The Caves Of Steel (Isaac Asimov) - 1989 Radio 4 Dramatisation

This is a radio play first broadcast in 1989 by BBC Radio 4 of Isaac Asimov's The Caves Of Steel, starring Ed Bishop, Sam Dastor and Matt Zimmerman. Adapted by Bert Coules. I claim no copyright on this recording, but where else can people hear this great dramatisation?

[@jtlanci]

Listening to this was a sheer delight. Caves of Steel was the first Asimov novel I read. I was twelve or so, and I went on to read everything he ever published.

[@geoffnightingale2846]

Outstanding. I've been listening to this for the best part of 30 years , must be. I recorded it from the radio on cassette tape then transferred it to CD years later and I'm still listening to it on a years old iPod. Old school is the best school.😀👍

[@thegreatmonstrosity]

Same here, might even have the cassette somewhere. I also remember a brief recording of a classical music track on the radio 4 programme following this. Can never remember exactly what it was though. Any ideas?

[@ThePinkBinks]

Creativity has been disappearing from our world too..... We're drones and dying from it. Issac knew.

[@Dkentflyer]

Ed Bishop always put in an awesome performance. Cracking play!

[@mattosullivan9687]

I loved Ed Bishop on UFO sorry for him passing. I am 60 years old. I am giving my grandson, Elijah, this book

[@2msvalkyrie529]

Ed Bishop and Shane Rimmer cornered the market in American roles in British TV and radio all through the 60s / 70s. Shane WAS actually a Canadian and he passed away in 2019 at age 89 in London. Ed was born in Brooklyn NY. and came to Uk in 1959 to study drama . Then just stuck around .! He died in 2005 and 72. His last resting place is the churchyard in Napton , Warwickshire . Very fitting for someone who left lots of memories for a generation of Brits. RIP both ...

[@jennymcleod1150]

Ed bishop has a very good voice for radio plays it was well worth listerning to caves of steel and other radio plays with his voice

[@johnchristopher20]

Most dramatizations, plays, movies, etc., are poor reflections of the original book or story on which they are based. This is the exception; the actors are superb, the adaptation excellent, and the execution exceptional. Thank you, all, especially the late Ed Bishop.

[@jobethk588]

O poop

[@foxxy46213]

Back when the beeb was good

[@rogpile]

John Christopher? Not the John Christopher, I suppose?

[@johnnydeleo6862]

More please

[@joe-nz4xz]

Audio dramas and radio plays are a pretty underrated medium

[@willadeefriesland5107]

Lije's "Damn your logic." comment to Daneel brought Dr. Mccoy's arguing with Mr. Spock to mind...

[@mht525]

Ed Bishop a great American actor who gained fame in England. RIP 🙏

[@kelleyerickson1724]

I love this. I grew up on the Mind's Eye Tolkien drama. I wish radio dramas were more popular. I love them.

[@trytryandtryagain52]

I read this over 50 years ago. A part of the books I bought that fuelled my love of science fiction. Great adaptation in sound.

[@gwaters8067]

I know you uploaded this four years ago but thanks dude! All the best 👍

[@willadeefriesland5107]

"... But the children amn't ruined..." Dr. Isaac Asimov, a true word-smyth and my hero :)

[@dstrong5897]

One of my favorite sci-fi writers!! When I was very young, my very first sci-fi novel was "Pebble in the Sky." Started a love affair with sci-fi that lasts to this day! Thank you.

[@StarlightSymphonyASMR]

Thank you SO very much for putting this up! I have loved hearing this ever since I was small and my parents would play a cassette recording of this in the car on family trips! It means so much to be able to listen to it again! ❤️

[@drmosfet]

I would love to see a modern movie of this tastefully done, and not as an excuse to go crazy with CGI like a lot of modern movies are done now days.

[@markrossow6303]

"Practical Effects" as with the original 1977 "Star Wars" are sadly dead

[@spikemcnock8310]

Heard this many times over the years, it's a sad view of our future world. It Scary and know dtout true....

[@RedcoatsReturn]

The great Ed Bishop, what would we have done in Britain for Sci Fi without his marvellous American accent and actor skills. Heres to you Ed!

[@robbiereilly]

Indeed! His very distinctive voice lent well to all those great productions. Add to him that of the talents of other transplanted Canadian in Brit productions: Shane Rimmer who was in Star Wars ("This R2 unit of yours seems a bit beat up. You want a new one?"), Dr. Strangelove ("Where's Major Kong?"), The Spy Who Loved Me (was submarine commander), UFO (pilots the SST), and was the voice of Captain Tracy in The Thunderbirds to name a few. The guy was in so much, yet so many don't know him.

[@cobdenbastiat3814]

um, Ed Bishop was an American from New York.... nothing Canadian about him....

