Radio shows that you love

Books, comics, TV, music
1

Personally my favorite radio show is the Ruby the Galactic Gumshoe and various iterations of same.

https://www.zbs.org/index_new.php/store/ruby

I was first turned on to Ruby after my accident. I was confined to a wheelchair in my house. I was flipping through radio stations when I heard this amazing thing. This was in 1990 and so Ruby was pretty much on the radio or nothing. I was enthralled. And no doubt painkillers had something to do with it. Regardless I have been a huge fan since then.

Edit: Stereo headphones a must.

2

Well. So how about those new moving pictures?

3

Great idea for a thread! Unfortunately, I’m not good with keeping track of names of radio plays.

The only one I remember is Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Those were brilliant.

But I heard some other science fiction ones on the BBC that were good, but I never caught their names.

And then when I lived in Seattle, the public radio station there used to have radio plays on once a week, and some were just okay, but others were brilliant. I don’t remember any of their names, sorry.

4

I haven’t listened to a lot of radio fiction, excepting the immortal

Regarding nonfiction radio shows they functionally count as ‘podcasts’ in my brain, but IMO ‘In Our Time’ is a real gem.


5

I don’t listen to an awful lot of radio fiction these days, but there are a handful I love:

Chickenman - Spoof/homage of old-time adventure serials. Episodes are very short.

Tom Stoppard did a bunch of radio plays back in the day. Particular favourites are Albert’s Bridge and If You’re Glad I’ll Be Frank

It never technically ran on the radio, but it played a radio show on podcasts : Thrilling Adventure Hour

I find Bragg’s faux naivete too annoying to get on with In Our Time, but I do love a bunch of other Radio 4 stuff:

I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue - extremely long running quasi-improv panel show. Origin of the game Mornington Crescent.

The Infinite Monkey Cage - science and comedy discussion show hosted by Brian Cox and Robin Ince.

From Our Own Correspondent - Little vignettes from foreign correspondents around the globe, every week. Some if it is about the stuff that’s in the headlines, some of it is more obscure.

BBC Radio does a good line in one off history documentary series :

A History Of The World In 100 Objects: Using 100 artifacts from the British Museum to tell stories about life from across the span of history.

Germany: Memories Of A Nation: Takes a similar approach to German history, but with things actually in Germany.

US public radio can be pretty good too:

This American Life - Come on, if you’re in this thread, you know what this is.

Radiolab - Science related oddities

More Perfect - I think this airs on the radio. It’s definitely a podcast. Anyway, it’s a fascinating show about the Supreme Court.

6

Not radio fiction but we loved The Vinyl Cafe. It was a touring radio variety show broadcast on the CBC showcasing local talent across Canada. The host Stuart McLean has passed but he was a wonderful teller of stories.

7

8

My Word was great.

9

Thanks for the replies. I’d like to add another one that I used to listen to as a kid. The Inner Sanctum.

The anthology series featured stories of mystery, terror and suspense, and its tongue-in-cheek introductions were in sharp contrast to shows like Suspense and The Whistler. The early 1940s programs opened with Raymond Edward Johnson introducing himself as, “Your host, Raymond,” in a mocking sardonic voice. A spooky melodramatic organ score (played by Lew White) punctuated Raymond’s many morbid jokes and playful puns. Raymond’s closing was an elongated “Pleasant dreeeeaams, hmmmmm?” His tongue-in-cheek style and ghoulish relish of his own tales became the standard for many such horror narrators to follow, from fellow radio hosts like Ernest Chappell (on Wyllis Cooper’s later series, Quiet, Please) and Maurice Tarplin (on The Mysterious Traveler).