The first concerned Nixon and Watergate, while the second centred on the Clinton years, especially the Monica Lewinsky scandal and Clinton’s impeachment. This strand made its name with two series that examined past political, um, situations. Ooh, you’re in for a treat.Īnother treat for you: the new Slow Burn podcast. Everything seems to be leading back to elements of the first series too, so I would listen to that before you get into The Whisperer. We’re in East Anglia, mostly, near Dunwich, wandering with Heawood and Fisher through forests, around suddenly abandoned houses, meeting too-nice-to-be-wholesome vicars, and strange women who talk in riddles. Three episodes have been released so far, and things are getting deeper and more convoluted. There is texture in the sound, which is properly recorded, whether a voice on an old-fashioned minicassette, the fizz and hiss of short wave or the crunch of leaves underfoot. Barnaby Kay and Jana Carpenter, who play Heawood and Fisher, are completely natural, and every use of recorded material is believable. This podcast is an example of how well it can be done. I know I bang on about disliking audio drama a lot in this column, but it really has been stagey and moribund for years. We’re in East Anglia, wandering through forests, around abandoned houses, meeting too-nice-to-be-wholesome vicars At one point, listening to the second episode, I suddenly stopped walking and exclaimed “No!” so loudly that the dog dropped whatever she’d picked up and made “I’m sorry” eyes. I’d recommend that you listen with earphones though: much of the “what was that?” jumps and surprises come with the enveloping intimacy of the sound, the weird noises in your head. I’ve never read either of the stories the series are based on, but you definitely don’t need to in order to enjoy yourself. Then, into that familiarity, they insert something very unfamiliar indeed…īoth shows are devised, written and directed by Julian Simpson and are based on HP Lovecraft tales. Both take the familiar format and aural style of murder-mystery podcasts – intrepid podcast-makers following a hunch, while telling us in real time what they’re up to and how they’re feeling – and use it to create a world we feel we know and understand. Because the great enjoyment of both Charles Dexter and, now, The Whisperer is that they are fiction – drama – that seems to be fact. Did I mention that none of this is real? Maybe I didn’t.
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