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Review
... plenty of comedy and action but enough reverence for its source material to ensure ardent fans are left smiling not fuming
-- Cambs Times, November 13, 2009
-- Cambs Times, November 13, 2009
Product Description
Paul Eddington, Simon Callow, Patrick Magee, Frank Middlemass, Christian Rodska and Maggie Steed star in the complete comedy fantasy series - as heard on BBC Radio 4. For fans of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and "ElvenQuest", this is the epic fantasy series first heard on BBC Radio 4 in 1980 that wonderfully parodies J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings". The kingdom of Albion is under threat from The Evil One, and the wizard Radox The Green has found a hero to save the land: Agar, Son of Athar (who has a minotaur called Stephen). Written by Andrew Marshall (writer, 2point4 Children) and John Lloyd (creator, QI), here are all four episodes of the classic radio series - now available for the first time. Starring Patrick Magee as the Chronicler, Paul Eddington as King Yulfric, Simon Callow as Prince Veganin, Christian Rodska as Agar, Frank Middlemass as Radox the Green, Maggie Steed as Queen Elfreda and Jonathan Lynn ("Yes, Minister" co-creator) as the dwarf Golin Longshanks. It comes with fold out map of Middlesea illustrated by Mark Reddy and taken from the original 1980's "Radio Times" article. '...plenty of comedy and action but enough reverence for its source material to ensure ardent fans are left smiling not fuming' - Cambs Times
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Depends what you expect from a parody,
By
This review is from: Hordes of the Things (BBC Audio) (Audio CD)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
Personally I expect a parody to be, first and foremost, funny. In fact ideally I'd like a parody to be downright hilarious. And whereas 'Horde of the Things' is at times amusing, it's hardly funny enough to even label as a comedy.
It's not bad, but being a parody, it isn't original enough to stand as its own story and as a parody it fails in its intentions. From stellar writers, with the pool of talented actors at their disposal I expected more. A lot more.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"And many was the hobbit upon which he trod",
By
This review is from: Hordes of the Things (BBC Audio) (Audio CD)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
A delighful pastiche of Lord of the Rings, reminiscent in its commentary of classic Terry Pratchett. Rich in perfect Radio 4 vocal talents. I've loved this four part series from its first broadcast (and now I've got it for free, tee hee, ta Amazon Vine).
So Agar the log poacher is mystified when a wizard, Radox the Green, takes an interest in him. The Evil One is massing forces on the borders of Albion, and the King, Yulfric the Wise the Third, just seems to be completely taken in by dark forces, even down to taking a turn at "baptising" the palace servants for the brotherhood of night (glug, glug, choke). His son, Crown Prince, Veganin (good grief is that Simon Callow?) seems the only one who is prepared the fight the dark forces. Filled with wry observations of how it is important to add a garnish to spells (sliced tomatoes, gherkins, parsley- you know the drill don't you- or did Mr Potter ignore that one- rank amateur!). Then there is the issue of rescuing unhelpful maidens from dragons- well they are useful for getting a light afterwards. And an odd gluttonous dwarf, harpy and sybil to bump up the cast. And may I just state, to emphasise my fellow enthusiast's statements- the evil flesh eating lord of Craarn IS NOT A CANNIBAL!
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The Sillymarillion?,
By Murray "Murray Ewing" (West Sussex, UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Hordes of the Things (BBC Audio) (Audio CD)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
I love fantasy, but have to admit it's not hard to poke fun at it, once it puts on its serious hat and starts talking in Thee's and Thou's, and giving things aggrandising names like the Mount Vazarpithur the Dark, or The Tower of the Kwarg (both from the Hordes of the Things map that comes with this CD). But to make a really successful fantasy spoof -- like, I think, the recent Radio 4 series Elvenquest (BBC Audio) was -- you have to give your listener more to stick around for than merely the next punchline. You have to give it story and characters. ElvenQuest did -- so what about Hordes of the Things?
Well, I'd say, yes and no. But more no. Certainly, Hordes of the Things has a lot of funny things going on in it. The Conference of All Wizards, where Radox the Green and his chums get together to discuss defeating evil rather than actually doing it, was certainly funny. And the Dread Sphynx of the Caverns with the head of a snake, the body of a snake, and the tail of a snake... which makes it just a snake, doesn't it? But elsewhere, Hordes suffered, oddly enough, from too much wit. How can that be? Well, to really work, the sort of verbal whimsy the show makes use of, needs to be read, so you can pause to roll the joke around in your mind for a bit and really get it. On the radio, it's often over before you've registered it (or, as is unfortunately the case with the narrator of Hordes of the Things, before it's been mumbled or muffled and lost to the listener). Radio humour needs broader strokes (or multiple listenings -- I suspect Hordes may be funnier the second time round, but haven't yet tried it), and it also needs to give the actors more leeway to bring character humour into it. Hordes' script didn't seem to leave the actors much room to bring anything of their own to it. (Which is a pity, as there's a lot of good names here, including Simon Callow, Paul Eddington, and a brief Miriam Margolyes (if there is such a thing as a brief Miriam Margolyes)). It doesn't really work on the story or character level. This might sound nitpicky criticism for what is, after all, a spoof comedy, but the best comedy works as much as drama as it does as a series of jokes. Having listened to Hordes, I don't really feel I've been in the presence of any real characters (apart from Radox the Green, who I warmed to), nor has the story been much more than a framework to hang gags on. The ending is, when it comes, a non-ending, making me wonder if they were hoping for a second series to be commissioned. Having said all this, I'm feeling I've been a bit harsh. There were enough funny moments to make it worth a listen and, now I know not to expect too much of it, perhaps even a re-listen, to try and catch some of those more whimsical jokes.
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