Tom in Eliza from Crowd Network

ELIZA: A ROBOT STORY

A PODCAST DRAMA SERIES
WRITTEN BY EMMA HICKMAN
STARRING TANYA REYNOLDS
AND ARTHUR DARVILL

PRODUCED BY ELLA WATTS FOR CROWD NETWORK
IN ASSOCIATION WITH MANCHESTER WOMEN’S AID

It’s this week’s Guardian Podcast Pick of the Week and Episode 1 is out today, it’s Eliza: A Robot Story by Emma Hickman! But what’s it about, you ask? Here’s the official blurb:

Tanya Reynolds (Sex Education) stars in a dark, near-future science fiction fairytale about a robot who can feel, and the world that attempts to control her. When a robot called Eliza falls in love with Him (Arthur Darvill, Doctor Who), they work together to make her fully sentient. But consciousness doesn’t come without consequences. As Eliza gets caught in a web of both loving and abusive relationships, she has to fight to survive.

Using the time-honoured power of sci-fi as an analogue for our present day problems, Eliza explores questions of coercive control and abusive relationships through a world of advanced artificial intelligence and robo-bigotry. But where does Tom come into it, you ask? Well, I was chuffed to bits to be brought in by producer Ella Watts to play my usual assortment of background bastards with various regional and intercontinental accents. I’m backgrounding alongside Sarah Griffin, fantastic voice actor and lovely person, with whom I’m delighted to be working again. Just as fantastic and lovely are lead actors Tanya Reynolds and Arthur Darvill, with whom it was a pleasure and a privilege to act in the studio and eat muesli bars in the break room.

Eliza is written with great sensitivity and flair by newcomer Emma Hickman, and as well as raising awareness of the dangers of coercive control through the story, the programme makers are also keen to point listeners toward their publishing partners The Pankhurst Trust and Manchester Women’s Aid, as well as the National Domestic Abuse Helpline, 0808 2000 247.