BBC Audiobooks, the UK market leader in spoken word publishing, today announced a landmark deal with one of the world's leading audio drama directors, Dirk Maggs, and his partners at Perfectly Normal Productions (PNP), to create compelling, high quality audio entertainment for bite-size delivery direct to home computers, portable media players and mobile phones.

Dirk Maggs is an acknowledged master of dramatised audio, winning numerous awards and commercial success for his “movies for the ears” including BBC Radio's Batman, Superman and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

With fellow audio specialist Paul Weir and interactivity expert Richard Adams, PNP is building a network of creative talent to produce "movies without pictures" in Maggs' unique style, featuring powerful scripts, layered sound effects and full music scores.

A Screen as Wide as your Imagination

"Podcasting should be so much more than a platform for stand up comedy and audio diarists", says Maggs. "And video on a handheld device will never rival the storytelling experience of a big screen. But we can fill the gap. In our hands mobile entertainment bypasses the optic nerve and hotwires the imagination, with a widescreen experience you can enjoy anywhere - in the car, the train, or on the sofa with your eyes shut."

BBC Audiobook’s Publishing Director Jan Paterson said: “More and more people listen in this easy to use format. Our deal with Perfectly Normal will provide listeners with audio like they've never heard before, specially made for commercial digital delivery.” PNP’s Richard Adams added: “There is a hungry audience wanting quality entertainment on the move and they're not going to believe their luck. This will break the mould of how people think about downloadable audio.”

From Cult Classics to the Far Future

PNP's initial focus is on original material by leading science fiction and graphic novel authors of today, mixed with much-loved titles including cult British comic characters licensed from IPC Media's Fleetway library, such as "The Steel Claw". Also resurrected in a new series of tongue-in-cheek adventures will be the legendary British detective Sexton Blake, featuring Simon Jones, the star of The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy.

The Perfectly Normal team are firing up the production engine now, and releases are planned for 2007.