The Family Tree

When podcast producer Dave Pickering is approached by his dad with a mystery from the life of a long-forgotten friend, he decides to investigate it in the only way he knows how: by having conversations.

Mark Sullivan, who went missing 15 years ago, has been found dead. His body still has the arm he should have lost in a car accident and seems to have died eight years before he disappeared.

In a series of 12 episodes, Dave tries to uncover this mystery through conversations with Mark’s family and friends. As he gets to know them, his questions lead to more questions... the mystery runs deeper than anyone imagined.

The Family Tree is a magical realist drama about family, belonging, change and identity. Coming to your audio devices in September 2016!

The final Cutting of Season 1 gives you an extra slice of the drama: Dave takes the Sullivans aside as the cheesecake is served and asks them about their experiences since the podcast has aired.

The Family Tree, a new audio drama from Adamthwaite and Pickering, launches on Monday 26 th September 2016. The show will air for 12 weeks, releasing an episode of the drama every Monday and an accompanying commentary episode each Friday. The show is a spin-off from in-conversation podcast, Getting Better Acquainted, featured on BBC Radio 4’s In Pod We Trust and BBC Radio 5 Live’s Required Listening. Focussed on openness, honesty and truth, the same conversational style is used to explore the story in The Family Tree.

The Family Tree is a magical realist drama about family, belonging, change and identity.

The 12 supplementary episodes or ‘Cuttings’ feature a range of guests from podcasting, journalism and the arts, discussing the issues raised in the show, including themes such as representation, lived experience, identity and social responsibility. This teaser showcases some of the conversations around conversation as Dave gets some advice from fellow podcasters Biz Ellis and Theresa Thorn from One Bad Mother, Helen Zaltzman from The Allusionist, Kevin Allison from Risk!, Phil Leirness from Chillpack Hollywood Hour, Alix Fox from Close Encounters and Joanna Yates from Spark True Stories

The Family Tree, a new audio drama from Adamthwaite and Pickering, launches on Monday 26 th September 2016. The show will air for 12 weeks, releasing an episode of the drama every Monday and an accompanying commentary episode each Friday. The show is a spin-off from in-conversation podcast, Getting Better Acquainted, featured on BBC Radio 4’s In Pod We Trust and BBC Radio 5 Live’s Required Listening. Focussed on openness, honesty and truth, the same conversational style is used to explore the story in The Family Tree.

The Family Tree is a magical realist drama about family, belonging, change and identity.

The 12 supplementary episodes or ‘Cuttings’ feature a range of guests from podcasting, journalism and the arts, discussing the issues raised in the show, including themes such as representation, lived experience, identity and social responsibility. This teaser showcases some of the conversations around representation as Dave talks to Nikesh Shukla, Samantha Asamadu from Media Diversified, Jackie Hagan, CN Lester and Sez Thomasin.

Dear Listeners,

I hope this finds you well. It truly is a pleasure to be writing to you again, and I’m delighted to be able to connect with you through The Family Tree.

It perhaps won’t surprise you to learn that I have faced many challenges since David and I had our little excursion to St James’s Park to visit the oak tree. I find I am quite changed, and I don’t mind telling you, I’ve found it rather difficult to process some of the thoughts and feelings I’ve had since I became a changeling, or a liminal person, as David likes to call us now.

David very kindly put me in touch with his friend Azariah, a fellow man of the cloth, and with him I talked through some of the difficulties I’m having. I found his counsel to be very valuable, and I want to share our conversation with you, with the hope that it may serve to help others as much as it helped me.

Yours Faithfully,

Philip

P.S. My parishioners have often preferred to address me as ‘Reverend Beech’, or simply ‘Beech’. I think it has allowed them a separation from me that they’ve found useful, and over time, I’ve found myself thinking of myself that way too. But I think I would like to try being a little less separate, and from here on will sign my letters to you with my Christian name, if that’s alright with you. I find it extremely poignant to see how I titled this episode; Azariah’s comfortableness with his first name while I shelter behind my surname. ---------------------------

The Family Tree is a magical realist dramatic fiction about family, belonging, change and identity.

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