The Silver Chair (Focus on the Family Radio Theatre)

"Could you believe me if I said I'd been right out of the world — outside this world — last summer?" — Eustace, to Jill Pole This article covers a subject that does not exist in the Chronicles.

Cover of the CD release

The Silver Chair was produced in 2002 as a Radio Theatre production by Focus on the Family, The C. S. Lewis Company Ltd. and Tyndale Entertainment. It featured a full cast, orchestral music, and an introduction by Douglas Gresham. It was dramatised and directed by Paul McCusker.

Broadcast History

On December 26th 2005, in Britain, BBC Radio broadcast the first four of the 'Chronicles' recordings back to back as complete, continuous performances. They were: The Magician's Nephew; The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe; The Horse and His Boy; and Prince Caspian. The remaining three Chronicles (The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair, and The Last Battle) were aired on BBC Radio in fifteen 50 minute episodes on consecutive weekdays from 22nd December 2006 to 10th January 2007.

Differences from the Book

• Eustace and Jill call each other by their first names throughout the radio play, as opposed to only once or twice in the book. No mention is made of the tendency for pupils at their school to only use each other's surnames.

Cast

• Douglas Gresham - Host and Casting Director
• Paul Scofield - Narrator
• David Suchet - Aslan
• Ron Moody - Puddleglum
• Steven Webb - Eustace
• Jade Williams - Jill Pole
• Jamie Glover - Prince Rilian
• Stephen Aintree - Old Drinian
• Chris Emmett - Old Trumpkin
• Robert Benfield - Squirrel
• Nick Burnell - Badger
• Katy Glassborow - Rabbit
• Peter Goodwright - Old Caspian, Giant King, gnome
• Michael Haughey - Hedgehog
• Polly March - Giant Queen
• Gary Martin - Mullugutherum
• Joanna Myers - Lady of the Green Kirtle
• Derek Nimmo - Glimfeather
• David Oakley - Bear
• Audrey Palmer - Dryad
• Daniel Philpott - Faun
• Lynn Robertson Hay - Giant Nanny, Dryad
• Joe Shaw - young Caspian
• Philip Sherlock - 2nd Owl
• Simon Treves - Golg

ensemble cast

• Robert Benfield
• Jessica Fox
• Peter Goodright
• Andrew Harrison
• Heather Heyer
• Katherine Kellgren
• Nathaniel Lippiett
• Tom Maggs
• Daniel Philpott
• Mervyn Stutter
• Zoe Verner

• Philip Glassborow - Casting Director

Producers

• Dave Arnold - Producer
• Kurt Bruner - Executive Producer
• Paul McCusker - Executive Producer

Sound

Orchestra Recorded at Martinsound, Alhambra, California

• Tom Busteed - Sound Design
• John Campbell - Music Composer
• Mark Drury - Music Director
• Tim Jacquette - Mixing

Voice Recording

• Mark Drury - Voice Recording Engineer
• Dave Arnold - Voice Recording Engineer
• Duane Harms - Voice Track Editor
• Voice Tracks recorded at The Soundhouse, Ltd., London

CD Release

Tyndale Entertainment released a three disc recording of the radio play.

Track Listing

Disc 1

1. Prologue
2. Blown to Narnia
3. The Signs
4. The Sailing of the King
5. A Parliament of Owls
6. Puddleglum
7. Giants, Not Rocks

Disc 2

1. A Knight and a Lady
2. The Hill of the Strange Trenches
3. The House of Harfang
4. How They Discovered Something Worth Knowing
5. The Marches of the Underland
6. The Black Knight

Disc 3

1. "Bound By A Spell"
2. The Lady of the Green Kirtle
3. The End of the Underworld
4. Golg
5. The Disappearance of Jill
6. Dug Up into Narnia
7. The Healing of Harms
8. Epilogue

trivia

• The sad orchestral music during the funeral scene is Adagio for Strings.

External Links

Excerpt from radio play