The Unofficial Airfix Modellers' Forum

Time to begin my annual ritual of listening to CBC's "As it Happens" Al Maitland reading "The Shepherd"...

Goodnight all, and Happy Christmas!

best,
M.

And a very Merry Christmas to you Matt, and to all on UAMF.

Merry Christmas Matt and all you fellow UAMF'ers!

And also from General and Lady Rocket.

Yes, Matt and all UAMF'ers, a very Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas to one and all.

David.

Just listened to the online CBC reading of "The Shepherd"- great !

David.

Merry Christmas Jeff! Wishing you and yours a fabulous time

A very Merry Christmas to all of you in UAMF land, we have a great community here and long may it remain so!

Merry Christmas Guys and Gals!

Oddly enough, I have read the short story roughly once a year since I bought it in about 1977, usually at Christmas. It was nice to have someone do it for me (although obviously missing the beautiful, atmospheric Lou Feck prints that illustrate the Corgi paperback). I didn't realise it was almost a Christmas tradition in Canada.

Totally by accident, I stumbled across this version of 'The Shepherd' today:

Christmas Eve, 1957. Flying home from Germany, a young RAF pilot is alone in the cockpit of his Vampire. Over the North Sea, the radio goes dead...
An innovative adaptation of Frederick Forsyth's haunting classic Christmas tale, read by Luke Thompson and adapted for radio by Amber Barnfather.
Written as a Christmas present, Forsyth's gripping and much-loved ghost story is a moving reflection on loneliness, fear, gratitude and sacrifice.
A binaural soundscape features specially recorded a cappella pieces, improvised sounds and mouth/body percussion by the Saint Martin Singers, conducted by Charles Talbot. It includes symbolic sound effects using Christmas decorations and Vampire aircraft recordings made at the RAF Museum, London.

A very nice version of the story indeed; link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0858nv3

Ah, decisions, decisions. The John Travolta (a serious plane nut) passion project film of The Shepherd has landed on Disney+ to good reviews. So do I stick with Fireside Al this year, or branch out and watch it on the TV? (I did try out the Robert Powell audio drama one year recently, so I _can_ step out of my comfort zone...). The Disney+ trailer made me well up, so I think it'll probably do the usual job...
best,
M.

My Christmas ghost story fix is always M.R. James but I've never heard of this story, I'll give it a watch then try to track an Audio version as it's not on BBC IPlayer. I've always avoided Frederick Forsyth apart from the 'day of the jackal' which I did enjoy.

Watched it! Twas good - Travolta needs a shave & Where's that 48th Mosquito?