THE DEPARTMENT OF MIDNIGHT Trailer

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Below is the trailer for THE DEPARTMENT OF MIDNIGHT, the audio drama podcast series I created, wrote and co-produced, starring James Callis. Have a listen.

The trailer visuals were created by a member of the production crew, using their own urban exploration photos. Intrepid!

The first episode is released on August 20, wherever you find your podcasts.

Article on Collider here.

The Department Of Midnight website is now up.

From these, you can see the full cast: James Callis with Alicia Witt, Carla Gugino, Adrianne Palicki, Nolan North, Brett Dalton and Gildart Jackson.

I also have to thank Meredith Layne, who directed the voice recording, and Trey Toy, who did our main theme and incidental music. And Gildart, for coming back to voice our main titles and credits.

Here’s the way it works: each episode is a two-hander. James and one of these actors. I was aiming for fifteen minutes, but they all came out more like twenty. (The inspiration there was the radio series ANNIKA STRANDED, created and written by the excellent Nick Walker.) My favourite bits of CASTLEVANIA were always the parts where I could have two actors going at each other, and I love a one-act play (FELL was nothing but a series of one-act plays), so I just leaned into that. And putting James with another big and slightly eccentric actor is always a good idea. We have six of them.

This is where I confess that I had James in mind from the moment I started writing, and if he hadn’t agreed to do it, I would have been screwed. His enthusiastic boarding of the project was what made it all happen.

(And, my god, he made it happen while also shooting a season of SLOW HORSES.)

The first episode is available on 20 August, wherever you get your podcasts.

We could really use whatever shares, reposts, newsletter mentions or links you could summon up, I think. The whole team would be grateful.

I’ll have a lot more to say about the show as we get closer to release - next week I’ll probably do a big breakdown on thought processes and influences - and after each episode I’ll do show notes here.

Hello from out here on the Thames Delta. It’s been a busy week.

OUT-TRAY

A FEW OTHER THINGS

I heard that the DOOM 2099 stuff I did at Marvel in the 1990s is being reprinted as part of a giant DOOM 2099 hardback by Marvel next May. It will probably cost an arm and a leg, but if you see a copy, flip through to bask in some magnificent work on many of my chapters by artist Steve Pugh, and have a read of the first couple of dozen chapters as written by John Francis Moore, as I think they were among the best of the entire 2099 line.

Matt Muir, creator of the insane Web Curios, wrote to me to tell me The Tiny Awards are still going :

Voting probably closes imminently.

Alex Chinneck.

OTHER

FUN

You know how some writers say they hate writing but love having written? I bet that’s made some beginning writers feel weird. So I’m going to let you into a little secret.

I love actual writing. And there’s nothing weird in loving the act of putting words down, moving them around, cutting and replacing them, getting them wrong and getting them better. Painting and sculpting. I’ve been working on a script for ten days now that has mostly been Wrong and I’ve been making several passes to get it right and loving every moment.

Writing can be hard and dispiriting. But, honestly, for me? Most of the time there’s joy in it. You’re allowed to love it and don’t let anyone convince you otherwise.

GOT MORE TIME?

LTD

Daily posts with very little in them.

This letter has been zapped to you via Beehiiv and:

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And I’m out. I have to go over a tv production agreement, rewire my whole schedule and screw down the lid on a script. Do what makes you happy this week. So long as it’s not eating people. Eating people is bad. People have diseases. Take care of yourself. See you next week.

W