Vintage or Modern Radio Drama Recommendations?

[Engrishman]

I've been a huge enthusiast of radio dramas since I was very little, though admittedly, I've found the art to be on the decline. Most of the radio dramas I've listened to have been those sponsored by modern BBC Radio (i.e. ~ Fatherland), though I've listened to some really vintage British (i.e. ~ Dad's Army) and American (i.e. ~ The Home Front) radio dramas that were before my time.

I suppose this is the most appropriate place for me to ask the following question: Are there any radio drama enthusiasts here, and can you recommend any dramas that stood out to you? (They can be modern or vintage, I'm not the choosy type.)

 

[Shangas]

I'm a fan of several old time radio programs.

The Whistler, The Shadow, Richard Diamond, Sherlock Holmes, Dragnet, Mercury Theater, Lux Theater and that Philip Marlowe fellow.

As thousands of these shows are now on the Public Domain, they are easily downloaded for free off the internet.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Keep in mind, though, that copyright laws are different in the US -- and most American radio drama *isn't* public domain, despite what's usually claimed. Please note the Copyright sticky for further information on this. Because of that we can't post download links here.

That being said, radio drama offers something for just about everyone. While kiddie-type superhero/adventure shows are the ones most people think of when the subject is mentioned, there's plenty of fine adult radio as well -- there's nothing juvenile about the works of Norman Corwin or Arch Oboler, for example. And "Suspense" and "Escape" went far beyond the usual spook-story stereotype and are well worth listening to today.

There are also some fine serious dramas from the late thirties -- there were many unsponsored anthology features during this era, things like the Columbia Workshop, Author's Playhouse, the Radio Guild, etc., all of which offered excellent work.

 

[Engrishman]

Thank you for the recommendations. I'll be sure to look into them once I get home from work today.

 

[patfln]

For your radio drama listening pleasure:
Old time radio, try WNAR-AM (We're Nostalgic About Radio) with 24/7 vintage programs online. My favorites are Black Museum at 5:30 PM Mondays and Sherlock Holmes Saturday and Sunday nights at 11 PM. Full schedule available at website.
For contemporary 24/7 programs try Sound Stages Radio online out of International Falls, Minn. I'm totally hooked on the Byron Chronicles weeknights at 7:30 Eastern, 6:30 CST from Darker Projects. For a good review of what's going on in audio theatre today try Radio Drama Revival at 11 AM Eastern, 10 AM Monday through Friday. Full schedule available at their website. Happy listening.....

 

[Salty O'Rourke]

As has been noted, we can't post links to OTR download sites, although anyone with a decent search engine can find free otr downloads. If you have an interest in how OTR has been preserved/restored, you might want to look for the Old Time Radio Researchers group; they've collected and restored many OTR series, like Dragnet, Gunsmoke, and Philip Marlowe. If you know anything at all about usenet, there are several binary news groups involved with OTR.

Here's a link to the BBC iplayer, where you can listen (but not download) to current BBC radio plays and other BBC programs. Radio 7 and Radio 4 are the main stations for drama, comedy, SF, documentary, quiz, and spoken-word versions of novels and short stories. The only thing the BBC doesn't do is westerns. You can listen to their programs for up to a week from the original broadcast. As I type this I'm listening to E. W. Hornung's Raffles on Radio 7.

The CBC used to regularly program radio dramas, but I'm not sure if they still do. They had a program called the Mystery Project that was comprised of smaller series of mystery and detective shows. I think Vanishing Point was a CBC production too back in the '80s. It was sort of a Twilight Zone - inspired anthology show.

There are several streaming radio sites devoted to OTR also; I listen to streaming radio at the gym and it makes 25-30 minutes of cardio zip by.

 

[Salty O'Rourke]

Keep in mind, though, that copyright laws are different in the US -- and most American radio drama *isn't* public domain, despite what's usually claimed. Please note the Copyright sticky for further information on this. Because of that we can't post download links here.

That being said, radio drama offers something for just about everyone. While kiddie-type superhero/adventure shows are the ones most people think of when the subject is mentioned, there's plenty of fine adult radio as well -- there's nothing juvenile about the works of Norman Corwin or Arch Oboler, for example. And "Suspense" and "Escape" went far beyond the usual spook-story stereotype and are well worth listening to today.

There are also some fine serious dramas from the late thirties -- there were many unsponsored anthology features during this era, things like the Columbia Workshop, Author's Playhouse, the Radio Guild, etc., all of which offered excellent work.

