Planet of the Apes (BBC Radio Drama)

Planet of the Apes is an 1998 Radio Drama directed, produced and written for BBC Radio 1 by John Taylor who also directed the Tales of Narnia audio drama The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and based on the original 1968 film, which in turn was based on the novel by Pierre Boulle. The 3 hour radio drama was created to celebrate the original films 30th anniversary release, it was broadcast on April 3rd 1998 on BBC Radio 1 and featured an all-star cast including Sean Connery as the narrator.

Main Cast

 * Kevin McKidd as Captain Ulysses
 * Kate Winslet as Nova
 * Roddy McDowall as Dr. Zaius
 * Helena Bonham Carter as Zira
 * Kenneth Branagh as Cornelius
 * Brian Blessed as General Ursus
 * Ewan McGregor as Brutus
 * Eddie Redmayne as Lucius
 * Sean Connery as Narrator/Simon

Secondary Cast

 * Derek Jacobi as Dr. Maximus
 * Ian McKellen as President Remus
 * TBA as Lt. John Landon
 * TBA as Lt. Julia Stewart
 * Peter Mensah as Lt. Dodge
 * TBA as Gorilla Soldier/Orangutan Priest
 * TBA as Gorilla Truck Driver/Chimpanzee Civilian/ Gorilla Hunter 1
 * TBA as Gorilla Hunter 2/Gorilla Bus Driver
 * Jim Carter as Mutant Leader
 * TBA as Mutant 1
 * TBA as Mutant 2

Differences from the 1968 film
Despite being a retelling of the 1968 film, the radio drama features several changes to the story:


 * The apes have a technological advanced civilization with cars, helicopters, television, trains and a sprawling city as they did in the original novel.
 * The astronauts were launched on July 4th 1996.
 * The year the audio drama is set is 3996 AD.
 * General Ursus is both a main character in the radio drama and is one of the few apes who knows that humans were once the rulers of Earth.
 * The Liberty 1 is portrayed as a space shuttle.
 * The Orangutan president presiding over Ulysses trial is named Remus.
 * Cornelius and Zira are already married and Lucius is their son.
 * There is a Gorilla named Brutus who befriends Ulysses.
 * Lt. Dodge isn't during the hunt. Instead he manages to escape from the Gorilla hunters and is later later revealed to be a captive of the mutants.
 * There is a fourth astronaut, a woman named Julia Stewart who is the fiancée of John Landon. In the audio drama, she is killed during the hunt and is later found stuffed in the museum by Ulysses.
 * Nova becomes pregnant with Ulysses child as she did in the novel.
 * There is a human character named Simon who meets Ulysses at different points during the audio drama and goes seemingly unnoticed by the apes. It is revealed at the end that he is an illusion created by the mutants to spy on Ulysses.
 * Nova briefly speaks at the end of the radio drama.
 * Instead of the Statue of Liberty, Ulysses and Nova find Mount Rushmore.