How Tabletop Role-Playing Games got me Through 2020

I miss making up stories onstage. Sure, like the rest of the global improv community in 2020, I now do shows via video chat, but the gigs I am part of usually feature montages of disparate scenes. We often explore the same universe, but we are rarely telling one tale.

While it may be a while before I’m doing narrative improv in person again, I have found a medium that sates my need to devise adventures with friends: tabletop role-playing games.

Much like the improvised quests I devise with The Parentheticals, games like Dungeons & Dragons are focused on collectively creating a story that follow the same characters throughout. Everyone involved becomes emotionally invested in the party’s journey. You wince at their pain and punch the air when they are victorious. It is exhilarating.

I cannot wait to get back onstage, but until it is safe to do so, I am very content with participating in what are essentially private performances. Each campaign is a story shared with only five to eight people. Some groups livestream their game or turn sessions into podcasts, but part of the appeal for me is that no one else can fully appreciate the world in our heads.

To explain what happened during these sessions is akin to telling someone your dream. The significance of events is lost of them. You cannot adequately convey how exciting it is to defeat a fictitious foe. In-jokes are never going to be as funny when explained to someone.

Given the improv background of my fellow players, there is a giddy silly energy to proceedings whenever we play. There are lots of comedy bits and tangents. Introducing an audience however could make us self-conscious. The Observer Effect would kick in.

These sessions have helped me become far more comfortable telling a joke for one person than trying to please an entire room. I still miss the thrill of whipping up a crowd, instinctively feeling when to ride a laugh, but I think I may emerge from this time at home as a less needy performer. I don’t want to be a SUPERSTAR. I am satisfied just making my pals laugh.

That said, I do enjoy how RPGs allow me to do some acting without the rigmarole of pursuing it as a career. The roles I give myself are never ones I would be up for in auditions. No one would look at my boyish chubby cheeks and floppy fringe, then cast me as a po-faced bureaucrat nearing retirement (which is exactly the part I created for a Monster of the Week campaign). You can play characters outside of your age, gender identity, and, if you want, species. As these games take place inside your mind, the only limit is your imagination.

Playing the same person each week makes me feel like I am part of a long-running serialized drama. I have the luxury of being able to settle into a role. Just as in an improv scene, I can gradually feel out which choices instinctively seem wrong. I can adapt and drop quirks until I have a rounded character whose choices are completely different to mine. Brendan thinks running into danger would be a terrible idea. My grumpy monster hunter however…

Admittedly, at times, the line between myself and my creations can be blurred. For instance, in one campaign, I am playing a boy saddened that circumstances beyond his control mean it is not safe for him to go home and see his family. Mostly though, it is a joy to turn up each week and know whatever happens will be fun.

After all, the most obvious benefit of playing these games in these times is escapism. For a few hours, we have a chance to temporarily forget the ongoing numerous crises and instead focus on something fantastical. Don’t think about rent – we have an orc to slay.

I will now stress, for the sake of my parents, that I do also think about how to pay rent.

Right now, in the real world, we are not encouraged to travel. In our imagined adventures however, we can go all over the map, traverse many lands. We ride horses, sail boats, and trek across fields. We hunt vampires and haggle for potions. We can actually hang out in a pub! And all from the comfort of our respective homes.

Holding these sessions virtually is so convenient. Playing together in the Before Times required coordinating half a dozen schedules to find the one Saturday afternoon a month in which we can all travel to the same house. Now we play weekly.

It is a delight to “meet up” so often. Before the lockdown in March, I was already part of one campaign. I now play in three. In this year alone, I have played seventy sessions of TTRPGs. To put that into perspective, in 2019, I played a total of twelve.

The games are such a great way to bond. They are the happy medium between a free-flowing jokey chat of a check-in with mates and the structured fun of a quiz (although both of these have been part of my lockdown too). I finish each week with two consecutive nights of games and always leave them wanting more.

When we can go to each other's houses again, all the campaigns I am in will continue and most, if not all, will stay online due to people living in different cities. Tabletop role-playing games are a major part of my schedule now and I like it that way. They form part of a balanced diet of hobbies alongside improv and making podcasts.

I love having these games in my diary. They have kept me sane. They made sure I’m still exercising my storytelling muscles. They gave me something to look forward to. In other words, they are exactly what I needed to help me cope with my time at home.

The Games that Got me Through 2020

Dungeons and Dragons (various authors. Currently published by Wizards of the Coast)

I am playing two campaigns. One is taken from a book (Curse of Strahd. I’m a big fan of this as I love all things spooky). The other is an incredibly inventive homebrew adventure devised by my sister.

Monster of the Week (original guidebook is by Michael Sands)

Your group is a team of monster hunters trying to figure out which supernatural threat is causing chaos this week. Basically, it’s your chance to roleplay as Buffy and the Scoobies/Mulder and Scully/Sam and Dean.

