Martin Kiszko’s fifteen-part audio/radio drama King Frank & The Knights Of The Ecoquest has won Bronze Award as best Children/Young Adult Programme at the New York Radio Festival. Toyah plays Haroldia The Herald in the epic audio production.
Aesop’s Astronauts, an audio drama/play broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 1996, in which Toyah has a main role, has a rare airing on BBC Radio 4 Extra early next month.
Aesop’s Astronauts, by Tony Mulholland, explores what might have happened to the animals used as astronauts in the earliest years of space exploration. In the play the animals develop Accelerated Evolutionary Syndrome and the power of speech.
Toyah plays Mona in The Mona Story ‘episode’. The production was directed and recorded at BBC Pebble Mill.
• Listen to the drama at the BBC Radio 4 Extra website on Saturday 4th December. The audio drama has a running time of 1hr 30m.
Aesop’s Astronauts: BBC Radio 4 Extra: Saturday 5th December: 6am
Tony Mulholland’s play answers the question – what did happen to the animals that were sent up to Space in the early days of the Space Race? Produced by Brian Lighthill, with original music written and played by Jeff Mearns. Original first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 17th February 1994 at 2.30pm.
Supermind is available now on Audible, Apple Books, Storytel and more – View the trailer below. See further info at toyahwillcox.com.
In 1930s New York, the hot sensation of the cabaret circuit is urbane illusionist Art Hardwicke, whose stage name – Supermind – hints at his real-life mentalist powers. Aided by his manager, Lady Daphne Witcombe, and manservant Frampton, he fights crime and injustice wherever and whenever he is able.
In this comic melodrama aping the earnest American radio serials of the era, Supermind manages to rescue society heiress Anastasia Del Ray from being kidnapped by hoodlums, and her gratitude comes in the form of declaring she’s going to Hollywood to make a movie of Supermind’s life – but starring herself as Supermind.
Meanwhile, Professor Fenella Vaytell, of the Institute of Brain Studies in New York, has been developing a powerful weapon to seize control of the minds of the entire country. In the employ of her Nazi paymasters, Vaytell’s nefarious scheme will not only endanger Anastasia, Supermind, Lady Witcombe and Frampton, but also the entirety of the United States of America!
Will Supermind use his prestigious powers to save the day? Will Lady Witcombe profit from them? Will Frampton faint at the sight of fisticuffs? And will Professor Fen Vaytell throw her head back and emit a wickedly evil laugh?
Starring – Colin McFarlane, Toyah Willcox, Barnaby Eaton-Jones, Julie-Ann Dean and Darrell Maclaine.
The Adventures of Supermind (Series 1: The Brain Drain) – the new audio drama starring Colin McFarlane and Toyah – is available now! Click below for more info.
Toyah plays Lady Daphne Witcombe in the new AUK Studios’ audio production of Supermind… – Coming to your headphones this year! (The great graphic which accompanies the announcement is a design by Robert Hammond)
“I’m your manager, not your friend. Only my mother calls me Daphne. And my husband, on our wedding night. Not a mistake he made twice.”
This is Series One, subtitled: The Brain Drain. Written by Barnaby Eaton-Jones.
Prepare to hear the brilliant Toyah in the brand-new AUK audio production Supermind, coming to your headphones this year! Set in 1930s, Art Hardwicke, Colin McFarlane is an urban illusionist – Supermind. Toyah plays Hardwicke’s manager!
Colin McFarlane tweeted: “Had a wonderful day in the home studio recording this brilliantly witty new audio series by Barnaby Eaton-Jones with awesome Toyah”.
• See AUK Studio’s tweet on this. See also Colin McFarlane’s tweet about the recording, which includes a photo of Toyah.
Toyah plays the role of Haroldia The Herald in Martin Kiszko’s fifteen-part audio/radio drama King Frank & The Knights Of The Ecoquest for Fun Kids Radio. See Martin’s tweet about this (including a photo of him and Toyah) here, and Toyah’s by clicking below.
A new, 30 minute, audio interview. Toyah chats about the frustration of currently not playing live, looking forward to a decadent 2020s and a busy 2021, having a diverse career, how the entertainment industry has changed over the past four decades, fighting against ageism, and much more.
Cat interviews Toyah Willcox
May 2020: My guest today really needs no introduction.
She’s appeared in the 1978 film Jubilee, and Quadrophenia the following year. Her early hit singles included It’s A Mystery and I Want To Be Free, and by 1982 she had made two platinum-selling albums. And, after more than 40 years in the music business, she is as creatively hungry as she was in her teens.
She is a singer, an actress, a writer, a punk, rebel, and an icon…but most importantly, she’s an independent, strong woman who doesn’t take any prisoners.
• Listen to the interview at Audio Boom.
Toyah and Robert read The Girl With The Unicorn – aka La Fille à la Licorne – by Dominic Toller. The short story is about hope and self-belief and all funds go to the mental welfare charity Young Minds.
