Modesty Blaise comes to Radio 4

Daphne Alexander as Modesty Blaise. Photo copyright BBC

(with thanks to Reuben Wilmott) A radio adaptation of Peter O'Donnell's Modesty Blaise story A Taste for Death novel airs on BBC Radio 4 this week.

Starring Daphne Alexander - who was given a Modesty makeover for the serial's PR shots, above - the drama airs Monday to Friday in the 10:45/7:45 drama slot (see http://t.co/c1usOOcV), with an omnibus on Radio 4 Extra on Saturday (http://t.co/zabH4unn)

Modesty first started life in 1963 as a strip cartoon in the London Evening Standard - the first of the novels followed three years later.

Glamorous, intelligent, rich and very, very cool, Modesty Blaise has been called the female James Bond but she's much more interesting than that. With her expertise in martial arts and unusual weapons, the ability to speak several languages and her liking for fast cars, twenty-something Modesty became a female icon long before the likes of Emma Peel, Lara Croft, or Buffy.


In Stef Penney's brand new radio adaptation of Peter O'Donnell's novel, Sir Gerald Tarrant, Head of a secret British agency, tempts Modesty out of retirement and into a job involving a young woman with extra sensory powers, an exotic desert location, and a larger than life public school villain, intent on murdering his way to a vast fortune.

With its perfect cocktail of glamorous settings, hidden treasure, a twisting turning plot, and characters to root for, the BBC describe A Taste for Death as "an action packed treat - and a guilty pleasure".

"If one person stumbles across this adaptation and goes out to buy one of the books for the first time, I will be happy," says Stef Penney, whose previous adaptations include Moby Dick and her own novel, A Tenderness of Wolves. "If a few people do, I will be ecstatic."

Revealing she chose A Taste for Death, which is not the first Modesty novel, because it is both her favourite and she might not get another chance, Stef is full of praise for both O'Donnell's character and setting."James Bond is more popular than ever, and the films have changed with the times – different actors play the roles, wear different suits, drive different cars and deploy the latest technology," she notes in a feature for the BBC web site.

"By contrast, A Taste for Death is firmly set in the 1960s and that is very much part of the pleasure – Modesty wears the fashions of the time and uses shortwave radio. She drives a classic car (a 1950s Jensen Interceptor) and listens to Thelonius Monk.

"And, in any case, when the chips are down and you are held captive by sadistic criminals on a remote archaeological site in the Sahara, no technology is going to find the buried treasure or overcome the villains who have stripped you of all your gear.

"Only Modesty and Willie’s unique ingenuity and will power can do that. And only their sense of humour and irreverence can make the whole thing so much fun.

With an original score by Goldfrapp's Will Gregory, arranged by Ian Gardiner, and performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conducted by Ben Foster, produced and directed by Kate McAll, this definitely looks like a show to tune into.

• Stef Penney discusses her adaptation of A Taste for Death on the BBC web site

• Stef Penney's official web site: www.stefpenney.co.uk

Classics Illustrated on BBC Radio 4

BBC Radio 4 FM are broadcasting a 30 minute documentary looking at seventy years of the American comicbook series Classics Illustrated on Tuesday 25 October 2011 at 1130.

As the first issue, The Three Musketeers, was originally published in October 1941 and actor Bill Paterson presents the documentary marking the 70th anniversary of the series with contributions from Professor John Sutherland and British bookseller Jeff Brooks who revived the title in the UK using the original artwork.

The UK Classics Illustrated comics are published by Classic Comic Store and the current issue is number 34, an adaptation of James Fenimore Cooper's The Last Of The Mohicans, which is available in WH Smiths, Easons and other high street newsagents.

There are more details of the BBC Radio 4 FM documentary on the BBC website and we would expect it to be available on the BBC iPlayer after broadcast.

There are more details of the modern British publications of Classics Illustrated at the Classic Comic Store website.

You can read an interview with Classics Illustrated publisher Jeff Brooks on the downthetubes main site.

