AUDIO REVIEW: OSIRIS 1.1 ‘PILOT’ / AUTHOR: MARTIN JOHNSON / PUBLISHER: EVERYBODYELSE PRODUCTION / STARRING: CHRISTIAN EDWARDS, LIZ WHITE, ROBERT WHITELOCK, COLIN MCFARLANE / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
Osiris is a new series of audio dramas produced and written by Martin Johnson (who has worked for Big Finish and Hammer Chillers) as the flagship product for his new company everybodyelse Productions. Osiris 1.1: Pilot tells us a lot about ambition from its name – this sets out to be the first in a series and the first series of many. The name Pilot is also intriguing; the story is about the search for a pilot and is the pilot for the series as a whole.
Martin has sensibly stripped the plot to its essentials. As the website says, Osiris is the story of Nottingham graphic designer Jason Fox (Christian Edwards – Doctor Who: Daleks Among Us), his sister Melissa Fox (Liz White – Life On Mars, The Woman In Black) and his unemployed best friend William Tyler (Robert Whitelock – Doctor Who: The Bells of Saint John) as they stumble upon an ancient undiscovered spaceship called ‘Osiris’ buried beneath the legendary Major Oak tree in Sherwood Forest.
The story bursts into life on the night of a great storm and follows the actions of three realistic people who happen to find a spaceship and play with it as Jason discovers hints of a larger destiny at play. They encounter various government forces including American general Trent Stone (Colin McFarlane – Batman Begins, The Dark Knight). Amidst all the action and early uncovering of the secrets of the spaceship, a lot is left unexplored for future episodes.
The cast are top notch and under the direction of Lisa Bowerman (stalwart Big Finish producer and actor) turn in a performance that carries the story well and each character is distinct. The other ingredient is the terrific sound; not only the music and effects but also the quality. Osiris is encoded in Dolby Pro Logic II™ surround sound from the 5.1 channel master. You don’t need to understand the technical details to be impressed when fighter jets scramble across the room as you listen.
This first episode does everything a pilot should – sets out the context, introduces major characters and gets the ball rolling. This is a lot for a single episode to achieve and Pilot does this though has to take some time, meaning the action elements of the plot are somewhat compressed to make room for some of the early wandering around finding the spaceship. This is a minor criticism.
everybodyelse Productions released Osiris 1.1: Pilot on November 28, 2014; full details are available on their website for this and the series concept going forward.
Starting a company, creating a new concept and releasing a first product are all daunting tasks and Martin (and team) deserves congratulation for this first entry in a series that has every chance of becoming a favourite.
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