Dominic said: “I wrote the original as a one-off birthday gift to my friend’s daughter – she loved unicorns; the character in the story is based upon her, her dog and her ‘teddy’. But the subtext is also about my own belief in the power of having hope, and how important this is for all of us in dealing with the stresses of our lives. Everyone has mental health and so mental health welfare has relevance to everyone.” (Source: theisleofthanetnews)
Click below to watch/listen at Robert’s website, DGM Live.
Information links for The Girl With The Unicorn: Original narrated animation | Original online advert | Original Facebook ‘preview’ of book
Toyah reads Brum At The Seaside from 1994. Transferred to digital from cassette.
Toyah reads Brum and the Fire Engine from 1991. Transferred to digital from cassette.
Why have one retro Toyah interview from 1981 when you can have a quadruple? Click below to listen online or download My Top 12, The Annie Nightingale Show and Talkabout – all from BBC Radio One, plus an interview from BFBS Radio from December of that great year.
1. Radio One: My Top 12 (Nov 1981): Toyah chooses her favourite songs and talks about her life, music, hobbies, childhood, fans, career… 2. Radio One: The Annie Nightingale Show (Aug 1981): Toyah talks to Annie about her life, 1981 and new single. 3. BFBS Radio: (Dec 1981): Toyah interviewed in Europe at the end of her successful 1981. She talks about the year, her future plans, Christmas and the band’s new EP ‘Four More From Toyah’. 4. Radio One: Talkabout (Feb 1981): A Valentine’s Day special.
A couple of retro Toyah radio appearances: The New Recruit, from BBC Radio Four (April 1994), and an interview with Toyah (and Sting) from The Annie Nightingale Show, which aired on BBC Radio One (January 1984). Click on each below to listen or download.
It’s Toyah’s 60th Birthday week… Listen to some retro Toyah interviews from throughout her 40 year career at Dreamscape’s Downloads section…
Toyah guested on BBC Radio Four’s In The Psychiatrist’s Chair in September 1992. A fascinating interview with Dr Anthony Clare. Certainly one of the most honest and interesting of the many Toyah has given over the last 40 years. This originally aired on 9th September 1992 and runs for approximately 40 minutes. Click below to listen or download.
Four rare radio interviews with Toyah; 1979 – 1982. Click below for the Downloads section.
1. Capital Radio: Mummy’s Weekly (1979): Fighting talk from Toyah! She also chats about being discovered, ‘Victims Of The Riddle’ and more. 2. Radio One: Rock On (1980): Toyah talks Shoestring, Glitter, the band’s influences, mayhem, ’Sheep Farming In Barnet’, ‘Neon Womb’, and future plans. 3. Radio Trent: (January 1981): Toyah, interviewed just before the release of the ‘Four From Toyah’ EP. Great interview with lots of interesting pre-mainstream fame chat. 4. Radio One: Rock On (May 1982): Toyah talks to, former ‘Smash Hits’ writer and eternal cynic, Mark Ellen about ‘The Changeling’, aliens, fairies, her ‘Brave New World’ image and much more.
• Thanks to Giddy Gavin (aka Logan 5) and Sean.
All four episodes – 1. Away To Neverland, 2. In The Mermaid’s Lagoon, 3. An Awfully Big Adventure. 4. Spring Cleaning Time Again – of JM Barrie – Peter Pan, which aired this week on BBC Radio 4 Extra, are now available to listen to at your leisure at BBC iPlayer – for the next month. Click on the cast photos below (Thanks to Official Toyah) to browse the iplayer list.
Just rediscovered in my collection, and uploaded to Dreamscape, an interview with Toyah from ‘BBC Radio London’ 10 years ago. This aired just before Toyah appeared on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! She discusses that, religion, ‘Velvet Lined Shell’ and much more. Click below to listen.
There’s a great page at Focus On The Family on the Radio Theatre production of Les Misérables. Toyah plays Fantine in the 2007 full-cast audio drama which is available to buy on CD or download.
A Radio Theatre Classic: It’s one of the world’s masterpieces of storytelling. Against the stirring background of the French Revolution, follow the tale of Jean Valjean as he encounters the savage injustice of the law — and then the gentleness and grace of God. It depicts events like the battle at the barricade and a heroic rescue through the underworld of Paris.
Toyah Willcox as Fantine: Toyah co-starred with Sir Laurence Olivier in the acclaimed British TV production Ebony Tower. Her film roles include Miranda in The Tempest, Jubilee,Quadrophenia and The Corn is Green with Katharine Hepburn.
Toyah talked passionately about David Bowie, and the Ziggy Stardust album, on Steve Lamacq’s Rock College on BBC Radio 2 last week. It’s such a great piece of audio it seems a shame to just let it disappear after its week on iPlayer… so here it is! (click below)
Just three days to go…
A short excerpt from Toyah’s autobiography, published in August 2000, ‘Living Out Loud’.
Toyah talks about ‘The Changeling’, and some of the events of 1982: Winning ‘Best Female Singer’ at The British Rock & Pop Awards, sacking her manager, feeling that her images and hairstyles were becoming outdated etc.
Toyah also mentions the reasons why herself and Joel decided to record an album with much darker themes after the huge success of ‘Anthem’ the year before.
• Listen to ‘The Changeling’ set of Toyah interviews and audio, at ‘Soundcloud’, here.
