Speaker 1: And now Audio Theater Central.
Speaker 2: Hello, welcome to Audio Theater Central. This is the show
that explores family friendly audio drama through news, reviews and interviews.
I'm your host, JD. Sutter, and this is episode two fifteen.
Thank you so much for joining me for this summertime episode,
and we're going to be talking all about that here
in a few moments. This might be a little bit
of a shorter episode, had a whole lot of stuff
going on, but we'll try to still make it worth
your while with some great audio drama recommendations. As always,
we're going to start off with some audio drama updates
here shortly, lots of cool stuff happening, and then in
the here's what I'm Thinking segment, I am going to
be talking about some of my favorite summertime or road
trip audio dramas, and I brought in some of the
ATC contributors to share some of their favorites as well.
So we're gonna take a look at a bunch of
fun audio dramas to listen to on a road trip,
and I think we're gonna have a lot of fun.
We'll hear some samples from some of them and talk
a little bit about them and also have a few
recommendations from listeners as well. So for my American listeners,
I hope you had a wonderful Independence Day, and for
the Canadians, I hope you had a great Canada Day.
And here we are in the month of July. It's summertime,
so let's jump into all of this audio drama goodness.
Speaker 3: We interrupt this program to bring you a special.
Speaker 4: Report and in other news tonight.
Speaker 5: A brief look at the headlines.
Speaker 6: Now they want exciting, fast piece news that's relevant and
entertaining like this.
Speaker 2: Well. Quick reminder, as always, if you've got some audio
drama updates, be sure to send them over to us
PFM dot link, slash atc news or click the button
on the homepage of our website. Let us know what
you've got going on. And I know there are several
of you who have been anticipating the next Adventures and
Odyssey album review. Yes we are a bit behind on those.
If that's what you were expecting for this episode or
hoping for. I do have some Odissey related information to
share with you, and first is I was a guest
on the Odyssey Geek podcast and we talked about our
top seven favorite sound design moments. This episode released on
June twenty first of this year, so just a couple
of weeks ago, and in case you missed it, I
think it will be a great Odyssey related conversation that
you can go check out to hold you over until
the next ATC review of Odyssey. And here is a
little snippet of that episode with me in Austin Peachee
to give you a little bit of an idea of
how we approached this collection of great sound design moments
from Adventures and Odyssey. The way I approached this, it's
not necessarily the best or the most intricate or the
most epic moments. Rather, these are sound design moments that
I think are just extremely well executed in service to
the story right and help immerse the listener in what's happening.
Or ones that just really impacted me as a listener
from a sound design perspective, or where the sound effects
kind of stole the show for a moment. So that's
kind of where I was coming at this at this
topic from so I would say this, these might not
be like my top favorite moments in the entire run
of the show. More like these are just seven out
of the dozens that I could have chosen, and on
a different day, I might have selected some different ones,
so who knows.
Speaker 7: Yeah, for me, again, like favorite is kind of broad.
I try not to go with like you know best
and that kind of stuff because that's a little more objective,
I think. Yeah, So for me, you know, these are
moments that I think about quite a bit, or that
really when I think about that episode, I remember that
moment yes in that episode, or just wow, that was
really complex. Yeah, like I really appreciate all that went
into making that happen. So yeah, it was difficult for
me too. I was even editing this list about two
or three hours before we started recording this, so yeah,
this is going to be interesting. And also it's the
first time doing a ranked list with you, so this
is be a lot of fun.
Speaker 2: So link is in the show notes if you want
to go check out that episode, which I highly recommend
you do. It was a fun conversation and I think
you'll enjoy it. Now. Next up is another Adventures in
Odyssey discussion on another podcast, this time it's for your
fellow Odyssean's podcast, and I was invited back to that
show by the host Daniel Roth, and this time, rather
than having a more general discussion about our experiences with
the show, we talked about a big Adventures in Odyssey
anniversary slash milestone that is going to be commemorated in
just a couple of weeks. So that episode is not
out yet, and I'm not going to tell you any
more about it because I want you to go check
it out. It will be dropping on July eighteenth. Again,
that is the Your Fellow Odysseans podcast, So for more
Odissey discussion with me and Daniel, be sure to check
that out. There is a link to the overall show
in the show notes for this episode, and I will
update that to reflect the specific episode once that drops.
So again, more Odyssey discussion over on the Your Fellow
Odissions podcast. All right, so let's move into some recent
releases in the audio drama community. First up is episode
two of Venture from Eternal Future Productions is out now.
It's called a Drift in Space and it is available
to listen to for free on their YouTube channel. But
if you would like to own a copy of it,
it's easy to do. You can head over to their
website Eternal Futureproductions Dot com and purchase that episode there.
So this one was written by Glenn Haskell and directed
by Alisia Hanson, with sound designed by Lee Stang, music
by Frank Hughley, and it was mastered by Craig Hart. Again,
we have Jonathan Cook as the lead role of Captain Kurt,
and other members of the cast are Craig Hart, Rose
Hunt Person, Daniel Cross, Dominic Trice, Nathan Marlette, Alisha Hansen,
and Kara O'Brien. So lots of sci fi fun with
venture Episode two and also episode three, which is titled
It All Started with an Itch is also in production.
