The Bunker Podcast - A Review

The Bunker Episode One artwork - photo used with permission from the Bunker Podcast

The Bunker, set in the year 2414 in the slowly decomposing remains of London, follows David, David, and Tom, survivors of a nebulous cataclysm called "The Big Headache." The trio have access to pills that prevent their aging and, equally important, the safety of a well stocked bunker that happens to have a powerful radio antenna. As one does, they start a breakfast radio show for the post-apocalypse generation, complete with traffic reports: "Well, wastelanders heading south for the annual migration will want to avoid sector thirteen as a colony of mutants have moved into St. Churchill's primary school..."

Some of the content you can look forward to:
•   Historical advertisements from before the Big Headache, and testimonial ads for such desirables as the plague.
•   A military unit with advanced weaponry and existential angst.
•   A wandering theater troupe intent upon revenge and providing appropriate drama.
•   Rather thoughtful guest essays and short stories that wander in vicinity of the overall theme.
•   Rather uncomfortable interview segments performed by a robot.
•   Well placed musical interludes. My favorite: Seamus Carey's The Kitchen.
•   Regular caller to the show, Lee Yan Chak who brings a Bilingual Bonus to the mix. (I recommend looking up the translation of his calls only after listening through the whole series.)

The series surprised me. It's well produced, with a large cast (34 voice actors). It has good enough level and tone control that I didn't have to fiddle with the volume to hear clearly even when I was commuting in a Mustang with an omnipresent low growl and significant road noise. The central plot is absurd, but much of the content is clever satire or thoughtful storytelling. The suspension of disbelief bar is set pretty high, but assuming you can clear it, the reward is delightfully entertaining. The production company (Definitely Human) have done other podcasts before and since, and my mileage with the others has definitely varied.

If you're solely into the gritty, plausible post apocalyptic fiction, this won't be for you. It's nearly the opposite of Cormac McCarthy's The Road. The Road is an unrelentingly harsh journey of a father and son, while the Bunker's occasionally strained roommates live in comfort, facing a lack of biscuits with shocked indignation. I think that's where The Bunker succeeds for me: they stay mostly in one place, doing a morning show. We, the listeners, are the ones expected to make our journey through the wastelands while they keep us entertained along the way.