Category: News

08/01/2019

Where no chap has gone before…

There’s a new podcast in town at Splendid Chaps Productions – and a new chap to co-host it! From January 8, you can join Captain Carla Donnelly (of the Across the Aisle and Club Soderbergh podcasts) and Science Officer Ben McKenzie (you know him) as they bring you re:Discovery, a Star Trek Discovery recap podcast for people who hate recaps! Listen along each week as they discuss the latest episode of the show and get all nerdy.

It’s a double-first for Splendid Chaps: our first foray into the Star Trek universe, and our first go at recapping. You can find out more at rediscoverypodcast.com, where you’ll already find the first of two pre-season intro episodes, complete with a new theme tune by our own David Ashton. Those illustrations of the re:Discovery crew by Alex E Clark are pretty great, too.

It’s also a big day for Pratchat, Elizabeth Flux and Ben McKenzie’s Terry Pratchett book club podcast; they not only launched their fifteenth episode and debuted brand new album art by friend of the show George Rex, but have also launched a subscription option for those who want to support their six(ish) year mission and make sure they fulfil their goal of reading and discussing every one of Terry Pratchett’s novels. (He wrote a lot.) You can find out more about how it works on the Pratchat Pozible profile (try saying that three times fast).

There’s more big news coming from Splendid Chaps Productions in the next month or so; watch this space!

21/03/2016

Splendid Comedy, Festival Chaps

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival is about to start for 2016, and many of the guests who appeared on Splendid Chaps are featured in this year’s program – as well as two of our hosts!

Petra Elliott is one of the stars of the improvised puppet show, The Mighty Little Puppet Show! You won’t want to miss her performing as one of the “Ritas”, colourful puppets on which the audience will build their own characters. The show also features “What I Learned from Doctor Who” guest Rob Lloyd. The Mighty Little Puppet Show runs at 7:30 PM, upstairs @ Little Sista (next to the Town Hall). It’s a rotating ensemble cast, so if you want to see Petra make sure you book for March 25, 27, 29 or 31, or April 1.

Ben McKenzie has had a hand in Claire Hooper’s show this year, through his games company Pop Up Playground; together they present Being Claire Hooper, a whimsical, Claire Hooper-themed treasure hunt through the city. You might even see a familiar face or two… Being Claire Hooper begins at 6 PM each Saturday and Sunday at the statue of Burke and Wills at City Square (opposite the Town Hall). Tickets are very limited so be sure to book!

Here’s a round up of all our guests appearing in the festival! Check the listings linked via the title of each show for details (for example, most shows are an hour earlier on Sundays). We’ve also linked to the episodes they appeared in in case you’d like to revisit.

Adam McKenzie (Comedy Festival Mini-Episode) – Watson’s The Life Education Van for Adults! Melbourne Town Hall, 10:45 PM, March 24 – April 16. (Also features Tegan Higginbotham.)
Adam Richard (Four/Comedy, Christmas Special) – Splitsecondism. Imperial Hotel, 8 PM, April 5-17.
Dave Callan (Four/Comedy) – A Little Less Conversation 3: Even More Less Conversation. Trades Hall, 9:45 PM, March 24 – April 17.
Dean Arcuri (Two/Evil) – Les n Mis. Hare Hole (Hares and Hyenas), 8 PM, five shows only: March 29 and April 3, 4, 5 and 10.
Geraldine Quinn (One/Authority) – Could You Repeat That? Coopers Malthouse, 7:15 PM, March 24 – April 3.
Justin Hamilton (Eleven/Future) – Hoot. Melbourne Town Hall, 6 PM, Saturdays only.
Lawrence Leung (Who and Books) – Very Strange Things. Coopers Malthouse, 9:15 PM, March 25 – April 17.
Sarah Jones (Comedy Festival Cutaway) – Jonestown’s Happy Campers. 7 PM, The Butterfly Club, March 29 – April 3.
Tegan Higginbotham (Five/Fear) – The City of Love. Greek Centre, 7:15 PM, March 24 – April 3.

Justin Hamilton and Adam Richard also host The Shelf, 7:30 PM on Mondays at The Toff in Town.

10/02/2016

Night Terrace season two announcement

Night Terrace Season Two is coming to a pair of ears near you on February 29!

It’s a date only a time traveller (or three) could love, so it seemed a fitting launch date for the second season of our award-winning sci-fi comedy audio series, starring Jackie Woodburne (Neighbours) and our own Petra Elliott and Ben McKenzie, plus a stellar guest cast including Andrew Hansen (The Chaser), Louise Jameson (Doctor Who, Eastenders), Lawrence Leung (Sucker), Jane Badler (V), Gary Russell (The Famous Five), Celia Pacquola (Utopia), Ian Smith (Neighbours) and many more!

We successfully crowdfunded the second season back in April last year, and our Kickstarter backers were able to get their ears on it just in time for Christmas. Now it’s everyone else’s turn! On release, season two will be available from both the Night Terrace web site at nightterrace.com, or via our page on the popular digital audio platform Bandcamp.

You can listen to the first trailer for Season Two below.

24/12/2015

It’s Christmas time!

Time for a bit of a clean up around here! We’re no longer just about the podcast, and so we’re no longer just Splendid Chaps – we’re Splendid Chaps Productions. You can still listen to our fiftieth anniversary Doctor Who podcast, but now you can also find out about our original sci-fi comedy series Night Terrace, and watch out for news of new projects coming from the Chaps, including a brand-new podcast, Pratchat, revisiting the works of Sir Terry Pratchett in 2016. And we’ve opened a Bandcamp store, where you can find all the stuff we’ve released for sale so far!

But Christmas is also a time to celebrate, so we thought we’d release something from the archives – one of the most popular cover songs from our year of Doctor Who back in 2013. So, from our Christmas special, please enjoy Petra Elliott and the Time Lads with their rendition of the unlikely Christmas single, “I’m Gonna Spend My Christmas with a Dalek”!