Imagine getting right into the middle of a true story developing around you while you're listening. That's the narrative approach taken in 'The Untold', a BBC show telling stories about life in modern Britain.
Its team of producers seem to have a super power. They're able to find people going through significant life events, and persuade them to talk about it all while it's still happening.
The Untold logo (BBC) Photo: Supplied/BBC
The stories are resonant and universal and I've enjoyed recent ones about plans to build a local homeless shelter, someone who's learning to ride a bike aged 33, and the battle that small shops have to survive in the run up to Christmas. Another good one is called 'Van Life'- all about a woman who's looking for adventure by travelling around and living in a van after her son goes off to uni.
The overall sound and feel is very different from the way these stories normally get told to us in Podcast-land; usually using audio recorded and edited together after the fact, with a narrative provided by someone (usually sitting in a studio) who already knows the eventual outcome. Stories in 'The Untold' can develop in unexpected directions, so the uncertainty and the sense of jeopardy feels real.
We play some of an episode called 'Be My Baby' about a man-about-town called Thomas, who's in the middle of a potentially life-changing experience. 'Be My Baby' from 'The Untold' is presented by Grace Dent and produced by Sarah Bowen for BBC Radio 4. We also speak to Sarah Bowen, who's been working on the show since it started 3 years and about 100 episodes ago.
Be My Baby image (Niki Pilkington) Photo: Niki Pilkington
The process, producer Sarah Bowen told The Podcast Hour, is all-encompassing.
“I have to be there when somebody loses their job, or gets a home, or finds out their husband's been having an affair. And so that's what makes it so compelling. And that's what we try and do, get people into a story that they can't switch off.
“But equally, that's what makes it so hard to make in many ways, because you have to find the ballerina before she falls off the stage.”
Thomas’ story was one that she had always wanted to tell, Bowen says.
“It took me about six months to find him. I rang most of the DNA testing labs in the UK and tried to explain to them what I wanted to do and why.
“Most of them said no, but Alpha Bio Labs said they'd think about it and about four months after our first phone call, they started to come back with potential people. And one of them, Thomas, delightfully wanted to take part.”
Not everyone goes through with it, she says.
“Usually when people pull out, I kind of agree with them that they shouldn't be doing it. But it doesn't happen as often as you think it would. You get a level of trust that I find absolutely extraordinary making these programmes, and when people give their stories to you, you have to treasure them and look after them and respect what they've done, and tell them in the best way that you both feel is right.”
What's On Your Headphones? Some of Untold producer Sarah Bowen's favourite podcasts:
Have You Heard George's Podcast?
End of Days
Dr Death
NB
London Compass
Slow Radio
Radio Atlas
Between the Ears
The Guilty Feminist
The Beef and Dairy Network