It is in the sound design and music phase right now,
so that one will be coming out very soon. Again,
you can stream them for free on their YouTube channel,
but if you'd like to purchase them, you can go
ahead and check those out on their website of course
links in the show notes. Our next recent release is
Reckoning of Cowards from New Birth Audio Productions. This is
their debut full length audio drama and it is now
available on CD and digital download. So set in nineteen
fifty four Southern Louisiana, Reckoning of Cowards is a gripping
full cast mystery exploring corruption power and hidden truths in
a small town rocked by a triple homicide. Sheriff Noble
Vincent is tasked with uncovering the truth, but his own
secrets may cost him everything. The production features a standout cast,
immersive sound design, and a cinematic original score by award
winning composer Jared di Pascual. This story marks the first
installment in New Birth's Bayou Noir series, with more titles
currently in development. So link in the show notes to
go ahead and pick up your copy. It is available again,
both digitally and in physical media formats. So again link
is in the show notes. Now if you would like
to hear my first impression of the trailer for that
show is in ADC backstage. I have not actually listened
to the full show yet, but what I can tell
from the trailer is this is not one for the
little kids. This is an audio drama aimed at the
adult demographic, So parents, you want to probably screen this
one ahead of time to see if it is suitable
for your children. Next up is He Vanished below from
a Caleb Brestler and Craig Hart. This is a three
episode mini series. The first episode dropped on June ninth,
and the next two episodes dropped shortly thereafter, so all
three parts are available now and again, this is a
show intended for older listeners, so parents, you might want
to preview it first. There are some scenes that might
be a little more intense or scary, and some content
that is something you might not want your little ears
to hear about, so you might want to check it out.
But here is a little sample from the first episode
to what your appetite.
Speaker 6: Well, glad you finally made it in.
Speaker 8: We weren't that long. Yeah, whatever, There's a lot of
graffiti in here.
Speaker 6: There's two different tunnels that go off here. Which way
should we go?
Speaker 8: How are we gonna find our way back? We haven't
even gone in that far.
Speaker 6: It's not like it's amaze.
Speaker 3: Let's take the left one.
Speaker 8: It looks spooky, and then we what's that?
Speaker 3: Calm down, keV. Is just the train the tracks right overhead?
Speaker 6: Remember like this, We know, we know, this tunnel goes
down really far.
Speaker 2: Now. This three parter is also being released to stream
for free on YouTube. There is a playlist there, or
you can go to the project website, which is also
linked in the show notes. So that is he Vanished
below a thriller mystery mini series from Caleb Bresler and
Craig Hart and if you'd like to hear my initial
reaction to that three parter that is also in ATC
Backstage and last up in our updates segment is another
release from Heart Matters, and this one is called Red's
Fall at Grand Mall. So this is a sequel to
A Pigtail, which was released last year from Heart Matters,
and this story is a comedic spin on the classic
tale Little Red writing Hood and listeners will learn the
importance of being careful what they share online and to
choose your social media friends wisely. The cast includes returning
actors Bethany Baldwin as the omniscient Narrator and John Thornoff
as Big Bad b B. Woolf. Betsy Nicholson plays the
title role of Red, with Rebecca Bradford, Kara O'Brien, and
Frank you Lee filling out the rest of the cast.
Glenn Haskell wrote the script for A Pigtail as well
as this sequel, and sound design was done by Mark Mulkayhey.
So this episode, as well as all of the previous releases,
including A Pigtail, are available for free in the Heart
Matters app in the Apple op Store or Google Play.
Link is in the show notes for that as well.
So if you need a little bit of laughter in
your life right now, this is a fun one to
check out. Oh wow, lots of great new releases, lots
of amazing stuff happening in the family friendly audio drama space.
But now let's move into looking at some past releases
that are a lot of fun to listen to. In
the summertime.
Speaker 9: Testing one, two, three testing That.
Speaker 2: Was just me talking.
Speaker 10: I do that a lot.
Speaker 8: Where's my speech?
Speaker 11: How long you've been to woo uf with it?
Speaker 1: That's what I want to talk about.
Speaker 2: So I had the idea several months ago to talk
about some of my favorite summertime or road trip appropriate
audio dramas, and I thought, well, let me go ahead
and reach out to the ATC contributors and see if
they want to contribute as well. I think that would
be fun to hear what everybody's favorites or some of
their favorite audio dramas for the summertime are. And unfortunately,
not all of the contributors were able to participate, but
we've got several of them, and you know, This is
not the first time we've talked about this idea or
this subject, but listener Kyle several years ago, back in
twenty twelve, asked us about what are some recommendations of
some really high quality audio dramas to listen to on
a road trip. So we put together a post back
then called Essential Audio Entertainment for road Trips. And that
time we were primarily just focusing on a big list
of long form stuff that would be appropriate for different ages,
and so we broke it up by that and so
there's a lot of different ones on there. So I've
linked that post in the show notes because I still
think it's got some great recommendations on there. Some of
them you've probably heard of, some of them might be
ones Ye're not familiar with, So that is also linked
in the show notes, and I think it's worth checking out.
