Your Audio "Bomber"

[pattie anne]

Dear Mr. Baker -

Could you give us some additional back ground on "Bomber?"

You once told us that "Bomber " was your favorite audio story, as it included an all star cast and some interviews by some very special guests.

Thank you. And to you and your Sue joyeux anniversaire on the first.

Love,
pattie anne

[Tom Baker]

Dear Pattie Anne,

Bomber was the radio dramatisation of the book "Bomber" by Len Deighton. It was the account of a bombing raid over Germany in WW2 that lasted all of one day. The BBC decided to broadcast it in real time over several hours. It was beautifully adapted by Bert Coules and full of excellent characters. Some of it was unbearably sad. I was asked to play the mayor of a small town whose entire family was killed. I asked if I could play the narrator instead because I thought I could find a tone of voice that was underplaying the whole tragedy. The BBC agreed and gave me the chance.

The young actors playing the air crew were so thorough in their preparation. They went to air museums and sat in real planes and experimented with the suffocatingly tiny spaces. I remember how fine they were in the scenes where they were hit and doomed. And some of them calling out to their mothers. The broadcast was a great success. I wonder if the recording is still available?

Tom