Goat Crashers (one-shot by Grant Howitt)

A one-page game in which you are all goats trying to fit in at a party.

Dead Drunk Detective: Oh Christmystery

 

This post is about the series four Christmas special. You can listen to it here.

Christmas spent at your parents' house. Christmas with your friends. For the third instalment in this seasonal trilogy, I thought the next logical plot was the "joys" of hosting Christmas at your place.

This is the first time Johnny's parents - and the show - have visited Johnny's apartment. He previously said he sleeps there so rarely that he expects his landlord wouldn't recognise him.

Betty points out that Johnny rarely uses his gun. I have previously explained this is for practical reasons.

Santa working for the Grim Reaper has been canon in the Dead Drunk Detective universe since series one.

Johnny states he does not eat meat in case it gives him a taste for human flesh. I rewrote dialogue in this scene to make sure it did not imply he eats no food at all. Instead, he just rules out full meals.

As is tradition, the episode ends with a rendition of the minor key version of 'Jingle Bells' and the cast laughing with relief immediately afterwards.

Dead Drunk Detective: Drown and Out

 

This post is about the series four finale of Dead Drunk Detective. You can listen to it here.

Four series in, I knew my format and wanted to see what else the show can do. Betty leads an mystery? Sure. A cosy Christmas special which doubles as a family reunion? Done. A bottle episode which essentially plays out in real time? Well, let's see...

I contemplated writing scenes that act as a counterpart to this plot. These would have been set in the office and feature Betty and Hairy realising that Johnny may be in trouble. I also considered concluding the episode with the police arriving at the brewery, but thought this was too similar to the final showdown in series three. As the final version ended up as a two-hander, this is the only episode in which Betty does not appear.

Despite featuring multiple members of the Van Helsing family, this is the first series in which Dracula (and Charles, the man who plays him) does not appear. He is namechecked here and in the wedding episode, but he could not be in the latter as he would recognise Van Helsing.

Dead Drunk Detective: Dead Letter Day

 

This post is about 'Dead Letter Day' and series four of Dead Drunk Detective. You can listen to the episode here.

This the twenty-fifth episode. While not traditionally hailed as a milestone, I thought to celebrate it, much as I had with the previous Christmas special, by featuring a lot of our series regulars. There's also a few references to past adventures including a nod to episode one and Jo's blackmailing past.

In a reverse of the pilot's premise, Hairy is initially thought to be the intended victim, but the culprit actually wanted to target someone else.

I cannot believe it took so long for me to use the phrase 'not today Satan'.

Satan's remark that some people in Hell actually enjoy being poked with pitchforks is one of the dirtiest jokes I have written since series one.

As with series three, I aimed to make this run a coherent whole. The villain's motive stems from Johnny's actions in 'Here comes the Died'. The final scene takes place in the brewery from episode one, a mystery where the eventual culprit was a character we had not previously "met".

This is also the case with Anne. She was listed in Johnny's rundown of fellow recovering alcoholics in 'Who's the Pawpetrator' and referenced again at the start of this episode. but does not actually appear until the cliffhanger.

Dead Drunk Detective: Who's the Pawpetrator

 This post is about 'Who's the Pawpetrator'. You can listen to the episode here.

I accept that this mystery is pretty grim. Johnny has tackled murders before, but not one where the victim is an animal. Producer Katherine asked me if the dog had to die, so, as a compromise, I added the reveal that there are hellhound puppies. I also tried to keep things light throughout with a double whammy of snake puns and dog puns.

Betty hints towards an explanation for Johnny's previous penchant for booze: he felt it numbed his brain, thus stopping it from zombiefying. He now aims to distract it to similar effect by keeping it preoccupied with mysteries.

Having previously featured A Loch Ness Monster, it made sense to finally bring in the real thing. I asked Jacqueline to play her with a Miss Piggy diva energy. The 'moi?' was a line change suggested at the recording and made the homage more overt.

Dead Drunk Detective: Here Comes the Died

This post is about 'Here Comes the Died'. You can listen to the episode here.

We record the theme tune monologue afresh each episode instead of using the same take every time. Apropos of nothing, Arfie's version this week is quite jovial.

Having said I started doubling up on monsters to make it clear there's not one of each type in town, here I state that not all vampires know each other. However, Johnny points out he's known both zombies that Betty's met - this is a reference to Vince Hampshire and Jacqueline.

Despite getting a pay raise in the series three finale, Betty still needs a second job to make money. To be fair, sleuthing is not a career with a steady income.

Helga and Nick are played by real-life couple Nat and Duncan. I did not write the parts with them in mind and would like to stress that they are not actually obnoxiously cutesy.

Nat plays the dual roles of Betty and Helga, so is frequently talking to herself.

Dead Drunk Detective: Trouble Brewing

This post is about 'Trouble Brewing', the series four premiere of Dead Drunk Detective. You can listen to the episode here.

