Exploring John Wyndham's "The Kraken Wakes" and Its Adaptations

What if a mysterious ocean invasion unfolded before your very eyes? 

Join Fran from Melancholy Mentor and Evan from Mystery Mythos as we explore the spine-chilling themes of John Wyndham's "The Kraken Wakes." 

This episode offers a deep dive into the unique narrative structure and the eerie portrayal of apocalyptic events through the lens of the fictional English Broadcasting Company.  Featuring captivating performances by Tamsin Greig and a special cameo by Nicola Sturgeon. 

This episode featuring a BBC Symphony Orchestra recording has captivated and polarized listeners, teaching us the power of artistic choices. 

Chapters

• 0:00 Classic Literature and Radio Plays Exploration
• 11:14 Controversial Radio Drama Discussion

Transcript

Fran: 0:00

Hello everyone and welcome to Melancholy Mentor, where classic literature meets the vibrant world of radio plays. I'm Fran and I'm joined by Evan from Mystery Mythos. Together, we're your guides on this creative journey. During each episode, we'll dive into stories featured on the Melancholy Mentor channel, allowing fresh ideas to flourish, inspiring you to dream big and unlock your creative potential. Get comfy, open your mind and embrace curiosity. Let's get started.

Fran: 0:39

Hello, I'm Fran. And I'm Evan, and today we are delving into the Kraken Wakes. Yes, this is amazing. Yeah, the Kraken Wakes is by John Wyndham. John Wyndham was a British science fiction writer. A little bit more about him in a bit. So the Kraken Wakes is a tale of apocalyptic horror, I know, mysterious and deadly invasion from the depths of the ocean. The actual book was first published in 1953. I do think it's incredible that a lot of our most amazing sci-fi stories came out of the 50s.

Evan: 1:32

Yeah, yeah, me too. It's just so forward thinking.

Fran: 1:36

Really forward thinking, and this particular novel is structured as a book within a book. So that's what makes this particular one extra interesting. I think the protagonist is a radio reporter called Mike Watson. Mike and his wife Phyllis work for the EBC, which is the English Broadcasting Company. And guess what? I've got a little bit of information about the English Broadcasting Company. Oh, it was fictional. I know it sounds like something that should exist. It doesn't exist. We do have the BBC, which is the British Broadcasting Company. We never had an English, just a specific English version company. We never had an English, just a specific English version. So occasionally we've got viewers and listeners off of our islands. So we're in Britain and Britain is made up of Scotland, england, ireland, wales. So to specifically have an English broadcasting company, like was was a fictitious event in this particular book. I don't know. I mean, I feel like we should have a scottish.

Fran: 2:51

Maybe there's a scottish broadcasting company yeah, I mean that'd be good I know that now the, the bbc, have got different kind of um fractions. I guess they've in in all of the areas around British Isles, so possibly there's like little kind of break off radio groups. This was like a fictitious broadcasting company. Depending on the book's origin, there are several changes to the plot. So, for example, there's a US version and it's called Out of the Deeps and they kind of miss out a whole chapter. And also some of the versions skirt around Mike's, the protagonist Mike's, delve into mental health. He has a mental health crisis during the story and they kind of delve around that.

Fran: 3:51

There's a couple of topics in this book, actually, that are a little sensitive, and I feel that the radio drama that we've got on on the youtube channel is sensitive to that. So it does touch on this and I was a little surprised myself, but I feel like it's sensitively done and it's this particular radio drama is very well written as well, isn't it? And it leads into it sensitively. So I don't know that there's a movie version of this book, because quite often there are movie versions aren't there of the books. So I don't know that there's a movie version of this book, because quite often there are movie versions aren't there of the books?

Evan: 4:30

Yeah, I don't know for sure, but I don't think so.

Fran: 4:32

No, have you got any more about the actual recording itself that we've got on the channel?

Evan: 4:39

Yeah, yeah, this recording was adapted by Val McDermid for BBC Radio 4 in 2016. So this is like a 2016 version.

Fran: 4:51

A recent in comparison to some of the radio dramas and radio plays that we've got on the channel.