Radio 4 to air Eagle: The Space Age Weekly

A panel from Dan Dare: Prisoners of Space recently used
by the Daily Telegraph

(with thanks to Tony O'Sullivan): It looks like there is treat in store for Eagle fans just before Christmas. BBC Radio 4 will be broadcasting "Eagle: The Space Age Weekly" on Thursday 23rd December at 11. 30am.

In the show, Tim Rice explores the lasting appeal of the Eagle that as downthetubes readers well know, ran in two main incarnations between 1950 and 1994. He touches on the impact of its flagship character Dan Dare, regarded by some as  the greatest British sci-fi hero of the 20th century, and the life of its creator Marcus Morris, who initiated it in reaction to"horrific" US comics with their "disturbing" storylines. (The programme notes, for example, how Dan Dare was originally envisaged as a space chaplain before becoming the popular astronaut).


It also examines the work of illustrator Frank Hampson, who introduced technology years ahead of its time, arguing he knew the space age was on its way while serving in the Second World War. He made the Dan Dare strips as realistic as possible by dressing his team in spacesuits and uniforms, basing the look of the fictional characters on his colleagues.

The programme also reveals the stories' educational value and, along with Dan Dare, looks at other Eagle offerings which ran as comic strips.

The show will include contributions from author Philip Pullman and Morris's daughter Sally, who wrote Living with Eagles, a biography of her father's life, back in 1998, which was published by Lutterworth Press – and Eagle Society member David Britton.

Sir Tim Rice is of course a lifelong Eagle fan and introduced the Titan Books collection of Dan Dare: Prisoners in Space.

Tube Surfing: 2000 AD, Posy Simmonds, Radio 4 and comics events too!

To celebrate the release of Prog 1700 of 2000AD, fan Jason Garrattley is posting '...a week of rare bits and pieces from the archives (well, some old fanzines from the loft) from some of the cornerstone creators of the magazines' early years...' over at his blog.

He's started with (excellent) posts on Brian Bolland and Ian Gibson.

• Speaking of 2000AD, over at the Forbidden Planet International blog Joe Gordon has posted an insightful article about the early Judge Dredd strips.

• Meanwhile, Rich Johnston of Bleeding Cool makes us aware of the second season of Pilgrim on Radio 4. He says that the series is the closest thing to Hellblazer you'll get on the radio...

• Acclaimed artist Declan Shalvey (who's currently working on Marvel's Thunderbolts) will be signing at Forbidden Planet International in Dublin on September 16th.

• Paul Gravett is chatting to comics legend Trina Robbins in London on September 21st:

For the first time, Comica Festival and Laydeez Do Comics are thrilled to be teaming up to invite to London the important comic artist and writer, from the seminal underground comix of the Seventies to such icons as Wonder Woman, Barbie, Powerpuff Girls and her own GoGirl!, lecturer, curator and America’s foremost comics ‘herstorian’, Trina Robbins. She is coming over to present a paper at the academic conference Motherhoods, Markets and Consumption at the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford on Monday 13 September and has kindly agreed to visit London for this special extra event on Tuesday 21 September.


• Hey, the Guardian interviewed cartoonist Posy Simmonds on Saturday.

Here's a brief excerpt:

She says the current state of newspaper illustration is encouraging in that "there is more of it, because papers are bigger and reproduction is so much better". But she worries that computer generated work is becoming "samey", and about the decline of political cartoons. "It is very sad, although the great Steve Bell and a few others are notable exceptions. But maybe it's a sign of the times. How interested are people in politics? Are they getting their satire on jokey emails?"

Anyway, that's all for now, folks. See you at my next Tube Surf!

Torchwood: They Are Coming Soon

It began on BBC3, transferred to BBC2 and now Doctor Who's adult spin-off, Torchwood is finally arriving on BBC1.

The third season of Torchwood, which will run over the course of five consecutive nights on the BBC's premier channel, is starting at 9pm on Monday 6 July. Starring the survivors of the second season, Ianto Jones played by Gareth David-Lloyd, Gwenn Cooper played by Eve Myles and of course Captain Jack Harkness played by the irrepressible and omnipresent John Barrowman, the ongoing story is entitled Children Of Earth which the BBC are quietly playing down as "Torchwood's greatest adrenalin-fuelled, high octane adventure yet".

