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Murmurs is a brand new podcast drama series on 主播大秀 Sounds in 10 episodes. The writers include Eno Mfon, Greer Ellison and Jesse Schwenk who have all been part of our Drama Room writer development group. We spoke to the lead writer, , about the development of the series, what makes it specifically a podcast drama and what she hopes listeners will take away from it.

How did you get involved with Murmurs?

The team behind Murmurs, particularly head producer James Robinson and series consultant , wanted from the start to work with people who were already making independent fiction podcasts. I was one of the people they reached out to when they were asking for pitches. I initially pitched for one of the ten episodes, and then we expanded some of the concepts from my pitch to create a shared universe for the show.

What’s the premise of the series? The ‘elevator pitch’?

Murmurs is an magical realism anthology show set in a shared universe in which our world has brushed up against another and something has spilled through. Ordinary people with ordinary lives must now deal with inexplicable circumstances as elements from the other side interfere with the world around them.

What do you think makes it a podcast drama rather than a traditional radio drama? Is there something unique about the podcast medium?

When I think about traditional radio drama, I picture something that started with families sitting around a wireless. But podcasts were designed to be listened to alone, on your phone with a set of headphones. It makes it a much more intimate medium. There’s so much you can do with that intimacy, it lends itself to immersive fiction so well, it lets you really play with the idea of who is listening and what their relationship is to the narrative.

Has that affected the genre? Or is it about reaching a different audience who are listening in a different way?

I think it’s impacted what genres of fiction are more common in fiction podcasts. As a medium it seems like one that attracts a lot of SciFi, a lot of mystery, and a lot of those stories are told with found audio – as we’ve done with Murmurs. But I also think there are different approaches coming from different spaces. In the UK, audio drama has kept its place in the zeitgeist over time, so those traditions are pulled into podcasts. In New Zealand, where I’m from, it’s not really something that was around when I was growing up, so for me it’s something I approach as really quite new.

How does Murmurs work as a series – what is the connection between the episodes? The thread that runs between them?

The series is set in a world that is suddenly connected to something else, some other realm of creatures who are entirely different from us. They start impacting our world in various ways, and as people try to deal with the disruption it appears that someone from the other side is listening in.

Is it right to say that you were lead writer on the series? Did you run a Writers’ Room to develop the episodes or how did things work in terms of deciding who was writing each episode and making the series an integrated whole?

主播大秀 Audio Drama Wales asked for pitches from a range of writers – some from the 主播大秀 Writersroom, some from independent podcast networks – and they selected from them which episodes would be part of the series. I was brought on as head writer after this part of the process, and my role was more about creating a shared universe for the show, and helping work through each episode to make sure it sat comfortably in that world. We had one meeting with all the writers to talk through that universal setting and how it would impact each episode.

Were you closely involved in the production process and creating the identity, the soundscape, the music, the casting etc of Murmurs? Has it come together how you’d hoped?

I wasn’t hugely involved in the rest of the production process – apart from being there for one day of recording – which has actually been a really exciting part of it. With my co-writer and I do everything, so we never get to have any distance from it. It’s exciting to write something and then take a break from it, and wait to see what the other artists involved do with that.

What do you hope people will take from Murmurs? What’s distinctive about the series?

I hope they let it get under their skin a bit. Immersive fiction asks a bit more from its audience, I think, a bit more poetic faith, a bit more commitment. I hope each listener really feels like they’re part of the story.

Do you think we’ll get a second series?

I have no idea! I hope so, I would love to do more work with this group of artists, and I think there’s a lot more to explore in the world we’ve created.

What advice would you offer to someone who is starting out in scriptwriting or you wish someone had told you?

Learn to love getting notes. That doesn’t mean you have to take every note you’re given, of course. The most satisfying part of the job for me – both in scriptwriting and in prose – is getting a note that feels completely counter to what I want. If you let it brew for a bit nine times out of ten you find a way to satisfy both your own aims and the note, and tell a much more compelling story.

Murmurs is on 主播大秀 Sounds now, download, listen and subscribe for future episodes