But this time I decided to sort of narrow it
down a little bit to some of my personal favorites.
And so for me personally, I was thinking stories that
are not too heavy or sad or emotional. They might have,
you know, one or two emotional moments in them, but
I was wanting something that was more on the side
of adventure or thriller, or just a long story that
you can spend some time getting to know the characters
and sort of just occupying this story world for you know,
longer than a twenty five minute Odyssey episode. So that
was how I approached it. I didn't put those same
sort of stipulations on the ATC contributors. I just told them, Hey,
something that you enjoy listening to in the summertime. Maybe
something that when you listen it just feels like summer,
or it works really well for listening to as a
group on a family road trip, something like that. So,
since I ended up selecting a handful of different ones,
what I'm going to do is share one or two
of mine and then we'll go to one of the
contributors and we'll just go back and forth like that. So,
you know, there are so many amazing long form audio
dramas in this space, and there are so many different
ones that I could have selected, but based on you
know that Criteri area of something less on the pulling
at your heartstrings side of things and more of an
emphasis on the adventure and action side of things, or
again one is just a long form journey, so to speak,
that you can just get pulled into. So one of
the first ones that came to my mind was the
Extraordinary Adventures of Ja Hint series. Now there are several
from their library that I think would apply here that
would work just fine, but the first one that came
to my mind was their very first release, Under Drake's Flag.
It's such an action packed adventure. It's definitely not a
road trip. A significant amount of the story takes place
on a ship, so you've got the seafaring adventure sort
of aspect of it. But if you haven't heard it
in a while, or if you've never heard it, it
is about Ned Hawkshaw and he's about to take the
greatest adventure a boy could ever imagine. With one of
the most celebrated heroes in history, Sir Francis Drake. Ned
fights off a shark attack, survives a shipwreck, engages in
fierce battles on sea and land, and comes face to
face with the Spanish Inquisition. Experience the swashbuckling tale that
pits faith against fear and helps Ned grow from a
boy into a man. Live the adventure and board the
Golden High for an epic quest of courage. On the
High seas really really great high action audio drama. And
in the show notes is a link to our review
of it, as well as a link to purchase it.
And here is a little sixty second promo that will
give you a little bit more about this amazing adventure
audio drama. And I should say some of these promos
that I'm going to play were originally produced for radio,
so they might mention, you know, stations or older websites
that aren't really in use anymore, so be sure to
check the show notes for the appropriate links.
Speaker 12: His name, let's hook show, and he's about to take
the greatest adventure a boy could ever imagine.
Speaker 3: With one of the most celebrated heroes in history.
Speaker 13: My name is Francis Drick.
Speaker 3: Confronting the fiercest dangers, canel swid no nets start.
Speaker 2: With dear shirt, no like stop.
Speaker 3: You'll come face to face the evil itself.
Speaker 2: We arrest you in the name of the Holy Inquisition.
Speaker 9: You have one hour to recount your faith.
Speaker 3: A story pit's faith against fair evenly Father?
Speaker 8: Where are you?
Speaker 3: And turns ned from a boy into a bat. I
may be young, but I will not bow before the Spaniards.
Speaker 12: Now bring this in spiring adventure Hope. Order your copy
of Under Drake's Plan go to hentyolive dot com. That's
henty alive dot com.
Speaker 2: Oh man, that one is just so fun, really really
enjoyed that. Highly recommend it, and I'm gonna share one
more of mine and then we're gonna jump to one
of our contributors. Next up is from the Focus on
the Family Radio Theater series and my pick for that
series is at Home in Midford. So this one is
definitely not on the adventure side of things. This is
a much more slower paced story, but it is one
where you just get to spend a lot of time
with these characters, get to know them, and it just
pulls you into this small town life where you feel
like you become friends with these people. So if you
don't know, it's based on a book, but it is
set in the charming village of Mitford and it draws
listeners into the life of Father Tim and episcopal rector
who finds himself running on empty and longing for change.
His bachelor existence is changed and enriched by a lovable
cast of characters, including a stray dog, a lonely boy,
and a comely neighbor. This one is just a whole
lot of fun. There's a lot of humor, there is
a lot of heart. There are a couple of more
serious emotional moments, but overall it's just a really enjoyable time.
And this is one that I have listened to on
a row trip and it really just works great for
that that environment. And here is a little sample from
that show.
Speaker 11: Father Tim, Oh, we're so glad you're here.
Speaker 2: Hello, Hessie.
Speaker 9: How's it going?
Speaker 11: Well, we were just discussing the arrangement of the flowers.
I thought we should plant them so they spelled Midford.
Wouldn't it be grown?
