We recently drew your attention to the BBC's season of SF radio drama. Now editor, publisher and writer Lee Harris writes his first blog for SFX on the subject:

Genre Radio

I've always loved genre fiction in all its formats – novels, short stories, TV series, films, theatre and comics. One of my favourite ways of enjoying science fiction, fantasy and horror is in the audio format. I have shelves (both physical and electronic) full of SF audiobooks, and audio dramas.

I was delighted, therefore, when I heard that Radio 4 had commissioned a season of SF to commence in March, alongside a similar selection on Radio 7. In addition to a repeat of the truly excellent 13-part adaptation of Robert Rankin's The Brightonomicon and a new adaptation of Iain M Banks' The State of The Art (adapted by Paul Cornell), there are a number of one-off original dramas and serials. I've managed to get copies of two of these prior to broadcast, and I'll give a brief overview of them, later, but I want to take a little time to explain why audio SF is important to me.

My day job and my hobby have one thing in common – I do a hell of a lot of reading for both of them. A large proportion of my day job is given over to reading authors' novel submissions, and recommending them (or not) for publication with Angry Robot (spot the plug for a new genre imprint from HarperCollins, launching in July – SFX). One of my hobbies involves reading a lot of short fiction for a weekly fiction eZine I publish and co-edit (And that will be Hub – SFX). When I have time I also read for pleasure. That's a lot of reading! Audio books (and audio dramas) help to give me an additional SF boost without me having to do the heavy lifting – audio pro-plus. They're great for the train, great for the bath, great for the walk into town and great for car journeys of any length.

Unfortunately, there has been a distinct lack of genre material on the radio in recent years – a gap filled nicely by specialist companies like BBC Audio, and Big Finish, and by niche distributors such as Audible. Those of a certain age may remember superb BBC radio adaptations of The Hobbit and Lord Of The Rings, and few can have missed the influence of The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy and its sequels. Despite the (generally) high quality of these productions, however, the genre radio landscape has proven rather barren in recent years. Other than further adaptations of Douglas Adams' books, The Brightonomicon I mentioned earlier, and the frankly rather brilliant Nebulous the British public have been starved of radio SF.

So, why now? Why has the BBC suddenly decided that audio SF is worthy of attention again? Is it the success of television genre shows such as Doctor Who, Being Human and ITV's Primeval? Are they planning more SF, or is this short season as much as we can expect for the time being? I asked Neil Gardner, Managing Director of Ladbroke Productions (the UK's oldest established independent radio production company, and producers of two of the current radio 4 one-off dramas as well as the Brightonomicon series).

"I think part of the problem was caused by the incredible success of the Hitchhiker's Guide... it dominated the memories of commissioners and represented a style of programme making which has never really been successfully recaptured. It could be that for too many years the only sci-fi proposals being offered were pale imitations of HHGTTG, or in the commissioners' minds would end up being compared badly to the Guide."

"Personally I have never understood where sci-fi went... particularly when it came back in the mid-90s on TV so strongly and then in to the mainstream film market. Even though most sci-fi disappeared, and it's return is a little late in coming, the launch of BBC7/Radio 7 brought some true classics back to the air, as well as offering opportunities for new material to be aired, and for the commercial productions such as Doctor Who by Big Finish to be broadcast. I am happy to move on from the past and not worry about where sci-fi went for all those years... the likes of Dirk Maggs were still producing the occasional series and what great series they were! I am more concerned about where the genre goes next."

"I hope this season isn't a one off, and that the BBC realises just what flavour and style and creativity they can get from the genre. Jeremy Howe said that big name actors were now attracted to sci-fi because Doctor Who had made it sexy. He is very, very wrong... all of the actors I worked with on my sci-fi productions were attracted by the writing, the characters and the opportunity to do something fun and different, not the usual kitchen-sink drama, or 'dustbin-man by day/detective by night' thriller nonsense. They did it because science fiction is a much loved genre, popular with all ages, all ethnicities and both sexes. Nowhere else can you get such exciting collaborations of creative talent."

The Forthcoming Season

The Brightonomicon
If you're a Robert Rankin fan and you've not heard last year's adaptation of The Brightonomicon, well shame on you. As well as being broadcast last summer, it's available as a CD or download, and at 13 episodes in length, represents amazing value. The cream of UK acting talent is here lead by genre favourite David Warner and ably supported by Rupert Degas, Mark Wing-Davey and Andy Serkis. Performances are (almost) universally excellent, and the adaptation is top notch. SFX reviewed this last year, so dig out your old copies as I'm not going to go through it in detail again.

I will mention two of the new season at greater length, however...

Cry Babies
Written by Kim Newman, and starring Alex Jennings, Natasha Little and Sia Berkeley, Cry Babies is a tale of genetic modification and cryogenic storage, and the effects it may have on our lives. Joy is born to two parents who feel their lifestyles are currently too busy to take care of a child, so she is put in a form of suspended animation until her parents decide the time is right. While in storage the Sleep Learn Machine (played by Sarah Douglas) teaches her about colours, shapes, mathematics and literature. When she wakes she's rather clever. Unfortunately, her parents are still too busy to take proper care of her, so she is soon returned to her cabinet for more years of sleep and education, woken briefly, before being frozen once again.