NBC University Theater was consistenly top-notch at adapting great works of classic and (then) contemporary literature. Dimension X and X Minus One adapted stories from the major SF pulp magazines of the 50s. Lux Radio Theater and Screen Guild Theater adapted motion pictures for Radio, often with the same leads but sometimes with interesting alternative actors when the originals weren't available. OTR is like silent cinema in some respects; just when they were getting really good at perfecting it, the next big thing came along and swept it all away...

 

[Engrishman]

This is good stuff. I haven't even begun to scratch the surface, haha. Endless hours of listening, at my fingertips... Thanks, all.

 

[Philip Adams]

I love a good radio drama. The images you create in your own mind whilst listening are so much better and more powerful than anything a movie can provide for you.

One of the best I've heard in recent years was the dramitisation of "I Am Legend" by Richard Matheson. It's so well read, you almost feel part of it. When I first heard it, I couldn't wait to get home from work to hear the next episode. I was so impressed with the radio serial I won't watch any of the films that have been made of the story.

I was first introduced to the work of Raymond Chandler listening to the radio. And for me, there's been no looking back since!

One thing that may be of interest to you is the following link. If you like a good crime serial you'll hear lots of them here.

http://audionoir.com/

If you like what they have, don't forget to make a donation.

 

[dm5123]

As mentioned there are numerous great OTR shows you can find on the internet. There are probably too many to mention. Some of the great ones include Lux Radio Theater - movies recreated as radio drama. P.I. and detective series such as Sam Spade, Philip Marlowe, Richard Diamond, Sherlock Holmes, Nero Wolfe, Dragnet. Westerns like Have Gun Will Travel, Gun Smoke, The Six Shooter. Adventure series: Box 13, Night Beat, Bold Venture. Suspenseful series such as Suspense, X Minus One, Inner Sanctum, Dimension X. There are many great comedy shows such as Burns and Allen, The Great Gildersleeve and Fibber McGee and Molly as well as variety shows such as The Jack Benny Program, Fred Allen, Bob Hope, Abbott and Costello and many, many more. Old Time Radio Researchers is a great place to locate these and many more shows.

As for modern radio drama there are some great shows out there.

The original Star Wars radio drama trilogy is perhaps the best radio drama ever produced. It's by far the most extensive than any other that's been produced. Mark Hamill, Billy Dee Williams and Anthony Daniels reprise their roles for the radio adaptation. You can find it at High Bridge Audio

The Mark of Zorro is also one of the best radio dramas ever produced. It stars Val Kilmer (Top Gun, Tombstone, Heat), Ruth Livier (Ylse), Armin Shimerman (Star Trek Deep Space 9), Meschach Taylor (Designing Women), Elizabeth Pena (The Incredibles, Nothing Like The Holidays), and a great additional cast. You'll find it and other great productions such as The Maltese Falcon and The Sherlock Holmes Theatre made by Hollywood Theater of the Ear available at Blackstone Audio. You can find a list of shows at Hollywood Theater of the Ear.
Hollywood Theater of the Ear has produces some great radio drama using some of the best talent in Hollywood. In fact, Yuri Rasovsky is the most decorated (won more awards) radio dramatist in North America.

The BBC has made some of the best feature length radio drama made in the modern era. Over the last 25 years or so they've produced such great shows as Sherlock Holmes starring Clive Merrison as Holmes and Michael Williams as Dr. Watson (70 shows). Hercule Poirot starring John Moffatt as Poirot (29 shows) and Miss Marple starring June Whitfield as Miss Marple (12 shows). They've also produced shows such as The Lost World and McLevy. You can find most of these shows online at the BBC America Shop, BBC Shop or amazon.com.

Star Trek Borg was a very good radio drama. It features John de Lancie as Q and Howard McGillan as Cadet Furlong. It's hard to come by. Try amazon.com for this one.

The Twilight Zone series is very well made. This series features Hollywood actors such as Stacey Keach (Mike Hammer), Kate Jackson (Charlie's Angels), John Schneider (The Dukes of Hazzard), Jason Alexander (Seinfeld), Luke Perry (Beverly Hills 90120), Lou Diamond Phillips (Young Guns), Kim Fields (The Facts of Life), Jane Seymour (Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman, James Bond Live and Let Die), John Ratzenberger (Cheers), Adam West (Batman), Daniel J. Travanti (Hill Street Blues) and many more.

