Click to be taken to Season Two: Episode Four!
The latest episode of my funereal sitcom Wooden Overcoats is now available for your ears! Antigone wins the opportunity to design her own chocolates - but is Piffling Vale really ready for them? I'm delighted to discover that this episode is picking up special praise from our listeners, which is particularly nice for me as it was by far the hardest episode of both seasons to write.
The script was a relatively late replacement for a storyline that would have seen Rudyard getting roped into a spot of espionage by Agatha Doyle, but the middle of the season was lacking a sufficiently strong story for Antigone (for whom I'd yet to write for as much as I'd wanted). I belatedly scrapped my earlier idea and got to work devising a new narrative. With Take a Letter, Miss Crusoe focussing on Rudyard's relationship to Georgie, I decided the following instalment should do the same for Antigone and Eric. I also needed to retain a strong role for Agatha Doyle, having already booked the magnificent Alison Skilbeck for that recording session, and I had also yet to find a place for two more of our most beloved characters from the previous season. The somewhat free-wheeling nature of The Sweet, Sweet Taste of Death is the result of this "shopping list" of elements, which all needed to cohere into a satisfying drama that furthered the character arcs I'd devised for the season (and had at that time already begun concluding in my script for the finale).
The script was a relatively late replacement for a storyline that would have seen Rudyard getting roped into a spot of espionage by Agatha Doyle, but the middle of the season was lacking a sufficiently strong story for Antigone (for whom I'd yet to write for as much as I'd wanted). I belatedly scrapped my earlier idea and got to work devising a new narrative. With Take a Letter, Miss Crusoe focussing on Rudyard's relationship to Georgie, I decided the following instalment should do the same for Antigone and Eric. I also needed to retain a strong role for Agatha Doyle, having already booked the magnificent Alison Skilbeck for that recording session, and I had also yet to find a place for two more of our most beloved characters from the previous season. The somewhat free-wheeling nature of The Sweet, Sweet Taste of Death is the result of this "shopping list" of elements, which all needed to cohere into a satisfying drama that furthered the character arcs I'd devised for the season (and had at that time already begun concluding in my script for the finale).
The exact structure and content of the story changed many times over the course of its agonisingly slow first draft. However, at its heart lies Antigone's expression of her deeply held beliefs regarding the inevitable consequences of death, and I'm indebted to Beth Eyre for the long conversations we had on this topic which provided Antigone with her motivation. I also did a spot of research with Alastair Gower of The Chocolate Tree in Edinburgh. Alastair is an incredible chocolatier who designs exquisite confectionery to meet all manner of briefs and I'd like to think that mine posed a challenge for him: how do you encapsulate the feeling of death in a chocolate?
To find out, you'll have to listen to The Sweet, Sweet Taste of Death, which features a veritable smorgasbord of beautifully-pitched performances and our weirdest selection of sound effects to date. There's Tom Crowley at his heroic best and Beth Eyre giving her most dynamic portrayal of Antigone so far. Say hello to the return of a few old friends, and meet the enigmatic Mr Crumble in action...
You can download Episode Four from iTunes (please leave a review - we're not far off 100!) or from your preferred podcasting client, or listen to it on the main Wooden Overcoats website. And if you enjoyed it, tell your friends!
Till next week, when I'll be saying to you: Flip, Flap, Flop.
To find out, you'll have to listen to The Sweet, Sweet Taste of Death, which features a veritable smorgasbord of beautifully-pitched performances and our weirdest selection of sound effects to date. There's Tom Crowley at his heroic best and Beth Eyre giving her most dynamic portrayal of Antigone so far. Say hello to the return of a few old friends, and meet the enigmatic Mr Crumble in action...
You can download Episode Four from iTunes (please leave a review - we're not far off 100!) or from your preferred podcasting client, or listen to it on the main Wooden Overcoats website. And if you enjoyed it, tell your friends!
Till next week, when I'll be saying to you: Flip, Flap, Flop.
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