Dan Dare - The Audio Adventures - Volume One
Just finished listening to "Dan Dare - The Audio Adventures - Volume One" by B7 Media and released by Big Finish Productions.
I'm probably gong to cause somebody to go into a meltdown over this comparison, but Dan Dare, England's greatest space hero is about as well known here across the pond in the States as Germany's greatest space hero, the American astronaut Perry Rhodan.
While the nearly 3,000 book Perry Rhodan series is the longest running science fiction saga in history; and if I'm not mistaken, the longest continuous work of fiction in existence, it is known by science fiction fans here in the States thanks to the English translation of the first 118 books in the series published by ACE books in paperback in the late 1960s and early 1970s. There was an brief English language revival of the series in magazine format that lasted for a total of four issues in the early 2000s that picked up "The Bridge to Eternity" story arc.
Dan Dare is not as well known as Perry Rhodan.
Dan Dare has been described as "Biggles in Space" and as the British equivalent of Buck Rogers. His adventures - set in that distant futuristic decade of the 1990s.
Colonel Daniel McGregor Dare was chief pilot of the Interplanet Space Fleet. According to his fictional biography, he was born in Manchester, England, in 1967 and educated at Rossall School. Although not a super-hero, he sometimes pulled off exceptional piloting and often proved extraordinarily lucky. He excelled at jujitsu, but he most often found non-violent solutions to predicaments. He was bound by a sense of honor, never lied, and would rather die than break his word.
It was my cousin Hannah who mentioned Dan Dare once to me - she had tried to get me a Dan Dare annual, but settled on getting me a Doctor Who annual - my first British annual from World Distributors. Dan Dare's adventures were serialized in Eagle Magazine, which is/was a British comic magazine aimed primarily at young boys - GASP, oh that misogynistic decade of the 1950s!
Dan Dare's space adventures, based on the planetary science of that era, were extremely popular and took off including a radio series that lasted for five years on Radio Luxembourg.
For it's six episode series, "Dan Dare - The Audio Adventures - Volume One", B7 Media modernized Dan Dare and brought him and the science of his classic universe into the 21st Century - which can be a good or bad thing, depending on your point of view.
Orion Publishing did release a full cast audio adaptation of "Dan Dare - Pilot Of The Future - Voyage To Venus - Part 1" which stayed true to the original story by creator Frank Hampson, but sadly, part two was never produced by Orion Publishing.
B7 Media's first Dan Dare episode, "Voyage to Venus" introduces us to our hero and the other lead characters, sets up central conflicts and introduces Dare's iconic villain the Mekon. Dare is put through his paces as he has to prove himself to his three person crew. As he says, he's being put in command of two other people who believe they're on charge. And there are reasons to argue that Digby or Professor Peabody should be in charge. Dare's bouts of impulsiveness and lack of foresight can lead to problems, but by the end of the story, Dare is able to really earn the respect of his colleagues. It did irk me a bit that The Anastasia was not the product of human technical achievement.
In the second episode, "The Red Moon Mystery," Dan Dare and the crew of the Anastasia investigate a corporate operation on the moon that appears to have gone horribly wrong with Dan's estranged uncle at the forefront.
Finally, in "Marooned on Mercury," The Anastasia is forced down on Mercury by the forces of the Mekon and after receiving a distress call from their Venusian friend Sondar.
All episodes have a cinematic feel and there is a cliffhanger that will gets resolved hopefully in the next box set.
Purists are not gong to like the changes made to Dan Dare and his universe, and I do understand why B7 Media made the changes to the original Dan Dare stories in order to make them more believable to today's audience. Still, while I'm not a die-hard purists, sometimes updating comics and stories takes away what makes them special.
Highly Recommended!
Five Stars!
https://www.amazon.com/Dan-Dare-1-Ric...
I'm probably gong to cause somebody to go into a meltdown over this comparison, but Dan Dare, England's greatest space hero is about as well known here across the pond in the States as Germany's greatest space hero, the American astronaut Perry Rhodan.
While the nearly 3,000 book Perry Rhodan series is the longest running science fiction saga in history; and if I'm not mistaken, the longest continuous work of fiction in existence, it is known by science fiction fans here in the States thanks to the English translation of the first 118 books in the series published by ACE books in paperback in the late 1960s and early 1970s. There was an brief English language revival of the series in magazine format that lasted for a total of four issues in the early 2000s that picked up "The Bridge to Eternity" story arc.
Dan Dare is not as well known as Perry Rhodan.
Dan Dare has been described as "Biggles in Space" and as the British equivalent of Buck Rogers. His adventures - set in that distant futuristic decade of the 1990s.
Colonel Daniel McGregor Dare was chief pilot of the Interplanet Space Fleet. According to his fictional biography, he was born in Manchester, England, in 1967 and educated at Rossall School. Although not a super-hero, he sometimes pulled off exceptional piloting and often proved extraordinarily lucky. He excelled at jujitsu, but he most often found non-violent solutions to predicaments. He was bound by a sense of honor, never lied, and would rather die than break his word.
It was my cousin Hannah who mentioned Dan Dare once to me - she had tried to get me a Dan Dare annual, but settled on getting me a Doctor Who annual - my first British annual from World Distributors. Dan Dare's adventures were serialized in Eagle Magazine, which is/was a British comic magazine aimed primarily at young boys - GASP, oh that misogynistic decade of the 1950s!
Dan Dare's space adventures, based on the planetary science of that era, were extremely popular and took off including a radio series that lasted for five years on Radio Luxembourg.
For it's six episode series, "Dan Dare - The Audio Adventures - Volume One", B7 Media modernized Dan Dare and brought him and the science of his classic universe into the 21st Century - which can be a good or bad thing, depending on your point of view.
Orion Publishing did release a full cast audio adaptation of "Dan Dare - Pilot Of The Future - Voyage To Venus - Part 1" which stayed true to the original story by creator Frank Hampson, but sadly, part two was never produced by Orion Publishing.
B7 Media's first Dan Dare episode, "Voyage to Venus" introduces us to our hero and the other lead characters, sets up central conflicts and introduces Dare's iconic villain the Mekon. Dare is put through his paces as he has to prove himself to his three person crew. As he says, he's being put in command of two other people who believe they're on charge. And there are reasons to argue that Digby or Professor Peabody should be in charge. Dare's bouts of impulsiveness and lack of foresight can lead to problems, but by the end of the story, Dare is able to really earn the respect of his colleagues. It did irk me a bit that The Anastasia was not the product of human technical achievement.
In the second episode, "The Red Moon Mystery," Dan Dare and the crew of the Anastasia investigate a corporate operation on the moon that appears to have gone horribly wrong with Dan's estranged uncle at the forefront.
Finally, in "Marooned on Mercury," The Anastasia is forced down on Mercury by the forces of the Mekon and after receiving a distress call from their Venusian friend Sondar.
All episodes have a cinematic feel and there is a cliffhanger that will gets resolved hopefully in the next box set.
Purists are not gong to like the changes made to Dan Dare and his universe, and I do understand why B7 Media made the changes to the original Dan Dare stories in order to make them more believable to today's audience. Still, while I'm not a die-hard purists, sometimes updating comics and stories takes away what makes them special.
Highly Recommended!
Five Stars!
https://www.amazon.com/Dan-Dare-1-Ric...
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