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David K. Barnes

@davidkbarnes.com
2.3K followers 354 following 840 posts

Writes lots of serious whimsy | Wooden Overcoats | Cry Havoc! | Doctor Who | The Tiny Angry Witch | He/Him | would really like a pastry linktr.ee/davidkbarnes

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David K. Barnes @davidkbarnes.com · 27/09/2026
It wouldn't have been possible to write them without knowing that the @woodenovercoats.bsky.social team would knock them out of the park. Music, editing, performances, production; it's a dream to have it all come together like this. We still make sitcoms. They're just smuggled out, that's all.
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David K. Barnes @davidkbarnes.com · 27/09/2026
We finished Wooden Overcoats in 2022... but I always wanted to go back to Piffling Vale. So writing a new script for the London Podcast Festival in 2025 was a joy, and taking that script to a studio was a marvel. I'm so glad we got to make 4 x new episodes. They might be my best work!
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David K. Barnes @davidkbarnes.com · 26/09/2026
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
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David K. Barnes @davidkbarnes.com · 24/09/2026
My sitcom Wooden Overcoats has 4 x new episodes! RUDYARD RUINS EVERYTHING a very miniseries It begins today! You can listen to it for free on your podcast apps! Please do. I think it's the best thing I've written - and maybe the best run of episodes we've made together!
A colourful image of Georgie, Antigone, Rudyard and Eric tucking into a coffin-shaped birthday cake.Actors Beth Eyre, Felix Trench, Tom Crowley and Ciara Baxendale at the London Podcast Festival.Tom Crowley, Ciara Baxendale, Beth Eyre, Andy Secombe and Felix Trench recording Wooden Overcoats in studio.Group pic of the cast and crew of Rudyard Ruins Everything
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Wooden Overcoats @woodenovercoats.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Wooden Overcoats: Rudyard Ruins Everything A Very Mini Series DAY THREE (of four) is out now Why is Georgie swinging an axe? Find out now by listening to 'Wooden Overcoats' - wherever you get your podcasts!
Georgie Crusoe with an axe in the small (but incredibly dense) Piffling Woods, in WOODEN OVERCOATS - find on your podcast app now!
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Wooden Overcoats @woodenovercoats.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Wooden Overcoats: Rudyard Ruins Everything A Very Mini Series DAY TWO (of four) is out now A full-cast scripted British sitcom narrated by Belinda Lang. Download and listen now, wherever you get your podcasts.
Antigone flinches from the sight of a spooky kettle in WOODEN OVERCOATS: Rudyard Ruins Everything, Day Two
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David K. Barnes @davidkbarnes.com · 24/09/2026
More sitcoms! More sitcoms!
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David K. Barnes @davidkbarnes.com · 24/09/2026
Thank you!
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David K. Barnes @davidkbarnes.com · 24/09/2026
The cast are sensational, and the production values from Andy Goddard and John Wakefield are through the roof. We're a British sitcom, independently made. It'd mean a lot to us if you gave it a listen on your commute or while doing the dishes this evening. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/r...
podcasts.apple.com
Rudyard Ruins Everything: A Very Mini Series - DAY 1
Podcast Episode · Wooden Overcoats · 24 September · 28min
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David K. Barnes @davidkbarnes.com · 24/09/2026
We first did Rudyard Ruins Everything on stage at the London Podcast Festival. We loved it. So then I cut the show down into 4 x episodes and we took them to a studio so we could record them afresh with an expanded cast.
Wooden Overcoats on stage with a big audience and a bigger logo
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David K. Barnes @davidkbarnes.com · 24/09/2026
My sitcom Wooden Overcoats has 4 x new episodes! RUDYARD RUINS EVERYTHING a very miniseries It begins today! You can listen to it for free on your podcast apps! Please do. I think it's the best thing I've written - and maybe the best run of episodes we've made together!
A colourful image of Georgie, Antigone, Rudyard and Eric tucking into a coffin-shaped birthday cake.Actors Beth Eyre, Felix Trench, Tom Crowley and Ciara Baxendale at the London Podcast Festival.Tom Crowley, Ciara Baxendale, Beth Eyre, Andy Secombe and Felix Trench recording Wooden Overcoats in studio.Group pic of the cast and crew of Rudyard Ruins Everything
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Wooden Overcoats @woodenovercoats.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Rudyard Ruins Everything: A Very Mini Series - DAY ONE Out now wherever you get your podcasts.
An illustration of Rudyard Funn with a birthday cake against a green background. He is wearing a party hat. Madeleine sits on the table.
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David K. Barnes @davidkbarnes.com · 18/09/2026
I am proud of my crimes against literature, justly proud
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David K. Barnes @davidkbarnes.com · 18/09/2026
Thank'ee!
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David K. Barnes @davidkbarnes.com · 18/09/2026
I'm Speakies Shortlisted! I wrote the scripts for Audible's Crime Scenes, going somewhat beyond my whimsical comfort zone. It's a true crime series with lots of blood and gore and nasty people with too much time on their hands. (So expect Rudyard Ruins True Crime next year)
The Speakies: The British Audio Awards

