There's Something I Need to Tell You

The Truth This is the truth I'm Jonathan Mitchell and we are taking a break from producing new stories right now So in the meantime, I'm going to be sharing the work of audio drama producers whose work I admire and I think you should know about And on this episode I'm introducing you to John Dryden who has been making audio drama for the BBC for nearly 30 years Today we're featuring the first episode of his BBC series. There's something I need to tell you It's a smart, suspenseful thriller that follows an ordinary couple whose vacation takes an unexpected turn And after the story I'll interview John about where the story came from how he approaches audio drama and the creative ideas behind his work You know, I'm always drawn to stories where normal people find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time and then discover that maybe they're not quite as normal or as innocent as we first thought After the break it's episode one of there's something I need to tell you and as always if you'd like to listen to the truth Add free go to the truth podcast that supporting cast dot FM And now here's episode one of there's something I need to tell you Where are you? Sorry, I work called I had to deal with the London office I messed up as usual. We supposed to be on holiday Yeah, I know. I'm in the bar and and I've been waiting for half an hour Come on Jake don't get needy on me. We agreed. We're not going to be like other couples We've got our own lives, we've got our own thing going. Not living in each other's pockets We also said we come on holiday switch of our phones to relax a little enjoy ourselves You're right. Sorry Just something I had to fix. Are we done in a minute? Okay, order me something great. What? You should know what I like by now Yeah, well normally I would but I Look I told you I was coming Yes, Teresa? No, I think you're the wrong room Teresa no, I'm not Teresa Easy set is what's that Teresa I've got things to do so why don't you ask a perception they might be able to help Okay Morning good morning, sir Morning, sir. Hi I ordered you black coffee. Thank you. Good run. Yeah, great. Not too hot yet It was fun last night. How are you feeling good? You not bad considering you're gonna order think I'll sit with coffee So what's on today well I wanted to go to the Burge Khalifa and your piece for my travel channel Where's it? Well, you were complaining about me working and what are you doing working? Well, you want to come? Sure And look at that What that couple over there in perfect tennis rights they look like they've come off a film set No one should be that shiny at breakfast What are you doing? Oh for me for my YouTube channel. I'm careful Look at that guy Where with the girls? He's a Russian oligarch apparently The barman told me he was here with his daughters daughters Time things say look at the way they're pulling him. Maybe they do things a little differently in Russia Come on stop filming They're looking at us those are his bodyguards Stop don't worry we're in a public place. We're in Dubai. They have different rules here put the damn phone down Walk off me sir Yeah, sure Actually, I think I'll stay here and catch up with some work by the pool You can go to the pool later. I need you from a video the tallest building in the world on the viewing platform Wind in your hair looking great Okay, but I don't want to go to the gold market okay, but can film something there as well Excuse me mr. All-Bright sir. Yeah, I'm sorry sir. There's been an error. What's your name? Jake what is it sir madam? We put you in the wrong room Wrong room An administrative eras or we will upgrade you to a junior suite on the seventh floor Well I guess that's good right will you be going out today? Yeah, but we've unpacked all of our things in our room. Don't worry. We will take care of everything. I am so sorry for the income Indians That is odd actually what is well when you were downstairs in the bar last night some man came to the door Yeah, oh I don't know I guess I think he was wearing a shiny suit and he kept asking for Theresa and looking over my shoulder into the room Well, maybe they reserved that room for Theresa and her special services What a prostitute you think all these five style hotels do that. That's why these Russian tightings come in I wonder what kind of services Theresa offers Don't We slept in the bed. Thank God we're moving rames Surely change the sheets. Oh, so Jake. I don't even want to think about it Oh, Theresa Here we are at the top of the Burj Khalifa This is where Tom Cruise jumped off in the film Mission Impossible 4 and let me tell you it wasn't fake He actually jumped from right here check it out Oh, and here's Kayla she's down as close to the lifts as is humanly possible So Kayla oh Look look look there's a helicopter flying beneath us. Wow. Look at that The gold market they say 20% of the world's gold flows through here at any