Speaker 2: I think you'll need more flowers than you have.
Speaker 11: Now, Oh, dear, well do you think so?
Speaker 3: I'm sure of it unless you leave out a few letters,
really which ones?
Speaker 14: Well, you could leave out the vowels.
Speaker 11: M, T, F R, D oh.
Speaker 15: You know, if might work.
Speaker 11: I'll tell everyone.
Speaker 3: No, no, no, wait, I was only Joe killing father.
Speaker 11: Is that your dog? You might want to get him
out of the road.
Speaker 9: Hey, what your name is?
Speaker 3: Don't come here?
Speaker 9: Come here?
Speaker 16: There's are.
Speaker 9: You trying to get yourself killed.
Speaker 12: The road?
Speaker 3: Shoo shoo, go play in the park or something. Sorry
about that, Father.
Speaker 17: Tim ah MERCEDI I was just coming up to.
Speaker 2: See all right, Well, let's move on to ATC contributor
Michael Schrader and his picks.
Speaker 5: There is no better entertainment medium than audio drama when
it comes to going on road trips, and uh, I
have definitely driven across the country by myself listening to
audio dramas and also with my wife, and so I
like to listen to the longer, more epic storylines when
I'm going on a road trip for Adventures in Odyssey.
This is cliche, but I like to listen to Bernard
and Eugene's road trip or something like Darkness before Dawn
because I like having a story that's gonna continue on,
especially if we're driving for a while. And then one
that my wife and I've really enjoyed is The Father
Gilbert Mysteries, which can be a little intense for younger listeners,
so if you have little kids in the car, I
don't necessarily recommend that. And then there's some that are scary,
like there's some Lamplighter theater adventures that are great, like
Basket of Flowers and Sir Malcolm and the Missing Prints.
But then there's others like certain eight of the Splendid
Way that I listened to driving through the dark woods
at night, that I had to turn off because it
was too much for driving alone at night at that moment.
But the longer, the longer storylines is what I really like,
and Lamplighter are great for that, and Father Gilbert and
then some of the longer odyssey storylines. Those are my picks.
Speaker 2: Oh thank you, Michael, really really great suggestions there. All
of these that he mentioned are listed in the show notes,
but I'm going to play the promo for one of
them that he mentioned, The Basket of Flowers from Lampblader Theater.
Speaker 8: Where are you taking me?
Speaker 9: Which is this place?
Speaker 8: Mary is accused of a crime she never committed.
Speaker 3: Have you never seen a prison before?
Speaker 18: I do not have the range.
Speaker 8: She's banished from her country along with her father.
Speaker 12: God works with closed doors as well as open ones.
Speaker 8: It's a journey that could crush Mary's faith.
Speaker 3: If your God is here? And why is you letting
you go?
Speaker 19: To all rich a dangerous journey that will take her
far beyond what she ever imagined. Good Lamplighter Theater presents
the Basket of Flowers, the latest trauma in this exciting
New Family.
Speaker 11: Radio series had.
Speaker 8: The Basket of Flowers first written in the seventeen hundreds,
and now this special book, beloved by families all over
the world, is coming to your radio station Lamplighter Theater.
Speaker 2: Such a great one. Now again, this promo is originally
intended for radio, as you heard there, but I think
you get the idea, all right. So for my next pick,
this one is one that sort of crosses both sides.
It's got some emotional moments, it's got some slower paced sections,
but it's also got epic battles and all kinds of
stuff going on. That is the thirteen hour long adaptation
of The Lord of the Rings, all three parts from
the BBC. This was first broadcast on BBC Radio four
in nineteen eighty one. And so this is the famous
epic fantasy tale by J. R. R. Tolkien which has
been adapted for film and is beloved by many in
that medium. But way before the film version was this
audio version, which is pretty awesome as well. Now, this
one was done in the eighties, so it doesn't have
the same level of immersive soundscapes that we might expect
from high quality audio drama today. But if you are
a fan of Tolkien and you love the books, I
think you're going to really really love this audio adaptation
as well. This one was adapted by Brian Sibley and
it features Ian Holme as Frodo, who fans of the
films will know that he stars as Bilbo in the films,
but he plays Frodo in the audio version. And again,
it's about thirteen hours long. It's one of those that
you can just get lost in the story and this
will last you a long, long road trip. There is
a link in the show notes to a review that
former co host Andrew wrote for this production, as well
as links to where you can purchase it. But here
is a little sample from book one, The Fellowship of
the Ring.
Speaker 9: After they've been walking for about three hours, Fredo, Pippin
and Sam made camp in the deep resin center darkness
of a patch of fir wood. Night passed and the
morning came pale and Clammy.
Speaker 8: Oh, walking for pleasure?
Speaker 16: Oh?
Speaker 2: Why didn't I go buy.
Speaker 3: Cart with Mary?
Speaker 2: My next stiff?
Speaker 20: And I feel as there were hole in my back,
and all my beautiful feather beds sold of the Sackville bagginses.
These tree roots would do them good.
