Best Splendid Chaps Productions Podcasts (2024)

1
How to Get Below in Advertising (“The Hades Business”)

26d ago

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Writer, filmmaker and creative director Lucas Testro joins Liz and Ben on a trip down under to the Other Place as we discuss Terry Pratchett’s first ever published short story, 1963’s “The Hades Business”. Shady advertising man Crucible arrives home to find none other than old Nicholas Lucifer waiting for him in his study. But he hasn’t come to tak…

1
Eeek Club 2024 (subscriber questions)

1M ago

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It’s the 25th of May, which can only mean one thing: Geek Pride Day! Or Towel Day. Or the Glorious 25th of May and the Battle of Treacle Mine Road…okay, that’s three things. Why not add one more? This is the Pratchat Eeek Club: a bonus episode discussing Terry Pratchett-related topics selected by our “Eeek” tier subscribers. This year, the topics a…

1
Wrong in the Start Place (Terry Pratchett Day 2024) 1:00:58

2M ago1:00:58

1:00:58

The scheduling goblins got us this month, and we’ve had to delay our planned short story episode. But while we get that sorted out, Ben’s embracing the chaos – and the theme of Terry Pratchett Day 2024, “Start in the Wrong Place”! Join him as he shares some of your stories of unusual places to start reading Pratchett. If you’d like to honour Terry,…

1
Real Men Don’t Drink...Decaf (Monstrous Regiment) 2:47:12

3M ago2:47:12

2:47:12

Kiwi writer and poet Freya Daly Sadgrove joins Liz and Ben from Sydney as we adjust our uniforms and march into the horrible realities of war (class, gender and literal) to discuss Terry Pratchett’s thirty-first Discworld novel, 2003’s Monstrous Regiment. Polly Perks has cut off her hair, put on some trousers and joined the army under the name of O…

1
The First News Blast (Discworld book and RPG news) 26:19

3M ago26:19

26:19

Our Monstrous Regiment episode still isn’t quite ready, so we’ve had to push it to April. In the meantime, Ben gets nerdy about some recent Discworld and Pratchett news about books and roleplaying games. A few brief notes: “50 Years of Terry Pratchett” was actually announced in November 2021, marking fifty years since the publication of The Carpet …

1
A Monstrous Delay (IWD bonus mini-episode) 5:35

4M ago5:35

5:35

Our Monstrous Regiment episode won’t be ready until later in the month, but we didn’t want to let International Women’s Day pass without some kind of comment. So here’s a mini episode in your feed recommending some other Pratchett and Discworld podcasts hosted by women and non-binary folks. Here’s a list of the Discworld podcasts Ben mentioned: The…

1
...And That Spells Trouble (Guards! Guards! board game) 1:36:30

5M ago1:36:30

1:36:30

In this very three-quarters-of-a-century episode, Liz, Ben and guest Dr Melissa Rogerson get out the eight-sided dice and roll for initative – or at least cunning – as we play the 2011 board game, Guards! Guards!, designed by Leonard Boyd and David Brashaw, and based on the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett. The eight great spells have escaped fr…

1
Hogswitch (with Rhianna Pratchett and Gabrielle Kent) 1:19:59

6M ago1:19:59

1:19:59

In this very special Hogswatch-adjacent episode of Pratchat, Liz and Ben don’t discuss a Terry Pratchett book! Instead, they interview Rhianna Pratchett and Gabrielle Kent, authors of Tiffany Aching’s Guide to Being a Witch. Tiffany Aching’s Guide to Being a Witch is a new lavishly illustrated guidebook to witchcraft, compiled by the famous young w…

1
This Christmas Goes to Eleven (Father Christmas’ Fake Beard) 1:42:51

7M ago1:42:51

1:42:51

In this very special Christmas episode, Liz and Ben fly without a guest as they turn the seasonal silliness up to maximum and discuss all eleven stories in Terry Pratchett’s 2017 collection of short Christmas stories, Father Christmas’s Fake Beard. It’s not always easy being Father Christmas. You might be forced out of home by a rogue submarine or …

1
How Did Discworld Get to 40? (40th Anniversary Special) 42:52

7M ago42:52

42:52

24 November 2023 marks forty years since Terry Pratchett’s The Colour of Magic was first published. That’s right – it’s Discworld’s fortieth birthday! To celebrate, join Pratchat producer and co-host Ben McKenzie as he – and a bunch of special guests – try to figure out why that book, and moreso the Discworld series it started, have endured for so …

1
The Masked Dancer (“Turntables of the Night") 1:45:11

8M ago1:45:11

1:45:11

Unlike some DJs, Liz and Ben do take requests – like this month’s short story! They’re joined by comedian and DJ Andrew McClelland to spin discs with the soul collector, as they discuss Terry Pratchett’s 1989 short story “Turntables of the Night”. John, one half of the “Hellfire Disco” mobile DJ business, is helping the police with their enquiries.…

1
It Belongs in a University (The Science of Discworld IV: Judgement Day) 2:14:44

9M ago2:14:44

2:14:44

Liz and Ben are blessed by two returning guests, the Rev Dr Avril Hannah-Jones and Dr Charlotte Pezaro, as they go on one last visit to Roundworld – this time as clerics, wizards and librarians clash over who should take ownership. It’s Terry Pratchett’s fourth and final collaboration with Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen, 2013’s The Science of Discworld…

1
Punching Up (“Theatre of Cruelty") 1:50:23

10M ago1:50:23

1:50:23

Liz and Ben are joined by guest author Caimh “C. K.” McDonnell as they read a very early and very short chapter in the history of the Watch: Terry Pratchett’s 1993 short Discworld story, “Theatre of Cruelty”. When the Watch discover a murdered entertainer with pockets full of change, a string of sausages round his neck, and no witnesses to the crim…

1
Discus Ex Machina (Strata) 2:22:18

11M ago2:22:18

2:22:18

We engage the matrix drive and set course for the Discworld that might have been, as EJ Mann joins us to discuss Terry Pratchett’s first attempt at writing a flat Earth, 1981’s Strata. 200-year-old human Kin Arad works for the Company building planets – the traditional, oblate spheroid kind. So when deep space pioneer Jago Jalo shows up wearing an …

1
Long Fall Sally (The Long Utopia) 2:49:23

12M ago2:49:23

2:49:23

We travel from Victorian London to the ends of an Earth as Deanne Sheldon-Collins returns to the podcast to face the consequences of three books’ worth of bad decisions in the fourth Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter Long Earth novel, The Long Utopia. It’s 2052. Datum Earth is dying a slow death in the wake of the Yellowstone eruption. The Earths …

1
The Long Footnote (recap of The Long Earth, The Long War and The Long Mars) 13:19

12M ago13:19

13:19

Our July episode about The Long Utopia, fourth of the Long Earth series, is going to be late! To tide you over for the next week or so, here’s a long footnote of a bonus episode presenting a quick recap of the Long Earth so far. Was this helpful? Would you like a recap like this for any of the other series we cover? Do you dare us to do this for th…

1
We’re on a Road to Elsewhere (Pratchett news and Discworld Convention interview) 58:05

1y ago58:05

58:05

We had very little wriggle room this month, so when we couldn’t record at the scheduled time, we had to postpone our episode about Strata. To make sure you’re not left hanging, Ben has conjured up this bonus episode on his own! He’ll discuss the latest news in the world of Terry Pratchett – and there’s surprisingly a lot – and also have a quick cha…

1
Eeek Club 2023 (subscriber questions) 1:19:16

1y ago1:19:16

1:19:16

It’s a third instalment of the Pratchat Eeek Club! Each year, on the Glorious 25th of May, we release a bonus episode discussing Terry Pratchett-related topics selected by our “Eeek” tier subscribers. This year, the topics are: What are your ultimate actor castings for Discworld characters? Is there a Discworld equivalent of podcasts? What are your…

1
The Three-Elf Problem (The Witches board game) 1:27:39

1y ago1:27:39

1:27:39

This month we welcome back the very game Steve Lamattina as we put on our witch’s hats, grab our brooms and head out into Lancre to solve problems in Martin Wallace’s The Witches, the fourth official Discworld board game. As Tiffany Aching or one of her fellow apprentice witches, you’ll run around Lancre solving problems big and small with headolog…

1
Ol’ No Eyes Is Back (I Shall Wear Midnight) 2:40:30

1y ago2:40:30

2:40:30

Returning guest, author Amie Kaufman heads back to the Chalk with Liz and Ben to face the rough music in a bumper-size discussion of the penultimate Tiffany Aching book, 2010’s I Shall Wear Midnight. Tiffany Aching, nearly sixteen, is no longer an apprentice. Now two years under the witch’s hat, she cares for those as can’t care for themselves, and…

1
Let There Be Gaimans (A Slip of the Keyboard) 2:08:27

1+ y ago2:08:27

2:08:27

Liz and Ben are joined by writer and publisher Peter M Ball for Pratchat’s first foray into Pratchett’s nonfiction! We discuss fandom, genre, Sharknado, figgins and even fit in six pieces from “A Scribbling Intruder”, the first section of Pratchett’s 2014 nonfiction anthology A Slip of the Keyboard. Pratchett writes about the letters he receives fr…

