The Watership Down Podcast

41: Part Four: Hazel-rah Chapter 39. The Bridges Scripted by John Ruths and Newell Fisher An additional thought from John Ruths, following last weeks episode: "Do you think that maybe rabbits could 'feel' the moon?  As in could they possibly feel the electromagnetic effects?... If so, an Adams' rabbit could seemingly speak about the moon with more knowledge. Although, the real purpose of having a...

40: Fu Inlé Scripted by Newell Fisher and John Ruths In this episode we will be exploring the Lapine phrase 'Fu Inlé', or 'After moonrise', which is used in WD as a very rough method of timekeeping. How Fu Inlé would work At the Full Moon "after moonrise" would be roughly the period after sunset. It would be a useful way of timing Evening Silflay. At the Waning Half Moon "after moonrise" would be...

An interview with John Ruths, the first other voice on the podcast

38: Chapter 38. The Thunder Breaks Scripted by John Ruths and Newell Fisher This is one of the most military chapters in character in WD. The pre-chapter quote is spoken by Cassius in Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare. The chapter opens along the riverbank of the Test.  Hazel is nervous.  Kehaar is letting him know what we just heard in Chapter 37, namely the part about tonight being the night....

36: Chapter 36. Approaching Thunder Scripted by John Ruths and Newell Fisher The quotation at the start of the chapter is from a british music hall song, probably 19th Century in origin. This is a fairly short chapter but one in which a lot happens. This is the first of the three "thunder" chapters, in which the weather and the escape from Efrafa parallel one another.    Right in the beginning, Bi...

35: Chapter 35. Groping  Scripted by John Ruths and Newell Fisher.  The pre-chapter quote is interesting and taken from a much longer Samuel Johnson quote that is really a prayer. Later on, Bigwig does hear from a supernatural voice that is either El-ahrairah or, possibly, Frith. This chapter opens with Bigwig and some on-the-job training being administered by Chervil and Avens. Even bur...

34: Chapter 34. General Woundwort  Scripted by John Ruths and Newell Fisher The opening quotation is by the Prussian military tactician Carl von Clausewitz. It refers to the importance of a strong leader in any military enterprise. Because that is exactly what Efrafa is really. For the first time, we join General Woundwort in the present. We learn, almost straight away, about how hard Woundwo...

33: Chapter 33. The Great River This episode is scripted by John Ruths and Newell Fisher. The pre-chapter quote, from 'The Wind in the Willows', is all about a river as a living, moving thing, almost talking about it as if it's a living animal. Pipkin sees Hazel and states that his leg is dragging. We now see that what Hazel said earlier about his permanently wounded leg is holding true. It will n...

29: Death in Watership Down    This episode is dedicated to Elli    29.1 Burrowkeeping    The theme of this episode has kind of been dictated by events. Last Friday, one of our cats was killed on a road near where we live. So...on the principle that, if life gives you lemons, you should probably make lemonade, death in WD will now be the theme of this episode, as a tribute to our Elli cat.    29.2...

28: The Unscripted Meta Episode 28.1 Freeform episode, due to family circumstances 28.2 Ramble One The appeal of WD WD as a Special Interest (Autistic Spectrum Disorder) Creating a WD aesthetic 28.3 This podcast's audience as at 9/9/21 Audience numbers Country Gender Age 28.4 Next Episode One more in which I don't go through the book. Not sure what I'll be doing yet.

27: Chapter 29. Return and Departure and Review of Part 2.    27.1 Burrowkeeping    One bit of burrowkeeping: I have added the musical interludes to episodes 1 to 7, as I didn't start using them until episode 8.     27.2 Chapter 29. Return and Departure    The opening quotation is among the more obvious in the book, as Shakespeare's Henry the Fifth guilt-trips his troops into fighting alongside hi...

26: Chapter 28. At the Foot of the Hill  26.1: Burrowkeeping  Rebecca Porter is proving a very effective correcter of detail. Her latest refers to my skepticism about Blackberry definitely being the rabbit with black tipped ears, which I completely missed, from Chapter 3:   “…Blackberry, the rabbit with tipped ears who’d been startled by Fiver the evening before…”  26.2 Kehaar and Black Headed gul...

