Better late than never
Tanis review
Production company – PRA/Minnow Beats Whale
Rating – 
As I was getting ready to publish last weeks review of Finding Satan, I realised that I had made a ridiculous oversight. I had never reviewed an absolute classic podcast, and that I hold in very high regard indeed. I am, of course, talking about legendary audio drama, Tanis. So, without further ado, please allow me to redress this immediately. It’s only two years since I reviewed it’s sister show Rabbits, and 8 years since Tanis launched, so as the title suggests, better late than never.
So what’s it about?
The catalyst for this show is a short story written by occultist and rocket pioneer Jack Parsons. Entitled “Where Is Tanis?” The host, Nic Silver, is trying to find out everything about this mysterious place. In reality, Tanis could be a city, or a concept, or even a person. With rumors and records that date back to the dawn of writing, Tanis is the most mysterious yet influential myth there is.
To help on his mission, Nic contacts the mysterious “security expert” (read “hacker”) Meerkatnip, whose skills navigating the dark web are almost superhuman, as is her ability to preempt Nic’s need for files to be emailed over. With an almost limitless supply of code snippets and skill, MK can winkle out the most well-hidden clues on this strange subject.
This sets the two of them on a very deep dive into the realms of science, psychology and the occult. A super dense alternative reality where you can’t be sure if what you are hearing is true or not. Please don’t think the term “super dense” means this show is hard to follow or overly academic, it really isn’t. What I mean is that there is simply so much history woven into the story, that you get a rich tapestry of threads to pull at.
Is it any good?
This was one of the first “world building” audio dramas I heard. I’ve recently reviewed shows like Modes Of Thought In Anterran Literature, Forbidden Cassettes, and the aforementioned Rabbits. This was one of the first to really fool me though. Let me explain.
The way that the story intertwines historical fact with fiction is sublime. I defy anyone not to risk googling some snippet of plot, only to discover that it’s entirely fictional. A lot of the subject matter is stuff I actually know quite a bit about, so to retread “common knowledge” and then throw a curveball in to fit the narrative is very clever indeed.
I just started re-listening to it to help with writing the review and I did just that. And I found out that what I was looking for didn’t exist. Got me again PRA! It’s this standard of writing that sets all of the PRA/Minnow Beats Whale stories apart from the rest, and as the saying goes, “fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me”.
Yes, there is the occasional wonky bit of dialogue, but for the most part the voice acting is brilliant. The cast is limited. Nic Silver is the main voice here, he’s narrating the events, and the one who is in contact with all the other people involved. Meerkatnip appears less than half of the runtime, and she’s there mainly as an exposition tool, and sarcastic sceptic. The other characters are very limited, but despite their small contributions, they are all perfectly capable and really help develop this odd world that is being created as you progress.
Final thoughts
I really can’t fault this podcast at all. It blew me away when I first heard it, and on revisiting it, it is still just as good. I’m sure most of you well heeled audio drama fans are already fans of this show. If (for some reason) this has passed you by, you should do yourselves a favour and subscribe to this as soon as possible.
You can thank me later.
You can get Tanis here:
For more great reviews, I recommend GreatPods