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Biggles |
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Major
James Bigglesworth, better known in
flying circles as Biggles, was a
fictional pilot and adventurer created by W. E. Johns. He
first appeared in the story The White Fokker, published in the first issue of Popular Flying magazine, whilst the first collection of Biggles
stories, The Camels are Coming,
was published in 1932. The
original Biggles stories were
based on Johns' experience and stories he had heard from other pilots during
his time in France. Biggles was supposedly based on a real adventurer of the
times: Cyril Lowe. While the
purpose of the Biggles stories was to entertain young men, they paid
attention to historical detail and helped recreate the primitive days of
early air combat. Later stories told of Biggles' adventures in peace time
usually flying an amphibian with a small team of friends including Algy (Algernon Lacey), Ginger (Hebblethwaite) and Bertie (Lord Bertie Lissie), who share many of his
adventures as pilots in the Special Air Police which they form after WWII, under the command of
Air Commodore Raymond, who is at this time an Assistant Commissioner at
Scotland Yard. Biggles' greatest
opponent is the German spy officer Erich von Stalhein. After World War II, adventures involving von
Stalhein (who had opted for the Communist bloc) had a distinctly West vs East
flavour. The Air Adventures of Biggles Radio Serial Even
though the Biggles books by Captain W. E. Johns were popular worldwide,
Australia was the only
country in the world to make them into a radio serial. It
was called The Air Adventures of Biggles and it consisted of 1178 episodes of continuing 15 minute serials
were produced from July 1949 until March 1954, broadcast in the true Aussie
tradition of Monday to Thursday. One
change that was made from the books to the radio serials was the introduction
of a female lead character, Patsy.
There was no female lead in the books, and it is believed that several
Biggles purists were most upset at this change at the time. The
shows themselves are very exciting, being well produced with a strong
narrative, great music and effective sound effects. In
Trev's opinion they represent the finest example of serial radio - ever - in
the world Trev
has assembled and restored 9 complete adventures however a confidentiality
agreement means that he is only allowed to offer 4 complete adventures here. Each
of these adventures is based on and closely follows the plotlines of a W.E.
Johns story: Deal With a Pirate
is an updating of the 1946 book Biggles Delivers the Goods, The Black Raider comes from a 1953 book of the same name. The
Black Peril is post WWII updating
of John's original 1935 story of the same name and whilst the Biggles in
the Blue adventure represents a
very effective dramatization of a great 1953 von Stalhein story of the same name. Want
to check out some episodes of one of this radio serial? - why not "taste
& try"? Below
are the first three episodes of the Deal With a Pirate adventure - fabulous! These
episode can be freely downloaded to your computer - just right button click
on any link below and chose "Download Linked File" (or words to
that effect). The file is on an average about 9Mb - download time will depend
on your (broadband) speed AABDWP_1952-02-19
Episode No.1.mp3 AABDWP_1952-02-20
Episode No.2.mp3 AABDWP_1952-02-21
Episode No.3.mp3 The Biggles Audio Book Collection In
the 1990's BBC decided to bring 8 Biggles novels to the status of "Audio
Book". Audio Books usually
involve a famous actor (who's good with voice variation, accents etc) reading
an abridged version of the original book, whilst backed by comprehensive
sound effects and orchestral accompaniment. In the right hands such
productions are excellent entertainment. The BBC chose noted UK actors Tim
Pigott-Smith, Michael York & Michael Palin to narrate/act-out the following Biggles books: Biggles
Learns to Fly, Biggles Flies East, Biggles and the Secret Mission (aka
Biggles Air Commodore), Biggles in Spain, Biggles Flies North, Biggles Defies
the Swastika, Biggles Flying Detective (aka Sergeant Bigglesworth C.I.D.)
& Biggles Pioneer Air Fighter Recorded
and distributed on cassette tape from 1992 thru to 1997, these are polished
and exciting audio books. However the fact that cassette tapes have two sides
of the same length meant that the end of each "episode" came at odd
times and at odd junctures in the story. In
order to redress this situation, each story has been reassembled into its "whole" before applying
audio-enhancement (no tape hiss!) and then re-editing the story into roughly
30 minute blocks which work well
and provide for convenient listening. Additionally, each episode has been
"top and tailed" with the appropriate introduction and conclusion. This
procedure has been adopted for all but one of the stories: Biggles Pioneer
Air Fighter. This latter book is a
1954 publication of 13 Biggles short stories which W. E. Johns wrote in the
1930s. The BBC selected 8 of these stories and as audio books each short
story runs for between 12 and 19 minutes each. Want
to check out an episode of one of these Audio Books? - why not "taste
& try"? The
episode available for download below is a beauty! - its the second episode
from the Biggles Learns to Fly
story and details Biggles first air battle (dog-fight) against the
"Hun" in WWI. The episode is a fine example of the capabilities of
audio books particular in the hands of the BBC production team and as
told/acted by Tim Pigott-Smith. This
episode can be freely downloaded to your computer - just right button click
on any link below and chose "Download Linked File" (or words to
that effect). The file is on an average about 21Mb - download time will
depend on your (broadband) speed These
4 MP3 CDs consist of 4 complete adventures across 134 twelve minute
continuing episodes of The Air
Adventures of Biggles as well as the 8 BBC Biggles Audio Book presentations with episodes of about 30
minutes each (except for Biggles Pioneer Air Fighter which has individual
story lengths of between 12 and 19 minutes) - see below for more details A.
The Air Adventures of Biggles 1. Deal
With A Pirate (34
episodes: No. 750 to No. 783 inclusive) 2. The
Black Raider (24 episodes: No. 1024 to No. 1047 inclusive) 3. The
Black Peril (39 episodes: No. 1048 to No. 1086 inclusive) 4. In
the Blue (37 episodes: No. 1087 to No. 1123 inclusive) B.
The Biggles Audio Book Collection These
are audio books are presented in the proper chronological order of book publication
with the exception of Biggles Pioneer Air Fighter which consists of short stories written in the 1930s 1.
Biggles Learns
to Fly - 1935 - (Tim Pigott-Smith, 1994) (Six approx. 30 minute episodes) 2.
Biggles Flies
East - 1935 - (Tim Pigott-Smith, 1992) (Six approx. 30 minute episodes) 3.
Biggles and the
Secret Mission (aka Biggles Air Commodore) - 1937 (Tim Pigott-Smith, 1994) (Six approx. 30 minute episodes) 4.
Biggles in
Spain - 1939 - (Tim Pigott-Smith, 1994) (Six approx. 30 minute episodes) 5.
Biggles Flies
North - 1939 - (Michael Palin, 1997) (Four approx. 30 minute episodes) 6.
Biggles Defies
the Swastika - 1941 - (Tim Pigott-Smith, 1992) (Four approx. 30 minute episodes) 7.
Biggles Flying
Detective (aka Sergeant Bigglesworth C.I.D.) - 1947 (Tim Pigott-Smith, 1994) (Six approx. 30 minute episodes) 8.
Biggles Pioneer
Air Fighter - the 1930's -
(Michael York, 1993) a)
The Carrier (16 mins) b)
Spads and Spandaus (18
mins) c)
The Decoy (17 mins) d)
The Boob (17 mins) e)
The Battle of the
Flowers (12 mins) f)
Biggles Finds His Feet
(19 mins) g)
The Bomber (14 mins) h)
Fog! (18 mins) |