Evan: 4:57

Yeah, yeah, so that's pretty cool. The music was performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, so that was like recorded live. It actually starred Tamsin Grigg as Phyllis and it features an appearance by Scotland's then First Minister, nicola Sturgeon, as herself. So that's really oh, I love that. That's really awesome. Self, so that's really oh, I love that. That's really awesome, and I've got one other little fun fact, which isn't totally about it, but it's just like an extra little thing , in 2017 so after this was made there was a game deal made with , john Wyndham's estate to develop an interactive game, and it actually was released on steam in march 2023. So whether that reignited the interest I had no idea about that yeah.

Evan: 5:53

So it went out, uh, like I say, in march 2023 on steam I want to find that now.

Fran: 6:00

Yeah, but it's good, I like that and I love it that the particular recording that we've got has got Nicola Sturgeon's voice on it brilliant.

Evan: 6:08

Brilliant because Nicola Sturgeon, I kind of follow her on Instagram. She's, really really into books and literature. So since she's kind of retired kind of thing from you know, out of the public eye, most of her instagrams actually filled with books and kind of what she's doing, you know but a lot of it involves books and literature.

Fran: 6:34

I think it's. It's quite amazing, especially if you've got like a real interest in books and in literature and then you get to actually feature, yeah, like a renowned um radio drama recording yeah, so she must have been really like stoked about that.

Fran: 6:50

I would be the aim yeah, and this particular recording that we've got. The voices are really clear in it, the voice acting is very good, and speaking is something that both myself and and you, evan, have worked on a little bit, because it's really easy to use filler words, like, uh, you know, and we are aware that we we're still doing that we're both a work in progress ourselves, aren't we?

Fran: 7:19

so yeah, but I would love to be able to read stories and read them clearly and put in like emote the, the words, and, yeah, I think that would be a wonderful thing to do. It's something I'd like to explore on our youtube channel in a while. So I'd love to be able to actually read some of these classic literature stories. So on the melancholy mentor channel, it's more on the classic literature side, although there's a crossover with some of the um sci-fi books.

Fran: 7:52

So we've got sci-fi um radio dramas and radio plays on there on your channel, evans, and there's another channel that's linked to this, uh, to melancholy mentor, and it's mystery mythos and, and the Mystery Mythos channel is definitely more sci-fi. Yeah, it's nearly all sci-fi. Yeah, it's definitely more sci-fi. So we've got a little bit of a crossover on the Classic Literature channel and we would love to start adding our own kind of readings of the books, or at least certain chapters, because I'd love to keep bringing, reviving it and bringing this stuff to to an audience, to, because we've got people that enjoy it from remembering either a drama series or tv series or reading the book and new audience that this, this brings it to a new audience as well, which is amazing yeah, yeah.

Evan: 8:48

I've never heard of it before, so that's brilliant, isn't it?

Fran: 8:50

I know we're very keen on the creative side. So I'm actually um a neurolinguistic programming coach and trainer. So I'm an NLP coach and trainer and I'm very much into creativity, because one of the other things that I do is I'm a burlesque and cabaret performer and host. So bring that creativity into the coaching. And Evan actually prepares all the videos and the audio and does the tech. So you've got kind of an interest into the, the video production and the, the tech of it all. So we're still evolving. We're still evolving with this. So if you're listening now, please do follow our journey as we evolve and, you know, get improve at this.

Evan: 9:37

Yeah, definitely.

Fran: 9:37

That's what it's all about, isn't it? It's about being the best version of yourself.

Evan: 9:41

Yeah.

Fran: 9:41

And if you're interested in the creativity, then look at what else that we do as well and the other channel, mystery Mythos. So then look at what else that we do as well, and the other channel, mystery mythos. So, going back to this particular recording, what we do on the melancholy mental channel is I go it's usually me that goes out filming and I film the seaside. So I'm actually based in Dorset in the UK, so it's kind of around Dorset and Hampshire, sometimes other areas, if we're traveling, and I film the seaside and then the film is edited and the radio play is put over the top of it and evan puts it all together and puts it onto the channel.

