"Buffy Between the Lines" Audio Drama - Pinkraygun.com Interview

Exploring the Untold Stories of the Buffyverse

Ever wondered what happened between seasons five and six of Buffy the Vampire Slayer when Buffy was dead and Willow became all veiny and scary ? So did Tabitha Smith and Kim Butler, creators of Buffy Between the Lines, an audio podcast by and for fans of the Buffyverse. A full on plethora of episodes, the podcast explores the untold stories of the characters between some of the most intense and highly charged seasons, beginning season one with the exploration of the goings on between seasons five and six, the summer sans Buffy. What did the Scoobies do without her ? How did they decide to use the BuffyBot as a decoy ? How did Spike get drafted into helping out ? How did Willow get uber-megawitchy ? These were the questions fans Smith and Butler wondered about, and so, the podcast was born.

Recently honored as Best Audio Drama in the Peer Podcast Awards, Buffy Between the Lines has been a saving grace for those who miss their favorite show, hearing the character’s voices, and connecting with them on a regular basis. Sure, the comic is canon, but I think we can all agree it’s not the same thing. “In Bargaining, there’s such a change in Willow between season five and six ; how did Will become so powerful ? That was just rich with stories,” says Tabitha Smith, creator and podcaster of Strangely Literal, Firefly Talk, Tales from the Verse, Let’s Talk Joss, and of course, BBtL. So how did we get graced with such a gift ? Smith was listening to podcast Firefly Old Wounds, by Sonic Society, thought it would be cool to do a Buffy version, and posted a call for help on her LiveJournal which Kim Butler responded to. The rest, they say, is slayhistory. They began to get great feedback, sent out a call for audio actors, and began making the first episode in April 2007, with the first episode debut in October.

“We were blown away ; fans tell us they’ll get confused about the Buffy canon because it’s so real. It seems that many fans want TV Buffy, not comic Buffy but we all agree that Joss is Boss,” says Smith. Co-producer and podcaster of Upside Down and Halfway to Happyland Kim Butler seems to agree. “I enjoy it, (season eight) but I have mixed feelings about it. It seems Joss didn’t go back and watch season seven before he wrote it. I really wish there was more information ; to me it’s so mystifying that we don’t even have a clue that Buffy knows Spike’s alive ; you would think that would be something she would at least have to deal with and that’s where fan fiction comes in, resolution.”

And that’s where Buffy Between the Lines picks up for us salivating for more Buffy canon besides the comic. Though the comic is canon, there’s no live movement. So wondering about the fruition of this award-winning podcast ? Each episode takes about a month to put together, with actors and crew staked all across the world in Australia, