80th Anniversary

Dec. 20, 2023

During pandemic furlough, Backstage magazine sent me an email advertising their Sound Stories competition. They were seeking short radio plays, any genre, created using only dialog and sound effects, based on one of three proposed themes.

I selected ‘What Really Matters’ and cooked up a World War II combat drama, inspired by real events. I’d had the story in my notebook for years, and the project spawned a burst of creativity, from scratch to final product, in ten days. UPDATE: Our play, Round Trip, is now featured at the website for the Erickson Aircraft Collection, in Oregon, home to Doc Hospers’ recreation of Charlie Brown company’s B-17, Ye Olde Pub!

Click the crew photo below for audio (flight-time five minutes):

Cast

Cdr., 2nd Lt. Charlie Brown: Scott Charles Blamphin

Oberleutnant Franz Stigler: Rich Greene

Sgt. Dick ‘Peachy’ Pechout: Aud Andrews

2nd Lt. Spencer ‘Pinky’ Luke: Trevor Jones

2nd Lt. Al ‘Doc’ Sadok: Sawyer Blamphin

Crew

Writer/Director: Joe Fordham

Sound Production: Flashfilms

Historical Advisor: Mark Ellis

Production Cheerleader: Patti McMahon

Special Sound Effects: Soundsnap / SoundFX Studio

Freesound Artists: Audiojacked / Audiopapkin / Cognito-Perceptu / CGEffex / Craigsmith / Epicwizard / Geffex / Henrythetrain / Kernowrules / Klankbeeld / Landub / Pavelvon

Historical Resources: Warbirds Of America / American Air Museum Of Britain

Header Image: 'The Guardian' By Nicolas Trudgian