Best Podcast: Narrative

Shortlisted:
Charles Dickens Ghost Stories
Crime Scenes (the show what I worked on)
James Pond
Sherlock & Co
Storytime Takeover
Wolf ValleyThe Speakies: The British Audio Awards

Best Podcast: Narrative

Shortlisted

Audible Original - Crime Scenes

(I wrote the scripts for this series)
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David K. Barnes @davidkbarnes.com · 15/09/2026
“IT’S TERILEPTIL TINCLAVIC YOU WHORE, IT’S WORTH MORE THAN YOUR ENTIRE COUNTRY!”
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David K. Barnes @davidkbarnes.com · 15/09/2026
I have a terrible feeling that whoever they are they’re already far wealthier than I’ll ever be.
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David K. Barnes @davidkbarnes.com · 15/09/2026
No spoilers for Middlemarch please
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David K. Barnes @davidkbarnes.com · 15/09/2026
I’m just a man trying to read a Penguin Classic in a hospital, while this guy’s phone roars across the waiting room: “YOU SLUT! THERE’S A TWO BILLION DOLLAR BOUNTY ON YOUR HEAD!!!”
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David K. Barnes @davidkbarnes.com · 15/09/2026
In one episode, a young woman is told by an older female doctor that she has “vaginal tearing because of promiscuity” so the woman smacks her to the ground and yells “You old hag! You won’t stop my marriage to the richest man in New York!”
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David K. Barnes @davidkbarnes.com · 15/09/2026
Sat in a crowded hospital waiting room next to someone who’s watching vertical dramas on their phone out loud without earbuds. I’m annoyed by the noise, but it’s also the first time I’ve seen vertical dramas being consumed in the wild. Now I’m annoyed and confused.
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Dan Whitehead @danwhitehead.net · 10/09/2026
The fact we have an executive class that doesn't know what to do with the Looney Tunes or The Muppets really sums up what a joyless, barren world they inhabit.
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James Hamilton @jameshamiltonwriter.com · 10/09/2026
GOOMA: no arms, no hips, but a ton of pizazz. making the most of what he has. doing a lot with a little. a lesson for us all. 8/10
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David K. Barnes @davidkbarnes.com · 10/09/2026
Thank you Ella! It was a fab evening. We're all very proud (and exhausted)!
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David K. Barnes @davidkbarnes.com · 10/09/2026
@gralefrit.bsky.social - hoping this might be up your street!
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David K. Barnes @davidkbarnes.com · 10/09/2026
Now look here. If you missed Wooden Overcoats: Rudyard on the Moon, then you can still stream it until the 20th! I reckon it was the best live show we've ever done, so have a gander at the trailer below to see some snippets! Undertakers + Moon = sitcom (hopefully)
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The Empty City @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
NEW The legal agony of Wile E Coyote Coyote vs Acme may be one of the best films about civil litigation ever made By me, at @prospectmagazine.co.uk www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/th...
prospectmagazine.co.uk
The legal agony of Wile E Coyote
Coyote vs Acme may be one of the best films about civil litigation ever made
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David K. Barnes @davidkbarnes.com · 07/09/2026
Thank you to everyone who came to Wooden Overcoats yesterday to see us launch Rudyard to the moon! I celebrated by going to see Coyote vs Acme this afternoon and loved it
The Wooden Overcoats cast and me standing on stage after the show last night
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David K. Barnes @davidkbarnes.com · 06/09/2026
Getting ready for Wooden Overcoats tech run. Rudyard On the Moon is tonight at 7pm! Tickets available for: - watching in the room - watching online, live - watching online, up to 7 days after www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/pod...
Me, poncing around on stage
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David K. Barnes @davidkbarnes.com · 05/09/2026
“Who’d have me?”
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Stephen Collins @stephencollins.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Remember: it could be someone you know.
[Scene is a parody of a 1970s Public Information Film. A young girl is going home from school.] 

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[She leaves the school gates]. 

VOICEOVER:

The world today
is full of people.

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You meet lots of them every day. 

[The girl crosses the road with the help of a LOLLIPOP MAN]

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LOLLIPOP MAN says ’to camera’ [girl’s POV]:

Mind ‘ow you go, love.

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But every time you meet one,

[She gets on a bus]

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BUS DRIVER [also talking to camera]:

That’ll be 40p, please

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[She enters a sweet shop]

You must always think to yourself:

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[The kindly looking woman behind the counter hands her a bag of pick n mix]
 
KINDLY WOMAN:
There y’are, sweet’art...

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[Voiceover again]:

Could *they* be a person who leaves one-star reviews for things when they get sent the wrong item?