In the closest we have ever done to a cold open,  it is revealed Johnny's traditional monologue over the theme tune is taking place at a meeting for recovering alcoholics.

This immediately establishes the series four arc: Johnny will try to kick alcohol. It seemed the logical consequence of the series three finale. He got his booze back, but could still be easily taken advantage of if someone someone stops his supply again. Plus, his drunkenness is part of the show's title - him dealing with his predilection for scotch was a story I would inevitably have to tackle eventually.

Betty is played in series four by Nat. She was originally cast as a character in a later episode, but was bumped up when Kate was unavailable to reprise the role. The pair are close friends and so, with the latter's permission, we gave Nat the part for the whole run to maintain continuity.

The ongoing mystery of Betty's surname continues. This time I go as far as ruling out names, thus limiting my options should I ever decide to make one canon. In this episode, Betty confirms it is neither Adams, Smith, or Wilson.

This is the third series opener where the crime is a theft (the first episode of each season has the job of reintroducing the premise for new listeners, so I tend to keep the case being solved relatively clean-cut). However, this is probably the first mystery in the show where the culprit is a character we do not meet.

Dead Drunk Detective: The Ghost of Christmas Present

 

This post contains spoilers for 'The Ghost of Christmas Present'. You can listen to the episode here.

As the previous special focused on spending Christmas at your parents' house, I thought this one should be about sharing the holidays with your friends. This meant I could feature all of our series regulars and give them each a scene in which to shine and do their character's schtick.

This is one of the few times Melissa visits and is not roped in to solving a mystery.

'A vampire party goes all night! Because if it was at day, he would die' is one of my favourite jokes in the entire series.

In the previous episode, Johnny said he doesn't send Christmas cards. It is revealed by Hairy that he did - but they were written by Betty.

Satan implies that God exists in the Dead Drunk Detective universe.

Singing 'Jingle Bells' in the show more than once makes it a tradition! To maintain continuity, Dan sat out of the song as Satan would be at The Cough Inn during the party.

For the second episode in the row, the final sound before the credits is the cast breaking character and laughing. The podcast also ends with an outtake of Kate and Arfie having fun with the line 'you can say that again'.

Dead Drunk Detective: Zombeaten

 
This post contains spoilers for 'Zombeaten' and series three of Dead Drunk Detective. You can listen to the episode here.

Arfie does another alternate take on the theme tune monologue. To reflect Johnny's desperation, he sounds frantic and stressed.

This is a pretty dark episode. Johnny goes out to the woods fully expecting to die. He only avoids it through bumping into an acquaintance and Betty sending reinforcements.

Frank points out that zombies are famously 'pretty damn slow'. I do not think I have previously subverted or used this trope in the series before. There is rarely an opportunity to use it. As this is an audio medium, we are unlikely to feature a chase.

In keeping with my desire to not include references which date the show to a specific era, I drop a line from one of the most famous plays of all time. Johnny's 'words words words' is a allusion to Hamlet.

I worked really hard to make this series more interconnected and work as a coherent whole. Hence this finale pulls in the client from episode one, the location and titular character from episode four, and follows on from the action in episode five.

The episode finishes with Kate breaking the fourth wall to acknowledge that the final line is setting up the next Christmas special. This was not scripted. I think it is a nice touch - it means the last thing you hear before Katharine reads the credits is the cast laughing.

Dead Drunk Detective: Alcohauled

 

This post contains spoilers for the episode 'Alcohauled'. You can listen to it here.

This episode reveals something that has never previously been discussed: Johnny's motive for staying sozzled. 

After the previous season's look at Johnny's attitude towards being one of the undead, I wanted to explore another aspect of his new life. Thus Series three is all about the potential consequences of him sobering up. Johnny tells Jo he has been drinking ever since he turned, so believes being drunk has helped him retain his humanity and stopped him from going full-zombie.

This is not only the second time Cat has been cast a skeleton, but the second time she has played a skeleton who was (partly) responsible for committing the crime.

The intense final scene confrontation clocks in at almost five minutes and was recorded in pretty much a single take. The post-credit outtake is Arfie breaking the tension afterwards by making light of its seriousness.

Dead Drunk Detective: The Game's a Bigfoot

 

This post is about 'The Game's a Bigfoot'. You can listen to the episode here.

Back in series one, every character with a full name bar Johnny Stumbles were joke names (Hairy Potter. A skeleton called Reba Cage). Betty's original intended surname was similarly punny: Drinks - making her 'bet he drinks'. I scrapped this idea, but didn't come up with a substitute, jokey or otherwise, hence the ongoing mystery around it here.

Continuing my deeper dive into monsters, this episode revolves around the search for a cryptid.

This is an unusual case in that there are no suspects. The only non-recurring character in the episode is Bigfoot and he, once found, only utters a single line.