one time Each of those in gots in the window there is worth what's it worth Kayla? The guy in the shop told me 30k Is that all? So is the money doesn't have an income? Hey, I'm in between jobs It's just another way of saying you don't have a job. No, that's not quite right. I've got options to consider when we get there I'm gonna say Jake So what do you think about what? Why were we? We have fun when we're together. We have a good time. Yeah true and we argue Yeah, we argue and we make up again just like real people in real relationships What are you saying Jake? I don't know what you say Are you saying you want us to be a real couple in a real relationship? Why not Maybe we should be thinking of moving in together when we get back to London Wow Okay Shit gotta take this hello Yeah, what? Jake I'm sorry You're kidding No, that's fine just just forward the email You want to do this what? Quite a camel yeah, I booked a tour for tomorrow Really? Okay cool. I love it It would be good for your filming because you know tomorrow is a special occasion Oh, it is it's six months since our first date. Oh Yeah, yeah, of course you forgot, didn't you? Yeah, I guess my staff. Sorry. Oh, by the way, what you this? What's this? For our six-month anniversary But Jake, couldn't you? Stop it. I've got my redundancy and it's a very small diamond. It's beautiful and the answer is yes by the way. Yes or off. When we get back, let's start looking for places that would be right for us. Wow, yeah, amazing. That's pretty pretty. I'm not what the thing is right now. Sweet boy. I have to go and do a Zoom call with New York, okay? You don't mind, do you? No, I guess I'll go and celebrate on your status at the bar. Great. Love you. Enjoy yourself. Excuse me. Sorry. Put it on the room, please. Room number, sir. 557. No, I mean, 733. What do you mean, sir? What do you mean? Make it a martini. Actually, no, I'll be here instead. I'll be here. Hi, Marty. How's it going? Yeah, good. Good. Yeah. You're a brood somewhere. Yeah, goodbye. Work? All the day? Yeah, but both. Good, good. So, what's the weather like? I guess it's hot. I'll ask you. Yeah. A bit too hot, but. Better than cold, I might. Yeah. Who sounds like you're in a bar or something? Well, you know, there's nothing better at the end of the day than a nice cold beer, right? Sorry. So, yeah, look, look. I know why you're calling, Marty, and look, I can assure you that you'll be paid back in full as soon as. Slow down, check. All right, it's OK. No worries. When you've got it. OK. Actually, I just wanted to know how you are. Have you got any lady? Where'd you hear that, mate? Around. And, might be. I bloody want to introduce you. And you never told me. Yeah, well, it's only days, mate. I want to jinx it, you know. Fair enough. Yeah, you'll leave, don't you? Call for lawyer, RGG. Yeah, you live in the high life now, mate. Maybe I'll get that money back off you after all. Yeah, you will. I swear, as soon as I get back. But, in fact, I meant to call you before I left, because my circumstances have changed. And, well, I haven't been avoiding you, Marty. I swear. Relax. We're mates. I know you pay me when you can. It's not a problem. Oh, thanks, Marty. Thanks. So, well, thank you for calling. Just be careful, mate. Would you mean? Well, Kayla, I'm not saying anything against her, mate. I'm not, I'm going to say anything at all. Just be careful. What? I've got quite a few contacts over there at RGG. Obviously, because of my position at the bank. Bro, but what? Sorry, what are you saying? My advice. Keep the finances straight. All right, you pay your way. Let her pay her away, and then she can afford it. Don't start to rely on her for. You know what I mean? Yeah, no. I'll go. Have fun. Enjoy your holiday. Yeah, Marty. You can't. They say, "Man, he is the source of all evil." What? Yeah, good one. Me, I'm not so sure. I think lack of money is the source of all evil. Yeah. You can say that again. Oh, mate. Jake. So you hear on business? No, I'm on holiday with my friend. I think I saw you by the pool. Lovely, lovely young lady. You're very fortunate, my friend. Yeah, perhaps when your money problems clear up anyway. What are you having, my friend? Things. I'll have a bear. One bear and another, Matini. Thank you. You tell your friend your circumstances have changed. Yeah, I guess. Are you sure about that? Well, that my circumstances have changed. No, but probably. I only ask because. Please, don't be offended. But perhaps. Perhaps I can help. Mate, what'd you mean? Well. There is something you can do for me. What's that? I want you to hold something for me. Hold something? Look, don't keep, keep for 24 hours. Right, why is that? Just some papers. That's all. This info. Why are they so important? Well, you don't need to know that, my friend. All you need to know is that I will pay you $10,000 for holding it for 24 hours. $10,000. I mean, that's a lot of money. What, why don't you give it to the reception? Reception. You know, hotel in Dubai. Oh, you could just put it in a safe. No, my friend, come on. It's not safe. Why is this a joke? No. Look, forget it, my friend. Clearly, I picked it up, man. I apologize. A pleasure to meet you. I hope you and your friend enjoy the rest of your holiday together. No, why? Are you really serious? 