HPL BBC 2.0

In January, I found a BBC adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's novella The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. The same team behind that production have now adapted a sequel to that drama from Lovecraft's The Whisperer in Darkness, which **SPOILER** is a precursor to modern 'alien abduction' narratives **END SPOILER**.

The Whisperer in Darkness follows up on The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, being presented as another adventure/investigation by colleagues working on a 'mystery machine' podcast. The same cast of main characters returns, bringing back the good chemistry they had in the first series. In this new series, they run up against British UFOlogy, with much of the action taking place in Rendlesham Forest. Nods to Lovecraft abound, though the main plot has been changed considerably- Akeley and Wilmarth are big players, but their roles differ from their roles in the original story.

One of the main charms of Lovecraft's original tale are the detailed descriptions of the geography and geology of the 'crowded green hills and endless trickle of brooks' of Vermont, details which are impossible to convey in a radio drama. The transfer of the story's setting to modern-day Suffolk (though it must be stated that Lovecraft wrote of his own experienced modern-day) allows a whole new 'mythology' to be appended to the story, a mythology of conspiracy and extraterrestrial meddling which viewers of The X Files. If you are at all a fan, check out this podcast. The actors are great, the characters sympathetic... it's a bit of shuddersome fun.