The Season 3 finale drops Thursday
Season 3 Has Launched
What a whirlwind of a week! Season 3 Episode 1: The Loneliness of the Short-Tempered Rudyard is now available on all the finest podcatchers.
Head writer David had a chat with Cameron Ward on BBC Radio Jersey to talk all things Season 3.
The Wooden Overcoats Season 3 Release Schedule
Only one week to go! Season 3 launches on Thursday 22 February with Episode 1: The Loneliness of the Short-Tempered Rudyard by head writer David K. Barnes.
Every #overcoatsthursday from 22/2 to 12/4, we will be releasing a new episode direct to your podcast feed. We think it's the best season yet. We hope you do too.
Have a look through the schedule to see what we have in store.
Who is writing Season 3?
This year's writing team, headed by the magisterial David K. Barnes, is a right treat. The show started writing almost a year ago with fingers firmly crossed that we would hit our fundraising targets. Each episode goes via David and is batted back and forward with adjustments being made right up to and including recording days based on the overall thrust of the season, characters' arcs, and how individual lines sound at the readthroughs.
David K. Barnes is the creator and head writer of Wooden Overcoats, for which his The Bane of Rudyard (Season 1 Episode 1) was nominated for Best European Digital Audio of the Year at the Prix Europa 2016. Other audio credits include Drayton Trench (Wireless Theatre & Snatchback), Outliers (Historic Royal Palaces) and Doctor Who (Big Finish Productions). He also writes comedies for the stage, with credits including the internationally produced Timothy and the Offie-nominated Birthday Suit.
This season, David is the sole writer on episodes 1, 5, 6 and 8, co-writer on the backers-only summer special with Alex Lynch, and script editor on episodes 2, 3, 4 and 7.
Follow David on Twitter: @velvetbarnes
Find out more about David's work: www.davidkbarnes.com
Rosie Fletcher is a writer, broadcaster, podcaster, occasional stand-up comedian, and former professional Girl Guide. A regular voice on Radio 4, her series for The Film Programme, Rosemary vs the Rom Com, was broadcast throughout Summer 2017. She is half of the long-running podcast Rosie and Jessica’s Day of Fun and wrote Random Mouse and Island of Passion for Wooden Overcoats’ Piffling Lives strand. A contributor to the New Statesman and the Observer, Rosie is currently writing a children’s book.
Rosie wrote episode 3 of Season 3.
Follow Rosie on Twitter: @rosieatlarge
Find out more about Rosie and Jessica's Day of Fun: www.rosieandjessica.co.uk
James Hamilton is a triple award winning comedy writer and sketch comedian, best known as the creator of both critically acclaimed UK sketch troupe Casual Violence and podcast sitcom Hector Vs The Future - the latter of which he co-wrote with his writing partner James Huntrods. He works as a regular staff writer on Cartoon Network’s BAFTA winning The Amazing World of Gumbal, credited on 55 episodes across its fourth, fifth and sixth seasons. Alongside the venerable Mr Huntrods, he has written for shows including Disney's upcoming Space Chickens In Space. He is currently developing new shows for television and the internet.
James co-wrote episode 2 of Season 3 with James Huntrods.
Follow James on Twitter: @jameshamilton
Find out more about James' work: www.jameshamiltoncomedy.co.uk
James Huntrods graduated with an MA in Scriptwriting from Central School of Speech and Drama. His sitcom Blue Sky Thinking won The Sitcom Mission and has since gone into development with Hat Trick and Comedy Central. His new sitcom Kate the Great is in development with Balloon Productions. He also writes for theatre with short plays at Arcola, Bush, Southwark Playhouse, Theatre 503 and New Diorama, as well as writing three plays for the Edinburgh Fringe. With James Hamilton he co-wrote comedy podcast Hector vs The Future as well as writing episodes of Cartoon Network’s The Amazing World of Gumball.
James co-wrote episode 2 of Season 3 with James Hamilton.