[@lkm7763]

Try listening to Ed Bishop's Philip Marlowe radio plays. With that amazing voice and quintessential American accent, he was born to play Marlowe! But to me he will always be Ed Straker, SHADO Commander in Chief. His performance elevated a good, entertaining sci fi TV series into something so much greater. Gerry Anderson said Ed Bishop was his favourite actor and he felt he should have become an international star. Couldn't agree more. Such a talented actor.

[@grotesquehead322]

He was actually from New York.

[@RedcoatsReturn]

Cobden Bastiat You are right! Sorry, I was thinking of Shatner lol😄

[@richardphillips1835]

this brings back some great memories ...of listening to stories on the radio when I was a youngster

[@spaceytracey1237]

Well after reading the description in its box I have to say that I really don't know where else I could find and listen to this recording, especially while in my pj's with a nice fat 1 and a cuppa, so I thank you very much for allowing me the pleasure of doing so. Awesome of you to do 👌

[@plunder1956]

So many of these stories are perfect for film production. The advantage of a radio production is cost & speed of production.

[@paulbennett772]

And the pictures are better

[@ackomanah6486]

Great job: Asimov; BBC and Bishop. I always love how Bishop played Straker in UFO: RIP.

[@robbiereilly]

He also did a lot of small fill-in bits in Bond films. You Only Live Twice comes to mind. He was a NASA controller talking to the ill-fated craft that is swallowed by Blofeld's ship.

[@foxxy46213]

Dam I knew I new his voice..I pictured him as soon as I read it.

[@ackomanah6486]

@@robbiereillyI missed that. I'm gonna watch it again. Thanks

[@charliemartineau2892]

A real pleasure to listen to this again, 31years on.

[@roysainsbury4556]

Jehoshaphat! I'm glad I found this! I have recently finished re-reading The Caves of Steel (I am am now on The Robots of Dawn). Every time I read Daneel saying something, I hear the voice of "Data" from Star Trek TNG in my head. I'm sure that Data was inspired by Daneel.

[@pentuplove6542]

Data was inspired from a Star Trek character. You can look it up.

[@roysainsbury4556]

@@pentuplove6542 According to Wikipedia, it seems he was inspired by Spock. Well, that makes sense. However, Asimov "invented" the positronic brain, so it isn't unreasonable to suppose that Data was also inspired by Asimovian robots, if not Daneel directly, though Daneel was the only humanform robot left after Jander was inactivated.

[@deboraharmstrong1350]

Thank you so much for posting these classic Sci-Fi stories. I forgot how much I loved Elijah and Daneel detective stories.

[@StefanTravis]

Very good adaptation - thanks for posting. I think Asimov's stories work especially well on radio because they're mostly dialog. Just add some bridging narration and sound effects, and the books become radioplays.

[@jabaricallan4939]

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[@gradycody9006]

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[@gradycody9006]

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[@russhurst6730]

Talk about easy! Has a murderer ever been pressed into confession of guilt so easily? Has a confessed killer ever been so easily let off? Despite this I really enjoyed the story. The actors were fantastic and made the story intriguing and fun to listen to.

[@simonclarke2769]

If you haven't found it already, the BBC radio adaptations of the Foundation series are now public domain...

[@seachangeau]

LINK please!!!

[@Badcrow7713]

Oh man are they ever horrible

[@himwhoisnottobenamed5427]

@@Badcrow7713 I enjoy them. Though they could use modern sound fx/music.

[@johneverett3617]

thanks Colonel; had this on cassette when it was first aired, great to hear it again

[@johnlmillington3126]

what a great playlist will keep me going for years ta very muchly

[@apatriotnowawake9090]

Well this is my first (the case of Steel ) (. Isaac Asimov ) story that I have listened to. And I have to tell you it was quite strange, but it was entertaining thanks again for putting it up

[@dataviews118]

The Caves of Steel ... underground skyscrapers ??

[@santanamauricio]

yep

[@padawanmage71]

Thank you for this. I've been trying to find this for a while.

[@cmmndrblu]

Please be aware if using headphones that some of the sound effects might hurt your ears

[@jmm1233]

Asimov's Blade Runner , true Cyberpunk

[@ripsumrall8018]

I see your point but can this be turned into a movie the way Philip K. Dick's 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep was adapted into Blade Runner?

[@zvimur]

@@ripsumrall8018 How much of Androids was left out of Blade Runner? Easier to count what was kept. Not much.

[@sydniusalminia5364]

This was a great listen. Thank you for uploading it.

[@investigationsofadog]

Thanks so much for this!

[@jthadcast]

bbc radio's foley studio will never loose their jobs

[@neilkendrick4976]

issac Asimov and Ed Bishop! Oh gawd, thank you... consider me a happy Neil!!!

[@ericlewis77]

I love this!