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[The woman picks up a smartphone to write something]

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[Cut to a view of her phone screen, it is an Amazon review page for Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro]: 
 
Never Let Me Go
by Kazuo Ishiguro
[one star]
THIS ISN’T A PRIT STICK

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[Woman looks ‘to camera’ at the girl, sinisterly]

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[Girl’s terrified face behind the ad’s final text line]:

Always have one-star-reviewers-of-things-for-not-being-other-things sense.

[Ends]
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David K. Barnes @davidkbarnes.com · 03/09/2026
I thought at first this was The Good Life content I’ve been craving.
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David K. Barnes @davidkbarnes.com · 02/09/2026
Yes the show will be streaming online too, so you can watch it live anywhere in the world! And if you're not free on Sunday at 7pm UK time, your ticket entitles you to watch the finished recording for up to 7 days after the show, so there's no way to miss it! www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/pod...
kingsplace.co.uk
Wooden Overcoats Live: Rudyard On The Moon – Online Stream • Podcast • Kings Place
Wooden Overcoats is a British Podcast Award-winning sitcom, returning to London Podcast Festival with an entirely new episode. We invite you to join “RUDYARD ON THE MOON”
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David K. Barnes @davidkbarnes.com · 02/09/2026
Hello! On Sunday at 7pm I'll be on stage in London with the Wooden Overcoats gang and my newest comedy script, Rudyard on the Moon! It's sort of HG Wells + PG Wodehouse = this. Book a ticket and come along! (Please) Or stream it online (see post below) www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/pod...
kingsplace.co.uk
Wooden Overcoats Live: Rudyard On The Moon • Podcast • Kings Place
Wooden Overcoats is a British Podcast Award-winning sitcom, returning to London Podcast Festival with an entirely new episode. We invite you to join “RUDYARD ON THE MOON”
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David K. Barnes @davidkbarnes.com · 26/08/2026
An outrageous Hollywood conflating of the Peasants’ Revolt and Robin Hood, which presumably erases the historically attested role of Wat Tambor and the Techno Union.
Wat Tambor, Techno Union rep and arch enemy of King Richard II
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Micah @rincewind.run · 25/08/2026
dolly parton taught millions of children to read dolly parton raised millions of dollars for cancer research and disaster relief dolly parton stood by the lgbtq community her entire life dolly parton personally helped fund the moderna vaccine if there was a right side of something she was on it
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KJ Shepherd @kjshepherd.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
there will be many ways to celebrate dolly parton and the one I want to point out is that she was a friend of Miss Piggy
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Jonny Morris @jonnymorris.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
The distracted boyfriend meme but with Doctor Who stuff.
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David K. Barnes @davidkbarnes.com · 24/08/2026
“I’m writing a book about nightmares!” a) terrifying b) standard method of address from British authors
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David K. Barnes @davidkbarnes.com · 24/08/2026
Saw the excellent 60s drama BUNNY LAKE IS MISSING last night. It came strongly recommended to me by an American friend who said it was filled with nightmarish maniacs who keep gibbering nonsense, and it turned out they were British character actors talking about the BBC.
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David K. Barnes @davidkbarnes.com · 20/08/2026
I met a pelican
A pelican. He’s seen me. He’s seen me.
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The Tiny Angry Witch @tinyangrywitch.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
⭐ BOOK ⭐ The Tiny Angry Witch has got a book of magic - but when you’re tiny, turning the pages can be tricky… This is our longest video so far. Stop-motion animation, made with models, props, and patience! Written, built, animated, voiced, and scored by 4 x people (and 1 x Witch)
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David K. Barnes @davidkbarnes.com · 20/08/2026
Making this one nearly killed us, but it’s one of our Tiny Angry Witch favourites
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David K. Barnes @davidkbarnes.com · 19/08/2026
Dragged myself to the end of a first draft on the new script, chaps
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David K. Barnes @davidkbarnes.com · 17/08/2026
Yes. YES. The best version of this meme, there won’t be any better.
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Brendan Jones @retrobrendo.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
NOW
I’M FAIRLY SURE THAT’S
CROMER
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Stephen Graham @stephengraham.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Ran into a couple I know at The Big Tesco, and their poor daughter was subjected to standing idly for ages as we nattered. We inflict our childhood traumas on the next generation.
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Andrew Hinton 😷🧡 @andrewhinton.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
I’ve never seen this Harryhausen quote about why stop motion animation is its own aesthetic form & trying to make it feel like smooth live-action is a category error. ❤️
As Harryhausen summed it up in 1981:

To me, the ultimate aim in making our films has never been the smoothing out of stop-motion animation. To try to duplicate live action in every way seems to me like asking a painter to paint a landscape so it will appear like a photograph. Our pictures are more of a surrealistic experience rather than an excursion into technical perfection. I’m certain technical perfection has its place and its advantages, but could you really make a sequence such as the skeleton swordfight in Jason and the Argonauts … with a computer?
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David K. Barnes @davidkbarnes.com · 06/08/2026
Well, Doctor. This IS a surprise!
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David K. Barnes @davidkbarnes.com · 06/08/2026
!!!!
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