Follow James on Twitter: @jameshuntrods
Find out more about James' work: www.jameshuntrods.com
Molly Beth Morossa is a multi-award award winning performer, writer, theatre maker and cabaret artist. Her first solo show, Carnival of Crows, was nominated for four awards with one win at the Edinburgh Fringe 2012. Her latest show, Greywing House, won the Spirit of the Festival Award at VAULT 2016 after touring the UK in 2015 and being in residency at The Old Red Lion as part of a double bill of her solo shows. Her podcast work includes writing on The Unseen Hour and performing in Hector Vs The Future. Molly is a regular on the London cabaret scene and can often be seen at It's YOUR Funeral.
Molly wrote episode 7 of Season 3.
Follow Molly on Twitter: @MBethMorossa
Find out more about Molly's work: www.mollybethmorossa.co.uk
Alex Lynch is a comedy writer whose BBC Radio 4 credits include The News Quiz and his narrative sketch series, Expenses Only. Alex writes, produces and hosts the retrospective parody podcast, All Glory, for SOAP (on-soap.com). Alex has also written commercials for Picturehouse Cinemas, and two short films: Mugged (also as co-producer) and Jack & Jill (nominated for Best Comedy at LOCO and London Short Film Festival 2016). He is also a performer, having trained in long-form improvisation at the Free Association, and is currently working on his debut solo character show: Dead Air.
Alex co-wrote the backers-only summer special with David K. Barnes.
Follow Alex on Twitter: @AlexJRLynch
Follow All Glory on Twitter: @AllGloryPod
Tom Crowley has written for Cartoon Network's The Amazing World of Gumball and BBC Radio 4's The Now Show and The News Quiz. As part of comedy group Sad Faces, he performed in and co-wrote six Edinburgh Fringe shows between 2008-2015 as well as the group's Radio 4Extra series Four Sad Faces in 2008. He has adapted several children's classics including The Princess and the Pea and The Tin Woodman of Oz as children's stage comedies for Trinity Theatre, Tunbridge Wells, where he is currently an Associate Artist. He is the writer of the stage adaptation of the Rocky Horror sequel, Shock Treatment, which premiered at the King's Head Theatre in April 2015. Most recently, he directed his own modernised adaptation of Charles Dickens's Great Expectations as the Old Red Lion Theatre's Christmas show for 2017. The adaptation's text was published by Methuen to coincide with this production. And he plays Eric.
Tom wrote episode 4 of Season 3.
Follow Tom on Twitter: @crowleeey
Our VAULT 2018 Recommendations
VAULT Festival is London's biggest performing arts festival, held over two months in and around the old railway arches under Waterloo station. The Wooden Overcoats team is there in force both for Wooden Overcoats LIVE on 11 February and a number of other shows. So where can you catch them?
24 JAN - 18 MARCH 18.30 WRECKED
JOHN doesn't just do extraordinary producing and directing on the show, he also sound designs for stage, as he has done for Wrecked.
A crashed car, six audience members, no way out.
Sam is on the run. She has stolen a car, crashed it and is trapped with no way out. What happens when you hit a dead end and it feels like your life is a write off? This gripping piece of site-specific theatre will invite the audience into Sam’s stolen car, joining her only seconds after she has crashed it. Be one of just six passengers as Sam attempts to unravel her past and find a way out.
https://vaultfestival.com/whats-on/wrecked/
24 JAN - 18 MARCH 21.30 BECOMING SHADES
Starring MOLLY BETH MOROSSA who you know best as the writer of Season 2 Episode 1: The Ghost of Piffling Vale.
Dark immersive circus. A classic tale re-imagined.
Enter the Underworld in this enthralling, intriguing and immersive circus re-imagining of Persephone’s presumed seduction by Hades. Step down into the welcoming darkness of the Vaults in this all female story of empowerment, love and choices. Journey with these ethereal beings, acrobats, aerialists and fire artists and share in their hopes and dreams, until you become one with the world of Shades. After a sell-out run last year and winning the Origins Award for Outstanding new work, Becoming Shades returns to London’s biggest arts festival.
https://vaultfestival.com/whats-on/becoming-shades/
7 - 9 FEBRUARY 18.15 THE THING THAT CAME TO DINNER
If the last recommendation isn't enough MOLLY BETH MOROSSA for you, you can also find her in the case of The Thing That Came to Dinner written by friend of the podcast and The Unseen Hour grand master, James Carney.
