with Colton's encounters with various individuals on his trek west.

Here is an episode titled THE VESPERS with guest star Jack Lord. You may remember him, Jack went on to star in the TV series Hawaii Five-O.

Airdate September 25, 1965
Written by Rod Serling
Directed by Leon Benson
Film Editor: George Gittens

CAST
Jack Lord...........Reverend Booker
Joan Freeman............Alice Booker
Ron Soble.......................Deneen
Bill Quinn........................Doctor

Sworn to avenge his brother's death, a hood
comes gunning for a small town's local minister.
When Colton arrives to warn his old friend
and ex-soldier, he finds the man unwilling
to resort to violence to protect himself
and his pregnant wife.

The.Loner.01x02.The.Vespers.mp4

Watch more episodes on YouTube

20th Century-Fox Hour s01e06 Miracle on 34th Street (1955)

Posted by Robert on November 23, 2011 at 9:00am

The 20th Century Fox Hour is an hour-long drama anthology series that was broadcast in the United States on CBS from 1955 to 1957.

Original Air Date—14 December 1955
Miracle on 34th Street

A 1955 one-hour television adaptation of the movie
starred Thomas Mitchell as Kris, Macdonald Carey as Fred, Teresa Wright as Doris, and Sandy Descher as Susan. This version did not show the drunken Santa at all. Titled The Miracle on 34th Street, it originally
aired as an episode of The 20th Century Fox Hour. It was later re-run as Meet Mr. Kringle.

One Kris Kringle, a department-store Santa Claus, causes quite a commotion by suggesting customers go to a rival store for their purchases. But this is nothing to the stir he causes by announcing that he is not merely a make-believe St. Nick, but the real McCoy.

Download

Screen Director's Playhouse

Posted by Robert on April 26, 2011 at 9:00pm

Screen Director's Playhouse was a popular radio and television anthology series which brought leading Hollywood actors to the NBC microphones beginning in 1949. The radio program broadcast adaptations of films, and original directors of the films were sometimes involved in the productions, although their participation was usually limited to introducing the radio adaptations, and a brief "curtain call" with the cast and host at the end of the program. The series later had a brief run on television, focusing on original teleplays and several adaptations of famous short stories (such as Robert Louis Stevenson's "Markheim").

Calfkiller-MyFavoriteWifeScreenDirectorsPlayhouse614.jpg

The radio version ran for 122 episodes and aired on NBC from January 9, 1949 to September 28, 1951 under several different titles: NBC Theater, Screen Director's Guild Assignment, Screen Director's Assignment and, as of July 1, 1949, Screen Director's Playhouse.

Actors on the radio series included Fred Astaire, Lucille Ball, Charles Boyer, Claudette Colbert, Ronald Colman, Gary Cooper, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Marlene Dietrich, Kirk Douglas, Irene Dunne, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Henry Fonda, Cary Grant, William Holden, Burt Lancaster, James Mason, Ray Milland, Gregory Peck, William Powell, Edward G. Robinson, Norma Shearer, Barbara Stanwyck, James Stewart, John Wayne, and Loretta Young.

The television version, produced and filmed at Hal Roach Studios, was broadcast for one season of 35 half-hour episodes on NBC, under the sponsorship of Eastman Kodak, airing from October 5, 1955 to September 12, 1956. Actors on the television series included John Wayne, Thomas Mitchell, Walter Brennan, Peter Lorre, Evelyn Ankers, Fay Wray, Errol Flynn, Edmond O'Brien, Buster Keaton, Buddy Ebsen, William Bendix, Robert Ryan, Laraine Day, George Sanders, Ward Bond, Rory Calhoun, Jack Carson, Neville Brand, Alan Young, Cloris Leachman, Edgar Buchanan, Peter Lawford, Marie Windsor, Charles Bickford, Zasu Pitts, Joe E. Brown, Jack Elam, Herb Shriner, Kim Hunter, Keenan Wynn, Jeanette MacDonald, Leo Durocher, Macdonald Carey, Ralph Bellamy, Basil Rathbone, Fred MacMurray, Jerry Mathers, Rod Steiger, Ray Milland, Alan Hale, Jr., Gower Champion, Marge Champion, Linda Darnell, Howard McNear, Dennis Hopper, and Leo Gordon. But there was one difference between the two versions of the program: while the radio program had presented only condensed versions of well-known plays and films, the television version presented mostly original dramas.

Directors included Frank Borzage, Leo McCarey, John Ford, Tay Garnett, Allan Dwan, George Waggner, Ida Lupino and Fred Zinnemann.

BBC Radio at 90: The Listeners' Archive

Posted by Robert on September 12, 2012 at 6:00pm

by Trevor Dann

Trevor Dann and his first tape recorder

Do you remember all those warnings about home taping? Did you ignore them and furtively record some of your favourite radio shows anyway? Do you have an attic or a garage or even an old cardboard box under the spare bed full of tapes or cassettes of Pick of the Pops, Saturday Club, Easy Beat, Top Gear or Housewives’ Choice?

Well the good news is you got away with it!

Not only that, but the BBC would love to recover some of the great shows it broadcast and didn’t archive. And as part of the Corporation’s brilliant 90th anniversary celebrations, it’s declaring a radio amnesty, and asking you to help.

That’s me above with my first tape recorder. My Dad bought it for me as a present for passing the 11 Plus (it was like Year 6 SATs kids!) and it set me on the road to a lifetime in radio including spells as head of music at Radio 1 and chief exec of the Radio Academy.

These days I work as an independent producer and it was while my colleague Heather Davies and I were working on our mammoth 50-part series, Sounds of the 20th Century for Radio 2, that we realised the need for a project like this.

