The Foundation Trilogy (1973)

I'm not a particularly big fan of Isaac Asimov. I know his work primarily through his short fiction, where he seems to be from a generation of authors for whom the science and speculative aspects of science fiction and speculative fiction were much more interesting to them than characterisation or depth. Either that or tremendously awful jokes.

As a result I've never actually read his famous Foundation novels. To be honest I didn't even really know what they were about beyond the basic premise. What I have now enjoyed, however, is a 1973 BBC radio drama serial based on the Foundation books - and very enjoyable they were too.

This eight-part series adapts Asimov's three novels Foundation, Foundation and Empire and Second Foundation. It was produced by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, which guarantees the production is backed by a hilarious soundtrack of odds murbles and bleeps, in turns evocative, inexplicable and hilariously ridiculous.

Doctor Who: "The Renaissance Man"

Tom Baker and Louise Jameson return as the Doctor and Leela in this second release in Big Finish's new Fourth Doctor Adventures range of Doctor Who audio dramas. In this adventure the Doctor tries to take Leela to an intergalactic museum, only to find the TARDIS has arrived in the English countryside instead - or has it?

It's certainly easier to engage with "The Renaissance Man" than it was the preceding story, "Destination: Nerva". I've grown used to the different sound of Baker and Jameson's voices, for one thing. I also knew in advance that the story would only be two episodes long, something that caught me off-guard the last time and left me feeling a tiny bit cheated. The other advantage that "The Renaissance Man" has is that writer Justin Richards absolutely nails the dialogue for the Doctor and Leela. Baker in particular seems to relish the script, which is filled with the sort of amiable nonsense he's so adept at performing. There's also a good supporting cast here, including Ian McNiece as the villainous Harcourt.

Sea Change (2012)

Sea Change is a 90 minute radio drama, written by John Fletcher and directed by Marc Beeby. It stars Charles Edwards, Kim Wall, John Rowe, Richard Dillane and Carl Prekopp. It was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 29 January 2012. It is available to download from the BBC until Friday 10 February.

British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s disgraceful process of “appeasement” with Nazi Germany remains one of the United Kingdom’s less pleasant periods of the 20th century. A new BBC radio play, Sea Change, explores not only the appeasement process but also the unexpected political coalition that changed British foreign policy and ended Chamberlain’s career. Docudramas are always a tricky thing to pull off; too dramatic and they lose authenticity, too withdrawn and they seem boring. Sea Change manages to skirt the line marvelously for its 90 minute duration, presenting an insight into historical that is at once familiar and surprising.

Doctor Who: Destination: Nerva

Fresh from facing Magnus Greel in 1890s London, the Doctor and Leela find themselves thrown headlong into a new adventure, taking them from late 19th century Kent to the far future - where an alien investation threatens the space station Nerva.

British production company Big Finish has been producing original audio dramas based on Doctor Who for some years, utilising the original TV casts to create a broad range of "missing adventures". They started off with dramas starring Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor, and before long added Paul McGann to the list. For many years, however, Tom Baker has remained the sole holdout among the "classic" Who Doctors. With "Destination: Nerva", he finally reprises the role of the Doctor for Big Finish. Generally speaking, it's a terrific debut.