24 hours? I could do that. Are you sure? Yeah. Well, if I got to lose. Right? Okay, wait. I need something from you first. Yeah, right, the catch. Come on, what's the catch? Do I give you my watch? Credit card? No, no. Sign away my life. Simply your phone number. Oh. Yeah, I can do that. That just come back. Oh, got it. I have your number. You have mine. Do we have a deal? Sure. Just between us, my friend. Okay? Just between us. Tell nobody. Not even your girlfriend, okay? Well, look, I've got a guy. My girlfriend is. I understand. I understand. Could I get the check, please? Yes, sir. Put it on my room, please. 5, 5, 7. What? There's my room. Oh, really? Oh, yeah, they moved us this morning. That should be 7-3-3. 7-3-3. And one is an auto-cub. Oh, Kayla. I thought you were working. Yeah. Thought you were drinking martinis at the bar? Can I just a couple of beers? Well, my call ended sooner than I thought. So I thought I'd come down for a nightcap. Great. Great. We'll send it up to the room. What? We've got to go. See that guy there? No, don't look at him. I've got to go. I'll tell you when the lift is crazy. It's absolutely wild. What is? The kid's in the lift. Okay, sir. I got a beer in the bar and this guy came in. This guy, you saw the bar. Yeah. The one you told me not to look out. Yeah. Well, he asked me to keep this envelope for him. And he's giving me 10 grand. 10 grand, no. What? Don't open it. Good evening. Hi. Don't know. Are they good game, guys? What? The tennis good game. Yes. Good. Thank you. Good night. Good night. Good night. Good night. Good night. Good night. Good night. Don't look at me. Who placed it? 10 a.m. at 11 o'clock at night. Maybe it's a Dubai thing cooler than the day. Anyway, are you kidding or what? No, I'm absolutely okay. No, don't say anything to me getting the room. That's easy to you, do you have any cameras? I'm just a little. Do you want to fall? Okay, come on. Do you want to fall? Are you out of your mind? What do you mean? A guy you've never seen before offers you 10 grand to look after an envelope. And you take it. Yeah, that's what I mean, Jake. Are you crazy? Look, I don't lose anything if he doesn't pay me. And if he does, then wow, it pays for a holiday. That's 10k. I can only win. No, Jake, we're in Dubai. So? Look. Seven years ago when I went to study in Moscow, I was at this concert, right? And in the interval, these two guys came up to me and asked if I would take some papers out of the country for them. Would you have said yes? No. Of course. It's Russia, a police state. Everyone's being watched just like Dubai. But it's not asking me to take anything out of the country. No. No, but supposing it's. I don't know, a plot to shoot the amir. Oh. I don't know what. No one gives you 10 grand to keep a birthday card for 24 hours. It's obviously dangerous. It's obviously something someone wants badly, or he wouldn't be asking you to keep it. Maybe I should burn it or something. And then what about winning once it back, you idiot? You shouldn't have got involved in the first place. Okay, you need to return it to him now. Do you think you still at the bar? Well, he might be, or he may have gone back to his room. Well, you need to find his room number. Did he give you his name? I know his room number. Five. Five, seven. That's. Yeah. I don't like this. You need to go down to his room now and slide it under his door and get the hell out of there. And then tomorrow, I think we should check out and go and find another hotel. Really? I mean. All right, yeah. Yes. All right. You're right. I was done, but. It was a spare of the moment thing. Well, just take it back and let's get a holiday back on track. We'll go ride those bloody camels tomorrow. Excuse me. Sir? That man who was here before. Gentlemen, with a kind of beard, unshaven look. Baseball cap about 50ish. I think he had a martini? I was sitting at the bar just here talking to him about 20 minutes ago. There are many people drinking martinis, sir. Right. Okay. Thank you very much. Okay, now. Go on top. Oh. Hi, guys. We're gonna play another set, will we? You can't get out on this floor. Right, but I have to. I'm sorry. Is your room on this floor, sir? No, but. Right, but I need to get out on this floor. I'm sorry, sir. You guys are real, I mean. Is everything okay? Yes. Is it set? It's set. It's all set. Good. Give me the key. You need to get back in the. Get off! [door opens] Kaila. Kaila. Yeah. Yeah, I'm in the shower. Did you do it? Yeah, yeah. Oh, good. [door opens] Was he in the bar? No. So, you went to his room? Yeah. Yeah, so good. So good. Was he okay about