Order of the Golden Sprout The New Robert Rankin Fan Club

5 Stars
This is a splendid audio dramatisation, rather reminiscent in style to the Hitchhikers' guide to the Galaxy. Adapted by Elliot Stein and Neil Gardner, Robert Rankin's 'The Brightonomicon' story lends itself very well to a play of thirteen episodes. The first episode acts as an introduction, then the following consist of twelve bizarre mysteries each of which take up one entire episode, giving each a satisfying beginning, middle and end. The mysteries must be solved by the great Hugo Rune and his amnesiac amanuensis, Rizla, in order to save the world from the evil Count Otto Black.

The cast is incredibly good and surprisingly large. David Warner is perfect as Hugo Rune, having the voice of a giant, so fitting for a man who never pays for anything, takes credit for everything and regularly sets about hapless taxi drivers with a stout stick. Rupert Degas is wonderful as Rizla and has an additional voice when narrating, performed by Michael Fenton-Stevens, adding another dimension to the story. The cast also includes Andy Serkis, Mark Wing-Davey and many others.
There is a fairground waltz theme that runs through the story and which turns up in many different guises throughout, adding to the magical feel of the whole production. The play as a whole is complex and varied, brilliantly put together and hilariously funny.