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Panel 1 – Audio Abridging

Audio abridger and producer Tamsin Collison and Shaun Sibley, CEO of The Whole Story - a company specialising entirely in unabridged audio - discuss the abridging process with Alison Flood. The panel includes clips from audio actors Neville Jason & Lorelei King, and an extract from Tiger in the Smoke by Margery Allingham, read by Philip Franks and abridged by Tamsin Collison.

Panel 2 – Audio Acting

Alison is joined by Hugh Fraser and Kerry Shale, two prolific audio actors who have also appeared in a variety of television and radio plays: Hugh playing the Duke of Wellington in Sharpe and Captain Hastings in Poirot; Kerry playing Mr Beaver in the legendary BBC Narnia series. Hugh and Kerry discuss how they prepare for an audio role and how this might differ from stage or screen. Alison also met with RSC actor Ben Crystal to discuss the differences between acting Shakespeare in audio and on the stage, and asked Andrew Sachs (best known as Manuel in Fawlty Towers) and Lorelei King how they prepare for a role.

Panel 3 – Audio in Education

Audio publishers Ali Muirden and Phil Viner talk with Honor Wilson-Fletcher - the director of National Year of Reading - about the educational potential of audio and some fascinating projects currently being piloted in prisons and the army. Alison also talks with Andrew Sachs and Neville Jason, and the panel includes illustrative clips from Romeo & Juliet and The Gruffalo.

Panel 4 – Audio Downloads

Author Robert Rankin joins Alison Flood, Peter Crawshaw the MD of lovereading.co.uk and Rebecca Williams, marketing manager for Go Spoken. An animated discussion of downloads and their place in the future of audio and the issues of piracy, royalties that arise from internet content. Alison draws comparison with the music industry and how publishing can learn by example, and we hear what Lorelei King and Neville Jason have to say about downloads. Also included is a clip from Robert Rankin’s Brightonomicon.

Panel 5 – Comedy

BBC Radio 4 producer Dirk Maggs talks with I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue panellist Barry Cryer about how comedy works so well in audio form. With extracts from Clue and Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.