1
GNOME Terry Pratchett (“Rincemangle, the Gnome of Even Moor”) 1:22:01

1+ y ago1:22:01

1:22:01

This month, Ben flies solo with guest Andy Matthews as they reach back into Pratchett’s earliest fiction to discuss Beatrix Potter, writing practice, The Matrix…oh, and Terry’s 1973 short story for the Bucks Free Press, “RIncemangle, the Gnome of Even Moor”! The suspiciously familiar-sounding Gnome Rincemangle lives a sad, solitary life on the stra…

1
Decline by Committee (“A Collegiate Casting-Out of Devilish Devices”) 1:59:22

1+ y ago1:59:22

1:59:22

In this final fourth part of our Thud! trilogy, Liz and Ben are rejoined by designer and educator Matt Roden. As we wait for the biscuits to arrive, we turn our attention to this month’s agenda items: the 2005 Discworld short story “A Collegiate Casting-Out of Devilish Devices”, and squeezing in a bit more discussion of Thud! Every Thursday the sen…

1
There's a Cow in There (Where's My Cow?) 1:38:43

1+ y ago1:38:43

1:38:43

In this very special episode, Liz and Ben are joined by fellow Discworld podcasters Joanna Hagan and Francine Carrel on an existential journey deep into our very souls! Yes, it’s part three of our Thud!-related trilogy, in which we discuss Where’s My Cow? Every night at six o’clock, Sam Vimes, Commander of the City Watch, reads the picture book Whe…

1
What Terry Wrote (Thud!) 2:26:22

1+ y ago2:26:22

2:26:22

Designer and educator Matt Roden delves deep under Ankh-Morpork with Liz and Ben as they unravel the mystery of the penultimate City Watch book, 2005’s Thud!. As the anniversary of the Battle of Koom Valley approaches, the dwarfs and trolls of Ankh-Morpork find their ancient enmity stirred up – not least by Hamcrusher, a conservative leader of the …

1
The Troll's Gambit (Thud the board game) 1:07:32

1+ y ago1:07:32

1:07:32

Things are a bit hectic in Pratchat land this month, so to fill a gap in our schedule while Liz was unavailable, Ben has joined forces with guest academic and professional board game nerd Dr Melissa Rogerson to play and discuss Thud, the game that inspired the novel of the same name! Have you played Thud? Have you ever won as the dwarfs? Is it true…

1
Eyes Turnwise (60th episode special - listener questions) 2:34:47

1+ y ago2:34:47

2:34:47

For our sixtieth episode – our troll’s teeth anniversary – Liz and Ben are once again devoting an entire show to answering your questions, about the Discworld, Pratchett’s other work, and their own – with an eye on what’s still to come. (And yes, we allowed ourselves to break the 2.5 hour limit, just this once.) What would your ideal Pratchett adap…

1
Charlie and the Whale Factory (The Science of Discworld III: Darwin's Watch) 2:20:18

2y ago2:20:18

2:20:18

Scientist, writer and editor Dr Kat Day joins Liz and Ben on a timey-wimey to Roundworld, as the wizards once again try to save humanity in Terry Pratchett’s third collaboration with Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen: 2005’s The Science of Discworld III: Darwin’s Watch. Roundworld – the impossibly non-magical universe in a bottle which runs on rules – has…

1
Get Your Dad to Mars! (The Long Mars) 2:29:58

2y ago2:29:58

2:29:58

We prepare to find out why infinite Earths aren’t enough as writer, editor and podcaster Joel Martin returns to the podcast to fire up the fusion engine and have a close encounter of the crustacean kind in the third Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter Long Earth novel, The Long Mars. It’s 2045 – five years after the eruption of the Yellowstone super…

1
The Barbarian Switch (“Final Reward”) 1:34:45

2y ago1:34:45

1:34:45

We explore every author’s worst nightmare as writer Penny Love returns to Pratchat and finds the barrier between reality and fiction getting all wibbly-wobbly in Terry Pratchett’s 1988 short story, “Final Reward“. After a particularly bad row with his girlfriend Nicky – and a pint of wine – author Kevin Dogger decides to kill off the protagonist of…

1
Daniel Superbaboon (“The High Meggas”) 57:25

2y ago57:25

57:25

We take a last-minute step (or five) to the West, as Liz and Ben delay their chat about The Long Mars to go back to where it all began: Pratchett’s original 1986 short story “The High Meggas“. Larry Linsay, who perfected the belt technology that allows humans to move between parallel Earths, has shunned civilisation. He’s living near the coast of w…

