Kate Cornish writes to tell us of the launch of The Minister of Chance, a “new form of entertainment—a radiophonic drama—made using a combination of film and radio techniques and delivered by podcast. It is the first, but we hope not last, of its kind. By painstakingly constructing soundscapes we create worlds that you can drift into wherever you are. The series will run in seasons of six episodes. The first two episodes and a prologue have been made and the remaining episodes and seasons will be created when we have enough sales to allow us to make them.”
The story line begins “once upon a time, in the city of Tantillion, on the island of Tanto, there was a barmaid called Kitty. One night a stranger walked in, and through a door, and over the Frost Bridge into another world. And Kitty followed him…”
The nine-minute prologue, “The Pointed Hand”, is now available for a free download from iTunes (see this page). In the prologue, “Ambassador Durian of Sezuan is despatched to the primitive backwater of Tanto to engage in diplomacy with the King. However, the King is unimpressed by Durian’s offers of friendship, and things take an altogether more sinister turn.”
The 35-minute Episode 1 is scheduled for release on 17 March, at a price of £1.49, with Episode 2 following on 14 April.
The cast includes Julian Wadham, Jenny Agutter, Gethin Anthony, Lauren Crace, Paul Darrow, Stuart Fox, Peter Guinness, Lloyd Hutchinson, Mark Lewis, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann, and Jay Taylor.