Jim French's Imagination Theater produces a variety of very good half hour radio drama shows. Their Sherlock Holmes series is outstanding. Over the years their shows have included performances by major Hollywood guest stars, including John Astin, Eddie Bracken, Hans Conreid, Bob Crane (Hogan's Heroes), Patty Duke, Russell Johnson (the Professor on Gilligan's Island), Kurt Kasznar, Ruta Lee, Roddy MacDowall, Richard Sanders (of WKRP in Cincinatti), Lauren Tewes (Julie McCoy on The Love Boat) Harry Anderson (Judge Harry Stone on Night Court), Tom Smothers, and Keenan Wynn. Imagine Theater can be hear on radio stations across the United States and on XM satellite radio. Shows can be purchased at their website. They also offer a "listen now" feature on their website that allows visitors to enjoy 2 preselected episodes each week.

Big Finish Productions in England has produced the Dr. Who series for years. It airs on BBC radio or can be purchased. Big Finish has recently began to produce a full-cast Sherlock Holmes series though I haven't hear this one yet. So I can't say if it's any good or not.

L.A. Theatre Works produces a variety of radio dramas using Hollywood actors. Many of their productions are recorded live before an audience.

California Artists Radio Theatre is similar to L.A. Theatre Works. They produce a variety of radio dramas recorded before a live audience. Peggy Webber, who's credits go back to the days of the golden age of radio (she was a regular on the Sherlock Holmes series with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce) writes, directs and produces many of CART's shows.

Colonial Radio Theatre on the Air makes a variety of feature length radio dramas. If you like action you might try their version of Zorro with Zorro and the Pirate Raiders and Zorro Riders Again.

The Radio Drama Spotlight blog has a list of great radio dramas. It appears to be a work in progress but there are some great shows listed there.

 

[Shawnie MacAlpine]

Does anyone know if one can listen to the Doctor Who radio drama online in the US? I've recently come to love the TV show and have been a huge OTR fan for years.

 

[patfln]

Shawnie, about the Big Finish Doctor Who audios I recommend stay in touch weekly with BBC Radio 4 Extra. They seem to run a sequence of Doctor Who dramas about every 3 months where you can listen on their free Iplayer. Another source for dramas about the Doctor is Darker Projects.com. There's an arc of stories about the Doctor starring Mark Kalita as one incarnation and David Ault as another. Creator Eric Busby is a super-Whovian so its done with a lot of respect and I think you might enjoy them. I should mention Darker Projects links with Pendant Audio for this character. Everything is downloadable and/or listenable from Darker Projects website.
The Big Finish site is also a good place to check in with for deals, special downloads etc. Eighth Doctor Paul McGann is my favorite radio Doctor altho' my favorite story Loup-Garoux is actually Fourth Doctor Peter Davison with a werewolf story.

 

[flat-top]

For your radio drama listening pleasure:
Old time radio, try WNAR-AM (We're Nostalgic About Radio) with 24/7 vintage programs online. My favorites are Black Museum at 5:30 PM Mondays and Sherlock Holmes Saturday and Sunday nights at 11 PM. Full schedule available at website.
QUOTE]

I've been listening now for the past few days and I love it! Thanks for the tip!

 

[Rats Riley]

I am totally loving the show that's playing!

Pete Kelly's Blues

http://www.otrnow.com/

 

[Steven180]

I remember listening to these when I was a kid on an oldie station and finding it better than television. What's the old quip; "You listen to the radio with your brain and watch TV with your heart."

If you're an Apple user try iTunes streaming radio under 'Golden Oldies' which has some dramatic radio sites as well a larger selection of big band,swing, and jazz from the last six decades.

Thanks to everyone else for the additional insight.
M.

 

[Philip Adams]

I've just listened to the 1939 CBS Campbell Playhouse version of 'Liliom' with Orson Welles and Helen Hayes on an internet radio station.

I really enjoyed it.

Good drama is so hard to beat.

 

[O2BSwank]

I have found several radio drama collections on cassette tapes at very low prices at swap meets and vintage stores. They usually work out to about a dollar a tape. My favorite so far has been 12 tape collection of "Suspense". Luckily I still had a good cassette player.

 

[MikeKardec]

As a producer/director/writer/whatever of a bunch of audio dramas I've always enjoyed The Mist, a binaural production of the Steven King short story. Back when I was starting out that was the show to compare yourself to.

 

[Historyteach24]

Drama is most likely my favorite OTR genre. I would suggest Suspense, The Whistler, The Saint, The Shadow, Sherlock Holmes, The Mercury Theatre on the air, Dragnet, Philip Marlowe, Richard Diamond. Really the list could be endless

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

I highly recommend "The Further Adventures of Nick Danger" ( of course ) by The Firesign Theater.
Not exactly drama, but it is noir.