1
do { Podcast(); } while (unreadPratchetts > 0); (“#ifdefDEBUG + 'world'/'enough' + 'time'”) 1:54:33

2y ago1:54:33

1:54:33

We travel down a leg of a very 1990s pair of the trousers of time this month, as author and musican Sean Williams joins Liz and Ben to get stuck into the artificial reality of Pratchett’s 1990 short story “#ifdefDEBUG + ‘world’/’enough’ + ‘time’“. Darren Thompson is a repairman who specialises in Seagems: artificial reality consoles that can edit a…

1
Eeek Club 2022 (subscriber questions) 1:41:58

2y ago1:41:58

1:41:58

It’s a second instalment of the Pratchat Eeek Club! Each year, on the Glorious 25th of May, we release a bonus episode discussing Terry Pratchett-related topics selected by our “Eeek” tier subscribers. This year, the topics are: What was good, fun and enjoyable about The Watch? Is Vimes a Cynic, a Stoic, or an Epicurean? What was Granny Weatherwax …

1
Mr Doodle, the Man on the Moon (The Last Hero) 2:20:15

2y ago2:20:15

2:20:15

It’s an illustrated Discworld crossover special as Georgina Chadderton rejoins Liz and Ben to talk gods, dragons and outer space in the twenty-seventh Discworld novel, 2001’s The Last Hero, illustrated by Paul Kidby. Genghiz Cohen, Emperor of the Agatean Empire, has deserted his throne, and along with his horde is heading for the mountain at the hu…

1
The Land Before Vimes (Night Watch) 2:29:37

2y ago2:29:37

2:29:37

The Trousers of Time end up in a knot as writer Nadia Bailey rejoins Liz and Ben and we go back to the Glorious Past in the twenty-ninth Discworld novel, 2002’s Night Watch. While pursuing dangerous killer Carcer across the rooftop of Unseen University, a magical bolt of lightning (or something) sends Sir Samuel Vimes, Commander of the City Watch a…

1
A (Very) Few Words by Hner Ner Hner (Discworld miscellany) 1:14:46

2+ y ago1:14:46

1:14:46

Surprise! In an emergency substitution, Liz and Ben get a glimpse of everyday life in Ankh-Morpork as they dive into three very small bits of Discworld ephemera collected in A Blink of the Screen. The Ankh-Morpork National Anthem captures the experience of those forced to sing patriotic songs everywhere – but even the single complete verse tells us…

1
A Near-Watch Experience (BBC America's The Watch) 2:18:13

2+ y ago2:18:13

2:18:13

This month, we’ve put down the books and picked up the remote control! Guests Patrick Lenton and Fury join us to discuss a show “based on characters created by Sir Terry Pratchett”: 2021’s The Watch. Sam Vimes was a street kid in Ankh-Morpork who joined the Watch to kill its Captain and free the imprisoned members of his gang. But he had a change o…

1
Boffoing the Winter Slayer (Wintersmith) 2:10:14

2+ y ago2:10:14

2:10:14

Welcome to the Year of the Lachrymating Leveret! Bestselling sci-fi and fantasy author Garth Nix joins Liz and Ben up in the Ramtops, where Tiffany Aching dances a forbidden dance and gets into more trouble in the thirty-fifth Discworld novel, 2006’s Wintersmith. Two years after her first Witch Trial, Tiffany Aching is nearly a teenager and two mon…

1
Oggswatch Feast 2021 (Nanny Ogg’s Cookbook recipes) 2:08:40

2+ y ago2:08:40

2:08:40

Ho ho ho, Merry Hogswatch! To celebrate the festive season, and our own fiftieth episode, we’ve brought together a bunch of guests of Hogswatch Past, Present and Future – including the hosts no fewer than three other Discworld podcasts – for a special feast of additional recipes from Nanny Ogg’s Cookbook. Be warned: this podcast contains bananana! …

1
Salt Rat Arsenic Heat (Nanny Ogg's Cookbook) 1:40:20

2+ y ago1:40:20

1:40:20

Happy fiftieth episode to us! We’re celebrating with the return of our very first guest, comedian and author Cal Wilson! Cal joins Liz and Ben in the kitchen to brave the recipes within the 1999 Discworld side project Nanny Ogg’s Cookbook, co-authored by Terry Pratchett, Stephen Briggs and Tina Hannan, with illustrations by Paul Kidby. After his la…

