The Bunker. Web Series Podcast (podcast review).

‘The Bunker’ is a post-apocalyptic breakfast radio show. Presented by David Knight, David Price and Tom Dalling, it tries to answer the difficult questions like: What do you do when your family’s disease start to make them a bit mushy and are crackers an acceptable biscuit substitute when the bunkers supplies run low?

The format is interesting. Music made with what sounds like home-made acoustic instruments sits next to high-tech ambient sounds. The latter has a distinct nod towards Chris Morris’ legendary ‘Blue Jam’ radio series. The musical interludes add to rather than detract from the whole of the show. Alongside this, there are interviews with an eclectic mix of human subjects including writers and film-makers.

One favourite is ‘Interview Bot’, voiced by Matthew Woodcock. Its on-going quest to find out what humans are about is brilliantly humorous.

There is a biting satirical feel to some of the in show interviews. My favourite is an interviewee telling the story of her whole family being killed by marauding warriors was told to ‘Keep it light‘. This is a distinct nod towards that special brand of TV journalist who asks a disaster victim, ‘And how does that make you feel?‘

Another favourite character is the warrior biscuit delivery man voiced by David Kallo. His heroic hacking and slashing across the zombie infested wasteland will make you appreciate your custard creams. There are various episodic tales which link and intertwine the episodes. Although each episode will stand a listen individually, I would recommend listening to all of them in order to fully appreciate the grand sweep of the series.

‘The Bunker’ defies classification. The humour is very sharp and very British. No US style shouty-shooty apocalypse here. The 400 years that the bunker radio has kept broadcasting has been punctuated with tea and civilisation. Tom’s popping out for a bit and the occasional visitor who drops in for breakfast are the only occasional disruptions.

The sense of the Bunker being an actual radio broadcast is enhanced by an eclectic mix of stories, music and chat. There is a great deal of very special audio content to recommend this series. If you are bored with the mundane and like your satire diamond-hard, then this is the series for you, doubly so if you are sat in your own bunker with the circling hordes of the wasteland around you.

Andy Bollan

September 2014

Edited by Tom Dalling. Written by David Knight, David Price and Maxamillian John.

check out website: www.thebunkerpodcast.com