An elegant dinner-party, quite ruined by an intergalactic shape-shifting space-monster.
In a snowbound manor-house an elegant dinner party is in full swing. But one guest is intent on more than just sophisticated repartee – one guest was not invited at all – one guest is a flesh-eating shape-changing space-beast from beyond the stars! In this pleasant drawing-room, these charming revellers are not who they seem. Is it because they are desperate for social advancement? Is it because they have illicit histories that they wish to keep hidden? Or is it because they are a bloodthirsty world-conquering tentacular horror from another world!? As suspicions rise, as layer upon layer of deceit and villainy is exposed, as guests are replaced, one by one, with homicidal alien doppelgangers, these high-society bon-viveurs turn against each other with brutal witticisms, savage quips and razor-sharp mots juste. Will anyone survive this evening of refined company and light entertainments? And if so, will what survives – be human…? A chaotic farce where 80s sci-fi horror meets poised fin-de-siecle drawing-room comedy, The Thing That Came To Dinner is an absurd romp with cosmically pessimistic implications. Mannered naturalism gives way to impressionistic character doubling, clowning, puppetry and even song and dance, as the fragile reality of the play peels back and forth, and the elusive nature of identity slips further and further beyond our grasp. This is a play that tells a thrilling and hilarious story, and goes further, to touch on something more profound – at once extremely clever and very stupid.
https://vaultfestival.com/whats-on/the-thing-that-came-to-dinner/
1 - 11 FEBRUARY 16.00 THE BORING ROOM
CHAPMAN! takes the helm in this TOM-directed comedy starring EMILY STRIDE (aka The Ringmistress from Season 2 Episode 8: There Ought to be Clowns).
Three celebrated crime writers trapped in an impossible prison. A young man accused of a crime he either did or didn’t commit. Two outlaws in love and a dead detective.
Three unconventional mysteries by comedy writer Olly Allsopp exploring crime, judgement and punishment in completely the wrong order. Packed full of desperate criminals, pompous authors and dark humour, The Boring Room is a black comedy which delivers a stab in the dark, a wail of despair and a kick in the knackers.
https://vaultfestival.com/whats-on/the-boring-room/
11 FEBRUARY 18.10 WOODEN OVERCOATS LIVE
Less than two weeks from the launch of Season 3, come and get yourself in the mood with some of our favourite Season 2 episodes. With CIARA BAXENDALE, TOM CROWLEY, BETH EYRE, and FELIX TRENCH.
https://vaultfestival.com/whats-on/wooden-overcoats-live/
11 FEBRUARY 20.45 DEAD AIR
The last Funn Fragment we released was The Full Works by ALEX LYNCH whose own show starts just after ours finishes. Convenient, eh?
Radio Jetty’s Closing Down. Come witness their final apocalyptic broadcast.
Imagine if Radio 4 went completely apocalyptic. Radio Jetty is a long-standing, beloved, local station which is closing down, having been bought and re-branded. This is their final broadcast. Already things have gone pear-shaped as the resident comedy act battles with self-esteem, the long-running drama has lost it’s sound effects artist, and product placement advertising are constantly crow-barred into the schedule. In the middle of all this is the long-suffering Continuity Announcer desperately trying to salvage this total shambles of a radio show whilst simultaneously having a complete meltdown. Dead Air is a work-in-progress hour of faux radio and absurd character comedy in a debut solo show by BBC Radio 4 writer Alex Lynch (‘A new kind of comedy by a man who clearly knows his subject’ – Telegraph) complete with baffling programmes, surreal sketches and off-the wall, interactive character sets – from under-appreciated to coffee mascots to the Tom Cruise of acting extras. This is a show which is both a parody and a loving homage to the golden age of national radio and the dangers it faces in the eyes of the shiny – and in this case, totally vacuous – world of the digital era.
https://vaultfestival.com/whats-on/alex-lynch-dead-air-work-in-progress/
17 FEBRUARY 22.00 WITT 'N CAMP
HOLLY CAMPBELL is the voice of Tanya, of Madeleine's squeaks, and just about half of every one- or two-line characters in Piffling. Her double act Witt 'n Camp has been storming London and beyond for over a year now.