Speaker 5: Wake up hobbits.
Speaker 3: It's a beautiful morning. Oh what's beautiful about it?
Speaker 16: Sam?
Speaker 9: Get breakfast ready for half past night?
Speaker 3: Have you got the bath water?
Speaker 16: Hop?
Speaker 9: No?
Speaker 3: No, Sam, it's all right.
Speaker 9: Sam.
Speaker 3: Mister Pippy is pulling your leg.
Speaker 20: Come on, Pippy up, you get you can help Sam
get breakfast, and then we must get started.
Speaker 1: I've never been this near the end of the shire before,
mister perrilin What river.
Speaker 2: Is that down there?
Speaker 4: That's the Brandywine?
Speaker 16: Sam?
Speaker 3: And who elves live in those woods over there in
the end?
Speaker 4: No, not that I ever heard. This road goes on forever.
Speaker 21: Why are we going to rest further.
Speaker 16: Further?
Speaker 22: The road goes ever on and on down from the
door where it began. Now far ahead the road has gone,
and I must follow if I can, pursuing it with
eager feet, until it joins some larger way where many
paths and errands meet.
Speaker 8: And whether then I cannot say?
Speaker 20: That sounds like a bit of old Bilbo's rhyming, or
is it one of your imitations?
Speaker 16: Hmmm?
Speaker 20: I don't know. It came to me then as if
I was making it up, but I may have heard
it long ago.
Speaker 21: Any event, it doesn't sound altogether encouraging.
Speaker 2: No, I suppose not, hmm.
Speaker 20: Bilbo often used to say there was only one road
that it was like a great river. Its springs were
at every doorstep, and every path was its tributary. It's
a dangerous business going out of your door.
Speaker 14: He used to say.
Speaker 20: You step into a road, and if you don't keep
your feet, there is no knowing where you might be
swept off to.
Speaker 12: Well, this road won't sweep me anywhere for an hour
at least, it's time for a rest. And if you
fellas won't wait, well, then you must go on without me.
Speaker 2: All right, Let's move on to our next contributor, and
this is Robert Thacker. Robert take it away.
Speaker 15: My favorite summertime audio drama would have to be The
Adventures in Odyssey three part series Aloha OI. In it,
the Barkley family wins an all expenses paid trip to Hawaii,
but the Rathbone family comes along with them, and I
just think the juxtaposition of those two families is so
fun and it leads to all kinds of hilarity. Plus,
I think it makes a great vacation or road trip
audio drama because the Hawaii vibes just put you in
a great mood. So that is my favorite summertime audio drama.
Speaker 2: Oh, he is absolutely correct. Aloha Oi. It's perfect for summertime. Rights,
It's absolutely perfect. It is included if you don't know,
it is included in album nineteen Passport to Adventure of
Adventures Odyssey, but it's also included on the Ultimate road
Trip Collection, which has not just this three parter, but
also the two parter Family Vacation, the two parter Camp Waternut,
the two parter The Cross of Cortes, and several other
fun road trip related episodes from Adventures in Odyssey. It's
a total of six and a half hours long. So
this is a great collection if you don't have the
club and you want to purchase some great audio drama,
because we know Adventures and Odyssey always has some great
road trip stories. So Aloha Oi is included in the
Ultimate road Trip Collection, which is linked in the show notes.
If you'd like to get a copy of that.
Speaker 17: Be sure to pack your surfboard for the next exciting
Adventure in Odyssey. It's going to be fun in the sun.
Barclay's discovered that they've won an all expenses paid vacation
to Hawaii. They can hardly believe their good fortune. That is,
until they find out that the rat Bones are also
going along. This is one vacation you don't want to miss.
Next time an Adventures in Odyssey.
Speaker 3: I see, well, thank you very much for your help.
All we will bye will Dad.
Speaker 6: What did they say, you real?
Speaker 11: Don't keep us in suspense, George?
Speaker 10: Well, they said, oh, look at the time wh Rantsid's
song directly?
Speaker 3: Okay, it all checks out.
Speaker 21: The trip is legit.
Speaker 3: We're going to Hawaii.
Speaker 8: Way did go?
Speaker 4: Jimmy?
Speaker 7: Hey, Now, let's give credit where credits due.
Speaker 3: I'm the one who's sent it.
Speaker 22: Well.
Speaker 2: My next selection is from the Jonathan Park series. This
is Jonathan Park number thirteen, Light in the Shadows, and
I thought it was great because this is definitely the
high action entry here on my list. It's got a
lot of stuff going on, but it is all centered
around a road trip, so I thought it was perfect.
So here's a summary. After opening a mysterious package from
an anonymous benefactor, Jonathan discovers he's been entrusted with a
very special assignment. Soon, he and his friends are launched
on a hair raising cross country hunt through America's national
parks their mission to retrieve eight historical artifacts within thirty
days and present them to the benefactor. So it's perfect.
