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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Saturday 7 March 2015

Audio samples... simples?

It's been a while since I edited together a collection of audio samples and I thought it about time to update the audio section of my Spotlight page, just in case anyone in the industry might take an interest and immediately offer some work. Well, that's how it's supposed to happen!

Anyway, after much delving and rummaging through my audio archives, I've put together this latest series of untreated character voices from audio drama and from audio book narration. It's quite tricky to find sections of audio drama that don't have someone else's voice chipping in. That is the nature of audio drama of course, the interaction of characters, but it does reduce the options for this particular purpose. I now have hundreds of hours of recorded material to choose from, but finding a passage that has just my voice and makes some kind of internal sense is more difficult than one might imagine. Not much from the latest Sherlock Holmes stories, not much from Survivors, or indeed from The Avengers or Counter Measures; even a long narrative from Ragnus Lang in Andrew Smith's brilliant Blake's 7 story, Retribution, is constantly interrupted -  outrageous I know!

The actual Spotlight upload is limited to 5 minutes and in all probability, no casting professional is going to spend anything like that amount of time checking out a voice reel; maybe 30 seconds tops. However, because that time constraint doesn't apply to this web site, I've left in a couple of odd clips which don't now feature in the original and, for clarification, they have been asterisked *. The reason I ditched them was to have room to include a bit of Daniel Connor from Survivors. It's not the best clip I know, but as I've just mentioned, extracting anything like a reasonable length speech is very difficult and as I am very proud of the work everyone did on Survivors, it just had to be included somehow. By the way, Survivors Series 2 is out in June and I'm really looking froward to hearing it - Daniel and his companions' journey into their 'Heart of Darkness' gets very much darker in series 2...

So, below is a slightly longer collection of clips than that which was published on Spotlight and if you decide to give them a listen, as always, I hope you will find something to enjoy and perhaps also whet your appetite for wanting to hear more.

The tracks in order are:

1) Mervyn Stone from The Mervyn Stone Mysteries: The Axeman cometh audio-drama

2) Hermit from Doctor Who: Trial of The Valeyard audio-drama*

3) Black Venus audio-book

4) Allat from Doctor Who: The Sleeping City audio-drama

5) Lucius Correl from Blake's 7: The Liberator Chronicles: Jenna's Story audio-drama*

6) Gabriel's Angel audio-book

7) Jimmy, Mervyn & Mervyn as Phyllis from The Mervyn Stone Mysteries: The Axeman Cometh audio-drama

8) How to be Both audio-book

9) Baron Pteratrark from Doctor Who: The Widow's Assassin audio-drama

10) Half Life from Thirteen audio-book anthology

11) Mona, Sarah & Douglas from Traveller's Duty audio-book

12) Mr Mac And Me audio-book

13) Roger from Roger Munroe Remembers comedy sketch*

14) Daniel Connor from Survivors Series 1 Episode 1: Revelation audio-drama

 


There are details and synopses for all these samples in postings throughout the site, including full cast lists and writing credits, both for audio-drama and audio-books.

I'm back in the recording studio very soon, so... more news just as soon as it happens!

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