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21: Chapter 23. Kehaar  21.1 Burrowkeeping   A couple of mistakes from last week.  I got the Chapter number wrong. It was Chapter 22 not 21. I have corrected the episode title and notes. I also referred to Hazel as Holly a couple of times.  21.2 Chroicocephalus ridibundus or the Black-headed Gull  The back-headed gull is a small gull. They have red beaks, as opposed to the yellow/orange beaks of l...

20: Chapter 22. The Story of the Trial of El-ahrairah     After the incredible heaviness of the previous chapter, a chapter about El-ahrairah being put of trial for his life comes as a bit of light relief.    It takes the theme of rabbits mentioning things one wonders how they would know about to the next extreme, with the story-teller displaying knowledge of the concept of a jury-trial.   The ope...

19: Chapter 21. ‘For El-ahrairah to Cry’  The chapter is the first in the book to open with two quotes.   Holly begins his account by saying what happened in the immediate aftermath of the group leaving Sandleford. The search was quickly called off.  The following day there were a lot of rumours about Fiver saying something bad was coming. On the next day he saw a group of men approach the Warren....

18: Chapter 20.  A Honeycomb and a Mouse    18.1 Burrowkeeping    This week we look at Chapter 20, but first a brief look at a character in the book who has been changed perhaps more than any other in screen versions of the story.    18.2 Strawberry    Strawberry is the only rabbit who arrives at WD with the group who was not from Sandleford and his emotional journey in the book is fascinating.   ...

17: Chapter 19. Fear in the Dark  17.1  Burrowkeeping   Last weeks episode was done a bit on the fly and was a bit more rough around the edges than usual, for which I apologise.  There was also another very annoying sound drop last week at 8:20, which I didn't notice until I published. The full phrase was: "The chapter opens on the evening of the following day after the group left the Warren of th...

16: Part Two: On Watership Down. Chapter 18. Watership Down    16.1 Burrowkeeping     I am going to ask for some feedback on the notes. Are they useful? Or have you not looked at them?    Please let me know what you think. This can be a comment on the facebook page or an email to thewatershipdownpodcast@outlook.com. Or @thewatershipdo1 on Twitter.  And do remember you can get your voice on this po...

Episode 14: Originalism and Revisionism plus early reviews of the original book. One day I will finish going through the original book and will embark upon a discussion of the portrayals of the book on film and TV. At that point I am going to have to address the tension between the originalist approach to the story and the revisionist approach. Basically this is the tension between the view that t...

12: Chapters 15-16. The Story of the King's Lettuce and Silverweed     12.1: Burrowkeeping    There is a petition against building on Sandleford Park, the site of the Sandleford Warren in WD. Petition link:     https://www.change.org/p/secretary-of-state-for-housing-communities-and-local-government-sandleford-watership-down-faces-developer-threat-to-ancient-woodlands-protected-animals?recruiter=89...

11: Chapter 14. 'Like Trees in November'     11.1 Housekeeping: Correction of the week: There was a brief sound drop while discussing the opening quote of the chapter last episode.     11.2 Chapter 14. 'Like Trees in November': This is a phrase that needs explaining to anyone who lives in a different climate. In the UK, particularly in southern England where the book is set, the year is very much...

10: Chapter 13. Hospitality     10.1 Housekeeping     Slip up of last episode: I referred once to being a "fact of WD" rather than a fan. Jeremy Downing from Ohio has been going through his collection of editions of WD in search of the lost paragraph. I will be feeding back with the results once I have crunched the information. No sermon this week. I'm sorry if I laid on the politics a bit thick l...

9: Introduction to Cowslip’s Warren and Chapter 12. The Stranger in the Field     9.1 Housekeeping     Correction from last episode: I said Hazel was with Fiver, rather than Pipkin, as he came through the Common, while I was going through Chapter 11.     The Lost Paragraph: Further information from Maxine Tubb re. first edition not having the paragraph. Please let me know any information you have...

7.1 Introduction   Another shout out to Will Fuller for his recommendation on the WD Fans Facebook group. We’re planning an episode in June on the two most recent audiobooks. Thanks also to Ric Morris who has been providing me with a LOT of material for future podcasts. Including information on...THE LOST PARAGRAPH. More on this when I cover Chapter 11.   There may be times I pair chapters togethe...