The Sandman (podcast)

Last updated

The Sandman is a series of audio dramas written by Neil Gaiman based on his comic book of the same name. They are directed by Dirk Maggs, with music by James Hannigan, and produced by Audible. [1] The first volume of the series, The Sandman debuted on July 15, 2020, and is composed of twenty episodes covering the first three volumes of the graphic novel. [2] [3] The Sandman: Act II debuted on September 22, 2021 [4] and The Sandman: Act III debuted on September 28, 2022. [5]

Contents

In volume one, Morpheus escapes after seventy years of imprisonment to rebuild his kingdom. [6] In volume two, Morpheus travels to hell to rescue queen Nada. [7] In volume three, Morpheus and his sister Delirium search out their estranged brother Destruction. [5]

Dirk Maggs previously collaborated with Neil Gaiman to produce audio adaptations of his novels Good Omens and Neverwhere . [8] Maggs and Gaiman had wanted to create a BBC audio drama adaptation of The Sandman comics since 1992. [9] The show uses the original script that Gaiman wrote for the comics. [10]

Cast and characters

The show includes the following cast and characters:

The supporting cast included Arthur Darvill as William Shakespeare and Thomas Paine, William Hope as John Dee, Paterson Joseph as Chorazon, Anton Lesser as Dr. John Hathaway, Cathy Tyson, Sandra Dickinson, and Ellen Thomas as the Hecatae, Blake Ritson as Alex Burgess, Daniel Weyman as Rick Madoc, Reginald D. Hunter as Martian Manhunter, Simon Vance as Lucien, Louise Jameson as Mother, Barry Humphries as the Beachcomber, Siân Phillips as Livia, Nicholas Boulton as Julius Caesar, Mac McDonald as Abraham Warner, Kevin McNally as Wilkinson, Al Roker as a passerby, Lachele Carl as Maisy Hill, Annette Badland as Mrs. Mann, Ed Byrne as Todd, Colin McFarlane as Pharamond, Ayesha Antoine as Venice, Carl Prekopp as Algernon Charles Swinburne, Samuel West as Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Sanjeev Bhaskar as The Indian Gentleman, and Simon Jones as Hermas.

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. [11] [12] The show won an Earphones Award. [13] The show was a finalist in the 2022 Audie Award for Fantasy. [14]

According to Audible, the first installment had a record-breaking number of pre-orders and was the best-selling Audible Original in the company's history. [15] The second installment was the second best-selling Audible Original for the first 90 days. [16]

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colleen Doran</span> American writer-artist and cartoonist

Colleen Doran is an American writer-artist and cartoonist. She illustrated hundreds of comics, graphic novels, books and magazines, including the autobiographical graphic novel of Marvel Comics editor and writer Stan Lee entitled Amazing Fantastic Incredible Stan Lee, which became a New York Times bestseller. She adapted and did the art for the short story "Troll Bridge" by Neil Gaiman, which also became a New York Times bestseller. Her books have received Eisner, Harvey, Bram Stoker, Locus, and International Horror Guild Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cain and Abel (comics)</span> DC Comics characters

Cain and Abel are a pair of characters from DC Comics based on the biblical Cain and Abel. They are key figures in DC's "Mystery" line of the late 1960s and 1970s, which became the mature-readers imprint Vertigo in 1993.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Hannigan</span> British composer

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">Ellen Kushner</span> American writer

Ellen Kushner is an American writer of fantasy novels. From 1996 until 2010, she was the host of the radio program Sound & Spirit, produced by WGBH in Boston and distributed by Public Radio International.

<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".

<i>Anansi Boys</i> Novel by Neil Gaiman

Anansi Boys is a fantasy novel by English writer Neil Gaiman. In the novel, "Mr. Nancy"—an incarnation of the West African trickster god Anansi—dies, leaving twin sons, who in turn discover one another's existence after being separated as young children. The novel follows their adventures as they explore their common heritage. Although it is not a sequel to Gaiman's previous novel American Gods, the character of Mr. Nancy appears in both books.

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

Doctor Destiny is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics.

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

Thomas Sidney Jerome Sturridge is an English actor. His early films include Being Julia (2004), Like Minds (2006), and The Boat That Rocked (2009). He was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performances in Orphans (2013) and Sea Wall/A Life (2020). He was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance in American Buffalo (2016). Since 2022, Sturridge has starred as Dream in the Netflix fantasy series The Sandman.

<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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neil Gaiman bibliography</span>

This is a list of works by Neil Gaiman.

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

The Endless are a family of cosmic beings who appear in American comic books published by DC Comics. The members of the family are: Death, Delirium, Desire, Despair, Destiny, Destruction and Dream.

<i>Sandman: 24 Hour Diner</i> Canadian film

Sandman: 24 Hour Diner is a 2017 gothic horror fantasy short fan film produced and directed by Evan Henderson and Nicholas Brown. The film is a direct adaptation of a story from Neil Gaiman's best selling graphic novel series, The Sandman, following the story of issue #6, "24 Hours", considered one of the darkest and most horrific issues in the series.

<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.

Third Eye is a scripted fantasy podcast produced by Audible and created by Felicia Day.

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. ↑ 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.
  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. 1 2 "The Sandman: Act III". audible.com. Retrieved September 27, 2024.
  6. ↑ 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.
  7. ↑ 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.
  8. ↑ 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.
  9. ↑ 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.
  10. ↑ 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.
  11. ↑ "People's Voice Winner, Nominee. The Sandman: Act II". Webby Awards . 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2024.
  12. ↑ "People's Voice Winner - The Sandman: Act III". Webby Awards . 2023. Archived from the original on November 26, 2023. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
  13. ↑ "Reviews. The Sandman. Earphones Award Winner". AudioFile Magazine . July 1, 2020. Archived from the original on November 26, 2023. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
  14. ↑ 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.
  15. ↑ "Audible and DC Announce Second and Third Installments of "The Sandman"". audible.com. January 28, 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
  16. ↑ "Audible and DC Surprise Fans with Release of "The Sandman: Act III"". audible.com. September 28, 2022. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.