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Pilgrim - BBC Radio Drama recommendation

Started by Theblazeuk, 01 March, 2016, 11:10:25 AM

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Theblazeuk

A series that I stumbled across years ago on a filesharing website has finally been collected into one, easily listenable page on the BBC website, just in time for a new series (which is stored on a different page, but trust me so much better now).

So - Pilgrim.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00xmbyz

The tales of William Palmer, a pilgrim who was cursed by the king of the greyfolk to live forever, who acts as a kind of servant to the king - a mortal agent trying to keep humanity safe from the capricious whims of the fair folk and myths among them. In lesser hands this could be a bit of a twee concept but this series is truly wonderful. Dark stories of the secret places, folklore and grey folk of Britain. A real gem in the BBC radio archives and now finally available all in one place.

If you like Neil Gaiman, Pratchett, fairy tales, fantasy or anything along those lines it's great. A long running story of wondrous things and dark forces - I would check it out ASAP.

Dandontdare

Ooh, sounds just up my street, and it's true that the pictures are better on radio!

I'll definitely check this out probably forget to check this out despite my best intentions.

Cheers!

Dandontdare

series one downloading to my phone for the daily commute (the wifi on the tram and at work is shite so I can't really stream stuff, but I often queue up several radio & TV shows at night and leave it happily downloading for hours while I sleep)

Theblazeuk

Let me know how you like it. This is one of those things that I think the BBC has done extremely well without really reaching any of the audiences beyond Radio 4/Audio Drama fanatics.

Dandontdare

only listened to one so far (episode no 2 by mistake - the one about the Yorkshire lad who gets taken 'under the hill') really enjoyed it. 16 days left to enjoy the rest of series one on  i-player.

Jim_Campbell

Put me down as a fan, too. Not sure I've listened to all the previous series, so I'll have to check on the iPlayer...

Cheers

Jim
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TordelBack

Pah,  commercial radio drama is far better than this product of a leftie Oxbridge clique defrauding the public out of its licence money. Stuff like...errr... and...ummm... Sooner Murdoch gets the level playing field he needs to compete with Book at Bedtime and the Old Harry's Game the better.

It is rather good, isn't it?

Dandontdare

What a good tip this turned out to be, thanks!.  :thumbsup:

I'd never heard of this (which is odd as I listen to a lot of radio 4 and radio 4extra) but I loved it.

I've powered through all 6 seasons (24 episodes) in the last 2 weeks and now I'm gutted that I've run out!

Unusually for this type of thing, they get stronger as they go along - the first season was rather cliched stories about people making unwise deals with the Grey Folk, or Puck stealing a dragon's egg; but by seasons 5-6 there were more complex interlinked stories.

Top stuff and still about 10 days left to enjoy on iplayer.

Arkwright99

Quote from: Dandontdare on 16 March, 2016, 02:09:46 PM
I've powered through all 6 seasons (24 episodes) in the last 2 weeks and now I'm gutted that I've run out!
You're in luck because there's a further five episodes which comprise the final seventh season of Pilgrim but they're listed on the Radio 4 Drama iPlayer site rather than the Radio 4 Extra site like seasons 1 - 6:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b072sb6l/episodes/player

They'll be available on iPlayer for the next couple of weeks.
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Dandontdare

Ooh goody!  :D

I wasn't aware of these 'cos they weren't showing up on my iplayer radio app - which means that I can't download them all overnight and listen on the way into work, so these will be my bedtime listening for the next five nights (hoping for interesting dreams...)

Dandontdare

well I thought it was all over ... it is now.

Nearly 22 hours of solid entertainment, shame there's not likely to be any more.

Theblazeuk

This one slipped me by Dan. Sorry for belated follow up! Did you listen to the latest series, where Pilgrim falls out of the King's favour and must bring Morgan to justice - and help the fey Mr Delaney rescue his daughter?


Dandontdare

I did - shame it was billed as the 'final' series. kept me entertained during my daily commute for several weeks!

Theblazeuk

Yes, but all good things come to an end - even the wanderings of an immortal pilgrim :)

Glad you enjoyed it! Strikes me as one of the BBC's most spectacular own goals, keeping a property like this consigned to the depths of Afternoon Drama. Even this rebroadcast was the most token attempt at doing it justice.

Dandontdare

couldn't agree more - I listen  to a lot of radio 4 and 4extra and had never even heard of this before you flagged it up.