it? Yeah. You know, fine, actually. Oh, thank God. Well, maybe we should still find another hotel tomorrow. Sure. Let's get our dinner. Let's do that. I'm sorry it was kind of dumb thing to do, but. I kind of. From a moment, I don't know. I guess I thought I could be like some sort of international spy or something stupid. I would impress you. Forget about it. It's gone. Okay. It's our anniversary, six months. We should mark the occasion. Yeah. Come here. Oh, oh. [laughs] Hmm. What's wrong? I don't know. It's just. Come on. Out with it. Oh. It's just. I never thought I could find someone as good as you. And I assumed I would lose you after the first day, but. Here we are, six months on, and I. Feel like. The luckiest guy on earth. I. Just won the lottery or something. Oh. You are the luckiest guy on earth. Yeah. Yeah. Now show me why. But there's stuff. What stuff? Baggage. You're worried about our baggage. No, things. You know. You don't know about me. Like what? I don't know, and. Things I don't know about you. Okay, but isn't that what makes relationships interesting? Oh, yeah. I guess you're right. Stop worrying, sweetheart. Everybody has secrets. There's something I need to tell you. Episode 1, tennis buddies, was created and written by John Scott Dryden with Misha Cornel. Jake was played by Chris Liu Kumpoi, Kayla Sophia Delpitzer, Omar Nick Nevin, and Marty by Chris Anderson. Original music is by Sasha Putnam. The producer is Emma Hahn, and the director and executive producer, John Scott Dryden. There's something I need to tell you is a gold-hawk production for BBC Radio 4. For a full list of credits, go to BBC Sounds. That was the first episode of "There's Something I Need to Tell You." And if you'd like to hear the rest of the series, we've put links in the show notes. After the break, I'll be talking with creator John Dryden about where the story came from, and the ideas behind his work. We had a great time talking. It's a really great conversation, so stick around. And if you'd like to hear the truth, add free. Go to the truthpodcast.supportingcast.fm. I've known John Dryden for many years, and I've admired his work for even longer. He's spent nearly 30 years making audio drama for the BBC, creating immersive dramas, which, as he just heard, combine the realism of documentary with the scope of cinematic storytelling. Is one of the people whose work I return to when I want to be reminded of what's possible in this medium. I began our conversation by asking what inspired there's something I need to tell you. You know, I'm always drawn to stories where normal people find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time, and then discover that maybe they're not quite as normal or as innocent as we first thought. I also love the kind of world of glamour, like five star hotels and super yachts and that kind of thing. Well, there's something a little bit menacing about that high end environment. I mean, I suppose the idea probably initially came from a news story of a Mossad assassination in a five star hotel in Dubai. I remember thinking at the time, I wonder what it would be like if you were just a sort of regular guest, you know, at the hotel and you sort of witnessed this thing, you know, and got sucked into. to some global conspiracy. Not that I wanted to make something really grim, because the tone isn't grim, but the sort of danger death, there's jeopardy, but at the same time it's kind of absurdity and wit and glamour. I think a lot of the fun comes from the contrast between the luxury settings and the panic of two normal people who are just completely out of their depth. The sound design felt very authentic to me. The elevators felt like they were actually into buy. I bought it. I'm curious, did you actually go to these places? It also goes to Bangkok and Istanbul. Did you travel to any of these places? Yeah, not specifically for this production, because this was mostly recorded in studio. But that sort of detail is really important to me. The specific piece of it. I've been to all these places. And I record wild tracks everywhere I go. Did you have the sounds before you came up with the idea for the story, so you were sort of writing to the sounds you had? No, not especially. But I've got lots and lots of sounds. And I've traveled a lot, say. Do you look for certain things to record, or do you just sort of, are you always attuned to what's going on around you? How do you choose what to record? In any drama that you create that's set anywhere, you're always going to need cars, various interior atmospheres, hotel rooms, lobbies, cicadas at night, the traffic. The early part of my career, I've pretty much made everything on location. I'd get the actors to a location and would work outside of the studio with the microphone, essentially being the lens of the camera. Following the actors around, it would be them getting into lifts, getting into cars, it would all be very real. It's not