Although they don't talk to each other directly as Hairy and Bigfoot, this is the third episode in which Steff and Charles are paired together. They previously shared scenes as The Monster and Frankenstein and later as Hairy and Dracula.

Dead Drunk Detective: Deface Off

 

This post covers 'Deface Off', an episode of long-running podcast Betty. You can listen to it here.

Occasionally a joke made by the cast during a recording session will inspire a script idea. In this case, a Betty-centric episode was first suggested in an improvised edition of the show.

To publicise our second series, some of the cast staged a ten minute live set at the inaugural Hoopla Improv Marathon. During the adventure, Kate (as Betty) joked that she was to "spinoff out of the office".

It's not the only project that has been pitched to me by the cast - David and Lizzy suggested a show called My Son The Zombie. While I'm grateful that people find working on the series so much fun that they would love to do more, I currently don't have the capacity to write a second show alongside Dead Drunk Detective. I liked the premise of a Betty-centric mystery though, so produced this episode.

In a nod to his feigned illness, Arfie adopts a sniffy bunged up voice for Johnny's theme tune monologue and first voiceover,

Is this the first time it is mentioned Johnny wears a hat? Certainly the zombie in the podcast title card is pictured with one, but I do not believe I have never made a reference to what Stumbles' outfit looks like.

Unsure whether it was covered by parody law, I previously avoided making an explicit reference to Pennywise. In this episode, I directly namecheck the babadook.

Dead Drunk Detective: What's Got into Betty?

This post covers 'What's Got into Betty?'. If you want to avoid spoilers, you can listen to the episode here.

Having featured the most famous monsters in the past two series, I started to delve deeper into supernatural lore for this run. Hence the drude this week and the nautical beasts in the prior episode.

Betty's announcement that she wants to no longer be targeted - 'I'm sick of being used to freak you out' - was my way of declaring that I would stop making Betty a victim. I did not want her being hurt to be a recurring motive to spur Johnny to action.

Episode two ends with the case closed, but the motive behind it an unresolved mystery. This was my attempt to make the storyline a bit more serialised. In previous runs, the first episode of each series would reintroduce the status quo, the second would be a standalone, and the third would hint towards the series arc's upcoming Big Bad.

The post-credits outtake has Arfie deliver the closing line 'guess I'm going... BACK TO SCHOOL' as if it's said with a look to camera and a cheesy guitar riff to transition to the next scene.

Dead Drunk Detective: Hook, Line, and Stinker

This post is about 'Hook, Line, and Stinker', the series three premiere of Dead Drunk Detective. You can listen to it here.

Series three sounds a little different. Well done to any armchair detective who immediately spotted the reason why. There's no studio audience!

After two series of performing these live, we decided to go in studio. While we always left room for additional pickups during the theatre shows, we had a tight schedule. Relocating to the Podcast Pioneers base gave us the luxury of time. I can relax a little, knowing we won't get booted out if we run late.

One consequence of losing the audience reaction is the episodes are a little shorter. I do not consider this a downside - the dialogue is snappier because the back and forth repartee now flows uninterrupted.

I had to do a rewrite at the recording because one of the countries I picked for Davy Jones' list of enemies was landlocked.

Just as I've previously typecast Nat as ghosts, this is the second time Cat has starred as a skeleton.

Dead Drunk Detective: Scary Christmas

This post covers the first Dead Drunk Detective Christmas special. You can listen to the episode here.

Family, ugly knitwear, and a singalong - 'Scary Christmas' truly has everything you would want in a seasonal special. I could not resist writing a yuletide show, with all the tropes that entails, and putting a Dead Drunk Detective spin on it.

This is the first time that producer Katharine serves as the episode announcer.

While ostensibly acting as an additional finale for season two, the special makes references to, and features a villain from, the first series.

In continuing my preference for keeping locations vague, it is not specified where Hugh and Sarah live, but Betty and Johnny had to take a flight there.

Ah, the singalong. I've always loved whenever a television show does a musical episode and a Christmas special seemed as good as an excuse as any to have the cast sing. I specified 'Jingle Bells' in the script, then producer Katharine found the minor key arrangement we used in the show. To make sure she had multiple takes to choose from, we recorded a take before the audience arrived, but ultimately primarily (if not exclusively) used the live version.

Arfie's reaction to that take is included in the show as a post-credits tag. Ending episodes with an outtake from the show becomes more common in series three.

Dead Drunk Detective: The Con Test

 

This post is about the series two finale of Dead Drunk Detective. You can listen to the episode here.

An important bit of geography is established: the Cough Inn is near Johnny's office. Which suggests he only goes there because it is convenient. This episode suggests it's certainly not because of the quick service (although the bartenders being busy was largely a practical decision - it meant I was not obliged to include an arbitrary appearance for Jo).

Given that they are both zombies, it is slightly apt that Jackie and Johnny are competing in a battle of braaains.

I rarely have Johnny carry a firearm. This is not a moral stance. It is just difficult to convey gun fights via radio.

