This post is a stark reminder as to why digital archival is so damned important.
Between 2006 and 2010, BBC Radio aired abridged versions of the stellar "Dr. Syn" book series by Russell Thorndike. They were narrated by Rufus Sewell, and are above and beyond the most entertaining adaptation of the stories aside from the watered-down (yet still fantastic) Disney miniseries.
If you're unfamiliar, the stories are about Dr. Christopher Syn, a polite and courteous Parson by day, and a swashbuckling cloaked avenger called "The Scarecrow" by night. With the first book being published in 1915, one could say this type of hero predates both Batman and The Shadow; however the first book focused more on Syn's Pirate life, and the "masked vigilante" alias of "The Scarecrow" didn't come about until the 1930's with the subsequent novels.
Up until at least 2019, the Sewell recordings were publicly available via the BBC's own website. However, between then and now, they have all been wiped out. Even the reuploads on YouTube (which is where I ended up securing the third installment of the series) have disappeared.
These stories are timeless. They're exciting. They're excellent listening material for the Halloween season. And they deserve to be heard and archived.
The tales are encoded in 128kbps, which was the only way I was able to originally save them from the BBC's site. I added accompanying artwork depicting Disney's take on "The Scarecrow" drawn by the incredible Bret Blevins.
I have no idea whether or not the BBC will try to have these recordings removed - again - from the web, so I'd urge anyone who believes they may enjoy these stories to please listen to them as soon as possible. I have a feeling you won't regret it.
DOWNLOAD 1
DOWNLOAD 2
Internet Archive
128kbps CBR
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