Coming June 6th…

Coming June 6th…
The Mercy Chair
"John Banks is one of the UK's most prolific audiobook narrators, working for the likes of Big Finish, Audible, Random House and Games Workshop.

He is a true multi-voice, creating everything from monsters to marauding aliens.

He is also an accomplished stage and TV actor."

audible.co.uk 2018

Hello...

...I'm John Banks - welcome to my website.

The majority of my working life has been spent in the theatre with companies including
York Theatre Royal, Cheltenham Everyman, Sheffield Crucible, Bristol Old Vic, Manchester Royal Exchange and the National Theatre in London.

Television work includes Emmerdale, Coronation Street, and 'Allo, Allo!'. I have also worked on a number of radio drama and comedy productions with the BBC.

Since March 2009, I have enjoyed playing a huge variety of characters in more than 270* audio-drama stories with Big Finish Productions, together with The Black Library/Games Workshop, details of which can be found in the postings below.


There are also details listed here of the 214* audio books & stories I've recorded since March 2013,
including the unabridged New Revised Standard Version of The Bible, for companies including audible.co.uk, Hachette, Audible Studios, Podium Audio Publishing, HarperCollins, RNIB, W.F. Howes, Little Brown Group, Penguin Random House, Games Workshop, Orion, Fantom Films & Ladbroke Audio.

(*figures at April 2021)

I hope you find something of interest here and come back soon for further updates.


For all posts, reviews and audio samples, please scroll down...

The Runewar Saga: Book 2

The Runewar Saga: Book 2
The Crown of Fire & Fury

The Botanist

The Botanist
Washington Poe Series: Book 5

Skaven Deathmaster

The Babel Books

The Babel Books
The Fall of Babel - click image above for link to audible

Doctor Who: Back To Earth

Throne of Light: Dawn of Fire Book 4

Throne of Light: Dawn of Fire Book 4
Release Date: 13th November 2021

Soul Wars

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Sunday, 20 January 2013

Stargate SG-1 Series 3 Part 2

Just a brief update to December's posting on the release of the three stories that make up this second Stargate trilogy. I've finally managed to track down all the artwork associated with the new series which now appears here and in the original posting. I think the cover art looks amazing and really can't wait for my Box Set CD copy to arrive so that I can listen to the recordings I started working on back in June 2011 - they say 'everything comes to he who waits'...
 


Michael Shanks Daniel Jackson   Claudia Black Vala Mal Doran  
John Banks Surtr - Vey - Lop - Mansu   Regina Reagan Wellan - Skadi - Ratatosk 
Andrew Collins Keto    Andrew Whipp Zoder   Stephen Hogan Olssen    
Harry Myers Soric  Ken Bones Lerat   Lisa Bowerman Ranne  
Paul Hyu Lt Colonel Yin   Anna Tolputt Geror

 Written By: Richard Dinnick, Peter Evans and Sharon Gosling
Directed By: Lisa Bowerman and Jason Haigh-Ellery
Recorded in Los Angeles, London and Vancouver.

Sunday, 6 January 2013

BBC Radio 4 Extra: Eighth Doctor Stories


BBC Radio 4 Extra continues to broadcast Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor stories from 7th to 11th January at 6pm and midnight. I'm involved in Wednesday's story, Nevermore, originally released by Big Finish in August 2010. Here are the details:

A bizarre manifestation in the Control Room forces the TARDIS onto the Plutonian shores of the irradiated world Nevermore, whose sole inhabitant is the war criminal Morella Wendigo – a prisoner of this devastated planet. But the Doctor and his new companion aren’t Morella’s only visitors. Senior Prosecutor Uglosi fears the arrival of an assassin, after the blood of his prize prisoner. An assassin with claws…

There’s no escape from Nevermore, whose raven-like robot jailers serve to demonstrate Uglosi’s macabre obsession with the works of the 19th century horror writer Edgar Allan Poe. An obsession that might yet lead to the premature burial of everyone on the planet’s surface – wreathed in the mist they call the Red Death!



  
Paul McGann   The Doctor
Niky Wardley   Tamsin Drew
Fenella Woolgar   Morella Wendigo 
Michael J Shannon   Senior Prosecutor Uglosi 
Emilia Fox   Berenice
 Eric Loren   Pilot 
John Banks   Ravens

Written By: Alan Barnes
Directed By: Nicholas Briggs 





Nevermore will be broadcast on 9th January 2013 at 6pm & midnight


Friday, 4 January 2013

The Horus Heresy



As I mentioned in the last posting, I'm currently listening to Garro: Sword of Truth from The Black Library. There's a huge amount of on-line information about the entire history of The Imperium and it's Legions of Space Marines - all fascinating stuff and often, beautifully illustrated. I've noticed however, that in the three recent Horus Heresy releases featured previously on this site, it might be a bit confusing and tricky to work out which characters each of us is playing.





Some may prefer not to know, but for anyone who is still in the dark and would like to know, the details are outlined below. Apart from clearing up that query, it also gives me an excuse to post more great artwork.