Jackie's 'I'll be back' was not included simply because it's a cliché. I genuinely wanted to keep my options open in case I decided villains came back each series with the frequency that they do in Doctor Who.

Jackie's surname is never referred to in the script or credits. My private joke among the cast is that it is 'Daniels', thus making her name a nod to whiskey brand Jack Daniels.

Dead Drunk Detective: Rest in Pieces

This post will make more sense if you have already listened to 'Rest in Pieces', the fifth episode of series two. You can find it here.

Betty and Melissa tag team insulting Johnny is a joy. Writing putdowns for Betty is so much fun and doubly so when they're delivered in tandem.

The first suspect is a generic killer clown who lives in a sewer. Try and prove otherwise, Stephen King.

The screams from Hell are our collected cast moaning and were recorded at our producers' house.

Series one established Johnny's status quo with only the slightest hint of an outside life in Melissa. With series two, I wanted to further explore his past. Pitting him against Jackie, the zombie who bit him, allowed me to explore this, plus his attitude towards being one of the walking dead.

The audience cheer after Jackie declares she'll rip off Johnny's head. This is hopefully because they enjoy Sophie's melodramatic performance, rather than encouraging this behaviour.

Satan once again delivers the line 'to be continued...'.

Dead Drunk Detective: Where Wolf

 

If you want to listen to 'Where Wolf' before reading about the episode, you can find it here.

I have repeatedly mentioned how much I like casting Steff and writing for the puppyish powerhouse of positivity that is Hairy Potter. This episode marks the logical endgame of that: two versions of Johnny's lupine pal.

If you establish that a character is a werewolf, you absolutely want to see them transform. Hairy wolfing out is the fulfilment of that promise - and also allows me to heighten the joke of his dog-like energy by having him chase after a stick.

With two Hairies hanging around, plus a pair of series favourites in the form of Drac and Jo, there is a lot going on in this episode. So much so that this is the first edition that does not mention scotch.

Betty's comment regarding the 'here's Johnny' reference - 'I can't believe you haven't made that joke before' - is me calling myself out for previously missing such an obvious gag.

Johnny's offhandedly remarks that he'll 'probably be killed in five' years. This remains to be seen - the show has only run for four series so far.

Dead Drunk Detective: No Body There

This post is about the third episode of series two. If you want to avoid spoilers, you can listen to 'No Body There' here.

Ah, 'No Body There' AKA 'the one with Johnny's parents'. It stood to reason that if Johnny has been avoiding his  sister's calls, then he also hasn't seen his mum and dad in a while, hence this story.

Episodes in which we meet characters' parents are always fun to watch. There are only ever two scenarios. Either their offspring are carbon copies of their forebears or the complete opposite of them. As Dead Drunk Detective is a comedy, it was obvious that the latter was the best way to go.

Sure, Johnny's witty rejoinders can have a touch of a Dad Joke about them, but his grumpy demeanour is set against Sarah and Hugh's relentless cheeriness. He rebelled against his parents by being a bit of a dick.

Speaking of which, 'kick a bloody bat in the Hell' is one of the strongest swears in the series. I tend to imagine I am writing for a pre-watershed Radio 4 comedy, so 'damn' and 'shit' are usually the harshest words used (with 'damn' usually be said in relation to Satan).

It was at this point in the series that I realised I had not repeated many of the monsters featured in the show. Not wanting to suggest there was only one of each, I started to reuse some. The previous episode was full of ghosts and this one features a new witch. Plus, Vince Hampshire (the surname is a nod to the county where I went to university) suggests there may be another zombie...

Dead Drunk Detective: Look Who's Stalking

 

If you do not want any spoilers for 'Look Who's Stalking', listen to the episode first.

This is an unusually sweet episode of Dead Drunk Detective. Although Johnny having a young ghoul join his 'super cool ragtag crew of mystery solvers' is ultimately a pipe dream, it is fun to see the isolated sleuth warm to the idea of having a family.

The ghost child was just as cute in person. During the recording, Mark W wore a propeller beanie - a coloured cap with a propeller on top.

I refuse to answer questions about the time Johnny argued with a pigeon.

Floaty gets an underappreciated reaction from the audience, IMO.

Just in case it's unclear - Floaty's pal gives both his full name and profession. He is Paul T Geist, poltergeist.

I doubt anyone wondered how Johnny always has a drink at hand, but this episode has Betty hint that they order in crates of booze to the office.

Johnny's speech in the park is a rare instance of a monologue within the show that is not a noir-style voiceover.

Nat plays both Floaty and the kid's mom (named in the credits as Ghoulia), so I guess I've typecast her as ghosts. Which, as problems to have go, ain't that bad...

Dead Drunk Detective: Brought to Book

 

This post covers 'Brought to Book', the first episode of series two of Dead Drunk Detective. You can listen to it here.