Fran: 10:15

So this particular episode, I believe it was filmed at sandbanks, which is also known as millionaires row in dorset. It's beautiful stretch of beach, like golden sandy beach, beautiful stretch of seaside, and it's kind of the angle that I've got it at you can sort of see the waves coming in and it's really nice. And then I was because I was listening to the radio drama this morning and I thought actually it's kind of, you know, you've got these, these deadly invasion coming from the sea, and we've got it the back, you know, the video. The backdrop of the video is actually filmed at the sea, so I'm like it's going to add to the drama or, you know, add to the terror. Um, yes, pretty good, I know this particular video, um and episode is actually our most controversial to date on the channel. It's our most controversial? Yeah, definitely it is.

Fran: 11:17

We're currently a small channel so we are looking at kind of growing the the youtube channel and the the other channels that we're we're adding as well, and this has got the most comments that we've ever received. We've gratefully received comments, so if you'd like to look at any of the episodes on the channels and drop some comments, we would love that. We love the interaction and this particular one. I say it's controversial because it really divided the listeners between people that absolutely hated it and people that absolutely loved it and those that kind of were like just you know, just forgive that bit and listened, you know it's a really good story.

Fran: 11:58

So there was some kind of people like um mediating as such, and we actually welcome this because people's opinions are really important. We've all got our own version of reality. We've all got our own version of what we like and there is no right or wrong in that, as long as it's not hardcore trolling, which we do not invite. No difference is an opinion, or if there's an opinion to be given, or you want to leave a comment about how much you loved it, like we, we enjoy reading all of the comments, and this particular one divided the audience and the listeners, mainly due to the music. Yeah, so remind me again, it was because I know it was a British recording. Remind me again of.

Evan: 12:44

Who did it yeah?

Fran: 12:44

Yeah.

Evan: 12:46

The BBC Symphony Orchestra.

Fran: 12:48

So the BBC Symphony Orchestra, obviously incredible professionals, and this was recorded live.

Evan: 12:55

Yeah.

Fran: 12:56

However, it divided the listeners and the viewers due to the use of the music in certain places and the um, the audio of the music. Yeah, so how loud it was in some places and um it, it seemed to make some people quite angry as well yeah, they weren't on the levels and stuff like that, so yeah, which do you know what is fair enough?

Fran: 13:27

I had a little giggle then, just because you know it's like I, it's because of how much I enjoy people actually getting involved. Like it's not those people, it's how much people get involved. So, if you're angry, yeah, I'd love to hear about that as well, and the fact that it made people feel annoyed and make them feel something yeah, feel quite angry about it. Yeah, it makes them feel in emotion. So, therefore, the drama is doing its job in a sense, because it's evoking that emotion, and for people to be able to identify that emotion and and translate it into what they didn't like about what they were listening to, we very much welcome that yeah, definitely yeah and I've.

Fran: 14:08

I actually thought that the, the music, really added to the, the story and added to the drama and it was a little loud in places and I guess if you're listening with earbuds or you know headphones it it could be a bit of a jolt yeah, yeah, yeah, maybe um this particular one.

Fran: 14:32

we've got up to 19k views on this as well, which is, for us, that's really hardcore. Yeah, we're currently in low views, which is fine, because we're we're slow growing. You know we're a slow growing, you know we're a slow growing business. We're a slow growing set of channels, so that's absolutely fine, and some of I mean I think all of the episodes on the Melancholy Mentor channel have reached double figures, I think. But some of them are kind of they're very low, they're kind of 18 or 20. So for us to get 19K views on something is astonishing, yeah, yeah, and this is just the gift that keeps giving, isn't it this particular episode?

Evan: 15:15

yeah, it just keeps going. People are just constantly watching it every week. Yeah, um, it's usually like the top one for views every every week usually, yeah.