You've got a cross country road trip learning about American
history at the same time, it's got the ticking time
bomb aspect of the story, so to speak, and it's
just a lot of fun. It's perfect, I think for
a family road trip. Link is in the show notes
if you want to grab a copy of that, And
here is a little sample of the beginning of this
volume of Jonathan Park to give you a little taste
in case you haven't heard it before.
Speaker 21: Huh, I wonder.
Speaker 2: What this is.
Speaker 21: Pretty heavy?
Speaker 2: Whatever it is? No return address?
Speaker 21: That's strange.
Speaker 9: Hm hmm.
Speaker 8: Okay what is this.
Speaker 14: A silver box?
Speaker 3: Huh?
Speaker 8: No way to open it? No markings?
Speaker 21: This is weird.
Speaker 2: Whatever.
Speaker 21: I'm going to bed?
Speaker 9: What's going on?
Speaker 7: What is.
Speaker 3: What's going on?
Speaker 8: Quiet?
Speaker 3: What is that the boss?
Speaker 8: Quiet you?
Speaker 3: What's the snooze button.
Speaker 20: From the sting?
Speaker 2: Can't that's better? Okay?
Speaker 21: Recet, Okay, I'm going back to sleep.
Speaker 20: Ah h.
Speaker 11: H stop.
Speaker 9: Stop it's coming.
Speaker 3: Stop what what?
Speaker 9: Okay?
Speaker 2: What is going on here?
Speaker 10: Whoa whoa Jonathan Park? What you may call me mister
c you have been recommended for a special assignment.
Speaker 3: Okay, is this a prank?
Speaker 10: Within twenty four hours, you will receive a box containing
your first clue. Seven clues will follow them.
Speaker 2: Hello, can you hear me?
Speaker 10: Each clue leads to an historic artifact. You must collect
all eight artifacts and present them to me within thirty days.
If you do, my client will make a donation to
the Creation Museum, a donation one hundred and twenty million dollars.
Speaker 2: What all right? Next? Up is Austin Peachey's pick and
here it is.
Speaker 16: So.
Speaker 7: I have a lot of memories listening to odrama on
road trips, not just the summertime, but for holidays and
things like that. One of my favorite Audi dramas that
I've heard on a road trip has to be The
Extraordinary Ventures of j Henty the Katavou Basts. It's about
a young man named Amuba who's a prince but has
taken captive as a slave and is sent to Egypt.
It's a really enthralling story. There's a lot of suspense
and action. There's even a murder mystery. There's some tie
ins to real life history, and there's some good amounts
of comedy in this as well. As you may know,
ancient Egyptians worshiped cats, and a certain character in that
is very much acting like a cat. It is hilarious.
It's one of the funniest moments in the whole show.
But there's also some good biblical truth in it. But yeah,
it works great as a summer story or a road
trip story. It's over two hours long and just a
rollicking good time. Highly recommend it.
Speaker 2: Great great choice there, Austin. As I said earlier, the
hinty stuff is really great. Many of them definitely work
for road trips or summertime. But I think this really
is a great selection as well, So links in the
show notes to check it out. The Catiff Bubasts all right,
My next pick is from Lamplight Our Theater. Now, Michael
Schrader mentioned them earlier, and I think his pick was
a good one. He mentioned the Basket of Flowers, Sir
Malcolm and the Missing Prince and Sir Knight of the
Splendid Way, which is one of my all time favorites.
Though he's right there are some definitely some more intents
and darker scenes in that one, so may not be
the best pick for this application, but I wanted to
mention one of my favorites for just having a really
enjoyable time listening to a story that I think is
great to listen to as a family or even if
you're on a road trip by yourself like Michael was.
And this one is Extraordinary Little Maid. So this is
about Peggy Perkins, a peculiar maid who will delight you
with her extraordinary ability to share the gospel. Hear the
good news in bold and often humorous color as Peggy
embraces her mission to send everyone she meets to the
only physician who can cure hearts. Her courage intrigues people
from all walks of life, and her faithfulness invites them
to experience the joy of the extraordinary God. She serves.
You will laugh and cry as she grows in her
faith through the mishaps and mayhem of daily life. And
this one is just really really fun. As it says
in the summer, it's delightful, it's humorous. There's just some
great moments. There's a mishap with a dog, and just
some really fun, enjoyable moments in this one that I
think just makes it perfect for this And here is
a little sample of extraordinary little maid.
Speaker 8: Sometimes your life is going by so fast you miss
people in the blur around you.
Speaker 17: A bed old man and nobody comes to visit me,
people who are wounded.
Speaker 18: He went off to war and I never heard from
him again.
Speaker 8: People lost in the blur. But now comes a story
that will awaken your heart. Lamp that theater presents an
extraordinary little Maid. You'll fall in love with. Peggy Perkins.
Speaker 3: Hey got us alt?
Speaker 11: What have you been doing with it?
Speaker 3: What have you been doing with yours?
Speaker 11: I gave it to the Lord Jesus.
Speaker 18: My missus told me there'd be some so sick unto death,
and I believe yours is quite dead.
