Finally - Star Trek audio dramas

[23skidoo]

CNN.com has a feature on the soon-to-launch series of fan-made audio dramas based upon Trek:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/TV/12/20/star.trek.podcast/index.html

Although there have been made-for-audio dramas based on Trek before -- most notably the two Captain Sulu productions done by Simon & Shuster -- I see this as a promising sign as this is exactly how the Doctor Who audio drama franchise got started back in the days of "Audio Visuals" in the late 1980s. Today there are literally dozens of high-end, fully licensed audio dramas being made by Big Finish, which is for all intents and purposes, Audio Visuals.

Nothing against the fan films, but what I like about the audio dramas is this is the type of medium where you could have Shatner doing a TOS-era Kirk story without any worries about age or anything. There's even precedent for using now-deceased actors. The Big Finish drama Zagreus featured Jon Pertwee, who had died a decade earlier, through the use of archive recordings that were incorporated into the play. It's conceivable something similar could be done with Kelly and Doohan if sufficient recordings exist.

Cheers!

Alex

 

[OmahaStar]

23skidoo said:

The Big Finish drama Zagreus featured Jon Pertwee, who had died a decade earlier, through the use of archive recordings that were incorporated into the play.

I have that, and it was bloody well fantastic. The way they were able to incorporate five doctors and about a million companions in that story was brilliant.

 

[Smiley]

Basically, these are the Trek equivalent of the type of audio dramas found on Star Wars Fanworks for that series. They are sometimes excellent stories, but they will have no impact on official productions.

 

[ClayinCA]

^^So, kind of like the books, then? If these are as well done as the books (or indeed, as most of the Big Finish Doctor Who audio plays), they'll be well worth getting.

 

[Therin of Andor]

23skidoo said:
most notably the two Captain Sulu productions done by Simon & Shuster

There were three:

"Transformations" by Dave Stern, read by George Takei, Dana Ivey, and others, 1994

"Cacophony" by J.J. Molloy, read by George Takei, Simon Jones, and others, 1994

"Envoy" by L.A. Graf, read by George Takei, Essene R., and others, 1995.

 

[Colonel Green]

Sounds like a great idea!

I've recently gotten very much into audiobooks. I listen to them nonstop on my ipod when I'm walking to work, grocery shopping, doing yard work etc.

 

[JD]

I've never really listened to audiodramas before, but this might be enough to get me to start.

 

[tmclough]

One of my hobbies/interests (besides Star Trek) is OTR (Old Time Radio). When I'm listening to OTR, I'm listening to audio dramas from back in the days when they were much more common--from before to the early days of television.

Among the shows I listen to somewhat regularly are a couple of sci-fi series from the 1950's--"Dimension X" and "X Minus One". Some of the dates that the shows take place, which were in the future back then, are now history! These series offer an alternative view of the future from Star Trek, but they're nice to listen to in addition to Star Trek.

That said, I can't wait until Christmas to listen to "The Continuing Mission"--a mix of two hobbies/interests. I just wish that there were more episodes, more frequently; but I understand the constraints they're working under.

 

[T'Cal]

If you like Trek and you like audio dramas, thare is a number of very good to excellent ones out there from S&S. My favorites are TNG audio novels titled Imzadi, Crossover, Dark Mirror, Q-Squared, The Devil's Heart, and Reunion. The first two were read by Frakes, the second two by DeLancie, and the last pair by McFadden, and all do admirable jobs of telling their stories. Other good ones are All Good Things, Relics and Generations, which is better than the movie as it has additional scenes that include Bones and Spock. Only a few are available on iTunes; I have over three dozen Trek audio books on cassette tape.

 

[OmahaStar]

T'Cal, with all due respect, there is a world of difference between a book on tape (this includes each and every Trek "audio" with the sole exception of the 3 Captain Sulu audio dramas) and an audio play/drama.

The audio plays are full presentations, with full casts, sound effects, original music, etc.

The books on tape (or cd) don't even come close to matching what can be done with the audio plays.

Another difference is that the books on tape are abridgments of novels (or novelizations, whichever). The audio plays are wholly original, written specifically for that format.

To see what I mean, try listening to one of the Captain Sulu stories. One of them features the fantastic Dana Ivey in a co-starring capacity.

 

[hellsgate]

MMMMM. Yummy! I'd love to hear some of the stories published at TrekBBS done as Audio Dramas (and a few off-site such as "Dark Horizons" by Michael Gray.) Plus a few of my own work-in-progress stories, too.

 

[Rarewolf]

Merry Stitchmas said:
T'Cal, with all due respect, there is a world of difference between a book on tape (this includes each and every Trek "audio" with the sole exception of the 3 Captain Sulu audio dramas) and an audio play/drama.

The Borg PC game was adapted to a full cast audio as well, with a little extra narration. After all a full drama was done for the game.

Big Finish (who do the Doctor Who audios) have recently branched out from full cast audio to narrated audiobooks, with a TV star reader and a guest voice, for stories they couldn't do - with unavailable Doctors. And its some of the best stuff they've ever done.

And now they are branching out even further to do licenced Stargate audiobooks.

Books as apposed to dramas are a lot easier to produce I'd imagine, and perhaps easier to enjoy.

 

[T'Cal]

Merry Stitchmas said:
T'Cal, with all due respect, there is a world of difference between a book on tape (this includes each and every Trek "audio" with the sole exception of the 3 Captain Sulu audio dramas) and an audio play/drama.

The audio plays are full presentations, with full casts, sound effects, original music, etc.

The books on tape (or cd) don't even come close to matching what can be done with the audio plays.

Another difference is that the books on tape are abridgments of novels (or novelizations, whichever). The audio plays are wholly original, written specifically for that format.

To see what I mean, try listening to one of the Captain Sulu stories. One of them features the fantastic Dana Ivey in a co-starring capacity.

Merry, while I enjoyed the "Alien Voices" audio plays as performed by DeLancie, Nimoy and other Trek actors, I tried the Sulu stories and hated them; poorly read and acted. As for Continuing Missions, I find them lacking, too. Enjoy them. I'll stick with the audio-novels that are read so wonderfully by Trek actors. When Frakes reads as Troi, McFadden reads as Picard, or DeLancie reads as Worf, I hear and imagine the characters as they are played on TV. For me, they are that good.

BTW, the audio-novels do in fact use sound effects and they also have a sound track. Also, while they are abridged, they are done so specifically for audio. Some even have scenes that were in a movie's novelization that never made it to the screen. Perhaps it's been a while for you, but I can't recommend strongly enough that you give them a second try. Any of the ones I mentioned above are outstanding.

 

[Anubis]

Alien Voices were great! I also love the Doctor Who audios. Looking forward to this.

 

[jefferiestubes8]

Star Trek audio dramas

http://www.sttcm.com/
Star Trek: The Continuing Mission

they have 7 episodes up now.
gotta love audio plays or audio dramas which are like the
"Star Wars: A New Hope" NPR radio serial audio drama from 1981
that was about 13 hours. in stereo with dialogue, music, sound effects. your imagination makes the picture...
this Star Trek fan audio drama is very similar.

also on their site is 1979 Gene Roddenberry MP3 interviews.
also,
James Doohan, and Deforest Kelley separate 1979 MP3 interviews. they sound like recorded off a telephone or speakerphone but still very cool.