Dai (Tobias Weatherburn), Morgan (Angharad Phillips), Perry (Robyn Holdaway and their dog Gelert (Hobbes the lion) are on the run across a changed UK. King Arthur is behind them, for now, and so is Gwaine (Paul Warren), their fourth member. Ahead of them is an uncertain future, a devastated landscape in constant flux and the growing suspicion that their stories are no longer their own.

Writer/director Ella Watts and producer Amber Devereux of Tin Can Audio always do great work and this is some of their best to date. At time of writing one episode has been released and a second has been released for review and if you love post-apocalyptic stories, not to mention post-post-apocalyptic stories, this is for you.

The genius of this is the way that Watts trusts us to land in the middle of the story. We start on the run, literally and as the episode unfolds we learn just enough to understand who these people are. Morgan, played with stressed charm by Angharad Phillips is vitally important to Arthur’s plans. Perry, played by a near show-stealing Robyn Holdaway, is a Knight of the Table and wants nothing to do with the name or the story attached to it. Dai, who is what a very good natured golden retriever would act like if they were a human, carries the light the others warm themselves by. Perry survives. Morgan endures. Dai hopes for something better and one of the best moments in the show sees Perry acknowledge that and, quietly, tell him how important that is. The world has ended. The story hasn’t. In fact, this story has just begun.

The superb cast (Paul Warren as Gwaine who is… absent… for now also impresses) are matched by Watts’ razor sharp, carefully kind script and Devereux’s fiercely smart choices. There’s an action sequence in episode 2 scored with a rising wall of sound that is unbearably tense and Devereux mixes moments like this with the quiet, open honesty of conversations between the three. Not the last people left but the last people in their lives, talking themselves into a new narrative and holding as tight to it as they do to each other.

Verdict: Camlann is one of the strongest debuts I’ve heard from an audio drama in a long time. It evolves the post-apocalyptic story into something both older and newer, weaving myth and legend into romance, friendship and horror. It’s funny, charming, horrific and inspiring. And there’s a really good dog. You should listen. 10/10

Alasdair Stuart

Camlann releases new episodes every second Monday

Find them online @camlannpod, including the best behind the scenes video you will see this year.