[@applewagon253]

Yaaaaasssss 😍 this was so fabulous to me

[@leerobertson3015]

Enjoyed

[@cindydott452]

Commander Ed Straker!

[@billyhenry27]

Awesome 👍

[@carltons.campbellcampbell6096]

This I am enjoying very, very much ! I thank You very, very much. I love radio dramas. Science Fiction is my favorite.

[@peterturley8846]

Excellent .

[@selbergful]

An excellent adaptation.

[@peterturley1331]

Excellent- when Commander Straker met Alan Tracey!!!

[@ColonelAstrid]

Indeed. Funnily enough I was watching the Bond film You Only Live Twice last weekend, and Straker and Alan were again in very close proximity in one scene!

[@olikane530]

excellent

[@sammaster999]

This is really good!

[@henryramirez5582]

Amazing nice

[@DK-pb7tr]

Daneel is played by Rees -Mogg , I thought he was just a politician

[@chrisgale5634]

Good thing this was made in the days when adaptations stayed mainly faithful to books. These days they are usually horrendous.

[@olikane530]

excellent π

[@123Sqeakers]

I love these radio dramas , Full Audio books are great , these compressed drama stories are more entertaining . Do you want to be engrossed in long full novel or entertained by a dramatic radio show ? Depends on the mood , God Bless America

[@ufosrus]

Great detective scifi story. Thx!

[@BlueShift24]

Is there a version like this of „The Naked Sun“?

[@ak9751]

Wholesome bread and milk...

[@patriciaramsey5294]

This was a great story! Were there any more Elijah and Daneel stories made?

[@djcb4190]

Do not go to where my soul is it is beneath the steel sky in there

[@markrossow6303]

Jesi / Jezebel has such an NYC accent !

[@samahirrao]

Thanks Asimov.

[@warplanner8852]

Ed Bishop as the main character? Need more be said?

[@DK-pb7tr]

It is a shame the sci fi genre has declined, is there any writer of this calibre still active.

[@fredkelly6953]

Asimov is to Sci-fi as Tolkien is to fantasy and the robot books are the hobbit.

[@hughjanus4881]

Yeah well, Bigfoot is actually a unicorn in a Gillie suit.

[@delboytrotter8806]

Eh ?

[@phylk4683]

Can you say that again Fred?

[@oker59]

I know it's been a long time since I read this book; but, I can't believe an hour and a half audiobook can cover the whole book. - Not that I mean what I'm listening to isn't well done and enjoyable.

[@stush7]

its abridged... there is a several hour (AudioBook) version available on yt as well...

[@eisenhertz]

long live the BBC!

[@panlan1]

nice production of the story..

[@user-yv2cz8oj1k]

Made in 1989 but sounds like someone really wanted to make a period detective drama. It could have been so much better.

[@danhambly3987]

Good

[@richardc5731]

This is a really interesting sci fi theater play

[@sabrinacruz-santana7309]

I swear this is the same narrator from the movie, A Christmas Story. How awesome!

[@humbleradioTokyoAdventures]

That was Jean Shepherd who wrote the story as well.

[@robertmarccouturec2217]

cool!

[@hughjanus4881]

Bro, I'm so cool I piss ice cubes...

[@davidyoung5114]

I'm trying to think of who could portray Elijah and Daneel as on-screen characters, and the two names that jump out to me are Sebastien Stan as Elijah, and Bill Skarsgard as Daneel. This would make a great limited series. Let's hope it will one day happen.

[@zvimur]

Might as well put Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto. Precisely because the K & S duo always reminded me of Bailey and Olivaw.

[@himwhoisnottobenamed5427]

@@zvimur How? I can see the Spock/Daneel comparison. But not the Kirk/Lije comparison.

[@zvimur]

@@himwhoisnottobenamed5427 Mmm, impulsive character?

[@edwardhannah8507]

I'm not into audiobooks/radio adaptations but this was really good. 1950's: robots/AI taking peoples jobs? That would never happen lol 2024: Oh...

[@rosemariejackson3975]

Does anyone know if Isaac Asimov's "The Complete Robot" is on audiobook?

[@evilsizer4428]

It is, I just listened to it a week ago!

[@rosemariejackson3975]

thank you!!

[@rosemariejackson3975]

thank you!!

[@patricktilley5203]

Rosemarie Jackson Check on Amazon books, I've had good luck with audio books. You also check on Goodreads.

[@johnchristopher20]

Just in the first five minutes, I see where Blade Runner got it’s dialogue.

[@julianbrown2582]

That was PKD or Philip K Dick who wrote Blade Runner, not Asimov.

[@jameswalker3973]

PKD wrote "Do Robots Dream of Electric Sheep", that became Blade Runner .

