Why you should start here
“The letters always arrive; the answers never come cheap.” is how the continuity announcer introduces it, and she is right. Episodes are engineered to stand alone: arrive anywhere in the run, the prelude will put you right.
Recorded in one session to wire, with the full effects bench: the 1908 stair, a recovered ship's whistle, and a rain tray the size of a dinner table.
Production notes
- Recorded live to wire, one take, corrections broadcast as appended letters.
- Engineered for standalone listening: the prelude reorients any new ear.
- Archived complete since 1952 on lacquer and wire copy.
- Broadcast at -3 dB relative to network standard, on director's orders.
Cast: three leads, rotating character pool of eleven.
Recent episode log
The full vault →| Date | Episode | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Letter 205: The Chart Room | 2026-08-06 | Iris finds a chart annotated in two hands, sixty years apart. |
| Letter 206: The Second Keeper | 2026-08-13 | A payroll record suggests Gullwrack had two keepers. The lighthouse disagrees. |
| Letter 207: Half Tide | 2026-08-20 | The bell rings at half tide. Iris is on the gallery to hear it. |
| Letter 208: The Wool Weather | 2026-08-27 | Fog thick enough to knit. The letters arrive wet, as always. |
| Letter 209: The Ferryman | 2026-09-03 | Someone rings the fog signal twice. Rules say once. |
| Letter 210: The Salt Ledger | 2026-09-10 | An account book of favours, kept by the sea. |
| Letter 211: The Underkeep | 2026-09-17 | Below the lamp room, a room that is on no plan. |
| Letter 212: The Relit Lamp | 2026-09-24 | The lamp is lit though the season ended in 1908. |
| Letter 213: The Answering Tide | 2026-10-01 | Iris answers a letter with a letter and the sea answers back. |
| Letter 214: The Ninth Season | 2026-10-08 | Season finale. The twelfth letter of the year is addressed to the listener. |
Elsewhere in repertory
Gullwrack Tide TablesThe Midnight ExchangeSignal FiresThe Understudy's WarWire & Wool