Ben-Hur

1st Broadcast 2000

Producer

Dirk Maggs

Adaptation

Dirk Maggs

Director

Dirk Maggs

Produced for

Audio Movies Ltd

Focus On The Family Radio Theater USA

Synopsis

Judah Ben-Hur is a young Jewish prince, son of Ithamar Ben-Hur, who refused to obey Herod's wicked decree, was killed by him. One of his boyhood friends, Messala, a Roman nobleman's son, had gone away to Rome to become a soldier. He comes back different: sarcastic, caustic, and opposed to anything that stands in the way of Rome's might.

Their meeting ends with hatred on both sides for what the other has become.

After almost killing the Roman governor, Valerius Gratus, accidentally, Judah is betrayed by Messala and sent to the Roman galleys as a slave.

He stays alive on his hatred of Messala, and his desire to have revenge upon his friend, turned bitterest foe.

Cast

Russell Boulter Judah Ben-Hur

Timothy Bateson Balthasar

Colin McFarlane Messala

Peter Goodwright Simonides

Sally-Ann Burnett Esther

Martin Jarvis Quintus Arrius

Eleanor Tremain Iras

Wendy Craig Miriam of Hur

Bernard Cribbins Seneca

Robert Benfield Malluch

Sarah Bradley Mary

Nick Burnell Tiberius

Justin Butcher Lyssipus

Karen Clegg Tirzah

Max Digby Centurion

Tenniel Evans Simeon

Michael Haughey Joseph

Matthew Lawrence Shimon

Polly March Amrah

Robin Meredith Pilate

Peter Moreton Ithamar Ben-Hur

David Oakley The Captain

Michael Roberts Ilderim

Philip Sherlock Decurion

David Simeon Gratus

Victor Spinetti Herod The Great

Mervyn Stutter Hortator

Philip Sully Gaspar

Richard Syms Maxentius

Simon Treves Drusus

Other roles were played by members of the company

Production Crew

Paul Deeley Voice Recording Engineer

Casting & Creative Director

Philip Glassborow

Recorded at

The Soundhouse Ltd Shepherds Bush London, England

Music composed & Arranged

Matthew Strachan

Comments

Matthew Strachan

on working with Dirk Maggs

Click here

Comment by Dirk Maggs

Sometimes a real challenge coms along, and when I was offered the chance to adapt and direct Ben-Hur for Focus On The Family Radio Theatre I couldn’t turn it down. The big scene - of course - was the Chariot Race. I decided to use my Peter Pan multi-camera idea to tell the story of the race from various perspectives.

The chariot jump was not in the book but was so cool in the 1959 movie I had to have a go at doing it in sound only!

Techincal Info

Dirk faced the ultimate "Audio Movie" challenge: how to render the most famous visual sequence in cinema history—the Chariot Race—entirely through sound.

To achieve this without a single frame of film, Dirk moved away from the "static" recording style of traditional radio and employed a "First-Person Sonic Perspective."

The "Hyper-Real" Horses

Instead of the standard BBC "clip-clop" of coconuts on a gravel tray, Dirk layered the sound to create biological weight:

Breath and Snort: He prioritized the heavy, rhythmic breathing and flared nostrils of the horses, placing these sounds extremely "close-mic" to give the listener the sense of being right in the middle of the team.

Layered Hooves: He used multiple tracks of hoof-beats at different pitches and textures (some "wet," some "dusty") to represent the 36 hooves of the nine competing chariots. By varying the rhythm slightly, he avoided the "mechanical" sound of a loop.

The Anatomy of the Chariot

Dirk treated the chariot not as a vehicle, but as a character that was "screaming" under the pressure:

The "Wood Stress" Sound: To simulate the wooden frame straining during high-speed turns, Dirk utilized the creaking of leather jackets and the grinding of old wooden crates held close to the microphone.

The Wheels: For the high-pitched "whir" of the spinning axles, he used recorded sounds of bicycle or pram wheels spinning at high speeds, which were then digitally "dirtied up" to sound like heavy iron and wood on sand.

Spatial Combat (The Messala Factor)

The drama of the race is the proximity of Messala’s chariot. Dirk used Pan and Depth to create a 3D arena:

The Hub-Scraper: When Messala’s chariot (with its scythed hubs) approaches, Dirk introduced a metallic, rhythmic "shink-shink" sound that grew in volume and moved across the stereo field. This was often achieved by scraping metal pipes or scaffolding poles against each other.

The "Wind Tunnel" Effect: To convey the 40mph speed, he used a constant "whoosh" of filtered white noise, which changed in pitch depending on whether Ben-Hur was in the open or being "drafted" by another chariot.

The Crowd as an Ocean

Rather than a static "loop" of cheering, the crowd in the Circus Maximus was treated as a fluid atmospheric layer. As the chariots passed the stands, the crowd noise would "surge" and "ebb" in a Doppler effect, mimicking the way sound behaves in a real stadium.

Maggs' "POV" Philosophy: "I don't want the listener to be in the grandstands watching the race. I want them on the chariot, with the dust in their mouth and the reins burning their hands."

Running Time

Episode 1 No detail known.

Episode 2 No detail known.

Episode 3 No detail known.

Episode 4 No detail known.

Episode 5 No detail known.

30 Minutes per Episode 5 in series 150 Minutes in total.