B7 Media

B7 Media is a multi-award winning UK indie producer (radio, television and film) and publisher (audiobooks, comic books) known for creating award-winning content across film - Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont; Exit Thread; The Colour of Spring, audio - Greenborne; Barred; The Space Race; The Effect, comics - Pilgrim; Hancock: The Lad Himself, working with much-loved IP - Blake’s 7; Dan Dare; Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles; Isaac Asimov's I, Robot and telling stories across different content forms.[1]

B7 Media
TypePrivate company
IndustryEntertainment
Founded2002
Headquarters
Berkshire
,
UK
Key people
Andrew Mark Sewell, Creative Director
Helen Quigley, Production Director
ProductsBlake's 7 audio dramas
Dan Dare Audio Adventures

Websitewww.b7media.com

History

Founded in 2002, B7 Media is perhaps best known for the audio reboot of the cult BBC sci-fi series Blake's_7 (2007-10) featuring Derek Riddell, Colin Salmon and Daniela Nardini (for BBC Radio 4 Extra), now released by Big Finish Productions as a collectible box set. B7 also co-produced, in association with Big Finish, the very successful Blake’s 7 audio drama series reuniting the original television cast in all-new adventures.

B7 Media’s output ranges from the popular indie film romance, Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont, starring Joan Plowright, Anna Massey and Rupert Friend; to a range of audio dramas with a distinctly cinematic edge, produced for Audible and BBC Radio 4. Other film credits include a long-time collaboration with Canadian filmmaker Paul Kimball, The Cuckoo in the Clock, mystery thriller Roundabout, the multi-award-winning noir thriller, Exit Thread2 and The Colour of Spring.

B7's dramatisation of Isaac Asimov’s science fiction novel I, Robot won company founder Andrew Mark Sewell the prestigious NYC International Radio Program ‘Best Director’ Award (2017).[2]

B7 Media also produced the critically acclaimed Dan Dare Audio Adventures (2017-18) series (BBC Radio 4 Extra) based on the eponymous strip first published in Eagle comic of the 1950s and 60s.[3]

In 2019, B7 Media launched an audiobook division, working with up and coming and independent authors, established publishers and producing collections of out of copyright work.

Audiobook releases include Victorian Anthologies, featuring curated volumes of ghosts, horror and gothic romance by well-known authors and some whose stories have never been recorded for audio before; crime author Pauline Rowson’s 1950s crime series The Inspector Ryga Mysteries (Death in the Cove and Death in the Harbour);[4] Richard Lieberman’s science thriller Bad Seed; Sam Meekings The Afterlives of Doctor Gachet - a dramatised history of the man in Van Gogh’s famous painting; and Jools Berry’s metaphysical romcom Ray’s Game.

Biographies include Roger Federer: Portrait of an Artist, Chris Jackson's study of Federer as a man, player and aesthetic and moral figure of our times; Tim Pilcher’s Comic Book Babylon, the unofficial of story of DC Comic’s Vertigo UK office; In the Nick of Time, the story of EastEnders iconic baddie, John Altman and Marriage Bureau, Mary Oliver’s account of a 1940s matchmaking business, the book republished for the first time since 1942, with a new introduction by Richard Kurti.

Most recently, B7 produced Greenborne (2021), the UK’s first radio soap since Waggoners’ Walk featuring John Altman, Louise Jameson, Raad Rawi and Corrinne Wicks. Devised by Colin Brake, based on an original idea by Colin Brake and Andrew Mark Sewell, the first episode of Greenborne was broadcast on 21 March 2021.[5][6]

The series was funded by the Audio Content Fund and broadcast nationwide on over 50 community radiostations,[7] such as Swindon 105.5,[8] and Tring Radio.[9] The series received widespread coverage, with the press implying its aim was to take down The Archers.

Set in the fictional rural village of Greenborne, although the soap opera plays out in the shadow of the virus, the drama sets out to celebrate the lives of people as they overcome the dark times and emerge into the light. Telling tales laced with humour and warmth; this was a positive and upbeat soap opera, offering listeners intriguing and affecting stories about a life of which we were all dreaming beyond the lockdown.

In 2021, B7 Media announced the launch of a new comics imprint, B7 Comics, launching with a comic tie-in to its new science fiction production Pilgrim.[10] The title was launched with a preview in Issue 8 the British comic anthology, SHIFT, with art by Wamberto Nicomedes. The company announced it would be followed by a four-issue mini series in 2022, written by John_Freeman_(editor) with art by X-Men artist Neil Edwards.

Audio

• Blake’s 7 “Rebel, Traitor, Liberator (2007) Dir. Andrew Mark Sewell Derek Riddell, Colin Salmon and Daniela Nardini Sci-Fi | TX: Sci-Fi Channel/BBC Radio 4 Extra | 36 x 5’ + 3 x 60’

• Blake’s 7: The Early Years (2008-10) Colin Salmon, Benedict Cumberbatch, Keeley Hawes, Susannah Doyle, Geoffrey Palmer, Carrie Dobro, Craig Kelly, Zoë Tapper Featuring Escape Velocity (2008) Dir. Andrew Mark Sewell; “The Dust Run ” / “The Trial ” (2009) ; “Blood & Earth ” / “Flag & Flame ” (2009) ; “Point of no Return ” (2008); “Eye of the Machine ” (2008) Dir. Andrew Mark Sewell; “ When Vila Met Gan ” (2008) Dir. Andrew Mark Sewell Sci-Fi | TX: BBC Radio 4 Extra | 1 x 30 ’ Audio Drama | B7 Media

• Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles (2014) Dir. Andrew Mark Sewell Sir Derek Jacobi, Hayley Atwell, John Altman and Zoë Tapper Sci-Fi | TX: BBC Radio 4 | 1 x 57 ’ Audio Drama | B7 Media

• The Boy from Aleppo Who Painted the War (2014) Noof McEwan, Bijan Daneshmand, Amir El-Masry Sci-Fi | TX: BBC Radio 4 | 1 x 57 ’ Audio Drama | B7 Media

• Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot (2017) Dir. Andrew Mark Sewell Hermione Norris, Brendan Coyle, Derek Riddell Sci-Fi | TX: BBC Radio 4 | 1 x 57 ’ Audio Drama | B7 Media

• Dan Dare: The Audio Adventures Volume 1 (2017) Dir. Andrew Mark Sewell Sci-Fi | TX: BBC Radio 4 Extra | 3 x 57 ’ Audio Drama | B7 Media

• Dan Dare: The Audio Adventures Volume 2 (2019) Dir. Andrew Mark Sewell Ed Stoppard, Heida Reed, Geoff McGivern and Raad Rawi Sci-Fi | TX: BBC Radio 4 Extra | 4 x 57 ’ Audio Drama | B7 Media

• Eleanor of Aquitaine (2019) Dir. Andrew Mark Sewell Drama, Historical | TX: Audible | 1 x 90 ’ Audio Drama | B7 Media

• The Space Race (2019) Dir. Andrew Mark Sewell Narrated by Kate Mulgrew Docudrama| TX: Audible Originals | 10 x 60 ’ | B7 Media

• Greenborne (2021) Dir. Andrew Mark Sewell Soap | TX: Community Radio 13 x 20 ’ Audio Drama | B7 Media

• The Effect (2021) Dir. Andrew Mark Sewell Thriller| TX: Audible Originals | 10 x 30 ’ | B7 Media


• Venna’s Planet (2021) Dir. Andrew Mark Sewell Sci-Fi| TX: tbc | 10 x 15 ’ | AUK/B7 Media

Film

• Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont (2005) Dir. Dan Ireland Joan Plowright, Rupert Friend, Zoë Tapper Comedy, Drama | 1h 48in Indie | Cineville/B7 Productions

• The Cuckoo in the Clock (2014) Dir. Paul Andrew Kimball Drama, Horror, Thriller | 1h 11min Indie | Rattlesnake Films/B7 Media

• Roundabout (2014) Dir. Paul Andrew Kimball Drama, Thriller | 1h 20min Indie | Portcullis Motion Pictures; B7 Media

• Exit Thread (2016) Dir. Paul Andrew Kimball Hilary Connell, Crystal Allen, Anthony Shuster, Robert G. Slade Drama, Thriller | 1h x 38 ’ Indie | Starhawk Productions; B7 Media


Television

• Barcelona Burnout (2004) Dir. Vincent Lewis Documentary | Men & Motors | 60min | Ignite Productions; B7 Media

• Sonnet 155 (2011) Benedict Cumberbatch, Richard Briers, Paul McGann, Tim Arnold Music/Live Event | Almeida Theatre | 52min | B7 Media

Awards

• Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont (2006) ‘Best Narrative Feature’, Palm Springs International Film Festival[11]

• Exit Thread (2016) 23 International Festival Awards including ‘Best Feature Film’, Los Angeles Independent Film Festival Awards; Grand Jury Prize ‘Best Film’, Colorado Film Festival; ‘Best Director’ (Paul Kimball), International Independent Film Awards[12]

• Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot (2017) 'Best Director' (Gold) and ‘Best Drama Special’ (Silver) New York Festivals® Radio Awards (2017)[13]

• Dan Dare: The Audio Adventures (2017/18) ‘Best Digital Drama Program’ (Gold/2018); ‘Best Online Drama Program’ and 'Best Director' (Silver/2017) New York Festivals® Radio Awards [14]

• The Space Race (2019) ‘Best Documentary: Space & Technology’ (Gold) New York Festivals Radio Awards (2020). Finalist / Sir Arthur Clarke Award ‘Space Achievement’[15]

References
  1. "About B7 Media". Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  2. Chisolm, Jason (21 June 2017). "B7 Media Win for Dan Dare & I, ROBOT at NYF's International Radio Program Awards". Blogtor Who. London. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  3. "Dan Dare: 21st Century Spaceman". BBC. London. 21 December 2019. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  4. Chandler, Mark (14 May 2019). "B7 Media signs audiobook deal for Rowson mystery series". The Bookseller. London. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  5. "Home". Greenborne. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  6. Conlan, Tara (25 March 2021). "Watch out Ambridge: Covid radio soap Greenborne airs across UK". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  7. "Community stations to air post-Covid radio soap opera". Community Radio Today. 9 February 2021. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  8. "Greenborne. New Drama". Swindon 105.5. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  9. "Greenborne - A New Soap Opera for Tring Radio". Tring Radio. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  10. Freeman, John (27 September 2021). "B7 Media announces "Pilgrim – Secrets and Lies" – first title of new Comics imprint". downthetubes.net. Lancaster. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  11. "Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont". Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont. 2006. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  12. "Exit Thread". Exit Thread. 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  13. "Isaac Asimov's I, Robot". Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot. 2017. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  14. "The Space Race". The Space Race. 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  15. "The Space Race". The Space Race. 2019. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
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