Journey to Season 3

Passports ready, we are going back to Piffling and their customs official is VERY occasional. The Wooden Overcoats team are heading down to the island to start work on Season 3! We're looking forward to dropping in for a Chapman's ice cream cappuccino, talking toffee with the constabulary, and asking a certain author to fill us in on everything that's been going on since we left Antigone and Rudyard on the Piffling shoreline.

Wooden Overcoats Season 3 will comprise eight half hour episodes released from February 2018. That's the plan, anyway. To get from here to release we're going to have to Kickstart some funding again. Expect our Kickstarter in September.

Mini-Series

Season 3 will only happen if we can raise the money to pay everyone so mark out September in your diaries and make sure you pledge early - day one if you can! (Early pledges help us kick off with a bang and get Kickstarter HQ to notice and talk us up to the rest of their followers).

Those of you who kindly contributed to our Season 2 Kickstarter will remember that concurrently with the fundraising, we released a mini-series called Piffling Lives. That's happening again but with a whole different mini-series which we'll be putting together in August!

None of this means that we're going to sit around and wait for after September to do some work on the main show. It takes a long time to put together a season of Wooden Overcoats which is why we've been meeting throughout the first half of the year to figure things out.

Team meeting. Felix has been replaced by a puppy.

A post shared by Wooden Overcoats (@woodenovercoats) on May 27, 2017 at 1:35am PDT

Our head writer David has now assembled his team and they are in the process of mapping out the shape of Season 3.

London Podcast Festival

On 17 September, Wooden Overcoats is back at the London Podcast Festival. This will be your first chance to hear an in-development episode of Season 3 so book early!

You can save 15% when you book 3+ London Podcast Festival events including Adam Buxton, Judge John Hodgman, The Guilty Feminist, The Beef and Dairy Network, The Allusionist, My Dad Wrote a Porno and many more.

Keep an eye on our social media and this blog for regular updates on how the work is going, who is involved, and what to expect next.

London Podcast Festival 2017

Wooden Overcoats will return this year to the London Podcast Festival! 

We're on at 4PM on Sunday 17 September at King's Place. Tickets are selling quickly, buy yours now for £9.50.

SAVE 15% when you book 3+ London Podfest events

Other podcasts include Adam Buxton, Judge John Hodgman, The Guilty Feminist, The Beef and Dairy Network, The Allusionist, My Dad Wrote a Porno and tons more. Head over to the King's Place website to see everything on offer.

PIFFLING TOPLESS: FULL STOCK OF T-SHIRTS IN "ON-LINE" SHOP

From Piffling Matters.

In a Piffling Matters EXCLUSIVE SCOOP, I can reveal that this afternoon on Piffling FM‘s breakfast programme Good Morning, Please Talk To Me (tea-time repeat) host Jennifer Delacroix uncovered a secret plot to smuggle the island’s entire stock of branded t-shirts to our internet sales warehouses in Guernsey, English Channel, and also Guernsey, California.

Piffling tourism may be “somehow” affected, my source tells me.

The Mayor begged me not to do this, but as an “intrepid” journalist I am telling you where you can get what you deserve! Head to www.woodenovercoats.com/shop to buy one of the t-shirts from the photographs what I took myself.

Sid

Head to the Wooden Overcoats Shop to buy a t-shirt today.

Silver Winners

The British Podcast Awards launched this year and we are over the moon to announce Wooden Overcoats walked away with Silver in the Fiction category!

Andy, Tom, Molly (writer: Ghost of Piffling Vale), David, Beth and Felix

The sold out event took place at The Platform Theatre in King's Cross. The great and the good of British podcasting converged in a room decorated with all the nominees' logos to catch up, meet old friends and new, and engulf canapes. There was free wine.

Tom, Beth and John

Felix with The Family Tree's Dave Pickering and Jen Adamthwaite

The evening was kicked off by organisers Matt Hill and Matt Deegan, and hosted by Answer Me This! / The Modern Mann's Olly Mann.

Olly Mann

Check out the full list of winners on the British Podcast Awards' site. Our good friends The Beef & Dairy Network picked up the award for Best Comedy which was accepted by our own Tom Crowley doing his best Ben Partridge impression.