The acclaimed double act are back and bringing their outrages show to VAULT Festival. Following their hit, sell out shows in Brighton & Soho, this “unforgettable” duo present an hour of musical comedy, cabaret and burlesque. Don’t miss this wild, joyful exploration of female identity.
https://vaultfestival.com/whats-on/witt-n-camp/
21 - 25 FEBRUARY 19.20 CAUSE
JAMES HUNTRODS, who wrote Cause, is one half of the writing duo which brought you Season 2 Episode 2: A Funeral House Divided. That's the same duo that brought you the podcast Hector Vs. The Future and he is one of the minds behind The Miniaturists Podcast.
An adventurous new play about tough choices in cold climates.
This is a story about change. For as long as she can remember, Tess has wanted to fight for what’s important, to campaign against the forces pushing our world towards collapse. So she’s come north, further than she’s ever been, to make her voice heard.But now, aboard an Arctic vessel off the coast of Russia, she is confronted with radical new ideas, of what fighting really means. Because maybe having your voice heard isn’t quite enough. It’s what people hear that matters. Or think they hear. In a modern world people can make the news whatever they want it to be. How can protest cut through this? How can Tess be sure people know what she stands for? And if she can’t, what is she willing to sacrifice to be heard?
https://vaultfestival.com/whats-on/cause/
25 FEBRUARY 20.45 KAT BOND: WORK IN PROGRESS
KAT BOND is a new contributor to Piffling, you'll get to know her work at some point in Season 3 but beyond that we're keeping mum... for now.
Award winning Kat Bond brings a fantastic new whip to VAULT Festival.
VAULT Award winning comic and one of life’s fighters Kat Bond brings a fantastic new work in progress to The Vaults. After a sell-out run in 2017 with Loo Roll she returns with a more personal story told with the help of Kate Bush and a white stiletto. As seen and heard on BBC 1's Call The Midwife, Feed My Funny, Channel 4 Blaps, Sky Shorts and Radio 4.
https://vaultfestival.com/whats-on/kat-bond-work-in-progress/
28 FEB - 4 MARCH 19.45 FELIX TRENCH'S MULTI-STORY CAR PARK
When not shouting at clients down the phone, FELIX likes nothing better than sitting in a car park telling stories. Directed by arch-nemesis and VAULT Beard of the Year TOM.
https://vaultfestival.com/whats-on/felix-trenchs-multi-story-car-park/
11 MARCH 22.00 JAMES HAMILTON IS SO PREGNANT
The other half of the writer duo that brought you A Funeral House Divided, JAMES HAMILTON performs too! Our production manager LIZ is creative producing.
TRIPLE AWARD WINNING COMEDIAN WILL GIVE BIRTH LIVE ON STAGE.
Triple award winning sketch comedian James Hamilton is literally pregnant with a real, actual human baby. He’s going to give birth to it tonight – live in front of you – during his show. But don’t worry – by the time his first child literally emerges from his body, you’ll be totally convinced James is gonna be a great dad. Expect answers to questions like “Who’s the mum?”, “Can I be one of the godparents?” and “Do I really have to watch you give birth live on stage? That sounds disgusting!” Do not expect answers to questions like “How did you get pregnant when you don’t even have a uterus?” Join the creator of critically acclaimed sketch group Casual Violence and smash hit podcast sitcom Hector Vs The Future for this brand new character comedy show: a forlorn, desperate tangle of tomfoolery, terrible people and twisted logic.
https://vaultfestival.com/whats-on/james-hamilton-is-so-pregnant/
14 - 18 MARCH 18.00 TIMOTHY
A very funny play co-written by DAVID and starring BETH. What more could you want?
Sweet. Cheerful. Incredibly handsome. Timothy is a husband to die for – no wonder his wife is worried.
