The Brightonomnicon

The Brightonomnicon

Genre: Audio Drama

Featuring: Rupert Degas, David Warner, Andy Serkiss, Katherine Parkinson

Written by: Robert Rankin

Directed by: Neil Gardner

£14.95

Total Duration: 7hrs 17mins 26s

Total Size: 1008.745 MB

Release Date:

“A bit of a triumph, to be honest. 5/5” – Starburst

Adapted from “The Brightonomicon” by Robert Rankin, published by Gollancz/Orion as heard on BBC Radio 4 Extra.

This is the tale of two incredible people – one who knows he is incredible and the other who learns to be incredible. Set in 1960 in the UK south-coast resort of Brighton, self-styled guru and magus Hugo Rune rescues a young man from drowning and persuades him to become his assistant and partner in solving 12 mysteries. Rizla (for such is the young man’s assumed name) agrees to help as he has lost his memory and has nowhere else to go. There then follows 12 of the most baffling, surreal, exciting, head-scratching and downright far-fetched mysteries ever written…all based in and around the suburbs of Brighton.

In between the adventures our heroes are able to enjoy the bizarre surroundings of Fangio’s pub, where the bar lord is always happy to talk some old toot and occasionally some exposition as well. Across the mysteries Rizla and the audience learn about the Brighton zodiac, the chronovision, time travel, centaurs, a dastardly plot where the NHS kidnap vagrants for body parts, space pirates, the real history of Victorian Britain, Brighton pirates and the fate that awaits mankind should Hugo Rune fail in his task. And of course, there’s a very bad man involved indeed – Hugo Rune’s arch-nemesis of the ages, Count Otto Black – who wants to rule the world (what else!) You will never hear anything else quite like this in your lifetime.

Hugo Rune ( David Warner )

Rizla ( Rupert Degas )

Count Otto Black ( Andy Serkis )

The Narrator (Older Rizla) ( Michael Fenton-Stevens )

Tobes de Valois ( Jason Isaacs )

Colonel Mortimer ( Martin Jarvis )

Bartholomew the Bog Troll ( Ben Miller )

Lazlo Woodbine ( Kerry Shale )

Professor Nessor ( Patrick Barlow )

Norris Styver ( Kevin Eldon )

Kelly Anne-Sirjan ( Katherine Parkinson )

Chief Whitehawk ( Rich Fulcher )

Sir Burberry Spaniel-Fondler ( Ricky Grover )

Quentin Vambury-Greystoke ( Brian Murphy )

Sir Jeffrey Primark ( Jonathan Cecil )

Nurse Hearse ( Sarah Douglas )

Hubert the Tramp / Cockney Bloke, etc ( Simon Gregor )

Stan Post the Radio Host, etc ( Iain Lee )

Maria the Medic / Susan the Student ( Kate O'Sullivan )

Nigel Fairborough-Countless, etc ( Steve Oram )

Edward Marzipan-Fudge / Bill the Zombie, etc ( Tom Meeten )

Jimi Hendrix / American Gangster ( Colin McFarlane )

Robert Johnson / Croquet Commentator #1 ( Ben Onwukwe )

Doctor Proctor / Scottish Groundsman ( Steven Cree )

Danbury Collins / Mister Mate ( Danny Eastman )

Father Ernetti / The Waiter, etc ( Johnny Daukes )

Janet Orion ( Tamsyn Challenger )

The Cabbies / Himself ( Robert Rankin )

The Monk ( Elliott Stein )

Various ( Laurie Buckley )

Various ( James Francis )

Various ( Neil Gardner )

Various ( Graham Rogers )

Written by Robert Rankin
Adapted by Elliott Stein and Neil Gardner
Music by Jeremy Paul Carroll and Hugh Edwards
Sound Design Neil Gardner
Directed, Edited and Produced by Neil Gardner
“The potential twin pitfalls of silly voices and overacting have been neatly sidestepped… the cast easily trumps the recent Dirk Gently adaptations for star quality.” – SFX Magazine (5 stars) “It’s fantastically over-the-top – as Rankin should be…” – Financial Times “Admirers of Rankin’s books have a lot to thank Neil Gardner for…in short, buy it, listen to it, love it…you won’t be sorry.” – Pantechnicon “Has it been worth it? Well yes it has!” – Amazon.co.uk “From the opening bars of the frankly superb theme tune, to the closing credits, this production screams quality.” – TOTAL Sci-Fi “This is certainly a production I will enjoy revisiting over the years, and I recommend you invest in a copy so that you can do the same.” – Hub Magazine “…enjoy this lavish and quite brilliant audio adaptation. It’s very highly recommended.” – DenofGeek.com (5 stars)

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