Went to the other place
Tales From The Other Place review
Rating – 
***RELEASE DAY REVIEW***
Another queue jumper this week, although as you can see above, there is good reason for this. Yes folks, it’s another release day special, which also explains why you didn’t have a post on Sunday. One of the writers, Marie Belsten emailed me about a new show that was coming out and asked if I’d be interested in writing a review. Of course I said yes, the opportunity to hear new podcasts before anyone else is a big carrot to dangle in front of me.
So I received a pass into the sanctum sanctorum, where shows eagerly wait release into the world. I was lucky enough to hear three out of the four scheduled episodes, and with that in mind, here is my review with no spoilers.
So what’s it about?
Tales From The Other Place is a four part, full cast, speculative fiction anthology. Each story basically puts the “emptor” into “caveat emptor”. I’m not too sure which story will be the first episode, so I won’t quote the press release, but the main premise is that what may seem like a good idea, usually isn’t, rather like The Monkey’s Paw.
As I now know which story is first, I can tell you about it without spoiling anything. It concerns a woman suffering from chronic pain. Her marriage and her life in general is on the rocks. Then she hears about a way out. An experimental treatment, but one gaining popularity. Imagine, no pain, no suffering. Sounds like heaven right? Weeeeeeell, not so much. As I alluded to above, things always have a price. One that you might not realise you have to pay.
While there is a sci-fi edge to the tales, this isn’t a sci-fi show. They are cautionary tales, in the same vein as Charlie Brooker’s excellent Black Mirror TV show.
Is it any good?
It’s an outstanding show. The writing is excellent, and the acting is top notch. If you didn’t know that this was an indie production, then you would certainly be forgiven for thinking this was part of the BBC’s Limelight drama series, it really is that good. It’s a constant source of amazement to me that almost monthly, shows podcasts are raising the bar on what can be released without a big studio to back it.
Of the three stories I’ve heard, my least favourite was “Kontakt” (releasing next Tuesday according to the website). This one comes third, only because I feel it’s trying a bit too hard to be topical. The antagonist’s name could have been something a bit more generic to avoid the obvious comparisons. Yes, I know that the point is to make comparisons, but it seems a bit heavy handed.
Overall though this is a truly brilliant effort from three very talented writers and a cast of great actors. I hope that these four stories are just the beginning, because I would love to hear what gets cooked up by them in future.
Final thoughts
As I said earlier, if you are a fan of Black Mirror (and I mean, who isn’t) then you will really like this show.
I tend not to give release day shows a 5 brain rating, because I only get a snapshot of how the show will sound, but in this case I’ve heard 75% of it, so I can confidently say this is an excellent show.
I’m really grateful to have been given the opportunity to get these early episodes, and the only disappointment is that I have to wait three more weeks to hear the one story I didn’t get in advance!
You can get Tales From The Other Place here:
https://www.greatpods.co/podcasts/tales-from-the-other-place-8053815
For more great reviews, I recommend GreatPods