Yvonne and Susan don’t know what to expect when their best friend invites them to a meeting in her cellar. But when Annette claims her perfect husband is planning to kill her, they find themselves drawn into a tangled web of rash accusation and rising panic. With Timothy hard at work in the kitchen, and dinnertime fast approaching, can the three women separate fact from fiction and escape with their lives?
https://vaultfestival.com/whats-on/timothy/
18 MARCH 16.30 AUDIOBABY
ANDY's not just a producing wizard, he's an accomplished musician and together with ODINN ORN HILMARSSON who has helped us in all sorts of ways, he's part of AudioBaby.
Music, comedy and musical comedy.
AudioBaby are three of the finest minds in Audio repair and by-commission song writing. Strap in for the finest cuts of musical comedy offal they are allowed to offer. AudioBaby are on a mission. That mission is to find the greatest audience of all time. Having received a tip off from Herbie Hancock during a prolonged game of four way snap, they’re coming to VAULT Festival for a one night only extravaganza of music, comedy and musical comedy to see if that old jazz man spoke the truth. AudioBaby consists of award winning producers Andy Goddard and Óðinn Örn Hilmarsson and everyone’s favourite guitar wielding handyman: Ethan James.
https://vaultfestival.com/whats-on/audiobaby/
14 MARCH 21.30 CATRIONA KNOX WORK IN PROGRESS
CATRIONA KNOX aka The Infamous Lady Templar creates and performs a rag-tag of funny, sad and ridiculous characters.
https://vaultfestival.com/whats-on/catriona-knox-work-in-progress/
Wooden Overcoats LIVE Season 3 is now on sale
King's Place | Image from kingsplaceevents.co.uk
Wooden Overcoats is a highly produced studio sitcom. And that's great. But we really like our cake. We want to have our cake. We also want to eat our cake. In this instance, our cake means our audience* and performing our show live to you as well as recording it in the studio.
Which is why every season, at the same time as the new episodes start dropping on your podcast feed, our cast pick up scripts and take to the stage for Wooden Overcoats LIVE.
The Season 3 live shows will be held between 23 February and 6 April 2018.
Regulars to our live shows will be familiar with our old venue, the Horse & Stables pub in Waterloo. This year we are loading up the moving van with our microphones, coffins and portable vicarage, and heading to our new home: King's Place in King's Cross. We can't wait.
Each live show, the cast perform two episodes: the one that came out most recently on the feed, and a preview performance of the following week's. There will be four shows in total, held fortnightly on Fridays at 7.30 PM. Which means you get to be in the very first audience to hear the new episodes. The nights are hosted by our grand master of comedy, head writer David K. Barnes. Come to Wooden Overcoats LIVE to put faces to names, make friends with Wooden Overcoats listeners from all over, and meet the team behind the sitcom.
King's Place is the home of the London Podcast Festival where we've had the privilege of performing twice, and a number of Britain's biggest podcasts. It's located in King's Cross, just about the easiest place to get to in London. Our past live shows have brought audience from all over the UK and abroad; listeners travelling from as far away as Scandinavia and Poland. Can you beat that?
*To be clear, we do not want to eat you.
Season 3 launches on Thursday 22 February 2018
Wooden Overcoats Season 3 will launch on 22 February 2018. The season will have eight episodes, releasing on Thursdays. There will be a special released later in the year, Rudyard Ruins Summer, for our backers.
We are very proud of this season and working hard to make it the best one yet. We can't wait to share it with the world.
Put your feet up with a lovely cup of hot water.
That time of year is nearly on us.
Fires are coming back from boarding school. Snowdrifts are checking they've packed the car properly. A beardy man is grooming his reindeer.
It's CHRISTMAS!
But what if disaster struck?
Picture it. You creep down the stairs on Christmas morning. Close the kitchen door oh so silently so as to not wake everyone in the house. Stick the kettle on and shh! shh! shh! it as it bubbles festively away so that you can surprise Mum and Dad with a cup of tea and breakfast in bed and maybe a few verses of Gaudete when suddenly ... oh no! No mugs!
Fret not. Wooden Overcoats understands these issues and we are here to help. Our mugs are specially designed to both hold hot liquids and make you look very stylish while you do so.
