The Sandman (podcast)

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The Sandman is an audio drama written by Neil Gaiman, directed by Dirk Maggs, with music by James Hannigan, and produced by Audible.

Contents

Background

The official trailer for the show was released on July 6, 2020. [1] The first season of the series debuted on July 15, 2020, and was composed of 20 episodes that covered the first three volumes of the graphic novel. [2] The three volumes Preludes and Nocturnes , A Doll's House , and Dream Country consisted of 20 issues. [3] The second season of the show, The Sandman: Act II, debuted on September 22, 2021 [4]

Dirk Maggs previously collaborated with Neil Gaiman to produce audio adaptations of his other novels, Good Omens and Neverwhere . [5] Maggs and Gaiman had wanted to create a BBC audio drama adaptation of The Sandman comics since 1992. [6] The show uses the original script that Gaiman wrote for the comics. [7] The music was composed by James Hannigan. [8]

Gaiman commented on the benefits of audio as medium noting that the show is more accessible to people with visual impairments and those who don't read comic books. [9]

Plot

In season one, Morpheus escapes after 70 years of imprisonment to rebuild his kingdom. [10] In season two, Morpheus travels to hell to rescue queen Nada. [11]

Cast and characters

The series stars James McAvoy as the protagonist Morpheus and the show is narrated by Neil Gaiman. [12] The Sandman: Act II introduces David Tennant as Loki. [13] The show includes the following cast and characters:

Adaptation

The show was adapted into Hindi. [14]

Reception

The show was a 2022 People's Voice Winner at the Webby Awards in the Original Music Score/Best Sound Design Category, and a People's Voice Winner at the 2023 Webby Awards. [15] [16] The show won an Earphones Award. [17] The show was a finalist in the 2022 Audie Award for Fantasy. [18]

According to Audible, the first season had a record-breaking number of pre-orders and was the best-selling Audible Original in the company's history. [19] The second season was the second best-selling Audible Original for the first 90 days. [20]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neil Gaiman</span> English writer (born 1960)

Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre, and screenplays. His works include the comic book series The Sandman and the novels Good Omens, Stardust, Anansi Boys, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book. He co-created the TV series adaptations of Good Omens and The Sandman.

<i>Neverwhere</i> British television series

Neverwhere is an urban fantasy television miniseries by Neil Gaiman that first aired in 1996 on BBC 2. The series is set in "London Below", a magical realm coexisting with the more familiar London, referred to as "London Above". It was devised by Neil Gaiman and Lenny Henry and directed by Dewi Humphreys. Gaiman adapted the series into a novel, which was released in September 1996. The series and book were partially inspired by Gene Wolfe's novel Free Live Free.

The Sandman is a mythical character in European folklore who puts people to sleep and encourages and inspires beautiful dreams by sprinkling magical sand onto their eyes. The legend says he has a sister that can also control the water, since she was created and lives in Matina. She is also known as Amaysi.

<i>The Sandman</i> (comic book) Graphic novels by Neil Gaiman, 1989–1996

The Sandman is a comic book written by Neil Gaiman and published by DC Comics. Its artists include Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg, Jill Thompson, Shawn McManus, Marc Hempel, Bryan Talbot, and Michael Zulli, with lettering by Todd Klein and covers by Dave McKean. The original series ran for 75 issues from January 1989 to March 1996. Beginning with issue No. 47, it was placed under DC's Vertigo imprint, and following Vertigo's retirement in 2020, reprints have been published under DC's Black Label imprint.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dream (character)</span> Protagonist of the comic book series The Sandman

Dream of the Endless is a fictional anthropomorphic personification who first appeared in the first issue of The Sandman, written by Neil Gaiman and published by DC Comics. One of the seven Endless, who are inconceivably powerful beings older and greater than gods, Dream is both lord and personification of all dreams and stories, and all that is not in reality. He has taken many names, including Morpheus, Oneiros, Kai'ckul, and the Sandman, and his appearance can change depending on the person who is seeing him. Dream was named the sixth-greatest comic book character by Empire. He was also named fifteenth in IGN's 100 Top Comic Book Heroes list.

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The Corinthian is a fictional character in Neil Gaiman's comic book series The Sandman. He first appeared in The Sandman #10, which is part of the second story arc, The Doll's House. The Corinthian is an anthropomorphized living nightmare created by Dream, who destroys him in the same collection for going rogue and failing to fulfill his original design. Dream later recreates him with "some changes", though the exact nature of these changes is not explicit. His most notable physical feature is his lack of eyes: in their place, two rows of small, jagged teeth line each eye socket, which he often covers with sunglasses. He can speak, eat, see, and even breathe through these mouths.