Welcome to series two!

Having learnt a lot from the first season, I codified the format a little more, but still leave room to experiment a little. The biggest change is that this and subsequent runs now include a Christmas episode.

One holdover is we still have a live audience (whose reactions to the 'got the hump' joke alone justify their presence). This series was recorded across two nights at the Leicester Square Theatre. Fittingly, the room we used has since been converted into a bar.

Throughout the first few years of the show, I continually wrestled with how best to pitch the performances. Are we a Radio 4 play or a cartoon? Should the actors play it straight or put on a loud exaggerated voice? After Balfar and Korlock's shouting match, I tended to favour the latter. This influence can be seen in the Adam and Frankenstein arguments in this episode.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, there are not currently any images of The Loch Ness Monster on a surfboard. Get on it, fans!

Betty wilfully being immature is always a delight.

Dead Drunk Detective: Lost a Bett

This blog post features spoilers for episode seven of Dead Drunk Detective. You can listen to 'Lost a Bett' here.

There are multiple reasons I find 'Lost a Bett' particularly satisfying. It was the first finale. I managed to tie in so many plots and characters from previous episodes. I gave an actor a direction which made them deliver a line exactly as I had imagined it in my head (specifically, I asked Leanna to speak to the passer-by in the tone you would use to comfort a child).

However, what I appreciate most is the reaction of the live audience. Specifically, the lack of one. The crowd is particularly quiet throughout this episode. I like to think this is not due to the script being light on jokes (Johnny and Melissa certainly exchange a few zingers). Instead, I believe it is because they are invested in the story. They care that Betty is safe. As a writer, I cannot express how sweet it is to know people are interested in characters you wrote.

That said, I find it very funny how long Melissa and Johnny leave Betty gagged after the Invisible Man is taken away. They spent the entire episode looking for her, but then bicker instead of untying her.

The final scene leaves open the possibility that his sister may join the team permanently. I ultimately decided against it as giving Johnny someone to join him at crime scenes could render Betty superfluous. More people from Johnny's life outside of sleuthing would turn up though. That, however, would have to wait until series two...

Dead Drunk Detective: Hell To Pay

This blog post contains spoilers for episode six of Dead Drunk Detective. You can listen to 'Hell To Pay' here.

The recurring 'your sister called' jokes were inspired by 'did the President call?' from season one of Veep, plus the sitcom trope of an unseen character. In this case though, you do actually meet Melissa.

Few shows would write an episode where Satan is the victim. Well, maybe Angel.

Jo the deadpan bartender was originally intended to be an one-off role. Charlotte's characterisation delighted me, so I made it a recurring role. Also, the script did not specify the use of American vocal fry - that was Charlotte's idea.

Satan suggests Stumbles use DNA tests. This is one of the rare instances in which someone proposes Johnny close cases using a method other than old-fashioned sleuthing.

The shouting match between Balfar and Korlock made me realise people should be pitching their performances more cartoony. That said, I'm honestly surprised Cat and Mark T didn't lose their voices in the process of recording the scene.

Betty's final line before her disappearance is 'you won't hear another word from me'.

Dead Drunk Detective: Unwrapping the Mummy Mystery

This blog post contains spoilers for episode four of Dead Drunk Detective. You can listen to 'Unwrapping the Mummy Mystery' here.

The sound effects do a lot of heavy lifting this week as it is a highly visual episode. Johnny and Betty's ongoing fight over the chair in particular would be a delight to see acted out onstage.

Indiana Jones is not just one of the few characters in the series given a surname, but the only person besides Johnny whose full name is not a pun.

The pharaoh's deliberate manner of speech was inspired by Croach the Tracker from Thrilling Adventure Hour. The podcast influenced my decision to record Dead Drunk Detective in front of a live audience.

The security guards (named in the script as Maurice and Pauline) are played by a real life double act, Mike and Charlie. The chatty pair are the first of many characters who Johnny finds annoying due to them being loud, obnoxious, and/or idiotic.

This episode is the only instance where both the victim and culprit are human. It is also the second time the perpetrator was a human as opposed to a supernatural being. The latter would become rarer after series one because I felt a human killing a monster would be too obvious a storyline.

Dead Drunk Detective: Made Off With His Head

This post contains spoilers for 'Made Off With His Head'.

As a comedy show about a zombie, I believe we were legally obligated to make a joke using the phrase 'braaaaaains'.

Kate's incoherent mumbling is a joy.

Santa sharing duties with the Grim Reaper is an idea I originally deployed in a flash fiction a few years prior. Like Reba Cage, his identity was revealed by throwing back the reaper's cowl.

Mark J's line reading of 'GASP. The Pumpkin!' was a particular favourite among the cast and producers. We reference it often. I make sure to bring him back each series to play equally melodramatic characters.

I make no secret of my love of Scooby Doo. This episode's unmasking of the perp was my way of emulating the show.