[@philliplopez8745]

There is a certain presience to this story . We find ourselves in a time when robots may very well cause your un or under employment . The " fat cats " on wall street see nothing but cheap labor at your expense . There needs to be a huge tax levied on the profit realized by the " fat cats "

[@harrygallagher4125]

Why does Jessie have a thick NYC accent, but Elijah does not? Most peculiar, however, is why Bentley, their son, has a pronounced English accent, sounding like a Cockney to me! This must be one cosmopolitan, futuristic family!

[@warplanner3258]

As many others have said, excellent version! Does anyone know the musical piece played under the closing credits? I believe it was the same as House of Cards (the English version).

[@ColonelAstrid]

Funnily enough, KZbin marked this play as having copyrighted music because of that piece. It doesn't effect the play, but in the text KZbin added to the video on my upload page, they identified the music as the "Trumpet Tune - The London Gabrieli Brass Ensemble & Chorus". I dunno if that's enough for you to find a recording of it ...

[@ColonelAstrid]

Oh actually, I found it on KZbin! kzbin.info/www/bejne/rIKwen6Oa5Kgl8k

[@paulbennett772]

I believe it was composed by Jeremiah Clarke

[@CUTTHORPE]

Was Steve Fry's voice over-dubbed on the original?

[@ausinla480]

日本語でごめんなさい！ このドラマはウィキペディアにも書かれていません。 完全に忘れ去られた貴重な資料なのでそのままよろしくお願いします！

[@DoctorMoreau]

Who would dislike that ? Missing the images telling what to think ?

[@humbleradioTokyoAdventures]

Can anyone tell me if they know the title to an audio drama where a young man can't remember his name, has crashed on a planet, meets a girl and is held by robots. He has a special transporter device that can send him anywhere. I'm thinking it might be Robot City, but I'm not sure. I heard it years ago on a streaming radio site, that no longer exists.

[@elizabethnash7491]

humbleradio Could it be The Time Machine?

[@douglasbell7395]

The currents of space

[@AkashSingh-se3he]

humbleradio are u confusing the sidescroller game flashback with an audiobook??

[@jeffbattis5956]

It was Isaac asimov's Robot City, written by Kube-McDowell. I have it on a Caedmon/Harper audiocassette, but found it once on KZbin as well. It's excellent!

[@peymanesmaili299]

how can i have this adaptation's mp3? where can i download?

[@sammaster999]

Google "KZbin to mp3 converter". there are lots of sites that can do it for you

[@englishshortstories2818]

Asimov fan? Then check out 'The Robot's Decision'

[@danielryan9076]

❤❤❤❤❤

[@Cyber_Smoke]

Why does he look so much like Jerry O Connell it's uncanny.

[@billybest5497]

OMG It’s Commander Straiker from UFO

[@markmorgenstern]

did they make The Naked Sun too?

[@jmm1233]

Blade Runner by Asimov

[@robertmarccouturec2217]

great book, Philip K Dick and assimov make a great double bill for all audio-book enthusiasts!

[@robertmarccouturec2217]

its true, I've always seen the Deus Ex video game series to be a sort of pre cursor to blade runner lol.

[@karlhart8678]

You know, I share that idea. You can see the similar genetic lineage.. pardon the pun.

[@cosmosrunner]

Another day in lockdown, another great radio drama! #corona2020

[@ricardovelchi5760]

Didn't this guy say during his initial monologue that he new every inch of the city? He didn't even know until he went to the commissioner's office that him and the rest of the cops were above ground? Some detective

[@RoundedSeal]

he's agoraphobic lol, don't be too harsh on him, dude

[@johnshaw6702]

OK. The only thing I did not like was the voices used. The detectives family had three different accents and that is not how I expected R. Sammy to sound. I read this and the other robot series books some 40 years ago. I probably read all Asimovs' SiFi books a few times, as well as some of his academic books.

[@zakofrx]

Have the other books in the Trilogy been done for Radio by the same people???

[@ColonelAstrid]

No, this was just a one off done at the time.

[@pentuplove6542]

1:18:41 out of 1:30:01. Good story, well narrated.

[@blakelowrey9620]

Lol nice rating system

[@tananam9782]

I really enjoy sci-fi radio play. This is great! However, in the youtube format, 1:30+ hours is hard to keep track of, and Ive lost and restarted several times (no, i've not subscribed). Maybe chunk it into 30 minute episodes? I remember hearing the first bit of this radio play on college radio some years ago. I wish Radio Drama was still a thing in the USA.

[@davidh00]

Shave a second off please. it will be under 90 mins then - can convert to MP3.

[@celtick4985]

David Haigh Hahahahahaha

[@stush7]

lol. :) there are sites where u can specify start & end times before dL... good luck! :)

[@MrJanbrouwer1]

Hades in georgie.

[@padgecrack4018]

No synopsis?