Robert Jackman

Why haven’t podcasts cracked the recipe for audio drama?

The only one I’ve found that comes close to matching the quality of BBC radio is a strange number called Imagined Life

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, subject of one of the most successful audio dramas around, and Chris Jericho in 1999. Image: John Barrett / Photolink / Mediapunch / Shutterstock 
issue 04 July 2020

In Beeb-dominated Britain, the commercial triumph of podcasting — epitomised by Spotify’s recent £100 million deals with Joe Rogan and Kim Kardashian — is held up as proof of the complacency of the radio establishment. Freed from the constraints of box-ticking commissioners, wily podcasters have been able to steal a march on Broadcasting House by giving audiences what they actually want.

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