To clarify to the live audience what was going on, Dan (fake Grim Reaper) and Cat (Reba Cage) shared a mic. I think the former even wore a hood that he threw back at the crucial moment.

In an earlier version of the script, Reba reveals she hid Grim under her bed, then took his cloak so she could impersonate him. This was dropped as I would have had to clarify what is actually underneath the cowl - bones or a ghost. Johnny's initial query to the Reaper regarding that matter remained in the final draft.

Dead Drunk Detective: Banshee's the One

This post contains spoilers for 'Banshee's the One', episode three of Dead Drunk Detective. You can listen to it here.

Each episode of Dead Drunk Detective attempts to pull off a balance between sitcom, noir, and horror. I think 'Banshee's the One' is a great example of one which successfully hits that Venn diagram.

Mr Green is a role Dan played at the preliminary casting script readthrough. He was the only one to read for that part. His deliberate overenunciating would be later put to use in his recurring role as Satan.

The banshee's screams are a combination of Vic (who played Dawn) and Kate (Betty). They were recorded at Katharine's home studio during our first table read, then played during the live recording.

Vic technically appears in the episode twice. Cast members would sit in the audience for episodes they were not in, so she can be heard as part of the crowd reaction.

In another case of doubling up, the waiter (whose presence is revealed in a splendid pull back and reveal gag) is played by Charles AKA Dracula. Episodes one to three were recorded on the same night, so it was made sense to have an existing cast member do the small role.

The Victoria Secret's joke is one of the few contemporary references in the series. Just as I keep the show's location vague, I also aim to not tie it to any particular era.

I said episode two has some crude jokes and here the gang intimate that the Invisible Man is somewhat... lacking... in a certain department. I swear the next season is less suggestive.

Episode one gathered all the suspects for the big reveal. Episode two unpacked the mystery during a standoff. This edition is the first denouement that is just Betty and Johnny, debriefing together in the office. This will become the format's standard end to an show although later iterations of this will give Betty more jokes (as opposed to her limited role here which is apparently to mainly say 'uh huh').

Johnny declares he'll never fall in love with a client again. While he never goes on another date in the series, he will face a femme fatale in the very next episode...

Dead Drunk Detective: What Sup Doc?

This post contains spoilers for the first two episodes of Dead Drunk Detective. If you want to listen to them ahead of reading this analysis, they can both be found here.

What stands out to me about 'What Sup Doc?' is how blue the jokes are. I think Johnny blurting out innuendoes on seeing Hyde nude is a level of cheekiness we can just about get away with. His final scene lewd quip about the model demonstrating her gratitude however rightly elicits a surprised reaction from the audience. 

I too now find the line jarring, Up until that point, the series had been playful. This was lurid. The crowd's reaction told me instantly that the joke did not fit. It was a particularly instructive moment for determining the tone of the show. Later episodes feature few, if any, suggestive lines.

I am not completely down about the episode though. I enjoy how many visual jokes it pulls off. Indeed, the subplot revolves around a recurring sight gag: Johnny's legs have been swapped out with a set wearing tights and pedicured toes.

Admittedly how he was able to do this is not addressed. Would zombies be able to switch out limbs painlessly? Could the walking dead theoretically rejuvenate themselves with fresher body parts thus enabling them to live forever? I don't think I gave the internal logic of this much thought - the story was written more with a view to giving Johnny and Betty something to chat about in the office and to see if I could pull off a sitcom-style intertwining of both plots at the end.

In other superpowers news, Johnny's literal interpretation of 'watch your back' suggests he can rotate his head back fully like an owl. As with the limb switcheroo, this never gets referenced again.

Another source of joy for me in this episode is the abundance of Steffs. Having previously acknowledged my love of casting him as often as possible, I am delighted that he features here in multiple iterations. Doc Madd has both his 'real' voice and the deeper tenor he uses to intimidate Johnny. If you count his three clones, Steff technically plays four parts.

'What Sup Doc?' is a curious episode overall. It contains some of the silliest jokes of the series - the main plot was almost certainly reverse-engineered from the punchline 'he's besides himself' - but also the crassest. It makes bold additions to what zombies can do - which are then never addressed again. The show's voice was clearly in flux.

I am glad this episode exists though. Part of the fun in revisiting long-running programmes is being reminded of how many elements writers threw in early on that are subsequently adjusted, ignored, or dropped. This instalment is packed with them. 

Like Doc Madd, I was experimenting. Looking to build upon the pilot, I tried out a load of new ideas, some of which were mistakes. This episode, as did the entire first series, helped me figure out what feels right for the show.

That said, I really adore the next episode.

Dead Drunk Detective: Out for the Count

October 3rd is a date best known because of Mean Girls, but it is also a significant one for this show. Monday 3rd October 2016 - four years ago today - is when Dead Drunk Detective made its debut! Listeners were treated to a double bill of 'Out for the Count' (the first script I ever wrote about Johnny Stumbles) and 'What Sup, Doc?'.

