h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Lest I have left anyone with an erroneous impression
that I am generally opposed to radio drama let me again
reiterate my life-long experience in that specific art and
hope that such credentials give me credence to remain
very critical of this self-indulgent over-produced effort
to transmute a great novel into a medium wholly unsuited
for the task. It would make a good movie perhaps but it
is not possible to reproduce well on radio - especially
in the spirit with which it has been so badly attempted.

And with that said let me highly recommend the concurrent
effort to reproduce SMALL GODS - which un-needful of motor
sounds, huge cast lists and constant narrative pointers is
much more suited to the Theatre of the Mind. It is available
on radio 4 playbacks in 4 half hour episodes at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00b1p28

It is character and dialog driven and in this case is well
played by very professional actors. I highly recommend it
as an example of the highest form of radio drama.
Please do enjoy it.


~jwf~

Thanks for the reminder, I'm halfway through Small Gods. Unfortunately the BBCplayer doesn't play well with my tablet. I need to remember to finish it Tuesday at work. It makes for nice listening during the drudgery of scanning Shuttle Earth-Obs images.

Ah yes, thought of you yesterday when they announced
that Beagle 2 had been spotted on Mars. It makes one
appreciate the specific skills and dedication of those
who peruse the photos of the cosmos. It must be quite
rewarding to find the occasional diamond in the rough -
like golden needles in the haystack.

-jwf-

Thanks, jwf. Yes, I can imagine "Small Gods" being better suited to radio than "Good Omens," which requires that one imagine huge special effects -- clouds parting, gods and angels and converging and battling, etc.

Particularly striking in Small Gods (in radio or book format)
is the similarity in style to the works of Douglas Adams at his
satirical best. Short pithy one-liners often delivered by the
central character, a true innocent abroad in a whirled not of
his own making taking the pith out of established follies like
man's inhumanity and blind faith type situations.
Small Gods (1992) is the 13th of 40 Discworld novels.

~jwf~

I felt sympathy for Brotha. There was such about religious requirements and observances, but Brotha was serious.

I'm reading a historical novel called "Wolf Hall," by Mantel. It's about the events surrounding Anne Boleyn's match with Henry the 8th. You could get burned at the stake for saying that the bread used at communion was *just* bread. Thomas More wanted to execute someone for translating "Faith, hope and charity" as "faith, hope and love." Or was it the other way around? Seriously, how could anyone object to either one?

I read somewhere that a third of the German population died during the Reformation. Knowing that about what the Germans put up with throws into relief the frequent wars endured there for centuries afterword. People were desperately trying to find some safety in their lives.

The BBC have just dramatized Wolf Hall for TV. I think it airs on Wednesday 21st January. The trailer looks good.

Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02gfy02

Well, I've listened to it all, and I thought it was bloody brilliant.

>> ..translating "Faith, hope and charity" as "faith, hope and love." Or was it the other way around? Seriously, how could anyone object to either one? <<

Well Charity begins at home; Love is often an extramural affair.

~jwf~

Love should logically begin at home, too. How can you love someone else if you don't love yourself first? Or, not loving yourself sends a message to other people that you are not worth receiving love. After all, you should know your shortcomings better than anyone else does....

Not necessarily. With a bad mix of brain chemicals, self loathing will kick self love's rear end and no self assessment or rationale will stop it. Everything becomes a shortcoming.

I went to catch up tonight and now none of the episodes are "available for listening." I could have sworn that at least eps 3 - 6 were still available for 12 more days only the day before yesterday.

Cognitive therapy can sometimes work around the short-circuits that make every trait seem negative, BB, but it's a lot of work and expense, and even then it's not guaranteed .

Thank you, Trig and all other contributors to this thread. I have greatly enjoyed both Omens and Small Gods, even while disagreeing with some of the casting. I like being read to.

There was far more hype around Good Omens, but I think they did a better job of Small Gods. It was excellent.

TRiG.

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-02-01/neil-gaiman-and-sir-ian-mckellen-triumph-at-bbc-audio-drama-awards

Well, since I last posted here, I've now seen both _Going Postal_ and _Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency_.

It turns out I had seen Going Postal before, but I probably watched it late after a night at the pub and forgot watching it. It was definitely worth a proper viewing. I enjoyed it.


Dirk Gently's however was, well, it was alright, but I'd forgotten what others had said about it when it first aired. I was expecting more than just a TV series base VERY loosely on the main two characters. If I ignored everything I loved about the original books, it was a rather entertaining short series (4 episodes including the original pilot). It was reminiscent of various BBC series. I enjoyed it about as much as I enjoyed shows like Dr. Martin, or Hamish MacBeth or Torchwood. But it wasn't the Dirk Gently I know.

The audio adaptation of Pratchett's "Mort" is being rebroadcast next week on BBC 4 Extra, In four episodes, first on Monday at 18:00

Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00b5r2q