  
                        Grey Angel                                     Burden of Duty                        Sword of Truth

 Toby:                  Loken                                          Narrator - Garro               Narrator - Garro - Malcador

 Ramon:          Narrator - Qruze                              Dorn - Servitor                       Varren - Khorarin

 John:            Luther - Cypher - Watcher                       Masak                         Rubio - Rakishio - Hakeem




If you'd like to know more - much, much more, try these links:

The Horus Heresy                                           Lexicanum                                                The Black Library

Tuesday, 1 January 2013

Dr Who: The Wrong Doctors

And so, here we go with 2013. A very Happy New Year to you and thanks as ever for visiting the website. Always optimistic, especially at this time of year, I have a feeling that there's quite a lot of good stuff to come in the next twelve months and in its own small way, the first of the 'good stuff' can be found in the form of   
Dr Who: The Wrong Doctors, released on CD and download from Big Finish. Here are the details:




With Evelyn gone, the Doctor sets course for his destiny... in the form of his first meeting with Miss Melanie Bush, a computer programmer from the village of Pease Pottage, currently busy rehearsing with the local Amateur Dramatic Society – and blissfully unaware that her future is on its way, in his TARDIS.
Make that two TARDISes. Because at that very moment, a slightly younger Doctor is flying into Pease Pottage, too – returning his future companion Melanie Bush to her rightful place and time, after they were flung together during the course of his Time Lord trial.

Time travel is a complicated business – the iguanadon terrorising Pease Pottage being a case in point. But how much more complicated could things possibly become, if the wrong Doctor were to bump into the wrong Mel?




Colin Baker               The Doctor  
Bonnie Langford        Mel    
Tony Gardner            Stapleton Petherbridge 
James Joyce              Jedediah Thurwell  
Patricia Leventon      Mrs Wilberforce                
Beth Chalmers          Vaneesh     
John Banks                Kallak


Written By: Matt Fitton  
Directed By: Nicholas Briggs  





Entirely predictable I know, but I'm going to say it anyway; this story was great fun to work on - cleverly written, with interesting characters and a really fabulous company of actors, including Bonnie Langford, who was professional down to her finger-tips, who worked at a cracking pace and who was very down to earth and good fun. By my reckoning, such a tally of attributes ticks a lot of boxes; she was and is fantastic in this and I was truly delighted to work with her.

I do hope you enjoy listening to The Wrong Doctors; I'm still eagerly awaiting delivery of the Stargate SG-1 Box Set and currently enjoying listening to Garro: Sword of Truth. A busy month ahead with rehearsals for Port scheduled to resume later this week - what a great way to start the new year!

By the way, the keen observer will have noticed the 'new' Doctor Who logo in the above CD artwork. I like it very much as it reminds me of the original title sequence to the television series; others may prefer the 'old' logo design which can be seen on the Soundcloud audio-clip. Perhaps also worth a mention is that the character I'm playing in this story appears to be the victim of an ongoing 'typo'; instead of the tricky to pronounce 'Ksllak', the name is actually 'Kallak' - I wonder which one will make it onto the CD sleeve-note credits???

Dalek Universe 2

Kragnos Broken Realms

Age of Sigmar Dominion

The Moggotkin of Nurgle

Kragnos Broken Realms

Dawn of Fire Book 1: Avenging Son

The Lore of Direchasm

Direchasm

A C'tan Shard Rises 3

Indomitus: Necrons 2

A Lord Among the Stars 1

Angels of Death Preview

Ultramarines

Psychic Awakening

Warcry: Death or Glory

Warhammer 40,000

Flight. Redefined.

Reviews & comments:

The Malazan Empire

Over the course of this 8 book series, the amazing John Banks has had to create and voice 648 distinct characters!

Neil Gardner - producer

The Door In The Wall & War of The Worlds

Not often I buy another version of an audiobook I own, but after hearing John Banks' narration of The Door in the Wall by Ladbroke Audio, I had to buy their version of The War of the Worlds. Banks has a great reading voice.

Andy Frankham-Allen - writer

The Books of Babel: Senlin Ascends, Arm of The Sphinx & The Hod King

Mr. Banks does superb work, and I recommend the audiobooks wholeheartedly!

Josiah Bancroft - writer

Mervyn Stone: The Axeman Cometh

John Banks is a voice genius...

Nev Fountain - writer

Mervyn Stone... played by the note-perfect John Banks.

Matt Hills - Reviews in Time and Space

Dr. Who: The Sleeping City

I also must draw attention to John Banks who is an exceptional voice artist and in this one story performs more characters that I can count. ... it is listening to episodes like this one that really do let his talents shine through.

Tony Jones - Red Rocket Rising

Highlander:

...playing several parts, was the brilliant Big Finish regular John Banks - it was as if there were about 40 different actors in the other booth.

James Moran - writer

I went for the best of the best and brought in voice artiste extraordinaire John Banks.

Paul Spragg - producer

Vienna:

...also features the mind - bogglingly versatile and reliable John Banks

Jonathan Morris - writer

Dead Funny:

The acting is first rate… wonderfully played by John Banks as Richard – his impersonation of Eric Morecambe is worth the admission money alone.

Beverly Greenberg: Bolton Evening News

Mr. Happiness:

This early and unfamiliar play by David Mamet is a character study of a 1930s radio counsellor, dispensing suave advice to his devoted listeners. John Banks brings out the wry comedy of this – comedy quite unappreciated by the character – with a clever range of gesture and vocal tone.

Jeremy Kingston: The Times


All My Sons:

This is a beautifully crafted piece ...and it affords a wonderful opportunity for John Readman* to do his All-American Boy act as Chris Keller. This most polished and well observed performance as the blighted son of a blighted father must rank as one of his finest accomplishments yet. ( * see Profile)

The Stage

The Ordeals of Sherlock Holmes

Kudos should also go to John Banks. Lestrade can be a thankless part, but Banks rose to the challenge, playing a pivotal role in this decades long arc.

Raissa Devereux - SciFiPulse

The Judgement of Sherlock Holmes

John Banks is multi-tasking, both as the superb Lestrade and also the villainous and no doubt moustache twirling Sebastian Moran. They sound completely different and I bow to his talent.

Sue Davies - SFcrowsnest


Further reviews and comments are included with specific postings throughout the site.

The War Doctor

The War Doctor
December 2015