Prior to the TV series returning BBC Radio 4 will be broadcasting a series of three 45 minute Torchwood radio dramas in their Afternoon Plays slot. All starting at 2.15pm, these are Asylum written by Anita Sullivan on Wednesday 1 July, Golden Age by James Goss on Thursday 2 July and finally The Dead Line by Phil Ford on Friday 3 July.

Since these will be on at awkward times for most Torchwood fans, they will be available for seven days after broadcast on the BBC iPlayer.

• More details of the Torchwood TV series and radio series are available on the BBC's Torchwood website

Simonson On Air and Other Podcasts...

Alex Fitch talks to artist and writer Walter Simonson on Resonance FM which week, the creator whose exceptional four-year run on the Marvel comic The Mighty Thor in the early 1980s remains the most appreciated version of the character since Stan Lee and Jack Kirby brought the Viking hero to Marvel comics a generation before.

Alex and Walt talk about combining European mythology and space opera, esoteric character design (why does Beta Ray Bill have a face like a horse's skull?), turning the Norse god of war into a talking frog and the joy of revisiting classic heroes.

• Strip!: The Mighty Thor by Walter Simonson airs at 5.00pm Thursday 12/03/09, repeated 11.30pm Sunday 15/03/09, Resonance 104.4 FM (London), streamed at www.resonancefm.com / extended podcast after transmission at www.panelborders.wordpress.com


Also this week, Resonance FM's weekly show about Asian Culture, Lucky Cat: Live Action Manga, regular host Zoe Baxter invites Alex Fitch (Electric Sheep Magazine) and Helen McCarthy (The Animé Encyclopedia) into the studio to discuss live action manga adaptations such as 20th Century Boys and Death Note and how these compare to animé versions and adaptations of Western comic books such as Watchmen. The show includes Zoe's regular eclectic mix of Asian music from the last half century and live tastings from the Dim Sum Lunchbox...

• Lucky Cat: Live action Manga airs at 9.00pm Tuesday 17/03/09, Resonance 104.4 FM (London), streamed at www.resonancefm.com

Online now at www.sci-fi-london.com/audio, downthetubes readers may also be interested in Reality Check: The Invisible Art of Acting for Radio, in which Alex Fitch talks to actor Rupert Degas about his various roles in genre radio and audio dramas such as playing David Warner’s sidekick “Rizla” in the BBC7 adaptation of Robert Rankin’s The Brightonomicon and playing the father of a cyrogenically preserved child in Kim Newman’s Cry-Babies which was recently broadcast on Radio 4. Alex and Rupert also talk about his roles in Dan Dare, Dirk Gently and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy plus his uncredited role voicing the devil in Exorcist: The Beginning…

Drawn to be Wild!

Broadcaster and comedienne Jenny Eclair explores the world of outrageous animated ladies in Drawn to be Wild, a show for BBC Radio 4 broadcast last week, and available for now via iplayer until 12:02pm Thursday 18th December, and considers why certain creations have upset censors and infuriated moralists over the years.

Popular characters such as Betty Boop, Minnie the Minx and Wonder Woman have frequently challenged stereotypes of how 'good girls' should look and behave. Examining today's female comic book heroes, Jenny discovers how far we have come from being offended by Betty Boop's garter.

The show includes contributions from comic strip enthusiasts Paul Gravett and Mel Gibson.

Direct Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00ft64f

Tube Surfing: 13 October 2008

COMICS AND 'ZINES

• Radio 4 will be airing four 15-minute programmes on comics and cartoonists with Phill Jupitus, broadcasting on the back of a favourable response to his previous comics programme. The first one with Doonesbury creator Gary Trudeau went out last Tuesday and is available on Listen Again and has also got its own permanent link. the three to come include one with Bill Griffith and Alex creators Peattie and Taylor – again will be on the Listen Again after broadcast for seven days but Radio4 say they hope to do permanent links for them like the first one too at some point. More deatils from the Forbidden Planet International blog. "It's nice to see them following up on the earlier ones and their reception, feels FPI's Joe Gordon. "Between this, Comics Britannia and some other radio spots the Beeb has been fairly nice to the comics community this last year (and we have their SF drama series early next year on the radio too)."