Speaker 8: Give the story to others to open their eyes as well.
Speaker 18: You're the first person I've ever met in my life
that curd.
Speaker 14: For my soul.
Speaker 8: Extraordinary little Maid will awaken your heart. To the people
in the blur. To order a extraordinary little Maid, go
to lamplighter dot net. Lamplighter dot net.
Speaker 2: All right, well, that brings us to our last contributor submission,
and that is from Joe Pearson. Let's see what he
has to say.
Speaker 4: What is my favorite summer road trip audio drama? My
honest answer is kind of a boring one. It's the
Chronicles of Narnia. I just can't think of a better
way to spend the time on a long road trip
than by getting lost in that world. But I imagine that
many of us have worn out our Narnia CDs, so
I wanted to have another pick as well. This is
kind of a dark horse. It doesn't have the greatest
sound design in the world, and the score is pretty simple.
But I really like it and you might too. It's
a late nineties production of Winnie the Pooh. Like most people,
I grew up on the Disney movie, but I never
read the books, and when I was maybe eleven or twelve,
I heard this audio drama and was surprised to find
that the stories weren't just the cute preschooler fluff that
I was expecting. They were actually really witty and funny.
And this is captured really well by the audio drama,
which has a cast of very British actors like Judy Dench,
who bring a very British sense of humor to an
already very British set of stories. The best performance is
Jeffrey Palmer as ere. You might recognize Jeffrey Palmer as
Inspector Javer in Radio the Tea. They miss a rob
and he is an amazing Eyore. Not all of the
casting is as amazing as he is, but most of
them are pretty fun. So if you've exhausted other options
on your road trip and you're looking for something light
and funny to listen to, you could give this a try.
It does have that long summer afternoon feel to it,
and it might just be my nostyal to talking, but
I think that this is an audio drama that a
lot of ages can really have a lot of fun with.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, how can you go wrong with Narnia?
He's absolutely right about that. And the collected stories of
Winnie the Pooh that he talks about is one that
I have not actually heard yet, but after hearing his recommendation,
I have added it to my wish list and I
will be getting that soon. It has a total of
ten stories with a runtime of about four and a
half hours, and so this is definitely one that fits
that criteria of a long form story, one that you
can listen to with the whole family together. And here
is a little sample of that.
Speaker 23: Here is Edward bare Now coming downstairs on the back
of his head behind Christopher Robin.
Speaker 14: It's the only way he knows of coming downstairs. But
sometimes he feels that there really is another way, if
only he could stop bumping for a moment and think
of it.
Speaker 2: And then he.
Speaker 14: Feels that perhaps there isn't.
Speaker 23: Well well, anyhow, here he is at the bottom and
ready to be introduced to you, Winnie the Pooh.
Speaker 14: When I first heard his name, I said, just as
you are going to say. But I thought he was.
Speaker 3: A boy, so did I.
Speaker 14: Then you can't call him Winnie. I don't, JU said.
Speaker 18: He's Winnie the Pooh. Don't you know what there means?
Speaker 16: Ay?
Speaker 14: Yes, now I do.
Speaker 23: I hope you do too, because it's all the explanation
you're going to get.
Speaker 14: Sometimes, Winnie the Pool likes a game of some sort
when he comes downstairs, and sometimes he likes to sit
quietly in front of the fire and listen to a
story this evening.
Speaker 18: What about a story?
Speaker 14: What about a story?
Speaker 18: Could you very sweetly tell Winnie the Pooh one?
Speaker 14: I suppose we could?
Speaker 18: What sort of stories does he like about himself? Because
he's that sort of bear? Oh, I see, so could
you very sweetly?
Speaker 14: We'll try once upon a very long time ago, now
about last Friday, Winnie the Pool lived in a forest
all by himself, under the name of Saunders.
Speaker 18: What does under the name mean?
Speaker 14: It means he had a name over the door in
gold letters and lived under it.
Speaker 18: Winnie the Pooh wasn't quite sure.
Speaker 14: Now I am, Then we'll go on.
Speaker 23: One day, when Pool was out walking, he came to
an open place in the middle of the forest. And
in the middle of this place was a large oak tree.
And from the top of this tree there came.
Speaker 14: Winnie the Pool sat down at the foot of the tree.
Speaker 13: That buzzing noise means something. You don't get a buzzing
noise like that, just buzzing and buzzing without it meaning something.
And if there's a buzzing noise, somebody's making a buzzing noise.
And the only reason for making a buzzing noise that
I know of is because you're a bee. And the
only reason for being a bee that I know of
is making honey. And the only reason for making honey
is so as I can eat it.
Speaker 23: So he began to climb the tree. He climbed, and
he climbed, and he climbed and As he climbed, he
sang a little song to himself.
Speaker 2: Isn't it funny how a bear likes honey.
Speaker 8: Buzz buzz buzz.
Speaker 13: I wonder why he does.
Speaker 23: Then he climbed a little further, and a little further,
and then just a little further. By that time he
had thought of another song. He was rather tired by now,
so it came out as a complaining song.
