Tag: Brian Sibley

Three Christmas Gifts in Five Parts

Last year at this time I pointed out a book I had read, Brian Sibley’s Joseph and the Three Gifts: An Angels Story.

Dickens’ Agnostic Christmas

This year the book has been adapted as a BBC Radio 4 play. I can’t embed it here, so it’s linked on this picture.

A young girl in trouble, needing a husband, and he marries her knowing the child is not his. That’s as human as it gets.

From the New Revised Standard Version:

The Birth of Jesus the Messiah
18 Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah[i] took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. 20 But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

23 “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,”

which means, “God is with us.” 24 When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, 25 but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son;[j] and he named him Jesus.

Blog cross-pollutionation

Two huge J.R.R. Tolkien fans are Brian Sibley and Stephen Colbert, and they happen to have provided me with a convenient segue so I can include them both in a single post. (I hope Colbert hasn’t already coined the word “pollutionation!”)

Brian (friend of the blog) Sibley is up for a BBC Audio Drama Award, for his superb radio adaptation, The History of Titus Groan, based on the Gormenghast books by Mervyn Peake. This is a wonderfully engrossing and challenging series of radio dramas, with outstanding performances that are both finely nuanced and, when required, hilarious and over the top. The cast includes one of my favourite ladies of British stage and screen, Miranda Richardson. Winners of the BBC Audio Drama Awards will be announced on Sunday. Good luck, Brian!

A couple of days ago, Brian told the story of the ill-fated attempt by Boston-based American publisher Houghton Mifflin to have artist Maurice Sendak provide illustrations for an edition of The Hobbit. By coincidence, this week The Colbert Report featured an uproarious interview with Sendak.

Smile, it’s radio

A UK study by the Radio Advertising Bureau says that — surprise! — radio is great. Better than watching TV, and better than surfing the net. Despite the lack of impartiality, I think the study’s conclusion is right. At least for me it is.

As I’ve said many times, I’m a fan of BBC Radio 2, but I also enjoy listening to BBC Radio 4, “a speech station for curious minds.” There are lots of great documentaries and all sorts of dramatizations of great breadth and often depth, like Brian (friend of the blog) Sibley’s adaptation of Mervyn Peake’s strange, densely-packed novel Titus Groan. The production is excellent, with lots of aural treats, but this is not a programme that can be appreciated casually, so I recommend listening on headphones. The BBC doesn’t keep everything online forever, but for an intricate series like Titus Groan one would hope they’ll continue to make it available for some weeks.