Here's the line up:
• Tuesday 14th October at 0930 - Cartoonists with Attitude (Mikhaela Reid, Brian McFadden, Jen Sorensen, Masheka Wood)
• Tuesday 21st October at 0930 - Charles Peattie/Russell Taylor, creators of Alex
• Tuesday 28th October at 0930 - the great Bill ‘Zippy the Pinhead’ Griffith

• Mangaquake, sister title to top UK indie title Futurequake, is now available yo read online from the Futurequake press web site. All the strips from Mangaquake 01 have now been formatted to be read individulally.

• BBC Birmingham has published an interview with Moseley-based creator Andy Johnston about Zine Arcade, available throughout the UK and as far a field as the USA and Japan. The title brings together writing, poetry, drawings, artwork and more into one magazine and features many of Andy's contemporaries as well as his own work.
The first issue of Zine Arcade featured material by twenty self-publishers from Europe, North America and Australia. More info from the Zine Arcade web site.

In future there will be a new issue from FQP available each month! Next month it is the now legendary FQ06.
• 1980s small press fanzine Critical Wave, later sub-titled "The European Science Fiction & Fantasy Review", is to return. Published and co-edited by Steve Green and Martin Tudor, the original Critical Wave ran from October 1987 until the summer of 1996. Last month, Steve and Martin decided to relaunch Critical Wave as an electronic newszine, published monthly via eFanzines. The first edition is scheduled for mid-November, to coincide with Novacon 38.

• The small press event UK Comix Web Thing is to return in March 2009. More details from the offcial web site, although depending on your entry point there are currently conflicting dates listed for the event.

• Kickback and V for Vendetta artist David Lloyd will be in New York on the weekend of November 14-16 for the Big Apple Con at the Pennsylvania Hotel. "My last visit to one of those shows was in '06, at which I had a terrific time, and the organisers have now been kind enough to ask me back for another."

TV NEWS

• More bits of Doctor Who news over on Digital Spy. First, as widely reported, Doctor Who stars David Tennant and Catherine Tate will go head-to-head at this year's National Television Awards. Lead actor Tennant and Who newcomer Tate, who played The Doctor's companion Donna Noble, have both received a nomination in a new Outstanding Drama Performance category. However, they face competition from Ashes To Ashes star Philip Glenister (Gene Hunt) and The Bill's Alex Walkinshaw (Sgt. Dale Smith).
The web site also offers an overview of Doctor Who movies, as rumours fly about a possible big screen outing for the Time Lord.

• Variety reports US broadcaster NBC has ordered four more scripts of its new SF series Knight Rider from Universal Media Studios. The original series was a popular strip in weekly comic Look-In, often drawn by Barrie Mitchell who now draws Wendy for DC Thomson.

• In mobile media news, the BBC is now allowing television programmes to be downloaded to mobile devices capable of playing back content protected by Windows Media digital rights management. Among the supported devices are the Sony Walkman E and S series and Archos' Internet Media Tablet. The Windows Media DRM-protected TV shows join DRM-free radio programmes and podcasts among the BBC's download offerings.

FILM NEWS

• SciFiWire reports Fox 2000 has acquired rights to Joe Haldeman's 1974 classic SF novel The Forever War, and Ridley Scott is planning to make it into his first science fiction film since he delivered back-to-back classics with Blade Runner and Alien, Variety reported.

GAMES NEWS

• Digital Spy has also just published a handy potted history of the adventure game, the genre that achieved market dominance in the 1980s and 1990s. meanwhile, games publisher Bungie has confirmed that there will be no more Halo 3 add-ons after the upcoming Recon.

• Compiled with thanks to Matthew Badham, Joe Gordon and others. Cheers!