Wooden Overcoats

Wooden Overcoats
Presentation
Starring	Belinda Lang Ciara Baxendale Andy Secombe Caroline Quentin Felix Trench Beth Eyre Tom Crowley
Genre	Comedy
Created by	David K. Barnes
Written by	David K. Barnes
Language	English
Production
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	34
Publication
Original release	September 24, 2015 – present
Website	www.woodenovercoats.com

Wooden Overcoats is a British sitcom podcast created by David K. Barnes.^[1] Set in the fictional English village of Piffling Vale,^[2] the story follows rival funeral directors as they compete with each other to be the best in the locale.^[3]

Plot[]

Stubborn undertaker Rudyard Funn runs his family's funeral parlour, which has fallen on hard times. His situation is further complicated by the arrival of a dashing new undertaker called Eric Chapman, who sets up his business across the square. With Chapman's company immediately hitting successful heights, Funn needs to do what he can to ensure his business survives.^[4]

Chapman's company is modern and innovative, and is endorsed by Piffling Vale's mayor, who believes that the village can only become a town if it has two funeral parlours, rather than just one. Tensions heighten in the village as the disagreement between the two companies spirals out of control, descending into espionage and sabotage. These unfolding events are narrated by a character called Madeleine, who is Rudyard’s pet mouse.^[5]

Cast and characters[]

• Belinda Lang as Madeleine^[6]
• Felix Trench as Rudyard Funn
• Beth Eyre as Antigone Funn
• Tom Crowley as Eric Chapman
• Ciara Baxendale as Georgie Crusoe
• Andy Secombe as Reverend Wavering
• Caroline Quentin as Madame Lansbury Manning
• Steve Hodson as Mayor Desmond (Season 1)
• Sean Baker as Mayor Desmond (Season 2 onwards)
• Hugh Fraser as Roger Noggins
• Paul Putner as Sid Marlowe
• Andy Hamilton as Herbert Cough
• Kieran Hodgson as Serge
• Max Olesker as Seymour Profitte
• Julia Deakin as Nana Crusoe
• Thom Tuck as Captain Scott Sodbury
• Jason Forbes as Baz
• Phil Wang as Wez
• Ben Norris as Miles Fahrenheit
• Katy Manning as Bijou
• Alison Skilbeck as Agatha Doyle
• Elle McAlpine as Marjorie
• Sarah Thom as Petunia Bloom

Production[]

The idea of a story involving two competing undertakers arose from discussions between eventual cast members Felix Trench and Tom Crowley. Trench shared a lodging in London with writer David K. Barnes, who was looking for a new project. The initial idea was to create a short film out of the idea, but the large budget required to do that, and also the increasing popularity of podcasts, meant Wooden Overcoats became an audio project.^[7]

Much of the series is recorded in a repurposed music studio.^[8] Narration is recorded in an audiobook studio and there are also scenes recorded on-location.^[9]

Reception[]

Critical reception[]

Wooden Overcoats received an extremely positive critical reception, with the New Statesman describing the series as "funnier than anything broadcast on the BBC".^[10] In another favourable comparison to the BBC, the Daily Telegraph stated in 2018 that the "release of this funny, clever, independently produced sitcom marks a quietly significant moment in British radio comedy, when the BBC networks stopped being the only conduit by which top-rank young writers and actors got their wares to market."^[11]

Writing for the New York Times, Phoebe Letts wrote, "over the four available seasons of “Wooden Overcoats,” it becomes impossible not to adore everyone in the village.”^[12] And in the Reader's Digest, Chloë Nannestad stated that, “this podcast is hilarious, charming, there’s three seasons of it to fill your longest driving day and there’s also a mouse called Madeleine. Download immediately".^[13]

Wooden Overcoats has been described as a "shining example of the power of the form (of audio drama)” by Forbes,^[14] a "very funny, very British radio drama" by Wired^[15] and a "hit podcast" by The Independent.^[16]

Awards and nominations[]

Wooden Overcoats won two awards in the Audioverse Awards 2016 for 'Best Original Long Form Cast' in a comedic production and also 'Best Actor in a Leading Role' for Felix Trench.^[17] The series also won a silver award in the British Podcast Awards 2017 for Best Fiction Podcast.^[18] In 2018, Wooden Overcoats had further success at the Audioverse Awards, winning 5 in total. These were for Best Audio Engineering, Best Original Composition, Best Production, Best Writing and Best Ensemble Performance.^[19]

References[]

External links[]

• Official website
• Wooden Overcoats: Podcast Sitcom at IMDb