The story is a simple one, and well told. The performances are good, with the exception of a very short sequence involving children. I am yet to hear an audio drama in which adults convincingly play children, and adding a squeaky, nasal quality to the voice does not a child make. Luckily, this sequence lasts less than a minute, and the rest of the production is unhampered by such concerns. Definitely worth a listen.

Mayflies
Written by Mike Maddox and starring Derek Jacobi, Jason Isaacs and Katherine McCormack, Mayflies is at the polar opposite to Cry Babies in terms of style and subject matter. Considering the quality of the cast you would expect the performances to be excellent. They are. Special mention has to go to Katherine McCormack, however, who gives one of the finest performances of a woman in labour I have ever experienced in audio, film or television. It was more realistic even than my wife at the birth of our two children!

My only concern about Mayflies – and it is a tiny, tiny one – is that it is barely SF, and probably doesn't sit as comfortably within the current season as other productions. That's not a problem in itself, but as the SF season is so short, it's a shame it couldn't be devoted to tales that were more genre-focussed.

Derek Jacobi plays a retired astronomer who hears news that a project he spearheaded for years has finally received a message from an alien race. The message has surprisingly little effect on the characters in the drama, however, and it is used mainly as a catalyst to discuss the nature of life, and whether, in the end, life is worth living. Nothing really happens during the course of the play (except for the birth of a child and the installation of a satellite dish), but it's all done beautifully. Despite the barely-SF nature of the piece, I recommend this wholeheartedly.

If you're an audio drama fan, this season is an absolute must. If you're yet to be persuaded, it's the ideal opportunity to broaden your genre intake. The season has already begun, but there is still plenty to see.

The season:

2 March 2009 - 18:00 BBC Radio 7
Planet B
Ten-part series, weekdays from 2nd March.
When John's girlfriend Lioba dies, he logs into her virtual world to grieve, but begins to suspect she's still alive in there. Offered the choice of committing to live there and find her, or log out and lose her, he leaps in. Little does he care that the fantasy game sites, where the
worst of humanity is played out, will become his reality. He will feel pain, and he might die there. In each episode he is plunged into a new world.
Repeated: 3 March 2009 at 00:00

2 March 2009 - 18:30 BBC Radio 7
Oneira
1/5 Atmospheric sci-fi series, involving UFOs, alien abduction, alchemy, biblical prophecy, cutting-edge physics, and a giant ravenous fridge!
Repeated: 3 March 2009 at 00:30

3 March 2009 - 11:00 BBC Radio 7
Alpha
Drama about a computer so powerful, and so all-knowing that it may be said to have an independent life of its own - despite the fact that it is a man-made creation.
Alpha, won a Sony Radio Academy Award in 2001 for Best Drama.

4 March 2009 - 11:00 BBC Radio 7
Omega
A sister play to Alpha, Omega takes us into a fascinating and disturbing vision of the near future, where the most human and endearing character we meet has, it transpires, no real existence at all.

5 March 2009 - 11:00 BBC Radio 7
2025
Two-part serial set in a future when lives are ruled by computers, and artificial intelligence has become a reality.

5 March 2009 - 14:15BBC Radio 4
Afternoon Play - The State Of The Art
Dramatisation of an Iain M banks story in which the Culture, a spacebound utopian civilisation, encounters Earth.

08 March 2009 - 20:00BBC Radio 3
Drama on 3 - Bring Me The Head Of Philip K Dick
A darkly disturbing and surreal vision of contemporary America where faith, national security and the very fabric of time are under attack from an unlikely and terrifying weapon. Invented by a shadowy research unit inside the Pentagon, the android head of Philip K. Dick is on the loose and wreaking havoc.

9 March 2009 - 14:15 BBC Radio 4
Afternoon Play - Cry Babies
A satire on cryogenics - the life of a boy who is periodically frozen in order to meet his parents' lifestyle choices, which don't always chime with childcare.

9 March 2009 - 18:30 BBC Radio 7
The Brightonomicon
1/13. Fantastical comic serial about the mindbending netherworld of Brighton, as adapted from Robert Rankin's best selling novels.
Repeated: 10 March 2009 at 00:30.

11 March 2009 - 14:15BBC Radio 4
Afternoon Play - Homesick
Jeff has always lived in Worcester with his agoraphobic mother. One day, while fitting a satellite dish, he is struck by an actual bolt from the blue and starts to hear a voice speaking in another language.

13 March 2009 - 14:15 BBC Radio 4
Afternoon Play - Mayflies
When a message from outer-space is received, how does this revelation affect one man and his immediate group of friends and relations?

This blog was written by Lee Harris, one of our new volunteer bloggers - read more about some of them in the next issue of SFX, on sale Wednesday 11 March.

Will you be tuning in to hear Lee's recommendations? What's your take on SF audio drama? Let us know...