Tom pretends to be Ben

The evening ended with music, dancing, and much more drinking. Congratulations to everyone involved and thank you for the great night!

Images by the British Podcast Awards' official photographer.

Live Productions

Temperatures are starting to perk up. We're peeping our heads out from the January covers and looking bright eyed for February entertainment. Here's what you can catch live in London this week from the team behind Wooden Overcoats.

BIRTHDAY SUIT

The new play by Wooden Overcoats head writer David K. Barnes is storming the Old Red Lion to fantastic reviews.

It's Richard's birthday. The big 4-0. He's throwing a party and inviting all his colleagues. Diane is new to the firm, and, delighted to be asked, she's brought along her boyfriend, Nick, who has promised to be the spirit of party itself. 

There's trifle. Lots of trifle. And nibbles. There's just one problem. 

Nobody else is coming to Richard's party. 

It looks like Diane and Nick are in for a long evening, trapped with their peculiar host and their own worst anxieties. Until, that is, someone does turn up. Someone with a lot of history, and an appetite for revenge.

"MERCILESSLY TENSE"
★★★★ THE STAGE

Starring, among other, Emily Stride - who you'll remember as The Ringmistress in the Season 2 finale. Birthday Suit runs until the 4th of February.

http://www.oldredliontheatre.co.uk/birthday-suit.html

CROCODILE

Antigone Funn herself, Beth Eyre, is currently working behind the scenes as a producer on Crocodile written and performed by Joe Eyre*.

Having a child always changes people, especially when your daughter’s a crocodile. A dark comedy about Alan and Jane and their daughter Sarah.

Crocodile runs from 1 - 5 February.

http://www.vaultfestival.com/event/crocodile/2017-02-01/#details|2

*No relation**
**Well OK, quite a lot of relation. He's Beth's brother.

DON'T LET ME DOWN

Producer Andy Goddard turns writer for one-woman show Don't Let Me Down. That woman? Ciara Baxendale!

It’s all fun and games until the balloon says, “Hi”…

The world seems a cold place after the death of her father, but things take a strange turn when Tess receives a special birthday present.

A wry, sweet tragicomedy.

Don't Let Me Down runs from 8 - 12 February.

http://www.vaultfestival.com/event/dont-let-me-down/2017-02-08/#details|3

STORY ETC.

New podcast alert! New podcast alert! Tom "Chapman!" Crowley takes the hosting reigns on an evening to launch Story Etc.

Live comedy, music and storytelling from some very special guests in a bargain-price fundraiser to to raise funds for a brand new podcast all about making stuff up.

HELPING RAISE THOSE FUNDS ARE…

BEN MOOR – has been writing and performing solo theatre pieces for over 20 years, three of which were published as short stories in More Trees to Climb (Portobello Books, 2009). His work for BBC Radio includes the series Elastic Planet and Undone; acting credits include The IT Crowd and Dr Thorne for television, and the films Miss You Already and A Monster Calls.

LAZY SUSAN – Celeste Dring and Freya Parker are Lazy Susan, a sketch comedy duo specialising in doomed people making things worse for themselves. Their three Edinburgh hours to date have been critically acclaimed and beloved by Fringe audiences, and their debut was nominated for Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards in 2014. Their act has been described as “a breath of comic fresh air” by Fest Magazine and “tender and ridiculous” by The Guardian.

ANNA LOU LARKIN – Armed with an accordion and a baffling array of facial expressions, this adorably twisted Parisienne will tell you stories that will amuse, enchant and bewilder. Anna Lou spent four years as Cabaret Roulette’s resident performer, creating a brand new act every month, while her solo show Anna Lou’s Contes D’amour won a Judge’s Award at Mimetic Festival before going on to the Edinburgh Fringe. “A piece of degenerate filth” – Run Riot

Story Etc.'s fundraiser will be held on 3 February.

http://www.vaultfestival.com/event/story-etc-live/

WOODEN OVERCOATS LIVE

And of course, the gang is back together for Wooden Overcoats LIVE on Saturday 4 February. Tickets are selling well so book now to make sure you get your seat.

http://www.vaultfestival.com/event/wooden-overcoats-live/

More Awards!

