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Batman Knightfall: The Radio Drama!

AzraelAzrael Registered User regular
edited April 2007 in Graphic Violence
My old Batthread is no more, so I will give this it's own thread, maybe it will go toward general Bat-discussion.

http://play.com/Books/AudioBooks/4-/3271698/-/Product.html?searchstring=batman+knightfall&searchsource=0

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Play.com wrote:
On CD for the first time, this fantastic full-cast radio adventure comes from esteemed producer Dirk Maggs, director of "Superman: Doomsday and Beyond" and the recent radio episodes of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy".

Batman has been crippled by his fiercest foe ever, Bane: a villain of superhuman strength, cunning and evil. With Bruce Wayne confined to a wheelchair, who will protect the innocent from the dangerous inmates of Arkham Asylum, whom Bane has released?

This stunning audio production was first aired on BBC Radio 1. The cliffhanging, all-action adventure can now be heard uninterrupted - with dazzling sound effects, specially composed orchestral music and all. You've 'never' heard a comic sound like this!

Comment by Dirk Maggs

When it was first suggested we should make action dramas in daily three minute episodes I was pretty scared but willing to give it a try. There was a lot of gloomy
predictions of failure but once we got into our stride it seemed to work pretty well, and it was a format which could be slotted in between the chart records on BBC Radio 1. Also the first real effort to get to grips with Dolby Surround was `Batman Knightfall" which we made for BBC Radio 1 in 1994.

The idea was to create an atmospheric mood which would be quite scary. Paul Deeley did some amazing sound mixing but some of the effects mixing and panning aren't as focused as we would do it now on Dolby 5.1.

To be honest, everything I have done I would improve if I could go back and do it again ... we are all the same, perfectionists who - but for deadlines - might never finish a job!

A quick word for Bob Sessions who played our Batman. What a great presence he has, what a wonderful voice. And he WAS Batman in a uniquely urbane way. My ambition was to do Frank Miller's `The Dark Knight Returns' with him ... sadly it was not to be - dear Bob died before it could happen. Thank you Bob.

I am pretty damn stoked for this, and also surprised the BBC decided all of a sudden to delve into their archives to publish such a thing. Don't be fooled by the fact it is a British production, the voice cast is excellent through and through, the guy who does the Joker almost gives Mark Hamill a run for his money.

So anyway, back in 1994, the BBC produced some radio dramas for Radio 1 (I don't know about back then, but now it's the biggest national radio station that mostly focuses on new music and presenters that entertain in their own right), one was Spider-man (which featured the Fantastic Four and Dr Doom) and the other (that I am aware of) is this, Batman Knightfall. It follows the plot of the comics pretty close, managing to cover pretty much all the way from Sword of Azrael through Knightsend, and included elements from KnightQuest (The Search and The Crusade) which were never republished in any way.

I got recommenced the cassette version by a friend years ago and I was just blown away. Of note is that Michael Gough plays Alfred, as he did in the original 4 Batman movies, but let's not hold that against him.

Brits will probably be best served by buying at Play.com from the above link (£8.99 with delivery is a fucking steal), though it is also on UK iTunes for £11.95. For fans elsewhere I would suggest checking the channels best suited to you, I don't know if you can use a proxy to get UK iTunes content. But if you liked the comic version of Knightfall there is no way you won't enjoy this.

Azrael on

Posts

  • MalkorMalkor Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    I liked the Hithikers Guide to the Galaxy Radio program. I'll give this a listen to if I can find it easily.

    Malkor on
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  • Red or AliveRed or Alive Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    Yeah, I had this on cassette many, many years ago. I remember Batman's voice sounding as if the voice actor was simply trying too hard. Even then Kevin Conroy was the only man I felt did justice to the bat.

    Still good stuff, though.

    Spider-Man, on the other hand, was undiluted awesome.

    Red or Alive on
  • AzraelAzrael Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    Not had the pleasure of hearing the Spider-man one, hopefully this means the BBC is talking to Marvel regarding the licensing and it is forthcoming.

    Regarding Batman's voice, I liked him fine, though I didn't have a problem with Christian Bale's either. He did a great Bruce Wayne though, and I thought the opening monologue ("Let me tell you a few things about Gotham....") was fantastically well done.

    Azrael on
  • Bad KarmaBad Karma Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    Azrael wrote: »
    My old Batthread is no more, so I will give this it's own thread, maybe it will go toward general Bat-discussion.

    That's because we made this one.

    Bad Karma on
    Xbox Live: Ornery Rooster
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  • VirralVirral Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    Azrael wrote: »
    Don't be fooled by the fact it is a British production, the voice cast is excellent through and through

    Seriously, that comment is so messed up, like normally BBC radio productions are horrible... *shakes head sadly*

    Virral on
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  • AzraelAzrael Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    Virral wrote: »
    Azrael wrote: »
    Don't be fooled by the fact it is a British production, the voice cast is excellent through and through

    Seriously, that comment is so messed up, like normally BBC radio productions are horrible... *shakes head sadly*


    I meant that it's British actors doing American accents (well) not that expectations of a BBC production shouldn't be high.
    Bad Karma wrote: »
    Azrael wrote: »
    My old Batthread is no more, so I will give this it's own thread, maybe it will go toward general Bat-discussion.

    That's because we made this one.

    It also hasn't been posted in for 3 weeks and is off the front page. Fair game.

    Azrael on
  • FallingmanFallingman Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    Well, colour me intrigued... Good story is it?

    Fallingman on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • Bad KarmaBad Karma Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    Azrael wrote: »
    It also hasn't been posted in for 3 weeks and is off the front page. Fair game.

    Yet there it is, on the front! :rotate:

    Bad Karma on
    Xbox Live: Ornery Rooster
    PSN: OrneryRooster
  • ZeromusZeromus Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    I bought this from iTunes a couple of weeks ago. It's quite good.

    Zeromus on
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  • RedeemerRedeemer Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    Oh my god

    I just remembered that I had this comic-on-tape reading of Batman: Year One as a kid

    It really fucking scared me

    I'd listen to it for ten seconds and shut it off

    Redeemer on
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