Speaker 1: It's a very funny thought that if bears were bees
that build their nest to the bottom of trees, and
that being so, if the bees were bears, we wouldn't
have to climb up all these stairs.
Speaker 14: He was nearly there by.
Speaker 13: Now, if I just stand on that bronze, oh hell.
Speaker 3: If I mean, I, haven't you see what I meant
to do?
Speaker 2: Well? Thank you to Michael, Robert Austin, and Joah for
sending in their submissions some really, really great recommendations here
and now. My final pick was an Adventures in Odyssey
multi parter or a collection, but it was already mentioned
by Michael, and that was the Bernard and Eugene road
Trip collection. It's not really you know, just a one
or two episodes, it's a whole arc but it's a
lot of fun. It's definitely perfect for the road trip,
lots of humorous moments, and you know, I don't think
you can go wrong with that one. So that is
my final pick. Even though Michael already mentioned it, I
wanted to mention it again because it's just such a
delightful and funny thing. I mean, of course, anytime you
get Bernard and Eugene in a scene together, there's going
to be something humorous. And when you have them stuck
in a car together driving across the country, hilarity ensues. Right,
So it's such a classic part of the Aio Show,
and you got to mention it in a list like this,
So man lots of recommendations from BBC, from Jonathan Park,
from Lampeider Theater, from The Extraordinary Adventures of Ja Hint
to focus on the Family Radio Theater. Oh my goodness,
so much for you to check out. Hopefully there's something
that you may not have heard before. But even if
you have heard of a lot of these, maybe it's
time to revisit them. And maybe some of these little
sound bites have peaked your interest or have pushed you
to go check them out again. So I hope you
have enjoyed this look at some of the ATC team's
favorite summertime audio dramas, and now we did get a
few from our listeners, so we put it out on
the socials and we got a couple of comments and
one voicemail. So our first one is from Caleb, so
let's hear what he says.
Speaker 16: Hi, Audio Theater Central, this is Caleb. One of my
favorite road trip audio dramas is the Blacker Chronicles collection
from Adventures in Odyssey. Not only does it have a
lot of episodes to listen to, it has a mystery, suspense,
and even some humor thrown in. You also get to
hear Odyssey episodes that were broadcast over a long period
of time, so you can hear how the show changed
in different eras. Thanks.
Speaker 2: Oh, excellent point. Excellent point. Yes, a I always been
mentioned several times already, but the Blackered saga, it's one
of the most awesome parts of the whole run of
the show. So yeah, getting to listen to the entire
Blacquer Chronicles together, which is available in a CD collection
and on the club, that's definitely a great, great recommendation,
So thank you so much, Caleb. And when we put
out the call for your favorites, we got a comment
from Thomas Sargent and he said, ours was definitely the
Novacom Saga from AIO or the Father Gilbert mysteries. Yep,
it was a great one, Sue Thomas. Father Gilbert has
been mentioned, Novacom hasn't been mentioned so far, and that
is a great one too. I mean there's definitely some action,
some intrigue, mystery, lots of stuff going on there. Of course,
there are some more somber moments there with Connie and
Mitch and stuff like that, but it is it's great
for a road trip as well, So thank you so much, Thomas.
And the last one we received was from Parker Hankins
and he said the Left Behind series and Jake Muller,
So those are great recommended too, and neither one of
those have been mentioned so far. Definitely action packed on
both of those series, So yeah, if you've got older kids,
Jake Muller would be great. And I think maybe even
the Left Behind series might have some more intense moments
that might be a little scary for younger kids. But
that series, of course is a very long one that
would probably take you a couple of vacations to get
through all of those, but yeah, the Left Behind series
haven't listened to those in a long time, but I
really think it's about time to revisit those because they're
so extremely well done. The sound design is first class,
and so I definitely need to revisit those. It's been
too long, But thank you so much Parker and Thomas
and Caleb for sending in your recommendations. What an amazing
selection of fun audio drama to listen to on a
road trip. Well that's all we've got for you in
this episode. I know, so it was a little bit
shorter than normal, but I still wanted to make sure
to get some content out for you and I hope
you enjoyed it. If you'd like to get in touch
with us, you can always reach out to us Audio
Theatercentral dot com. Slash contact has all the different ways
and we absolutely love to hear from you, so please
get in touch. Check out the show notes audio theatercentral
dot com slash two one five with links to everything
that we talked about in this episode, and I would
love to hear from you. But let us know what
your favorite summertime our road trip audio drama is. You
can always post it on the show notes on the
website or via one of our feedback options on the website. Well,
thank you so much for listening. I'll see you next time.
Audio Theater Central is a production of Portlite Family Media.
Our theme music was composed by Sam Avandanio. The show
is produced and edit didited by yours truly JD. Centter In.
Our website is Audiotheatercentral dot com.
Speaker 23: Sportlight Familymedia your source for family centered
Speaker 12: Content Scorchlightfamilymedia dot com