1
Once More, With Future ("Once and Future") 1:45:22

2+ y ago1:45:22

1:45:22

Arts journalist, critic and broadcaster Richard Watts joins Liz and Ben on a trip sideways in time with reluctant wizard Mervin (with a V) in Terry Pratchett’s 1995 short story “Once and Future”, originally published in the Arthurian collection Camelot. As he stands on the beach waiting for the right hopeful king to come along, professional time tr…

1
Lu-Tze in the Sky with Lobsang (Thief of Time) 2:27:34

2+ y ago2:27:34

2:27:34

Freelance writer and journalist Ben Riley joins Liz and Ben for a magical history tour as Susan Sto Helit teams up with a couple of monks to stop time…er…stopping in Terry Pratchett’s twenty-sixth Discworld novel: 2001’s Thief of Time. In Ankh-Morpork, a mystery woman tasks the odd but talented Jeremy Clockson to build a clock so accurate it can me…

1
A Finite Number of Shakespeares (The Science of Discworld II: The Globe) 2:11:42

3y ago2:11:42

2:11:42

Science comedian and public health nerd Alanta Colley joins Liz and Ben on their second trip through Discworld into Roundworld. It’s Terry Pratchett’s second collaboration with Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen: 2002’s The Science of Discworld II: The Globe. While on a team-building exercise in the woods near Unseen University, Archchancellor Mustrum Ridc…

1
The Helen Green Preservation Society (The Long War) 2:29:23

3y ago2:29:23

2:29:23

Writer and editor Deanne Sheldon-Collins joins Liz and Ben as they return to the infinite worlds of the Long Earth to discuss Terry Pratchett’s second collaboration with Stephen Baxter: 2013’s The Long War. In the ten years since anti-stepping extremists nuked his home town of Madison on the original “Datum” Earth, natural stepper and explorer Josh…

1
Twice as Alive (live special; Men at Arms) 56:13

3y ago56:13

56:13

With the ei- the twice-fourth Australian Discworld Convention postponed until next year, Liz and Ben fired up their crystal balls to project themselves live for the one-day online event, Nullus Anxietas: The Lost Con! In this special one-hour mini-episode, we revisit the very first Terry Pratchett book discussed on the podcast: the fifteenth Discwo…

1
Hogswatch in Grune ("Twenty Pence, with Envelope and Seasonal Greeting") 1:19:46

3y ago1:19:46

1:19:46

Surprise! In the great Australian tradition of Christmas in July, Liz and Ben are joined by writer and literary horror fan Penelope Love to discuss Terry Pratchett’s short story “Twenty Pence, With Envelope and Seasonal Greeting”, first published on the 16th of December, 1987. It’s Christmas Eve, 1843, and the driver of a missing Mail Coach is disc…

1
A Short Announcement re: The Long War 5:08

3y ago5:08

5:08

For the second time – and coincidentally for another of the books in The Long Earth series – we’ve made a change in our schedule! Our next book will still be The Long War, as announced in #Pratchat44, but we’re postponing that until August. Our forty-fifth episode, #Pratchat45, will instead discuss Pratchett’s 1987 short story, “Twenty Pence, With …

1
Cosmic Turtle Soup (The Light Fantastic) 2:18:37

3y ago2:18:37

2:18:37

We’ve waited two-and-a-half years for its 35th anniversary, but finally Joel Martin rejoins Liz and Ben to resolve the Disc’s first (and most literal) cliffhanger in The Light Fantastic, Terry Pratchett’s second Discworld novel, first published on the 2nd of June, 1986. When we last saw them, failed wizard Rincewind, Twoflower the tourist and Twofl…

1
Eeek Club 2021 (subscriber questions) 1:39:27

3y ago1:39:27

1:39:27

Welcome to a new tradition: the Pratchat Eeek Club! Each year, on the Glorious 25th of May, we will release a bonus episode discussing Terry Pratchett-related topics selected by our Eeek tier subscribers. This year, the topics are: How would Ankh-Morpork deal with COVID-19? What would happen if Granny Weatherwax was head of Unseen University – or i…

1
Big Wee Hag: Far Fra' Home (A Hat Full of Sky) 2:19:18

3y ago2:19:18

2:19:18

Poet and writer Sally Evans joins Liz and Ben as they rejoin Tiffany Aching for a trip up into the mountains to meet the next generation of witches in A Hat Full of Sky, Terry Pratchett’s 32nd Discworld novel, first published in 2004. Note that while this episode discusses a book for younger readers, it does contain swearing and we discuss concepts…

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