Letter from Helvetica: Fiction Podcast

Andrew Mackintosh (DS Greig)makes his long-awaited return to acting in a brand new fiction podcast! "Letter from Helvetica" is based on a novel that Andrew wrote in his spare time over a four-year period. In a blinding flash of unadulterated genius – albeit one that took about ten years to gestate – he realised that it would make a splendid podcast. With good fortune, he managed to persuade fellow The Bill alumnus Natalie Roles (DS McAllister) into playing the role of Abigail, and entice Oliver Crocker (The Bill Podcast) into producing it. Letter from Helvetica is a humorous ‘epistolary’ novel that takes the form of emails exchanged between Abigail Wesley, a talented young botanist from Surrey, and her Uncle John, an acerbic retired Lieutenant Colonel who lives in the not quite real village of Helvetica in Cornwall. Abigail has been sent by her employer to research, among other things, Kava-Kava root on the ever so slightly made-up island of Burbango, a tiny speck of dormant volcano nestling among the 83 islands that make up the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu. Having tasked her with spending a whole year away from her home, her kindly boss has agreed for her to be accompanied by her husband and three young children. John Stotter, a retired Lieutenant Colonel, lives in a rambling old house in the tiny village of Helvetica that skulks in the far Western reaches of Cornwall. Uncle to Abigail, the two enjoy a relationship that is considerably closer than that she has ever had with her father. Sharing a similar outlook on life and a similar sense of humour, they resolve to write to each other regularly during her sojourn in the Southern Hemisphere. Letter from Helvetica is the collected chronicles, tales, musings and canards that constitute their correspondence, introducing us along the way to a veritable mishmash, jumble and salmagundi of diverse characters. It takes a wry look at the nature of village life and turns on its head some of our preconceptions regarding what is ‘civilised’ and what is ‘primitive’. And it takes a sideways glance at the sometimes peculiar and complex relationships with clothing that different cultures develop, even when clothing offers no discernible benefit. We have a Crowdfund live on Indiegogo, where there are multiple Bill-related perks to claim - and we are almost at 90% of our target to be able to produce the first series! Find out more and get involved if you can at https://igg.me/at/letterfromhelvetica