Thank you to everybody who voted for us in the 2016 Audio Verse Awards. The results are in and we've walked away with two gongs!  They are Best Original, Long Form, Large Cast, Ongoing, Comedic Production for the show and Best Performance of an Actor in an Original Leading Role for a Long Form, Large Cast Production.

The awards are a great showcase for the fast growing podcast drama movement. As audio drama spreads more and more into podcasting, people around the world are taking advantage of it to tell stories.

Have a browse through the list of winners and find your new favourite.

http://www.audioverseawards.net/site/2016-winners/

One Quarter of a Million

Wooden Overcoats episodes have been downloaded over a quarter of a million times as of today.

That's one download for every fourth person in Helsinki, every plug-in car sold in California or every passenger who flew Emirates over the New Year.

The more exposure the show gets, the easier it is to make. Can you think of one person who'd enjoy Wooden Overcoats?

Season 2 Episodes 7 and 8

The final two episodes of Season 2 are now available to download. 

Undertakers Underground

There Ought to be Clowns

Wooden Overcoats Live at VAULT 2017

Wooden Overcoats Live will be coming to VAULT Festival 2017 for one night only. Book now for Saturday 4 February at 6.10 PM - tickets £9.

Booking Link to VAULT website

WAIT, WHAT'S VAULT?

VAULT Festival is a six week programme of the very best new theatre and comedy in London. Now in its fifth year, the festival is held in the old Victorian train storage tunnels under Waterloo station. You get there through a different tunnel, the graffiti covered Leake Street where you can see new designs daily, as well as skaters, bikers, photoshoots and music videos. It's all a bit cool.

Photograph by Davide D'Amico

Most of our main cast have worked at VAULT at some point and can attest to the incredible experience of being squirreled away underground in a hive dedicated to new work and creativity.

This year, there's even a chance to catch our own Ciara Baxendale in a show written by Wooden Overcoats producer Andy Goddard, Don't Let Me Down.

What's it like at a Wooden Overcoats Live show?

Only two episodes left in Season 2! (Three if you've pre-ordered the Christmas special.) And with that we only have two live shows left. We'll be reading episodes 7 and 8 on Monday 12 December, and then a special Christmas show with mince pies and carols on Monday 19th.

Tickets are going quickly, make sure you book ahead.

With listeners in over 2/3 of the planet, we appreciate that it isn't easy for everyone to get to London. So for those of you who can't, here are a couple of clips from our last live show where we read episodes 5 and 6.

Here's Felix Trench performing To Be An Undertaker from episode 5. Ciara Baxendale was detained for the evening and we're grateful to Abigail Jackson for stepping in as Georgie.

Funerals are only one of Piffling's thriving industries. Alison Skilbeck plays sweetshop owner and constable Agatha Doyle, as well as a host of other characters come live show night. Here she is flooring Tom Crowley.

Rudyard and Antigone Funn are twins born a week apart. But nobody can reduce an audience to tears quite like Beth Eyre.

Season 2 Episode 6 is now available to download

Listen now to Season 2 Episode 6: Rudyard Makes a Friend

Wooden Overcoats Live: this Monday

Book now for Wooden Overcoats Live this Monday with episodes five and six. It's always cheaper to book online than buy on the door.

Click to Book

Season 2 Episode 5 is now available to download

Season 2 Episode 5: Flip Flap Flop by T. A. Woodsmith is now available to download.

Pre-Order Rudyard Ruins Christmas Now

Rudyard Ruins Christmas

They're playing carols in Starbucks. Coca-Cola are auditioning lorries. Someone's released a Christmas jumper dress. It can only mean one thing: the holidays are filling up the petrol tank and calling ahead to see if they should bring their own towels.

To celebrate, at the end of Season 2 we will be releasing a whole new episode - a Christmas special, Rudyard Ruins Christmas. The full length episode by Tom Crowley and David K. Barnes brings together all your favourite Piffling islanders for the season of burying people giving.

Rudyard Ruins Christmas is now available to pre-order for whatever you can afford or think its worth - be it a pound or a hundred pounds. All money raised will go right back into the show.