There are three to choose from, including a Yuletide Antigone mug. Why not get the set?
Make it a Christmas to remember with Wooden Overcoats mugs. Available now from the shop.
Recording Season 3 Part 2
Rudyard is taken aback.
We finished the bulk of recording on Tuesday evening.
All that's left is one episode from the season, plus Rudyard Ruins Summer, our backers-only summer special.
Between now and recording those in January, the producers will be going through hundreds of hours of recording and starting to put the show together. They'll also be sitting down with the Piffling Philharmonic, our pocket orchestra led by James Whittle, to record the music.
Georgie reacts calmly.
This year, we welcomed back loads of familiar Piffling faces and met a few new villagers to boot! Stay tuned to find out who we've added to the cast. Spoilers: they're brilliant.
Sid and the reverend have been enjoying the community spirit.
And of course Antigone, Rudyard, Georgie, Madeleine and Eric are all back in spades. This season is taking all the characters to new places, all of which brought new challenges for the actors to tackle.
Behind the mics, we could not have got the show done without our script supervisor Amelia Donovan who kept on top of the Byzantine puzzle of different takes, retakes, actors forgetting how to talk, walkie talkies trying to get involved and, at one point, the unexpected arrival of a faint French radio station broadcasting through the cables.
Nor could we have managed without our runners Nina Kruse and Gabrielle Watts who kept the studio running with incredible efficiency.
Gabrielle and Nina survey the situation.
We can't wait to come back for one more day in Piffling at the beginning of next year. Recording days are our favourite thing to do and we feel privileged to be able to do them.
Smiles all round.
Recording Season 3
Andy Hamilton and Andy Secombe in full swing.
It's been a cold kick-off to December in London and all the warmer for it in the studio. Recording got underway at Wooden Overcoats HQ on Thursday and we are over the moon to be back making the show.
Beth and Felix look on in envy of the microphones.
With another eight episodes to record, plus the summer special for our Kickstarter backers, the days are long and the breaks are short. We couldn't be happier.
Cogs whirr as David considers the scripts.
Since September, David K. Barnes and the rest of the writers have been frenetically working to get the episodes plotted, written, rewritten, rewritten again, read aloud, rewritten again again, delivered to the cast and crew, rewritten again again again, redelivered, faxed to the studio, and encouraged into microphones through the medium of actors.
(That's a bit of a fib, the work actually started a few months earlier than September and we had to do some serious finger crossing that we would be able to afford the series. Thankfully, our listeners came through when we ran our Season 3 Kickstarter. Cos you're all brilliant.)
Ten hour days take their toll on even the beardiest producers.
Each half of the day begins with a readthrough of the episode we'll be working on. After that, we try as far as we can to record scenes in order so that the actors are given a realistic sense of their character's arc through time. Sometimes scheduling or other considerations get in the way (it's much quicker to record two scenes in the same space on the trot than prepare a different space for instance) and we mix and match accordingly. Sometimes we need to squeeze in a few scenes from a whole other episode!
Ciara's great.
This year, we've upped our technical quotient in a bid to save a) trees and b) our printing budget. Eight episodes across a few dozen actors and crew is a lot of paper. Production Manager Elizabeth Campbell made the sound investment of a number of tablets and after some experimental dropping that didn't result in any screens breaking (yet) we have given them a rousing thumbs up.
We're on a break over the weekend now, getting some sleep and preparing for the remaining episodes. Back in on Monday! In the meantime, here's the recording booth listening to Pip Gladwin (Bill) saying: "Shoot!"
Photography by Odinn Orn Hilmarsson.
Fund Season 3 Today
We are raising £8,000 to make a third season of Wooden Overcoats. The campaign lasts from today until 30 September. Back us on Kickstarter today to help us go back to Piffling.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1667942170/wooden-overcoats-fund-season-3
Piffling More!
For every £2,000 we raise, we will release an episode of a new mini-series we call Funn Fragments. These were written by Ben Cottam, Lauren Shippen, Chris Hogg, Gabriel Urbina and Alex Lynch.
The first Funn Fragment is on the podcast feed today.
