High quality audio dramas?

November 21, 2013 5:04 PM

I have been enjoying We're Alive. What are some similarly high-quality serial audio dramas? They can be ongoing or not. I particularly enjoy post-apocalypse fiction and historical fantasy along the lines of Jacqueline Carey. I'm not a huge fan of science fiction, but otherwise I'm open.
posted by torisaur to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (5 answers total)

This may be a painfully obvious suggestion, but have you tried Welcome to Night Vale? It's styled as a news bulletin from a small town with weird Lovecraftian overtones--not quite science fiction, and no specified apocalypse, but it feels a bit post-apocalyptic to me. Sometimes hilarious, occasionally legitimately creepy.

I'm normally fiercely resistant to anything that's super-popular on the Internet, but this one caught on for a reason.
posted by ActionPopulated at 5:28 PM on November 21, 2013 [6 favorites]

I'm partial to some of the higher-quality old-time radio shows. I love the old Lux Radio Theater shows based on movies and sometimes even the same stars (you can find them all online). But I especially recommend the 1970's "CBS Radio Mystery Theater" - a genuine radio classic.
posted by Gerard Sorme at 8:21 PM on November 21, 2013

The Truth. They are audio dramas but not serial. Each production is self-contained and some of them I would categorize as in the realm of speculative fiction.
posted by fuse theorem at 8:23 PM on November 21, 2013

There was recently aired a radio version of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. Sort of fantasy-adventure-quest style in a secret world underneath the streets of London.

I'll be honest, it ultimately didn't end up being my cup of tea, but it sounds more up your alley. Things I did love about it: The writing is very clever and outright hilarious at times, the acting is excellent, and the sound editing is gorgeous. It has a wonderful ethereal atmosphere to it.

There's six episodes, and I'm not quite sure at the moment where you can obtain them, but I'm sure you can manage.
posted by mekily at 8:25 PM on November 21, 2013

Pontypool (the BBC radio version) for high-concept War of the Worlds-type horror at a rural Canadian radio station.

The audiobook version of World War Z is also stellar, with an all-star ensemble voice cast and a wide variety of interesting stories from an imagined zombie apocalypse.
posted by Rhaomi at 12:49 AM on November 22, 2013