The BBC’s sound archive is a terrific resource for (more...)

Best of Just for Laughs

Posted by Robert on March 29, 2012 at 9:20pm

Just for Laughs: Gags (JFL Gags) is a Canadian silent comedy/hidden camera reality television show that is under the Just for Laughs brand. On December 26, 2002, JFL Gags began airing on CBC and The Comedy Network in Canada. Just for Laughs: Gags currently airs Weekdays at 6 pm, Just for Laughs: Gags does not air on CBC anymore. The show also airs on Telemundo in the United States, Multishow Channel in Brazil and occupies a Summer prime time slot on SIC in Portugal.

This series' format is the typical hidden camera comedy show, playing silly pranks on unsuspecting subjects while hidden cameras capture the people's response (similar to UK hidden camera comedy shows). This show plays music in the background, but does not contain any sound and dialogue (except for brief sound effects and laughter) but you can occasionally hear the actors and victims talking. It is filmed in Downtown Montreal and rural Quebec although some segments are filmed in the UK or Mexico. Sound effects, music and a laugh track are added in post-production.

Download Here

The Man Who Revitalized 'Doctor Who' And 'Sherlock' (NPR)

Posted by Robert on May 4, 2012 at 8:00pm

cumberbatch-freeman_wide.jpg?t=1336057766&s=4

Benedict Cumberbatch (left) plays Sherlock Holmes — of London's 221B Baker St. — opposite Martin Freeman's Dr. Watson.

TV writer and producer Steven Moffat specializes in injecting new life into old, familiar characters and stories. He first worked his magic on the revived edition of Doctor Who, leading to several BAFTA and Hugo Awards for the series.

More recently, he has turned his eye to the world's greatest detective, Sherlock Holmes. As the co-creator of the critically acclaimed BBC series Sherlock, Moffat is responsible for updating Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous fictional creation for a modern-day audience.

The series, which is set to start its second season on PBS Masterpiece on May 6, stars the charismatic British actor Benedict Cumberbatch in the title role. Cumberbatch's Sherlock is now a 21st century Londoner who uses GPS and text messaging to solve crimes alongside his partner Dr. Watson, played by Martin Freeman.

Martin and Cumberbatch work seamlessly together, though Moffat notes that finding the right actors for the roles was not the easiest task. (Read More on NPR)

Steven Moffat talks about his work writing for Doctor Who And Sherlock on NPR Fresh Air

The Man Who Revitalized 'Doctor Who' And 'Sherlock' (NPR)

Preview

Watch Sherlock Season 2: A Scene from Ep. 1 on PBS. See more from Masterpiece.

Jamaica Inn

Posted by Robert on August 15, 2023 at 8:42pm

In Jamaica Inn, at the heart of the bleak Bodmin Moor, young Mary Yellen soon discovers mysterious goings-on in the dead of night. But worse is yet to come as Mary finds herself helplessly ensnared in the deadly activities taking place around her.

Evocative, atmospheric and chilling, this adaptation of Jamaica Inn has all the hallmarks of a great adventure classic. A full-cast radio dramatisation of the novel by Daphne du Maurier. Dame Daphne du Maurier DBE (13 May 1907 - 19 April 1989) was a famous British novelist best known for her short story "The Birds" and her classic novel Rebecca, published in 1938. Both were adapted into films by Alfred Hitchcock and Rebecca was an Oscar-winning film.

Daphne du Maurier is often mistakenly categorised as a "romantic novelist", but she was in fact a major force in post-war horror and science fiction. The BBC is celebrating the centenary of her birth with an airing of all of her material in it's archives. Four episodes of approx one hour each in high quality MP3.

Episode 1: ---------- Cornwall, 1810. A coach slowly navigates the mire. Inside, Mary trembles at the fate that is taking her to Jamaica Inn.

Episode 2: ---------- Mary is now at her aunt and uncle's inn. Its brooding power gradually ensnares her in the dark schemes enacted behind its walls.

Episode 3: ---------- Forced to watch as another ship is lured to its doom by her uncle's gang, Mary is more determined than ever to exact revenge.

Episode 4: ---------- In the final part of Daphne du Maurier's novel, there's spying to be done on the conspirators and their dark schemes.

Jamaica Inn - 1 of 4.mp3

Jamaica Inn - 2 of 4.mp3

Jamaica Inn - 3 of 4.mp3

Jamaica Inn - 4 of 4.mp3

The Call of Cthulhu by H. P. Lovecraft

Posted by Robert on March 19, 2012 at 6:00pm

"The Call of Cthulhu" is one of H. P. Lovecraft's best-known short stories. Written in the summer of 1926, it was first published in Weird Tales, February 1928. It is the only story written by Lovecraft in which the extraterrestrial entity Cthulhu himself makes a major appearance.

It is written in a documentary style, with three independent narratives linked together by the device of a narrator discovering notes left by a deceased relative.

The narrator pieces together the whole truth and disturbing significance of the information he possesses, illustrating the story's first line: "The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity; and it was not meant that we should voyage far."

"Of such great powers or beings there may be conceivably a survival... a survival of a hugely remote period when... consciousness was manifested, perhaps, in shapes and forms long since withdrawn before the tide of advancing humanity... forms of which poetry and legend alone have caught a flying memory and called them gods, monsters, mythical beings of all sorts and kinds..."

(allow a few seconds to buffer, file is 101mb)

The Call of Cthulhu by H. P. Lovecraft

Note: this page contains paid content.

Note: this page contains paid content.

Note: this page contains paid content.