JUDGE DREDD: the ORIGINAL adventures-THE DAY THE LAW DIED & THE APOCALYPSE WAR- audio drama

          I listen to old radio shows on my drive to work, I have a thirty minute commute every morning and evening, living in the country my cell phone doesn’t get service during my drive, that eliminates Pandora and Spotify from my options list and I don’t like music enough to buy it on itunes, thus I’ve been restricted to the radio top tens every day and I got sick of them. Then I found radio drama’s I started with the obvious ones everyone knows, lone ranger, the green hornet, superman ect, but overtime I have found more obscure and newer stuff. To me the best radio Dramas are exciting, a little funny, a little cheesy, and basic enough I don’t get lost if I get distracted on the road, but interesting enough I still care.

But how does Dredd radio hold up? Does it stand up to the test of time, the first ones are as old as the 90s, much newer than many Dredd stories which hold up. So the only way to get into it is to dive straight into it. 

The first Dredd radio show is the toughest to review because it is so different from the rest. Not only was it made seven years before the other 22 of them but also it is the only one based on a major event in the comics. With the exception of one based on the apocalypse war I intend to review next week. The remaining radio shows are all original stories with a different voice cast from this one.

Now the story it is based on is reviewed here with my complete case files 02 review.  I really love this story and wondered how well it could be adapted, surprisingly, it works, it really works, I can’t say the dialog was even significantly altered in any way but it works. I was honestly surprised, with the addition of music and sound effects it somehow replaces the images almost perfectly. The sound really adds additional depth to the original story and now I doubt re-reading the day the law died will ever be quite the same.

I tested to see if this radio drama was as intriguing as I believed it was by showing it to my Dredd obsessed sister-in-law, she had never heard of the show either and loved it. The voice work is delightfully as over the top as the original story, most lines are perfectly delivered with all the intensity that this story calls for. Judge Cal sounds exactly how he should, the actor of Walter does a decent job at making a character many fans hate seem endearing, the only voice actor I didn’t particularly love was the one for Dredd himself, his portrayal was fine, it just isn’t how I imagine Dredd’s voice should be.

Now this drama has a few minor flaws, I argue it follows the comic a little to closely, Sometimes with Judge Cal, looking at him really sells what is going on and a couple occasions such as the sequences with the rubber duck I am unsure if I would understand what was happening had it not been for my own memory what was going on, For me as a viewer that doesn’t matter because I know the story but I believe something of this caliber should be able to stand on its own.

In the end if you are a fan of radio drama’s you should give these a try, if you’re a fan of Dredd and especially the day the law died arc you should give these a try. The only people who should avoid these would be people who don’t enjoy the tone of older Dredd stories in general, these if you’re one of those fans then this should be avoided. I really enjoyed them and everyone I’ve shared them with has as well though and I believe they’re worth a look.

***Update***

After re-listening and considering the apocalypse war follow up I have decided it does not require its own unique review. Many of the voice actors all the same (The entire returning cast is the same) the apocalypse war drama also shares a few of my cited flaws, most notably it follows the comic to closely at some points, the sound effects help replace the images but not perfectly and I would have appreciated a few changes to help adapt the from a visual medium to a verbal one.

The apocalypse war audio story does include block mania, which is a relief as the apocalypse war wouldn't make much sense without it, 

          The Sov-Judges are all well cast and I had no complaints about any as they all embodied what I imagined them to be like, even when these dramas are over the top in there performance, it doesn’t bug me because the genre of audio  story has a history in over the top performances. The voice actor of Dredd still bugs me a bit but by this point you get used to it and he easily has more to work with in this story as he does a fine job acting out some of the most epic moments in Dredd history. The standout performance to me was Judge Giant, something about the actors demeanor perfectly en-captured his personality.

The apocalypse war is the better story of the two, you can find my review of it here, Although I will say I believe the day the law died did translate over a bit better over audio than the apocalypse war do to being slightly less action packed and more dialogue based. Both are worth the your time though. be sure to check them out. 

Unfortunately the original Cassettes are fairly tough to hunt down, sometimes they pop up on eBay which I’ll link to down below, if anywhere else knows a website which has them consistently let me know and I’ll add a link as well, until then good luck and happy hunting guys.