Fran: 15:25

So there's something. I I found the actual story and listening to the radio drama, I found it gripping, like occasionally I say occasionally, I'm, I'm it's not occasionally at all, it's all the time I'm very distracted, yeah, yeah, evan's the grounding force in this partnership I'm very distracted. So I will start doing one thing and I will wander off and do another. I've currently got a hair clip on my finger that I keep pinging. There's always quite a bit going on here, so I have to really channel some energy to focus. And for me to actually sit there and just be completely enthralled in a whole story without wandering off to do something else and coming back again is is amazing. So this one really got me and the other stories that, like I enjoy them.

Fran: 16:21

I would just do, I would do something else while I'm listening to it, and there's nothing wrong with that either. It's just the fact that this one gripped me so much. I would just sat there completely immersed in the audio, listening to it, and there's nothing wrong with that either. It's just the fact that this one gripped me so much. I would just sat there completely immersed in the audio, listening to it yeah, yeah, yeah, it's a really good one, I think yeah, and I know you've got some good ones on your channel as well, haven't you?

Fran: 16:39

yeah, so we're going to start adding in um a podcast on the other channel as well, once we get around to it and, like with any setup it's, you can see what I've got behind me. I've got a screen. Evan uses the background, um on the, for the video, for the audio. We've experimented with microphones, haven't we? And we've ended up just with these little ones. Yeah, they tend to work best at the moment and with everything we do, please be inspired to get creative, join in. Yeah, you know, um, it's not copying as such. If you're inspired by something and you want to start your own podcast, your own channel, you want to explore the depths of your own creativity and what you can bring, then we encourage that greatly, don't we?

Evan: 17:29

yeah, definitely. I'd love to see people getting on getting out there and maybe there's something like they think they can't do, and then they see somebody else just having a bash at it and it's not perfect. That's the thing about it, because if you wait for it to be perfect, you might never do it, and if we can just like get get people going to where they, where they want to be, I think that's great yeah, me too me too.

Fran: 17:53

Before we wrap this up, I just wanted to say a little more about John Wyndham, and I did say in one of the previous episodes that I'd like us to do like more of a deeper dive into some of the authors, yeah, and possibly some of the the voice actors that we feature on the channel that are highlighted, and as usual, I kind of want to sprinkle a bit of everything all over the place. So you know, no doubt at some point I'll focus on that and we'll do it. But just a little bit more about john windham. We have spoken about him before on previous episodes. He was born in 1903 and he perished in 1969. There's not a lot about his demise to be found. He was born in Warwickshire and he actually died in Hampshire, which is a neighbouring county to where I am. And was he an underrated author of his time?

Evan: 18:49

I think so.

Fran: 18:50

yeah Was he an underrated author of his time. I think so. Yeah, was he an underrated author of his time?

Fran: 18:54

so we tend to get, like people make themselves known if they're a john wyndham fan to us, so we get messages and comments about them being a john wyndham fan. And, yeah, I still encounter a lot of people that literally haven't heard of him and he's an English writer, so you know, they just haven't heard of him. So he's underrated. He wrote under other name combinations, including John I'm not sure how to pronounce this, but it's John Beanon and Lucas Parks. Oh, wow, not sure why, but wrote under under other names again. Another thing that I'm not sure of is those other writings. Have they ever been published, and were they then put under the name of john wyndham, or are there stories out there that we're not quite aware of because they're under a different name that he wrote under? So that's quite an interesting thought. Is it a?

Evan: 19:51

different style of story. Is that why he wrote under a different name? Because the writers write different styles, don't they? So I'm wondering whether that's to do with it.

Fran: 20:01

Yeah, possibly, yeah, who knows. I like a little mystery. Yeah, me too. Right, so that was a little mystery. Yeah, me too, right. So that was a little bit about the Kraken Wakes by John Wyndham, which is a radio drama featured on a channel, melancholy Mentor, on YouTube. Join in with the controversy. Yeah, go and have a look. Yeah, find the episode. So join in with the controversy and leave us a comment and see what you think about it, so that we can get more of an idea of not only what an audience likes to listen to, but also what evokes that emotion in the listeners and in people in general, because we're really fascinated to just know whereabouts you are, what your beliefs are with this and what kind of styles you like. So come and drop us some comments. We'd love that. Yeah, brilliant, all right, thank you for listening. Thank you, bye, bye.