CLICK HERE TO PRE-ORDER NOW

How does it work?

Drop a few quid in our online pot and make sure to fill out your contact details. Then check your e-mail for a secret link and password that will update with the episode on 22 December.

By the way, if you're one of the 410 listeners who donated to our Kickstarter in June, ignore this post! Bask in the knowledge of a job well done. We'll e-mail you as soon as it's out.

Season 2 Episodes 3 and 4 are available to download

Unless you've been living under a coffin, you'll have seen that Season 2 Episode 3: Take a Letter Miss Crusoe and Episode 4: The Sweet, Sweet Taste of Death are now available to download.

What did you think? Let us know by social media or e-mail us on hello@woodenovercoats.com

Season 2 Episode 2 is now available to download

Listen now to A Funeral House Divided by James Hamilton and James Huntrods.

Season 2 Episode 1 is now available to download

Listen now to The Ghost of Piffling Vale by Molly Beth Morossa and David K. Barnes

What's coming up in Season 2?

With one week to go, today we're dropping a jealously guarded secret: THE EPISODE TITLES FOR SEASON 2. Check out the weekly schedule below and let us know your theories about what's coming up over the next nine weeks. (Zoom in for the episode writers).

Look Who's Back

Season 2 launches in less than two weeks. 

Less than two weeks! 

Episode 1 will drop on Thursday 27 October. To celebrate, we've created some new banners with our core characters and the cast who play them to top our various social media. Look out for them on Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. And while you're there, dig a little deeper to find the Wooden Overcoats community which is buzzing with opinion, theories, stories, videos and artwork from our super-talented and -creative listeners.

Georgie Crusoe is played by Ciara Baxendale. When Georgie's not tinkering with her moped, she helps out at Funn Funerals - pallbearing, tea-making, coffin-building, she's great at all of them.

Eric Chapman is played by Tom Crowley. Mysterious past notwithstanding, Eric is Piffling's most recent and successful funeral director, beloved by everyone for his charm, sense of fun, and coffee facilities.

Antigone Funn is played by Beth Eyre. Most comfortable in the Funn Funerals mortuary where she prepares both bodies and scented embalming fluids, Antigone is frequently found in the darkest corners... wherein the shadows stretch and coalesce the quaking dusk to an inksome night of despair. She likes toast.

Rudyard Funn is played by Felix Trench. Antigone's twin brother. Officious and jealous, Rudyard's hatred of Eric is driven partly from envy, partly from being driven to the breadline by this new and most unwelcome competition.

One thing we love about audio drama is that there is no fixed character design. Our versions were dreamed up by a certain very talented mouse to illustrate her new book but we're always curious to know what yours look like. Do you have a great idea to share? Let us know!

Photography by Lars Thornhill.

Introducing...

We've already announced some of our new cast for Season 2 but we've held back a couple of surprises we want to let you in on now.

As well as return visits from Andy Hamilton, Alison Skilbeck, Catriona Knox, Paul Putner, Ellie Dickens and others, listen out for:

Caroline Quentin

The Men Behaving Badly, Jonathan Creek and Blue Murder star will appear in the very first episode of Season 2, out on 27 October.

Caroline has appeared in Mister Bean, Have I Got News For You, Life of Riley and Whose Line Is It Anyway? and was most recently seen as Mrs Bumble in the BBC's Dickensian.

Hugh Fraser

Hastings himself comes to Piffling in episode two of the new season. Outside of Agatha Christie's Poirot, Hugh is known as the Duke of Wellington in Sharpe, and has appeared in films including The Curse of the Pink Panther, 101 Dalmatians and Patriot Games.

Hugh is also an author, theatre director and one-time performer of the theme tune to ITV's Rainbow.

 

Katy Manning

Katy Manning joins us for episode 8 of season 2. Katy's career spans three continents across theatre, screen and audio. She has performed her one woman show Me and Jezebel across Australia, and her West End appearences include Run For Your Wife, Hamlet, Real Inspector Hound and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. 

Katy played companion Jo Grant with Jon Pertwee in Doctor Who, and reprised the role recently in The Sarah Jane Adventures, as well as in audio.