A new Splinter Cell is debuting on BBC, but it’s not a stealth game, movie, or even a new TV show. Pilgrim author Sebastian Baczkiewicz is adapting the Splinter Cell: Firewall novel, itself based on the Splinter Cell games, into a multipart audio drama, with new installments releasing every week on BBC Radio 4 and the Sounds podcast (thanks BBC News).
“The genius of this is that no-one actually thought it was possible, but I always think of anything in radio in a very visual way,” Baczkiewicz said. “I’m not sitting here thinking how it will sound, but rather what does it look like, what’s happening in the scene and what are people doing.
“With access to all the sound effects from the game we were able to bed the drama into the world of the game – and show fans that we’re not leaving the game behind, instead we’re slap bang in the middle of the action.”
Andonis Anthony plays protagonist Sam Fisher, a departure from the actor’s usual role as Russ Jones in the long-running radio series The Archers. While turning a video game into a radio show seems like a drastic departure from the current trend of TV shows – The Last of Us on HBO, for example, or the recently-announced God of War Amazon series – critic Ali Plumb told BBC the move is a sensible way to reach previously untapped audiences.
“From podcasts to music, TV, movies, games and audiobooks – frankly its tricky for anyone to cut through the noise,” Plumb said. “The art of finding intellectual property, using the built-in fan base of that property and engaging with them in something you want to say about the world is the trick that many creative people are trying to do.”
Ubisoft is also working on a Splinter Cell remake, while Netflix has an anime adaptation in development, not unlike the streaming giant produced with CD Projekt RED’s Cyberpunk Edgerunners series.
Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF
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