always possible to do that, because sometimes you can't get the cars together, or sometimes the show is so many episodes, it's just too much material to do it in that way. There's lots of settings. I would say since COVID, most of the projects I've been making have been in studio, but I've still got my ears very tuned to this sort of documentary style. I record wild tracks everywhere. I'm very specific with the sound, so it really is a Dubai lift. It's a Dubai hotel lobby. I think that matters, that it doesn't just sound like a generic hotel lobby. You have a long history of recording in the field. When was the first audio drama that you recorded in the field? How did you initially make the decision to go do that? When I was trying to make it my career, there was an opportunity at the BBC in the UK, in the world, to make documentaries in the field. There were some shows that I listened to, which were essentially documentaries, but they didn't really have a presenter. They were very strong stories involving real people, often on journeys. The story was strong enough for them not to be a narrator. It was told like a drama, effectively, but it was real life. That was my in. I got several of those commissioned over a short period where I went off on travels making these documentaries. It was just a brilliant opportunity and a way to learn how to use the world, to construct a story. My objective was always to make drama, but that's when it occurred to me that, often with these documentaries, they were very produced. You were leading the subjects in certain directions, asking questions that you would get a certain sort of answer that would help you construct the story. It occurred to me that it would be a great way to work with actors in a drama where, instead of recording it all in the studio with that slightly stiff sense of them all standing in front of microphones, that you made it like one of these documentaries where you just have a tape recorder, a microphone in your hand, and you act out all the scenes in real space. If someone crosses the road and gets into a car, then that's what the actors do. You're following them with the microphone. That was my pitch to the BBC who at the time were commissioning audio dramas. What year was this? Roughly. I've been working in this field for a long time. When I was in my 20s, it was about 1996, 97. So was your idea to, like an interview subject, have them improvise and respond to your questions or how are you thinking about it? Yeah. I mean, the first drama that I did, so I've swayed at the BBC that we could do this approach and they commissioned a sort of 45 minute drama. It was actually about the elections in South Africa. It was sort of based on a news story and it was completely improvised. So what we had as a script, I worked with a writer. And instead of writing dialogue, he would write the sort of start point and end point of each scene and then set certain beats that go through it. And we'd rehearse with the actors. We'd record a whole bunch of material and then I would edit it like a documentary. So like a documentary, I would have far more material than would end up on in the show. And it had this very choppy feel, like some documentaries do, which in some ways makes the audience lean in because it feels more, it just has a kind of rougher quality. It sounded just very fresh and very different to anything that the BBC was doing at that time. But it's a hard process because you're dealing with a lot of material and the show is made in the edit. But it got me thinking that it would be really interesting to do something in that style that was scripted and more like a drama drama. I was very keen to try something like a period piece or something like that and see if that approach worked. It seems like, I've worked a lot that way too. And it seems like, there's a lot of things that are very difficult to do that way. Yeah. I think ultimately I found it limiting because you're relying on the actor's ability to improvise and their world experience. Yeah. I had that very problem. One of the first stories I did was two astronauts and they were playing Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong. I was asking them to improvise and to improvise astronauts as nearly impossible because they have this other language, basically they speak. This technical jargon they're always using. Yeah. That's exactly the limitation. It limits the sort of stories you can make. If you're doing a medical drama or a space drama, then they've got to improvise as heart surgeons or astronauts. Well, if they're not, if they don't have that world experience, then it's, I think that's exactly the limitations you are. You mentioned that early on, before you started doing fiction, while you were doing a documentary, you had a desire to do fiction and I'm wondering, was that sort of always a goal when you got into making radios to make fiction stories? Yeah. I remember. Your memory