Night Terrace Explained
| Show Name: | Night Terrace |
| Format: | Science fiction comedy |
| Runtime: | 28 minutes |
| Country: | Australia |
| Language: | English |
| Home Station: | BBC Radio 4 Extra |
| Starring: | Jackie Woodburne, Ben McKenzie and Petra Elliott |
| Creator: | Ben McKenzie, David Ashton, Petra Elliott, John Richards and Lee Zachariah |
| Producer: | Ben McKenzie and John Richards |
| Record Location: | Melbourne, Australia |
| First Aired: | 21 April 2019 |
| Last Aired: | present |
| Num Series: | 2 |
| Num Episodes: | 17 |
| Website: | Official Website |
Night Terrace is a scripted science fiction audio comedy produced by Splendid Chaps Productions. Originally released as a paid digital download in 2014,[1] the first two seasons have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra since 2019.[2] [3] [4] [5]
The show stars Jackie Woodburne as Dr Anastasia Black, a "science hero" whose retirement from the mysterious "D.E.P.A.R.T.M.E.N.T." is cut short when her Melbourne terrace house unexpectedly starts to travel through space and time.[6] She is joined by student and door-to-door electricity plan salesman Eddie Jones (Ben McKenzie) and, later, fellow ex-D.E.P.A.R.T.M.E.N.T. agent Susan Denholm (Petra Elliott).[7] The first season won the Convenor's Award for Excellence at the 2014 Aurealis Awards.[8]
Crowdfunding
Each season so far has been primarily funded through Kickstarter campaigns.[9] [10] [11] Season 1 met its base funding target plus two stretch goals which allowed The Making of Night Terrace documentary and The Adventures of Eddie mini-series to be created. Season 2 met its base funding target plus one stretch goal, which allowed a Live episode to be created where backers and friends of the production became part of the episode as the live audience. Season 3 met its base funding target plus two stretch goals which allow The Night Terrace Summer Special (a digital book collection of stories, trivia and puzzles in the style of TV annuals and comic books) and a mini-series revealing the untold adventures of Sue to be made.
Companion podcast
To accompany the broadcast of Night Terrace on BBC Radio 4 Extra Vaya Pashos, of the Neighbours recap podcast Neighbuzz, hosted a companion podcast (alongside Woodburne the show has had past and present Neighbours stars in guest roles). Each episode featured members of the cast and crew discussing the episode just broadcast, the show in general, and answering fan questions.[12]
Cast
Regular cast
- Jackie Woodburne – Dr Anastasia Black
- Ben McKenzie – Eddie Jones
- Petra Elliott – Sue | The Borealian Commander | Dr Housen
- David Lamb – various
- Amanda Buckley – various
Guest cast
- Adam Richard – (Discoworld)
- Alan Brough – Barry (Sound & Fuhrer)
- Andrew McClelland – The Colonel / Mr Bell (Time of Death)
- Cal Wilson – Vraxnall (Moving House)
- Celia Pacquola – (The Edification of Anastasia Black)
- Chris Taylor – The Captain (Starship Australis)
- Colette Mann – The Tea Lady (Sense & Susceptibility)
- Emily Taheny – (The Edification of Anastasia Black)
- Francis Greenslade – Morrie (Starship Australis)
- Ian Smith – Bunny (Sense & Susceptibility)
- Jane Badler – (Home) | (Things That Go Bump in the Night Terrace)
- Lawrence Leung – (Things That Go Bump in the Night Terrace)
- Louise Jameson – Marjorie (Sense & Susceptibility)
- Steven Gates – (Situational Awareness)
- Tegan Higginbotham – (Situational Awareness)
- Toby Truslove – Vraxnall (Moving House) | The Hostile Takeover Commander (The Outsourcing)
- Virginia Gay – Miss Liaina Baker (Time of Death)
- Aahmer Rahman – Tony (The Outsourcing)
