''The ParaPod'' is a comedy podcast hosted by comedians

Ian Boldsworth Richard Ian Boldsworth (27 June 1973, in Warrington, England), previously known under the pseudonym Ray Peacock, is a comic performer, best known for '' The ParaPod'', '' The Peacock and Gamble Podcast'' and the Ray Peacock Podcast. He came to ...

and Barry Dodds. Its subject matter is the

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Nota ...

, with

skepticism Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the pe ...

represented by Boldsworth and

belief A belief is an attitude that something is the case, or that some proposition is true. In epistemology, philosophers use the term "belief" to refer to attitudes about the world which can be either true or false. To believe something is to take i ...

represented by Dodds. The podcast ran for three series (

ghosts A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...

, mysteries,

conspiracies A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agree ...

) and three specials between 2015 and 2018. In March 2018 a teaser was released for an upcoming ''Parapod Movie'', a month later a full trailer was released and consistent updates on the films status have been provided since. The three series consists of 30 episodes and, as of April 2018, it has been downloaded over 2 million times. Episodes usually follow the structure of "intro" (paranormal- and podcast-related news), "featured haunting" (the main subject matter of the episode); "The BD Files" (listener correspondence); and "rituals" (ways to allegedly summon a ghost). Some episodes have also featured pre-recorded or live telephone interviews and a 2016 special took the form of an

outside broadcast Outside broadcasting (OB) is the electronic field production (EFP) of television or radio programmes (typically to cover television news and sports television events) from a mobile remote broadcast television studio. Professional video camera ...

at a purportedly

haunted house A haunted house, spook house or ghost house in ghostlore is a house or other building often perceived as being inhabited by disembodied spirits of the deceased who may have been former residents or were otherwise connected with the prope ...

Pontefract Pontefract is a historic market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England, east of Wakefield and south of Castleford. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is one of the towns in the City of Wake ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

. Each episode begins with a warning in the style of a

legal disclaimer A disclaimer is generally any statement intended to specify or delimit the scope of rights and obligations that may be exercised and enforced by parties in a legally recognized relationship. In contrast to other terms for legally operative langua ...

not to enact any of the rituals or instructions described in the show.

Awards and recognition

''The ParaPod'' was nominated for

Chortle Awards The Chortle Awards were set up in 2002 by the comedy website Chortle to honour the best of established stand-up comics currently working in the UK. A panel of reviewers draw up a shortlist, which is presented for public vote at the Chortle websit ...

in 2016 and 2017, and an Ockham Award for Skeptical Excellence in 2017. It won Best Online Comedy at the Midlands Comedy Awards in 2016 and was selected as a cultural highlight of 2016 by

Sofie Hagen Sofie Hagen is a London-based Danish comedian, author, podcaster, fashion designer, and fat acceptance campaigner. She has toured with comedy shows, released a book and hosted and co-hosted a number of podcasts. Biography Sofie Hagen was bor ...

in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

Episodes

In addition to these main episodes and specials, there are ten short "Parapod Extras" that ran largely through the first season between main episodes. In these extras, Barry demonstrates to Ian a piece of his ghost seeking equipment.

''The ParaPod Movie''

''The Parapod movie'' had its world premiere on 7 January 2020 at

Prince Charles Cinema The Prince Charles Cinema (PCC) is a repertory cinema located in Leicester Place, 50 yards north of Leicester Square in the West End of London. It shows a rotating programme of cult, arthouse, and classic films alongside recent Hollywood releas ...

in London's

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develop ...

. The film was financed through

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...

and funding from film maker Bil Bungay, producer of the supernatural horror film ''

When the Lights Went Out ''When the Lights Went Out'' is a 2012 British supernatural horror film directed by Pat Holden and starring Kate Ashfield, Tasha Connor, Steven Waddington, Craig Parkinson, Martin Compston, and Jo Hartley. It was released in the UK on 13 Septe ...

''. The film is directed by Boldsworth with music by Thomas Van Der Ree and follows the basic premise of the podcast. The film was scheduled to tour independent cinemas in the spring of 2020 with question and answers with cast and crew after each showing but was postponed after only a handful of performances due to

Covid Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

pandemic restrictions. The movie is the first to be transferred from podcast to full-length feature film and is accompanied by a new series of the podcast to accompany the movie without spoilers. The movie was completed in 2019, runs for 108 minutes and is rated 15.

Gallery

File:1 - Ian Boldsworth, QED Con 2017, The Parapod podcast 01.jpg, Ian Boldsworth introducing the ParaPod at QEDcon 2017 File:2 - Ian Boldsworth, QED Con 2017, The Parapod podcast 02.jpg, Ian Boldsworth (L) with co-host Barry Dodds (R) at QEDcon 2017

References

External links

*
The ParaPod on Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:ParaPod Audio podcasts 2015 podcast debuts 2018 podcast endings Horror podcasts Comedy and humor podcasts