The Lovecraft Investigations: The Haunter of the Dark (Radio 4) | (BBC Sounds)
Stirring It Up With Andi and Miquita Oliver (OffScript) | Apple Podcasts
Keys to the Kingdom (Amanda Lund and Matt Gourley) | Apple Podcasts
Hooray! Kennedy Fisher is back! The wry, intrepid American investigative journalist is still searching for her longtime podcasting partner, Matthew “Matt” Heawood, who, you might remember, disappeared into a strange netherworld sometime in 2020, along with a whole village called Pleasant Green, as a result of an occult ritual that went a bit wrong.
If you’re not sure what I’m talking about – yay for you. Because you get to binge-listen to the spooky, intricate, brilliant set of drama series called The Lovecraft Investigations. Loosely based on the stories of HP Lovecraft, but brought bang up to date by writer-director Julian Simpson (our heroes are podcasters and we are told the stories through hearing their show), these are gripping listens. Three series so far – The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, The Whisperer in Darkness and The Shadow Over Innsmouth – each with excellent characters, exciting yarns, proper scares, all twisted into fast-moving tales that couldn’t be told in any other medium.
From the very first episode of The Case of Charles Dexter Ward in 2018, The Lovecraft Investigations raised the bar for British audio drama, simply by sounding like real life. So when someone makes a phone call, it sounds like an actual phone call; when they stumble and fall, or get hit, or worse, we hear that too. The actors (Jana Carpenter and Barnaby Kay) don’t seem to act, but just are. Over the years, something else unusual has happened too: the imagined world in which Kennedy and Matt exist has expanded, and they’re now part of a vast ecosystem – a bit like the Marvel universe but more everyday and, to be honest, quite a lot scarier. (Simpson gives an explanation of how this happened in his Substack newsletter, if you’re interested.) There was a moment in the second episode of The Whisperer in Darkness, where I genuinely jumped and let out a gasp. And I did that too in this new series… but I’m not going to tell you when.
At the start, Matt, as I mentioned, is still lost. It’s been three years. Kennedy is trying to get on with things, but her plans are waylaid by a new character, the crumpled roué Marcus Byron, who starts her off on a new adventure. Gradually, it becomes clear that we’ve moved on from the Shadow’s heebie-jeebie, dark magick forces. The new element to add to UK folklore, time slip and the occult is fascism. As in previous series, Dr Eleanor Peck (Nicola Walker), the academic who appears to know everything about everything, is given an entire episode to explain what’s going on. In The Haunter of the Dark she gives us a potted history of 20th-century British fascists, many of whom existed (Oswald Mosley), and also explains how they overlap with occultists such as Aleister Crowley. A photograph is described that sounds so real I found myself looking it up.
Much of what makes The Lovecraft Investigations sing is its sound production, and there is some very different but equally careful work on the “come round for a meal and a chat” show Stirring It Up With Andi and Miquita Oliver, back for a second series. Andi and Miquita are beautifully warm and experienced presenters, bringing out the best in their guest, who brings a friend along (the new series starts with Annie Macmanus and her friend Reju Sharma). This is far from the usual interview show. It’s a full-on night in, with producer Tayo Popoola clearly working with, and in, the moment. This leads to a brilliantly lively but completely clear and understandable listen that could only exist through exemplary editing and production. There’s no voiceover, no explanation: it’s as though we’re sitting at the table with everyone. As though we’re invited too. Not easy to achieve and gorgeous to hear.
Keys to the Kingdom is a cute and funny eight-part series about what it’s like working at a Disney theme park. Hosts Amanda Lund and Matt Gourley are married – they met while working at Universal Studios theme park – and provide a snappy framework to this smartly produced series. We meet other ex-theme park hosts, some of whom have their voices altered so that Mickey can’t come looking for them. The episodes I’ve heard haven’t had too many ultra-dark moments, if that’s what you’re looking for (you weirdo), but there are some excellent anecdotes and tips of the trade. Did you know that Disney princesses are trained in how to stop lecherous dads grabbing them? “Let me show you how a prince stands,” they say, sweetly, manoeuvring Daddy into a hands-on-hips stance by holding him tightly by the upper arm so he can’t get his grubby mitts anywhere near.
Lund and Gourley are witty and warm, and I laughed out loud on several occasions. There’s a lot of work in this series; great use of music, good interviews and research, an excellent script. Yet it’s all presented as though it’s as light as a feather, as if that delight and joy comes naturally, as opposed to being meticulously prepared. A bit like the theme park characters themselves.
