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Post by mark687 on Nov 24, 2023 17:12:40 GMT
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Post by bonehead on Nov 24, 2023 17:17:06 GMT
Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without a ghost story.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Nov 24, 2023 17:27:55 GMT
Well, if you want my review - it's fab. It came out last year from Average Romp. So like some of the Gerry Andersons, this isn't entirely new but licencing existing audio work. Fab though, as AR need more exposure, especially with one series: Dick Dixon in the 21st Century audios which, for those who say BF should do more comedy? They're for you. Very much a loving send up sitcom of the kind of sci-fi we love. Though the Chime cover looks spooky in an M.R. James style, it's kinda the bridge between A Christmas Carol and It's A Wonderful Life (especially given where the protagonist finds himself..well, spoilers) and highly recommended. But if you want another non-Scrooge Dickens treat this season, the BFI just released their Ghost Stories For Christmas Vol. 2 bluray which has The Signalman - absolutely terrifying to this day and a stunning restoration. But yeah - sci-fi sitcom fans? CHeck out the same company that make this, Average Romp...Dick Dixon. It's not Douglas Adams but it's better than Nebulous or Hyperdrive by a light year or ten.  |
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Post by timleschild on Nov 24, 2023 17:51:33 GMT
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Post by number13 on Nov 24, 2023 19:57:47 GMT
Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without a ghost story.
Definitely! But this isn't really it. 
As the BF news story says, this is more 'It's a Wonderful Life', Victorian-style. There's some magic and slightly spooky otherworldly things, but in a nutshell this is Dickens' retreading the moral journey of 'A Christmas Carol' but doing it from the point of view of one of the people that Scrooge (at the start) would happily abandon.
Imagine if Bob Cratchit had been pushed a few rungs further down the ladder of poverty and thought - why should I carry on? What's the point of me?
'The Chimes' (of New Year's midnight) have the answer...
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Post by bonehead on Nov 24, 2023 23:40:04 GMT
Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without a ghost story.
Definitely! But this isn't really it.
As the BF news story says, this is more 'It's a Wonderful Life', Victorian-style. There's some magic and slightly spooky otherworldly things, but in a nutshell this is Dickens' retreading the moral journey of 'A Christmas Carol' but doing it from the point of view of one of the people that Scrooge (at the start) would happily abandon.
Imagine if Bob Cratchit had been pushed a few rungs further down the ladder of poverty and thought - why should I carry on? What's the point of me?
'The Chimes' (of New Year's midnight) have the answer...
But I've just done my nice 'Christmas wouldn't be Christmas' joke! I'm not familiar with this story at all to be honest, but reading the posts on this thread has made me eager to acquaint myself with it. I'd guessed it wasn't a 'usual' BF production because of the AR logo, but very much like the sound of it ... |
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Post by number13 on Nov 25, 2023 11:47:44 GMT
Definitely! But this isn't really it.
As the BF news story says, this is more 'It's a Wonderful Life', Victorian-style. There's some magic and slightly spooky otherworldly things, but in a nutshell this is Dickens' retreading the moral journey of 'A Christmas Carol' but doing it from the point of view of one of the people that Scrooge (at the start) would happily abandon.
Imagine if Bob Cratchit had been pushed a few rungs further down the ladder of poverty and thought - why should I carry on? What's the point of me?
'The Chimes' (of New Year's midnight) have the answer...
But I've just done my nice 'Christmas wouldn't be Christmas' joke! I'm not familiar with this story at all to be honest, but reading the posts on this thread has made me eager to acquaint myself with it. I'd guessed it wasn't a 'usual' BF production because of the AR logo, but very much like the sound of it ... It is a very good story. Dickens wrote a Christmas story each year for several years (I think often for magazine serial publication) but the others get overshadowed by the Ghost of Scrooge Past! A 'supernatural' twist of one sort or another, set between Christmas and New Year and intended to give his middle-class readers a warm glow and maybe a little nudge to be better people in the New Year ahead.
'The Cricket on the Hearth' is another I remember. 'The Signalman' that Davy mentioned is a cracker of a ghost story but from a quite different genre and not at all heart-warming!
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Post by bonehead on Nov 25, 2023 12:13:44 GMT
But I've just done my nice 'Christmas wouldn't be Christmas' joke! I'm not familiar with this story at all to be honest, but reading the posts on this thread has made me eager to acquaint myself with it. I'd guessed it wasn't a 'usual' BF production because of the AR logo, but very much like the sound of it ... It is a very good story. Dickens wrote a Christmas story each year for several years (I think often for magazine serial publication) but the others get overshadowed by the Ghost of Scrooge Past! A 'supernatural' twist of one sort or another, set between Christmas and New Year and intended to give his middle-class readers a warm glow and maybe a little nudge to be better people in the New Year ahead.
'The Cricket on the Hearth' is another I remember. 'The Signalman' that Davy mentioned is a cracker of a ghost story but from a quite different genre and not at all heart-warming!
I'm very familiar with thanks to the amazing BBC adaption you mention, and also Textbook Stuff's reading by the much-missed John Sessions. I've read a fair biut of Dickens and enjoyed the television adaptions, but strangely, not his supernatural Christmas stories. I should rectify this! |
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Post by mark687 on Nov 29, 2023 15:10:15 GMT
An appropriate Time for Release
Regards
mark687
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Post by bonehead on Nov 30, 2023 16:27:12 GMT
That was thoroughly enjoyable although I think I understand why it hasn't enjoyed the populist reputation of A Christmas Carol. It's bleaker than an overnight stay at Bleak House, and the performances really bring this to the listener! I'm glad I went into this weithout knowing nothing about it, because I really didn't know how things were going to play out. There are echoes of the previous Christmas story from Dickens, but this is very powerful in its own right. A lovely production, terrific acting, writing and sound design. So there.
"Yes! The tripe!" |
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Post by bonehead on Dec 24, 2023 15:06:50 GMT
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