I recently revisited the pilot for the first time in a while and had a few stray observations. If you don't want spoilers, listen to the episode (each one is only ten minutes long), then return for some trivia.

Most sitcoms tend to make the initial outing an introduction of sorts. This is usually in the form a character rocking up at a new place and being introduced to the rest of the cast. There is no such handholding with Dead Drunk Detective. The monologue over the theme tune is all you get in terms of setting up the world, then we jump straight into a case of the week.

I have already covered how many show staples were established in the pilot, but omitted the plight of poor Hairy Potter. This is the first of many cases in which the nicest guy in town is the target of a crime. Why do so many crooks try to mess around this sweetheart? Most perpetrators don't even know he's a werewolf! Maybe life is just unfair. In reality though, it's an excuse for me to cast Steff in as many episodes as possible.

In contrast, one thing I don't use past episode one is a group denouement. Gathering all the suspects in a room to show off your smarts is a very Johnny Stumbles move, but it is more reminiscent of Agatha Christie than noir. Staging such a scene is also, in terms of production, a logistical nightmare. We had five actors and four mics, thus necessitating the cast to repeatedly lean in and out between lines. From series one onwards, I try (key word: try) to largely keep scenes to four people.

Similarly out of place is Dracula's retelling of the shooting. This speech is the closest in style to I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again, the radio show I wanted to emulate. Primarily a joke run where lines alternate between setup and punchline, it does however establish his penchant for posing existential questions. As the series went on, I tried to develop not only my own creative voice, but write more gags that come from character instead of having everyone sound like identical joke delivery machines.

Speaking of which, Kate's reading of Betty's 'quelle surprise' without the French pronunciation is an ad-lib. This is why you pick fantastically funny people for you cast - they will always find extra jokes.

Dead Drunk Detective: How we Made Series One

Turns out that it is true the key to success is not what you know, but who you know.

In a fortunate coincidence, I learnt that one of the very first people I met through improv comedy, Ed Fargher, was looking for projects to develop with radio producer extraordinaire Katharine Kerr. They wanted scripts. I had a full series of a show needing a home. Perfect.

The supernatural nature of the show made a Halloween release an obvious goal. We first met around May, so we had to move fast. Ed's cousin, Aimee Sajjan-Servaes, was quickly commissioned to create our superlative title card artwork. After having only been given the show’s premise and a few scripts to work with, Tom Hodge turned out an instantly perfect theme tune. There was also a little rebrand.

Before I thought the first script was anything other than a one-off, I had provisionally titled it after the district in which Johnny worked: Dead End. Ed and Katharine gently suggested that this was quite generic. The name was dropped as was the location idea - the show has since never been too specific about where it takes place.

When searching for an alternative title, we eventually agreed that the best option was the obvious one. What is the show about? A Dead Drunk Detective. It's simple and instantly gives you the elevator pitch. I also really appreciate the double meaning (he is dead, drunk, and dead drunk).

We decided to record the first series in front of a live audience (which appealed to me because of my love of radio comedies). We booked slots at The Actor’s Studio, a black box room in London. With the dates secured, we could now approach cast.

I pulled from the world of improv once again, staging a table read in July where people tried out for different roles. Not everyone in that room got a part, but some castings were instant locks. Except for one.

Pretty much all of the men in the room – including Ed – tried out for the titular role. One person we had been interested in however had not been available that night. I decided to contact him again, titling my message ‘would you like to play the wittiest most sarcastic person in every room?’.

That man was Arfie. I am incredibly lucky he said Yes and perpetually grateful that he continues to do so year on year.

Although we almost immediately lost him again as he had a date clash. Getting this news when I was at work, I started to formulate alternate plans while serving drinks. My panicked solution was to drop the first episode (which, as aforementioned, sets up so many things that the series would later run with) so we can record more shows across two nights instead of three. This idea was wisely vetoed.

Fortunately for the show (and my blood pressure), Arfie’s prior commitment ended up being cancelled. We had secured our dead drunk detective.

In a fitting twist, I then couldn’t make that recording. The first three episodes would shoot in September while I was out of town at a stag do (not my own).

I made both subsequent sessions despite the latter date coinciding with my mum’s birthday. I joined her for a restaurant lunch in the morning, headed to the theatre in the afternoon, then rushed to get to my bar shift. Now when we schedule recordings, I simply book the night off.

Katharine assembled edits of each edition, then sent them over to me for notes. This being a comedy, my suggested changes are either about someone's timing or absurd details like 'can the bogeyman's splat sound wetter?'. Of course it can! Katharine can do anything. She is an audio wizard.

The series launched on October 3rd 2016 with a double bill. The debut episode was 'Out for the Count' AKA the script that had started it all. From the first draft to podcast, it had probably taken three years to become a show. But what a show...