Hub_79 by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: mobi

FEATURES

Radiodays by neil gardner

“Tis The Season To Be Sci-Fi” Pinch yourself because you are not dreaming; we are not all experiencing some strange mass hallucination; and no, we haven’t died and gone to some Sci-Fi lovers heaven! It is March 2009 and BBC Radio is running a Science Fiction Season across Radios 3, 4 and 7. Not one series, or a documentary, or a repeat of something from the 1970’s, but a veritable smorgasbord of genre dramas and comedies from some truly impressive writing and performing talent. The announcement of the season caused no small amount of debate within our community, mostly because the Commissioning Editor of Drama at Radio 4 claimed that big name actors were now interested in doing Sci-Fi because Dr Who had made the genre ‘sexy’. Much of the blog-sphere was up in ampersands about his statement, and I must admit that it took me by surprise for all of a few seconds, before I remembered that this was the same Commissioning Editor who had confessed to me a couple of years ago that he ‘didn’t get’ science fiction. He certainly doesn’t if that statement is anything to go by. But let’s not be overly unfair on him, after all, he has put together this season of new programmes, and for that we should all be profoundly grateful.

As one of the producer/directors of the season, I have been asked by numerous journalists and fans, friends and interested parties how the season came to be. I think it would be remiss of me not to mention the role HUB had in the decision by the BBC to run this season. Back in the early mists of HUB history, when it was still a published magazine, rather than this shiny new-media behemoth it has become, I wrote several Radio Days articles, one of which was an investigation of ‘Where The Heck Has All The Sci-Fi Gone From Radio?!” As research for the piece I interviewed Jeremy Howe, the Commissioning Editor of Drama for Radio 4, as well as Caroline Raphael, the former Drama Comm Ed and current Comedy Comm Ed for Radio 4. We spoke at length about where Sci-Fi had gone, and they revealed that part of the reason was their lack of knowledge of the genre, as well as a fear of multiple failed attempts to create a ‘new’ Hitch Hiker’s Guide To The Galaxy (I’ve never understood the fear of trying to emulate HHGTTG...we should fear poor copies of it instead!) They were also wary of pushing ‘zap guns and alien invasions’ on the traditional Radio 4 audience. To their credit, they invited me and other producers to recommend and discuss Sci-Fi works and writers that we thought could fit the network’s output, and promised that the genre would find a way back on air.

Well, they have lived up to their promise, and not just on Radio 4. Radio 3 has also become a part of the season, as well as the recently re-branded Radio 7.

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