Audio book in mp3

 

Doctor Who - The Underwater Menace

Author : Various

Performed By : Anneke Wills

Publisher : BBC Audiobooks Ltd

Runtime : 2 hours

Categories : Sci-Fi
Drama
Dramatizations
British

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Patrick Troughton's Doctor arrives on Atlantis in this classic soundtrack adventure, with linking narration by Anneke Wills and an exclusive bonus interview

 

The Tardis materialises on a small volcanic island; on board are the Doctor, Polly, Ben and their new companion Jamie. Exploration of their surroundings reveals a network of caves inside the extinct volcano - and before long all four travellers have been captured by those who live within...

This is Earth, and the lost city of Atlantis lies deep underground, its human citizens dependent for food upon a species known as the Fish People, Unfortunately for the Doctor and his friends, the Atlanteans waste little time in offering the new arrivals up as sacrifices to their goddess Amdo!

A certain Professor Zaroff has persuaded the Atlanteans that he can raise the city once more above the waves. But the Doctor soon realises that Zaroff's plan is insanely dangerous: the professor's lunatic dreams of ultimate power could lead to the destruction of the entire planet. Can the Doctor and company stop him?

Anneke Wills , who also plays Polly, narrates this classic adventure - only one episode of which survives in the television archives. In a specially recorded bonus interview, she recalls her experiences of making The Underwater Menace in 1967.

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Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, A

Author : Mark Twain

Performed By : Kenneth Jay

Publisher : Select Music & Distribution

Runtime : 3 hours 25 minutes

Categories : Classics
Classic Literature

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The magical and romantic legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table Is one of the great stories of the world. The most famous version - Le Morte d'Arthur by the 15th century writer Sir Thomas Malory, which told of Arthur, Excalibur, Merlin, Sir Launcelot, Guinevere, Sir Gawain, the search for the Holy Grail and the final battle between the King and Mordred - is full of excitement, heroism and mystery.

Like most of his generation, Mark Twain, the great 19th century comic American writer, knew and loved the book. He wrote mainly about his own time - and his greatest successes such as Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer drew on the Mississippi countryside where he grew up. But he also had a wicked sense of humour, and he wanted to show that Malory's picture of brave knights and rescued damsels was not as shiny or honourable we may like to think.

From the moment the idea came to him, to whisk a modern man (modern=1880s for Twain) back in time to the heyday of Camelot, he couldn't resist elaborating on the realities of life In Arthurian times. His Connecticut hero. Hank Morgan, found not a land of grace and ideals but one which was smelly, dangerous, uncomfortable and backward.

Hank finds that life is regarded as cheap, that torture and execution are commonplace, that superstition is everywhere and even Merlin is a con-man. Few wash, the music is terrible, living in armour is horrendous and deception is everywhere.

So Hank decides that he will make the best of his situation and introduce 6th century England to some of the improvements of his contemporary (19th century) existence - advertising, soap, newspapers, stocks and shares, and the railroad. And, with his superior knowledge, he will become The Boss.

How do the people of an older time take to it? In much the same way Twain suggests, as we would if someone from the distant future came down and tried to make us live their way: The older people generally do not like giving up their traditional ways, even though there were very clear advantages and only the youth can adapt.

Yet despite this, Hank cannot but admire some qualities of those knights and their damsels - not least the ability to stand up and fight in steel armour that would crush the contemporary man.

The novel began mainly as a delightful fantasy, but as Twain wrote, the darker side of his own character and view of the human race emerged. He believed in science, economics and practicalities; and government based on the equalities of opportunity that characterised America of Twain's day He couldn't accept a people who would choose monarchy. A Connecticut Yankee shows what can happen when these two very different societies come together.