''Claybourne'' is a 1998 radio drama in 96 episodes with elements of
science fiction
Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
, supernatural thriller, and
soap opera
A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...
. The series was produced by Andrew Dubber and Belinda Todd of Pronoun Productions after the production of ''
Ashley's Worlds''.
Plot
After a breakup, American Thompson is on holiday from his work for Koestler Industries and arrives in Claybourne. He starts to investigate the death of behavioural psychologist Helen, working for Koestler on a secret project with commercial as well as military applications. He teams up with Mata and Mike of the Te Whenua o Te Irirangi-people and local bartender Karen.
The show has many Māori characters and a focus on
Māori culture
Māori culture () is the customs, cultural practices, and beliefs of the Māori people of New Zealand. It originated from, and is still part of, Polynesians, Eastern Polynesian culture. Māori culture forms a distinctive part of Culture of New ...
.
Cast
*
Jim McLarty as Thompson, an American on vacation on New Zealand
* William Davis as Mata, a Māori kaumātua (elected tribal leader)
*
Angela Bloomfield
Angela Bloomfield (born 11 December 1972) is a New Zealand actress and director.
Early life
Bloomfield attended Massey High School in West Auckland, New Zealand.
Career
Bloomfield has starred in ''Shortland Street'' continuously on and off for ...
as Karen, a local
bartender
A bartender (also known as a barkeep or barman or barmaid or a mixologist) is a person who formulates and serves alcoholic or soft drink beverages behind the Bar (establishment), bar, usually in a licensed bar (establishment), establishment as ...
*
Bruce Allpress as Frank
*
Melwayne Edwards as Mike
*
Brenda Kendall as Edith
*
Robert Pollock as Phillip
Production
The sound was designed by Andrew Dubber and Sean James Donnelly. The music was performed by Victoria Kelly and Joost Langeveld.
The show was designed with a story arc spanning a full year in mind, but was cancelled after six months and ending the show on a
cliffhanger
A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious situation, facing a difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction or bef ...
.
In 2006, Dubber sketched what he remembered of how the writers and producers imagined it may have continued.
First airing and later releases
The show aired on the radio station
Newstalk ZB
Newstalk ZB is a nationwide New Zealand talk radio, talk-radio network operated by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, NZME Radio. It is available in almost every media market, radio market area in New Zealand, and has news reporters based in m ...
four days a week just after 15:00 and with a repeat at 01:00.
The show was one of the most popular spoken word programmes on
mp3.com
MP3.com was a website operated by Paramount Global publishing tabloid-style news items about digital music and artists, songs, services, and technologies. It is better known for its original incarnation as a legal, free music-sharing service, ...
.
Andrew Dubber later released the work under a
Creative Commons license
A Creative Commons (CC) license is one of several public copyright licenses that enable the free distribution of an otherwise copyrighted "work". A CC license is used when an author wants to give other people the right to share, use, and bu ...
(
CC BY-NC
A Creative Commons NonCommercial license (CC NC, CC BY-NC or NC license) is a Creative Commons license which a copyright holder can apply to their media to give public permission for anyone to reuse that media only for noncommercial activities. C ...
) on
Bandcamp
Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...
as free download around 2006.
In 2006 it was also distributed as podcast by the Podcast Network.
Awards
''Claybourne'' won "Best Dramatic Production of the Year" at the 1999
New Zealand Radio Awards
The NZ Radio & Podcast Awards (Formerly the ''New Zealand Radio Awards'') are the annual awards of the New Zealand radio industry. Organised by the Radio Broadcasters Association, the awards recognise excellence in commercial and non-commercia ...
.
Later comments
In her book ''Revolution in the Echo Chamber: Audio Drama's Past, Present and Future'' (2019), Leslie Grace McMurtry wrote that ''Claybourne'' had many compelling elements: the strong pull of seriality and episodes available in digestible chunks, a seemingly infinite series of cliffhangers, centripetal storytelling, bookending litany, compelling characters, and accessibility.
She noted that the series had "taken on an afterlife probably not envisaged by its creators", and wrote that it was a testament to the series' quality that, though intended for a New Zealand audience, it had become globally engrossing.
References
[Claybourne]
, claybourne.bandcamp.com.
[Andrew Dubber.]
The End of Claybourne
(archived), Andrew Dubber's blog, 31 May 2006. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
[Claybourne in print]
, andrewdubber.com, 25 February 2021.
External links
*
Claybourne' at bandcamp.com (hosting all 96 episodes)
*{{Internet Archive, id = OTRR_Claybourne_Singles
*
Claybourne' at radio.dieselpunkindustries.com (hosting all 96 episodes)
1998 radio dramas
New Zealand radio programmes
Creative Commons-licensed works
Fiction about artificial intelligence