Podcast Categories: Arts

An expanded radio dramatization of the original Star Wars trilogy was produced in 1981, 1983, and 1996. The first two radio series, based on Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back, were produced and broadcast by National Public Radio (NPR) as part of NPR Playhouse. A dramatization of Return of the Jedi was produced by most of the same team and also broadcast on NPR.

The radio serials were made with the full cooperation of George Lucas, who, in exchange for a dollar each, sold the rights to KUSC-FM, the public radio affiliate at his alma mater, the University of Southern California (USC). Lucas also permitted the use of original sound effects and music from the films.

— Wikipedia

The London Necropolis Railway is an original, full cast audio drama podcast that premiered in fall 2018.

The story takes place in London’s underground system where an organisation called The London Necropolis Railway moves the souls of the dead out of London to avoid the city getting overrun with hauntings.

Barney works at the LNR, he’s one of the ghouls whose job it is to ensure that the souls end up on the trains that take them to the hereafter. He is bored with his job and tired of his endless existence when one day a soul refuses get on the train. The soul, a private investigator named Agnes, convinces Barney to help her catch the demon she was hunting when she died. Together they have to confront his boss, the demon that wants them dead, and even death itself.

The show is is inspired by the real London Necropolis Railway which was active from the middle of the 1800s to the middle of the 1900s. It was a train line that moved dead bodies out of London to a cemetery 40 minutes outside of the city. The BBC has called it ‘the spookiest, strangest train line in British history.’

The podcast is part of denandrasidan.se – a project based in Sweden that uses fiction to tackle difficult themes such as death, suicide, and existential questions in a way that makes them approachable for young people.The goal is to create platforms online that can both encourage young people to share their thoughts and emotions around the subject, and to show them that they are not alone in their experiences.

CAST
Alex Lawther as Barney
Olga Amelia Silkina as Agnes
Charlie Vero-Martin as Siobhan
Connor Jones as the Head Collector
Patrik Karlson as Peter

CREW
Writer and Director: Hillevi Gustafson
Sound designer: Mathias Schlegel
Producer: Amanda Romare
First Assistant Director: Adina Romare
Production Assistant: Maja Lindberg

LNR is made possible by the support of Allmänna Arvsfonden, Region Skånes Sociala Investeringsfond, and BoostHbg.