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Being a Judge Dredd fan in the States, I'm always hungry for more content than is readily available. So I decided to listen to a couple of the Big Finish audio dramas. The first, Death Trap!, involved the escape of Judge Death from IsoBlock 99. The second, Double Zero, involved Judge Anderson losing her psychic powers. I was pretty pleased with them over all. I think they captured the deadpan humor of the comics and the writing was pretty good. Death Trap! was by David Bishop (who also wrote some of the Dredd novels) and Double Zero was by James Swallow (a familiar name to 40k fans). The sound effects were pretty good all around, especially the Lawmaster engine revving. The voice acting itself was superb but I can't say the same for the casting. Although Toby Longworth (who read both Garro shorts for the Black Library) plays a great Judge Dredd, Louise Jameson (Leela from Doctor Who) was as bizarre a choice for Cassandra Anderson as Mark Gatiss (a more recent Doctor Who alum) was an underwhelming choice for Judge Death. Neither performance was poorly done, mind, but the voices were totally unsuitable. Ms. Jameson sounds every bit the woman of sixty she is (too husky even for Anderson's fifty years) and was either unwilling or unable to deliver anything close to an American accent. These two are my favorite characters in the Big Meg so it was doubly disappointing that Big Finish missed the mark by so far. I'll probably go for one more of the Judge Dredd dramas, the aptly named Solo, where Mr. Longworth does all the voice parts himself.

In the meantime, do you Dakkanauts listen to audio dramas? What would you recommend? For Black Library, I've already listened to both Heart of Rage and Throne of Lies. Both were very well executed but I found the stories lacking. Throne of Lies was a particular disappointment, just in terms of what happened in the story, but it was still aces as an audio drama production.

Big Finish Audio's Doctor Who plays, which I've followed for some years now, are also well worth a listen. Given the high esteem with which Big Finish are treated in geeky circles, it continues to surprise me that GW have been quite so circumspect about their presence as producers of the Black Library audio plays.

I don't know how easily you'd find them in the US, Manchu, but if you're fond of such things you might enjoy Nebulous, a sci-fi spoof (starring Mark Gattiss, sound design by Nicholas Briggs) produced by Radio 4.

I listen to loads of Audio Books and drama's, I prefer them to music when I'm painting, the only problem is that some of them are fething expensive.

I'm halfway through the audiobook Salvations Reach, and its excellent. DA is my favourite writer (Legion is far and away my favourite HH novel) so I may be a little biased but, I heartily recommend it.

I've also listened to the three short stories by George R Martin about Dunk and Egg. I looked them up because I first discovered the song of ice and fire in about 2003 when I was based in Basrah and picked up a book called "Legends" which collected together loads of writers. I was so impressed with the short story by him I picked up Game of thrones and never looked back. So if your a johnny come lately who only read them recently, I heartily recommend not just the actual book series, but the three short stories about Dunk and Egg.

Regards the BL audio drama's I have done about 7 of them and I found the two you named to be two of the worst! I think Ravens Flight is the best one I have heard, when Corax is ripping the gak out of people with his whip or tab flicking rocks through traitors necks you cant help but grin.

Anyway, I wouldn't say I'm a fan of Judge Dredd as I haven't read a 2000ad since I was about 15, but I always enjoyed it and bought it pretty regularly, so im off to get a copy of a JD one for when I finish SR this week!

Ill go for a solo Longworth one as well though, I may be prejudiced because I'm British, but I preferred the Martin Short with a British speaker over an American one.. I think we can just do multiple accents alot better.

You should hear my American one.. its flawless!

"Ah'll tayke pleahsure in guttin you boah!"

I've been into Podcasts for years now.
Unlike audio books, they're usually free. I've found Scifi, horror and everything in between.

@English Assassin, mattyrm: thanks for the reccomendations, me hearties. I'll add Nebulous and Raven's Flight to my list.

@alarmingrick: Well, give some examples, man!

Glad to be of help! I shall be picking up some Dredd myself next time I place an order with BF.

Which one are you thinking of getting?

My favorites by far(at the moment!) are:

Pseudopod - http://pseudopod.org/ - Great horror stories

We're alive - http://www.zombiepodcast.com/The_Zombie_Podcast/Main.html - Great and long running Zombie survivor story.

Check out 'Butchers Nails' rather well done imho.


I didn't know big finish also did Judge Dredd stuff, I would kill to hear a audio version of "A Mega-City Primer" or "A Santa Affair"

Thanks for the info Manchu.

Manchu wrote:Which one are you thinking of getting?

Thanks to Big Finish's generosity, I've just treated myself to the four-part Crime Chronicles set for £10. (And less-economically, pre-ordered all three of the Tom Baker boxed sets.)

I think the Judge Anderson one is among those.

Manchu wrote:I think the Judge Anderson one is among those.

Indeed, the whole order turns out to be a feast of Louise Jameson. Not that I mind...

Another of the great things about the UK is that BBC Radio puts up a lot of its voice programmes as podcasts.

These include drama, comedy, and factual strands.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts

Some of my favourites are:

Crossing Continents
The History of the World in One Hundred Objects
Great Lives

There are also regular plays and soap operas. I find a lot of drama in real lives.

Don't forget "In Our Time", which is generally fascinating. (Also my former supervisor, Prof. Richard Gameson is a frequent contributor.)

Kilkrazy wrote:There are also regular plays and soap operas. I find a lot of drama in real lives.

Also there is The Archers.

English Assassin wrote:Don't forget "In Our Time", which is generally fascinating. (Also my former supervisor, Prof. Richard Gameson is a frequent contributor.)

Kilkrazy wrote:There are also regular plays and soap operas. I find a lot of drama in real lives.

Also there is The Archers.

Oh god the Archers, as soon as I hear that theme tune I dash for the nearest exit.

As has been stated the BBC put out some good drama's and shows but I think you can only listen for free in the UK. The BBC World Service is available for everyone, though most of its listings are news based or factual. More Or Less and the Forum are both very interesting, full of ideas.
I have been listing to the John le Carrie audio books of his Smiley series and highly recommend them if you like spy stories, there nothing like the gun ho 007 spy films, there more dark and about actual spying. I think there a few on youtube but the links don't survive long.

Richard Matheson's 'I Am Legend' audio book is one of my personal favourites.

The BBC radio series of The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy if you can find somewhere to listen to it.

Fantastic writing and spot on voice acting, radio shows don't get much better in my opinion.