The Magician's Nephew (Focus on the Family Radio Theatre)

"Could you believe me if I said I'd been right out of the world — outside this world — last summer?" — Eustace, to Jill Pole This article covers a subject that does not exist in the Chronicles.

Cover of the CD release

The Magician's Nephew was produced in 1999 as a Radio Theatre production by Focus on the Family, The C. S. Lewis Company Ltd. and Tyndale Entertainment. It featured a full cast, orchestral music, and an introduction by Douglas Gresham. It was dramatised and directed by Paul McCusker.

Broadcast History

On December 26th 2005, in Britain, BBC Radio broadcast the first four of the 'Chronicles' recordings back to back as complete, continuous performances. They were: The Magician's Nephew; The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe; The Horse and His Boy; and Prince Caspian. The remaining three Chronicles (The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair, and The Last Battle) were aired on BBC Radio in fifteen 50 minute episodes on consecutive weekdays from 22nd December 2006 to 10th January 2007.

Cast

• Paul Scofield - narrator
• David Suchet - Aslan
• Elizabeth Counsell - Queen Jadis
• Nathaniel Lippiett - Digory Kirke
• Jessica Fox - Polly Plummer
• Richard Syms - Uncle Andrew
• Douglas Gresham - Host
• Nick Burnell - Constable, Mole
• Evangeline Evans - Aunt Letty
• Jane Gambier - Mother, maid
• Katy Glassborow -Rabbit
• Peter Goodwright - Frank/Cabbie
• Polly March - Helen, Jackdaw, woman in crowd
• David Oakley - rotund man
• Philip Sherlock - 2nd man, crowd
• Mervyn Stutter - Strawberry/Fledge

• Philip Glassborow - Casting Director

Producers

• Dave Arnold - Producer
• Kurt Bruner - Executive Producer
• Al Janssen - Executive Producer

Sound

Recorded at Citrus Studios, Glendora, California
Mixed at A to Z Studios, LaVerne, California

• Dave Arnold - Sound Design
• John Campbell - Music Composer
• Jim Scheffler - Orchestra Recording and Mixing
• Vangie Archer Gunn - Female Vocalist
• Jeff Gunn - Male Vocalist

Voice Recording

• Mark Drury - Voice Recording Engineer
• Dave Arnold - Voice Recording Engineer
• Voice Tracks recorded at The Soundhouse, Ltd., London

CD Release

Tyndale Entertainment released a two disc recording of the radio play in 1999.

Disc 1
1. Prologue
2. Digory and Polly
3. The Wrong Door
4. Magic Rings
5. The Wood Between the Worlds
6. Charn
7. The Golden Bell
8. The Delplorable Word
9. Back from Beyond the World
10. What Happened at the Front Door

Disc 2
1. The Magician's Nephew
2. "Narnia Awake!"
3. The Second Joke
4. "Undo the Wrong"
5. Strawberry's Adventure
6. An Unexpected Meeting
7. The Untangling of the Uncle Andrew
8. The Planting of the Tree
9. A Miracle
10. The Beginning/Epilogue

trivia

• A Cat is heard in this adaptation at the Ketterley residence at two different points.
  • first was during the scene with Aunt Letty and Digory when the evil queen and Uncle Andrew pass through the livingroom. The cat is heard growling at the witch when she is present, though she is heard kicking it.
  • During the scene where Digory is giving the Narnian Apple to his mother, a cat can be heard meowing softly then gently purring as the mother falls asleep. It is unknown if this cat symbolizes Aslan as Aslan would appear as a cat to Shasta in The Horse and His Boy..