"Chingers are seven foot tall, scaly marsupials with
alligator heads; Venians are hideous, mouldy newts with just enough
intelligence to hold a gun and pull the trigger. Fortunately for us
neither of these species is plentiful on Earth, but elsewhere in the
Galaxy it's another story: the story of Bill, the Galactic Hero."
"Bill hails from Phigerinadon II, a planet twenty-five light years from Earth as the crow flies (or would if it had the energy). He is a simple farm boy but a visit from a recruiting officer soon changes all that. Before you can say 'Jack Robinson' or he can say 'I don't want to join,' he is whisked into the Imperial Army and a series of extraordinary adventures.
"This is science fiction with a smile on its face, a tongue in its cheek, and a Zarquod up its Xyggle. It is also packed so tight with thrills, surprises and jokes that the only pause for breath Bill gets is when you turn the record over.
"Bill, the Galactic Hero was first heard on Radio Four, and differed from most readings in that it used elaborate sound effects and Radiophonic Music for added dramatic impact. These have now been reproduced for the record."
Quoted from the LP sleeve notes (where they also appeared in this hideous pink)
The BBC record contains the reading of the novel which was first heard on BBC Radio 4 in Britain (dates?) in five fourteen minute episodes broadcast on successive evenings. It differed to readings normally broadcast in this slot in that it featured music and sound effects, probably as a result of the success of The Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy which was first broadcast as a Radio 4 serial.
This adaptation was read by Kerry Shale, of whom the sleeve notes say: Kerry Shale trained in Canada but has been based in Britain since 1978. His work for tv and films includes The Comic Strip Presents, Nancy Astor, and Yentl, and he has also gained a considerable reputation for his readings on radio. Here he brings a whole galaxy of characters to life.
Kerry Shale provides a good range of voices and accents to bring the characters to life, including Inspector Jeyes of the Department of Sanitation, who sounds remarkably like Peter Lorre, and a G.B.I officer, Agent Pinkerton, who seems to believe he's John Wayne. Shale's reading is highly energetic, and suits the pace of the story perfectly. My only slight complaint is that the good ol' country boy accent he gives to Bill himself seems a little too high-pitched for the 'broad-shouldered, square-chinned, curly-haired chunk of electronic cannon fodder' image Harry Harrison creates for the character in the book. But this is a minor quibble: you can't really expect any adaptation to live up to every one of your personal imaginings.
The record runs for a little under an hour, so is obviously heavily abridged. The adaptation was by Paul Mayhew-Archer, who manages to pack a great deal of the novel into such a short space of time. It's a pity that the description of Deathwish Drang was omitted, as this is a piece of classic Harrison, but Kerry Shale's voice for the character just about makes up for this. On the whole, the first half of the novel comes over better than the second. The second side of the LP seems packed with disjointed bits, as if the adapter has tried to include a bit of everything. But that does mean that most of the best bits of the novel are included too!
The recording is great fun and worth trying to get hold of, but I'd advise reading the book first. Sadly both record and cassette were deleted from the BBC catalogue some time ago. The original details are as follows:
The credits for the BBC adaptation are given as:
Doctor Who - Incidental music from The Leisure Hive by Peter Howell and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, released on the LP Space Invaded - BBC Space Themes.
Fanfare from the LP BBC Radiophonic Workshop - 21 (21st Birthday Celebration)
Space for Man and the Case of the Ancient Astronauts by Peter Howell and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, from the tv programme The Astronauts and released on the LP BBC Space Themes.
Sound effects - including some from the BBC Radio 4 serial Earthsearch by Lloyd Silverthorne - released on the LP Science Fiction Sound Effects.