Man Liked Clocks
This week - big scripts, fear appointments, talking mongoose
Welcome to the Listening Post! It’s a small UNIT installation on a Scottish island. Or, a newsletter about scribbling/enjoying audio drama. Both are under attack from aliens regardless.
The Week In Writing
Okay this was technically last week but I’m editing it this week so:
I can’t talk about what it is for a while yet, but this is one heck of a chonky audio drama. My word doc has been wheezing and groaning in protest.
I really enjoyed writing a BIG audio drama, but you certainly have to justify the scale and length. My first foray into what I will call ‘epic territory’ was The Auton Infinity, which came out earlier this year, and listeners have been kind about that. There was a lot going on in that story. There’s a lot going on in this one too…
With an epic, I’m learning it’s not just about having tonnes of plot. Though that is indeed essential. It’s the growth of all the characters throughout it, entwining their journeys and giving them each a bit of meat along the way. That’s hard in extended media - you feel like can’t stray too far from what the show sets out - but I think there are ways of being cunning.
So now my tiny epic script is done… well, it isn’t done, I need to redraft it and polish it. And make sure it makes SENSE. But I have a few other audio bubbling away too. Outlining some, scene-breakdowning others… I enjoy it when different scripts are at different stages. Scratches at different bits of my brain.
Plus, I was in ‘studio’ recently! Studio in inverted commas means Cleanfeed, the app/internet programme/lifesaver that kept Big Finish going through the lockdowns. It allows for remote performers and listener-inners. There was one actor whose return to the fray was making me jump around the room with glee. Probably a good thing I wasn’t there in person…
Obviously I’m new at all this Substack stuff. The current plan is to discuss things that interest me as they crop up in my projects - for instance, I’m about to begin a Spooky Script, and my brain is awhir with thoughts about horror and audio being best buds. However, if a reader has any specific questions? Prompts…? (Can one be messaged on Substack? I don’t even know yet.)
What I’m Listening To
There are some glorious episodes of Appointment With Fear rocking up on BBC Sounds. This was an anthology show hosted by The Man In Black, aka Valentine Dyall. Because I am wired to view everything through a Doctor Who lens, I know him as the Black Guardian. Imagining his character narrating ghastly tales of the human condition… makes absolute sense?
The reason I was drawn to these particular stories was their author: John Dickson Carr. He was an anglicized American crime writer and the MASTER of the locked-room mystery (fun fact, he’s a particular favourite author of mine and writer John Dorney). I knew Carr had written a lot of stuff for the BBC, but I’ve not listened to much. Mainly because a lot of it no longer exists. *shakes fist*
The two episodes I’ve heard are from 1943-4: ‘The Speaking Clock’ and ‘The Clock Strikes Eight’. Man liked clocks. The latter even features Carr’s most famous creation: Dr Gideon Fell! Your mileage may vary when it comes to the melodrama and creaky plots - plus Carr’s criminal conceits can sometimes be joyously preposterous - but I love audios that act as a little window into a lost time. The misty streets of the capital, the threat of the hangman. Though prepare to be underwhelmed by how much the Speaking Clock speaks. One of the episodes features Grizelda Harvey, an actor who regularly appeared in the Paul Temple serials. I always enjoy her voice. Buttoned-up yet breathy. If Blakes 7 had been a 1940s radio serial, I would’ve cast her as Servalan.
(I see Carr adapted ‘The Pit And The Pendulum’ for the series too. And what else have pendulums?! Man really DID like clocks.)
Other Stuff
Just started Wolverine: The Long Night. I noted Marvel were building an audio-verse aaages ago and have been meaning to check it out for a while. Anyone listened to it? I assumed I wouldn’t know any of the actors, but it turned out the FBI lady in it was Mary the Robot in a reading of my play Electric Rosary! Small world.
The 1968 adaptation of The Day of the Triffids is back on iSounds! Love this one. Pleasingly retro. Radiophonic Workshop goodness. Recommended.
The new 8th Doctor boxset is out from Big Finish: What Lies Inside? The aforementioned John Dorney proving yet again he is the best of us; and my mates Stew and Lauren have written an amazing story with a talking mongoose. Definitely snorted at Mooney’s tweet about it:
Alright, back to my edits. Happy listening!
STOP PRESS: How cool does this look?! Jordan Peele horror audio written by Mac Rogers, sign me up.