- Andrew Hansen – (The Edification of Anastasia Black) | (The Retirement of Horatio Gray) | (Home Again)
- Brianna Williams – (Ancient History)
- Cate Wolfe – The Human Commander (Moving House) | Carol (The Outsourcing)
- Eryn Saunders – (The Last Hunt) | (Situational Awareness)
- Gary Russell – Charles (Sense & Susceptibility)
- George Ivanoff – (A Verb of Nouns)
- Gnarnayarrahe Waitairie – (The Last Hunt)
- Jason Tamiru – (The Last Hunt)
- John Clarke – Mr King (Sense & Susceptibility)
- Kevin Powe – (A Verb of Nouns)
- Laura Hughes – (The Edification of Anastasia Black)
- Lee Zachariah – Vraxnall (Moving House)
- Michael F Cahill – (A Verb of Nouns)
- Ming–Zhu Hii (Full Steam)
- Naomi Rukavina – The Story Teller (The Last Hunt) | (Discoworld)
- Phil Zachariah – The Hitlers (Sound & Fuhrer)
- Samantha Streeter – Voice of the Toy / SquidgyPiggy (Sound & Fuhrer)
Additional voices
- Nicholas Briggs – Moving House
- Virginia Gay – Moving House | Home
- Aahmer Rahman – Starship Australis
- Allan Carey – Sense & Susceptibility | Time of Death
- Andrew Hansen – Moving House | Ancient History
- Andrew Waddington – Starship Australis | The Outsourcing | Sense & Susceptibility
- Anniene Stockton – Time of Death | The Outsourcing
- Brianna Williams – Sense & Susceptibility | Full Steam
- Daniel Sullivan – The Outsourcing
- David Ashton – Moving House | The Outsourcing | Full Steam | A Verb of Nouns
- Glenn Greening – Starship Australis
- Graeme Callaghan – The Outsourcing | Sense & Susceptibility | Full Steam
- John Richards – Full Steam
- Karen Pickering – Moving House | Discoworld
- Kevin Powe – Home | Ancient History | The Retirement of Horatio Gray
- Kyle Threlfo – Sense & Susceptibility
- Michael F Cahill – Sense & Susceptibility
- Michael Ward – Moving House
- Richard Schipper – Sense & Susceptibility | Full Steam | The Retirement of Horatio Gray
- Sam(antha) Streeter – A Verb of Nouns | The Retirement of Horatio Gray
- Stephen Hall – Sense & Susceptibility
- Steven Petrenko – The Outsourcing
- Tony Flynn – The Outsourcing
Hello My Name is Eddie
- Ben McKenzie – Eddie Jones
- Petra Elliott – Sue
- Perri Cummings – Professor Brenda
- Noah Moon – The Time Traveller
- David Ashton – The Office Worker
- Lee Zachariah – Shop Assistant
- John Richards – Shop Assistant
- George Ivanoff – Wiliams
- Brianna Williams – Gilbert | Rebecca
- Lisa-Skye – Claudia
- Amanda Buckley – Jamie
Episodes
Season 1
| Title | Original Runtime | Written By |
|---|
| Moving House | 25:50 | John Richards |
| Starship Australis | 27:59 | Lee Zachariah |
| Time of Death | 28:50 | Ben McKenzie |
| The Outsourcing | 27:59 | David Ashton |
| Sound & Fuehrer | 27:13 | John Richards |
| The Last Hunt | 29:16 | Ben McKenzie |
| Discoworld | 28:29 | Lee Zachariah |
| Home | 30:19 | John Richards | |
Season 2
| Title | Original Runtime | Written By |
|---|
| Sense & Susceptibility | 25:25 | John Richards |
| Full Steam | 29:18 | Ben McKenzie |
| A Verb of Nouns | 33:27 | John Richards |
| Things that Go Bump in the Night Terrace | 26:46 | David Ashton |
| Ancient History | 28:24 | Ben McKenzie |
| The Edification of Anastasia Black | 30:47 | Lee Zachariah |
| The Retirement of Horatio Gray | 32:44 | Lee Zachariah |
| Home Again | 26:26 | John Richards |
| Situational Awareness (Live Episode) | 40:41 | John Richards, David Ashton, Lee Zachariah and Ben McKenzie | |
Season 3
TBA in May 2020 (estimated release date)
Bonus episodes
The Making of Night Terrace
Narrated and produced by Josh Kinal, this episode is 27:27 long. It features interviews with all the main cast and creators of Night Terrace.