If we hit our £10,000 stretch goal, we will make a backer-exclusive summer special: Rudyard Ruins Summer. This full half-hour episode will be available to everyone who donates to this Kickstarter, no matter the amount.
First in the Queue
For our first twenty-five new backers, we've got something of a treat! Those who backed our Season 2 Kickstarter at the £5 and up level received a digital copy of the official Visit Piffling pamphlet with a forward by Mayor Desmond.
If you are a new backer (ie someone who didn't back on Kickstarter for Season 2 but is doing so now), let us know that you've backed us via the Kickstarter messaging system or e-mailing us on hello@woodenovercoats.com with your details and we will pop this crucial piece of Piffling Tourism Office history straight in your inbox.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1667942170/wooden-overcoats-fund-season-3
The Name of the Kickstarter Mini-Series
The mini-series scripts are being given a final polish before recording. In a few weeks, we will launch our Season 3 Kickstarter! If you've donated before you'll know that we release a new mini-series episode every £2,000. There are five in total. We've been batting names back and forward and are now fizzing to tell you that this year's will be called:
Our last mini-series, Piffling Lives, focused on the stories of some the non-funerary characters of Piffling. For Funn Fragments, we are right back in with the coffins with Rudyard, Antigone, Eric, Georgie and Madeleine.
WHO ARE THE FUNN FRAGMENTS WRITERS?
Now that David is swimming in Season 3 scripts, we needed a crack team of writers for Funn Fragments and for the first time Piffling history, we've gone international.
oooOOOOoooo.
We've tapped the shoulders of some of the very best from the worlds of radio comedy and podcast drama.
BEN COTTAM is a writer from Lancashire best known in the audio world for the Radio 4 sitcom Plum House (starring Simon Callow and Jane Horrocks), a second series of which records next year. He also has a forthcoming drama series The Latvian Locum airing later this year on the same channel. He has written for a variety of shows (including Cartoon Network's The Amazing World of Gumball) and has a number of sitcoms in development. Twitter: @thisisbencottam
CHRISTOPHER HOGG (Wooden Overcoats Season One Episode Two: Flowers for Chapman) is a playwright, storyteller, ex-stand-up comedian, technologist and librettist. He is presently a Teaching Fellow at Royal Holloway, where he teaches Creative Social Media. He counts audio drama as a key area of his work. Christopher's latest play Rathband went to number one in the iTunes Arts Podcasts in April. To get to know him better, follow him on Facebook, where he spends far too much time.
ALEX LYNCH is a comedy writer with BBC Radio 4 credits which include The News Quiz and his narrative sketch series, Expenses Only. Alex writes, produces and hosts the retrospective parody podcast, All Glory, for SOAP (on-soap.com). Alex has also written commercials for Picturehouse Cinemas, and two short films: Mugged (writer/co-producer) and Jack & Jill which was nominated for Best Comedy at LOCO and London Short Film Festival 2016. He is also a performer, having trained in long-form improvisation at the Free Association, and is currently working on his debut solo character show, Dead Air. Twitter: @AlexJRLynch / @AllGloryPod
LAUREN SHIPPEN is the writer and creator of the science fiction podcast The Bright Sessions. Since its debut in November of 2015, the podcast has won numerous awards, was named iTunes Best of 2016 and has been featured in Vox, Popular Science, WIRED, The London Evening Standard among others. The podcast is currently in development as a TV series by Universal Cable Productions and Dark Horse Entertainment. On top of her writing work, Lauren also has acted in numerous podcasts - including her own - as well as short films and web series. She has a degree in music from The College of William & Mary. Lauren is a New York native and now resides in Los Angeles. Twitter: @laurenshippen
GABRIEL URBINA is a Costa Rican-American writer, filmmaker, and lover of weird stories. He is best known as the creator and executive producer of Wolf 359, a Webby Award-nominated science fiction audio drama series. When he’s not too busy taking dictation from the voices in his head, Gabriel does a bit of teaching, has strong opinions about movies, and sleepwalks an alarming amount. He lives in Brooklyn. Visit his personal website or follow him on Twitter.
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.
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.
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.
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