Yesterday, I played you my adaptation of Ray's chilling tale, 'The Next in Line', written for the BBC's Fear on Four series. As a result of that piece, the director, Martin Jenkins and I pitched the idea of a series of Ray Bradbury stories specially dramatised for radio with introductions by the author.
The season debuted at 11:00 pm on 7 December 1995 with my dramatisation of Ray's 'Night Call, Collect'. Radio Times marked the broadcast with a piece of art by Alan Young (left) and the programme featured a tour de force solo performance by actor, Kerry Shale...
Tomorrow: 'The Jar'
1 comment:
Ray's enthusiasm for dissecting his own work and making it public led to him doing introductions for many of the tv and radio adaptations of his work. The thing is, it left me always wanting more of him as himself ! The ultimate example of this is his own reading of the Martian Chronicles. Even excluding the story, which is brilliantly precognisant of what was to follow in western society, we have an amazing biography of the period of Ray's life when it was written and his influences as re-interpreted by his older self (then in his fifties).These are not presented as an introduction but a continuous narrative throughout the reading so one can be, at any time, hurled from the sands of Mars back into the America of the 1950's or 1970's. As you hear Bradbury speak you know, just know, he hasn't given the biographical sections any thought at all. He just went into a studio and started talking. What a genius ! This man will live for ever !
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