Hello My Name is Eddie
| Title | Length | Written By |
|---|
| The Academic Transcript of Death | 03:32 | Lee Zachariah, Ben McKenzie |
| The Awkward Small Talk of Death | 05:57 | Ben McKenzie, David Ashton |
| A Trip to the Milk Bar of Death | 02:37 | David Ashton |
| The Psychological Experiment of Death | 04:36 | Ben McKenzie |
| The Job of a Lifetime of Death | 04:05 | Ben McKenzie |
| Did You Know that You Can Save 4% of Death | 04:42 | Ben McKenzie, Lee Zachariah | |
Horatio's Travels
| Title | Length | Written By |
|---|
| The Painting | 03:00 | |
| Relativity | 02:59 | |
| History | 01:55 | |
| The Houseguests | 04:19 | |
| Settling Down | 04:05 | |
| Messages | 03:38 | | |
Night Your Own Terrace
The Night Your Own Terrace mini-episodes were written for backers at the Night Producer or Choose-Your-Own-Night Terrace level of their Kickstarter campaign for Season 2. The backers provided the writers with personal writing prompts & all of Jackie Woodburne's lines were recorded months in advance, providing a feeling of deja vu across the episodes (both overt and covert).
| Title | Length | Writers |
|---|
| An Echo of Socks | 07:54 | Tony Flynn, Ben McKenzie |
| Dinosaurs of Antarctica | 07:36 | Robin Bland, David Ashton |
| Habitat of Mushrooms | 09:44 | David Chilcott, John Richards |
| The Conditions of Entry | 07:11 | Daniel Sullivan, Ben McKenzie |
| The Sandwiches of Pluto | 07:51 | Craig Irvine, David Ashton |
| The Smell of Books | 09:32 | Samantha Streeter, John Richards | |
The Adventures of Sue
TBA in May 2020 (estimated release date)
Notes and References
- Web site: Night Terrace: where Australia meets time and space. . Michelle Starr . 2019-10-17 . 2014-04-03 .
- Web site: Aussie Sci-Fi Comedy Podcast NIGHT TERRACE Will Air On BBC Radio . 2019-03-24 . 2019-10-07 . Broadway Baby.
- Web site: John Richards' Night Terrace audio series to make BBC Radio debut . 2019-10-17 . 2019-03-26 . Tara Cosoleto . Bendigo Advertiser.
- Web site: BBC Radio 4 Extra - Night Terrace . 2019-10-06 . 2019-10-06 . BBC Radio 4 Extra.
- Web site: TV shows worth watching this week: Peaky Blinders, The Affair, Sanditon . Two radio series, Kevin Eldon Will See You Now and Night Terrace, sneak into our home entertainment recommendations this week… . 2019-08-23 . 2019-10-07 . . Louisa Mellor.
- Web site: Night Terrace . 2019-04-23 . 2019-10-07 . The Cambridge Geek .
- Web site: Night Terrace Season Two . 2016-02-29 . 2019-10-07 . Charles Packer . Sci-Fi Online.
- Web site: 2014 Aurealis Awards Winners . . 2019-10-17 . 2015-04-15.
- Web site: Night Terrace: An original sci-fi comedy audio series.
- Web site: Night Terrace: Season Two.
- Web site: Night Terrace: Season Three .
- Web site: On the Terrace. 11 September 2020.