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James Hannigan is a BAFTA Award winning composer and producer. His credits include entries in the Harry Potter, Command & Conquer, Dead Space, RuneScape, Evil Genius,EA Sports and Theme Park video game series, among numerous others. He has also scored full-cast adaptations of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman, the Audie Award winning Alien dramas (2016–2019), BBC Radio 4's adaptations of Neil Gaiman’s Good Omens and Neverwhere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dirk Maggs</span> British writer and director

David George Dirk Maggs is a British freelance writer and director. During his career as a Senior Producer in BBC Radio he made radio drama adopting a cinematic-sounding approach, combining filmic story construction, layered sound effects, orchestral music and digital recording technology. Maggs introduced productions in Dolby Surround in BBC Radio and termed the result, "Audio Movies".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doctor Destiny</span> Fictional DC Comics character

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Sturridge</span> English actor (born 1985)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dead Boy Detectives</span> Comic book supernatural detective duo

The Dead Boy Detectives are a fictional supernatural detective duo who have appeared in comic books published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. They were created by writer Neil Gaiman and artists Matt Wagner and Malcolm Jones III in The Sandman #25. The characters are the ghosts of two dead children, Charles Rowland and Edwin Payne, who, rather than enter the afterlife, stay on Earth to become detectives investigating supernatural crimes.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">James McAvoy</span> Scottish actor (born 1979)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Endless (comics)</span> Sandman comic characters

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<i>The Sandman</i> (TV series) Fantasy drama television series

The Sandman is an American fantasy drama television series based on the 1989–1996 comic book written by Neil Gaiman and published by DC Comics. The series was developed by Gaiman, David S. Goyer, and Allan Heinberg for the streaming service Netflix and is produced by DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television. Like the comic, The Sandman tells the story of Dream / Morpheus, the titular Sandman. The series stars Tom Sturridge as the title character, with Boyd Holbrook, Vivienne Acheampong, and Patton Oswalt in supporting roles.

Alien 3 is an audio drama adaptation of William Gibson's unused 1987 script for the film of the same name. The audio drama was directed by Dirk Maggs and produced by Audible. The show stars Michael Biehn and Lance Henricksen who reprised their roles as Dwayne Hicks and Bishop respectively.

References

  1. ↑ Ouellette, Jennifer (July 6, 2020). "Morpheus speaks with the voice of James McAvoy in The Sandman audio drama". Ars Technica . Archived from the original on November 26, 2023. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
  2. ↑ Itzkoff, Dave (July 10, 2020). "Sweet Dreams: Neil Gaiman's The Sandman Becomes an Audio Drama". The New York Times . Archived from the original on November 26, 2023. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  3. ↑ Weldon, Glen (July 15, 2020). "'The Sandman': Landmark Comic Series Gets A Rigidly Faithful Audio Drama Adaptation". NPR. Archived from the original on August 4, 2024. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
  4. ↑ Holub, Christian (September 20, 2021). "How Audible's 'The Sandman' got bigger and better for Act II — including an EW cameo". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on June 22, 2024. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
  5. ↑ Robinson, Tasha (July 15, 2020). "How the Sandman audio drama cast Dream, Death, and Desire". Polygon . Archived from the original on July 17, 2020. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
  6. ↑ Schedeen, Jesse (July 14, 2020). "The Sandman: Neil Gaiman Explains How the Audible Adaptation Coexists With the Netflix Series". IGN . Archived from the original on November 26, 2023. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
  7. ↑ Muncy, Julie (July 19, 2020). "Neil Gaiman and Director Dirk Maggs Talk the Massive Undertaking That Is the Sandman Audio Drama". Gizmodo . Archived from the original on November 26, 2023. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
  8. ↑ Phillips, Maya (July 15, 2020). "How Do You Translate a Comic Book Into Audio? Ask Neil Gaiman". The New York Times . Retrieved July 27, 2024.
  9. ↑ Williams, Wil (October 8, 2020). "Neil Gaiman intends to adapt all of Sandman for the 'comics impaired'". Polygon . Archived from the original on November 26, 2023. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
  10. ↑ Harp, Justin (January 28, 2021). "Exclusive: Neil Gaiman's Sandman returning for two more series on Audible". Digital Spy . Archived from the original on November 26, 2023. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
  11. ↑ Sturges, Fiona (November 5, 2021). "The Sandman: Act II audiobook review – Neil Gaiman's dreamworld". The Guardian . ISSN   0261-3077. Archived from the original on June 22, 2024. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
  12. ↑ Clement, Olivia (May 13, 2020). "James McAvoy, Justin Vivian Bond, and More Tapped for Audible's The Sandman". Playbill . Archived from the original on November 26, 2023. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  13. ↑ Ganz, Jami (October 6, 2021). "David Tennant 'entrances' under fan pressure as Loki in Audible's 'The Sandman'". New York Daily News . Archived from the original on November 26, 2023. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
  14. ↑ Ramachandran, Naman (May 9, 2022). "Neil Gaiman's 'The Sandman' Gets Indian Adaptation by Dirk Maggs, Bollywood A-List Cast". Variety . Archived from the original on November 26, 2023. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
  15. ↑ "People's Voice Winner, Nominee. The Sandman: Act II". Webby Awards . 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2024.
  16. ↑ "People's Voice Winner - The Sandman: Act III". Webby Awards . 2023. Archived from the original on November 26, 2023. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
  17. ↑ "Reviews. The Sandman. Earphones Award Winner". AudioFile Magazine . July 1, 2020. Archived from the original on November 26, 2023. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
  18. ↑ Wang, Jessica (February 3, 2022). "Barack Obama, Sam Heughan, and Oprah among finalists for 2022 Audie Awards: See the full list". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved August 6, 2024.
  19. ↑ "Audible and DC Announce Second and Third Installments of "The Sandman"". audible.com. January 28, 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
  20. ↑ "Audible and DC Surprise Fans with Release of "The Sandman: Act III"". audible.com. September 28, 2022. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
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