does strange things, but my memory is that I wanted to direct drama from a very, very young age, like when I was six. Either to be an actor, but I discovered I wasn't good enough as an actor or to create stories and manipulate them and basically direct them. It's always what I wanted to do. It's what I did at university. It's what I came out of university wanting to do, but I didn't know anyone that did that or how to get into that world. It said, "Documentary was for me definitely a path to trying to do that." Audio was not on my list of things. I didn't even know audio drama existed. Were you making films or plays? Yeah. I was in plays and films and stuff at university. My first job was for a TV company as a researcher, but I realized how difficult it was to get into that position where you could be in creative control. I say I could have done it, but the opportunities were coming in audio because just by where I was in the UK and the fact that BBC were funding stuff and commissioning stuff, it was an opportunity. I took the opportunity and then one project led to another and then I was working in audio. I'm really glad I am because I didn't think in other fields you'd have the amount of creative control that you can have in audio and I think a little bit like I understand the work that you do. I enjoy being involved in either writing the script or developing the script, casting it, directing it, creating it and post-production. I don't think so. I think you know, many people have the opportunity to do that in other mediums. So audio was a great opportunity for that. And also, I kind of fell in love with audio because it's so compelling, you know, if you get it right. You know, I think it's like reading a novel where you can't put it down. In audio, your audience is kind of complicit in the story and creating the story in their head in the same way that they would if they were reading a novel. Nothing gets and you know, it's a very direct route to the audience, I feel. Many of your projects have a very large canvas, I'd say. Like you travel a lot, you go to many of them involve travel to several locations, international locations. They often have lots of characters. They're kind of epic in scale and I'm wondering what it is about. These sort of big stories that appeals to you. Do you think that's something that characterizes your work as a whole? Yeah, I do. Yeah. I mean, I guess I like traveling and I'm interested in politics and news particularly. You know, and I'd say there's the through line of my what has been kind of large scales. It's kind of, I hate saying cinematic audio, but it sort of is, you know. What makes a cinematic do you think? I think just the sound scape is big. But it's also personal, maybe just cinematic is the wrong word. Let's forget that. I think, you know, they're audio-trans with strong characters, but big worlds. And I think a lot of them are mysteries. They're espionage, politics, history, crime. I guess the ambition is to make audio feel as immersive and gripping as a sort of premium TV show. So I suppose from that point of view is what I mean by a kind of cinematic audio drama that you mentioned earlier that when it's done right, it's really great. And I'm curious like what does it mean to you for it to be done well? I think it needs to be effortless in a way for the listener that they're drawn into a situation. And they start to forget that they're listening to an audio drama and they inhabit the world of the story. Once it's got you, it's like a switch. Suddenly everything exists in your head and you're living in that world for that time. And even though you may not be able to identify everything that's going on or every sound effect or whatever, it all feels right. There's nothing that's tripping you up and taking you outside of that world. What do you think it takes to accomplish that? Well I think it takes a strong central hook. I mean certainly in the stories that I'm drawn to, it takes a character that's under pressure. A world that's bigger than the protagonist initially understands. Momentum and reversals for sure. Moral ambiguity, very difficult moral choices that make the listener think what would I do if I was in that situation. And definitely emotional stakes that are beneath the plot as well. The plot has to move forward but the audience will stay because of the characters. I'm not saying all stories have to have that but there's some stories I'm drawn to as a creator. If you'd like to hear the rest of there's something I need to tell you. You'll find a link in the show notes or you can search for there's something I need to tell you in your favorite podcast app. There are five episodes in all. We are taking a break over the summer to write some new stories in the meantime. If you'd like to help support us and hear the show add free at the same time go to the Truth podcast that's supportingcast.fm. I'm Jonathan Mitchell and you have been hearing. The Truth.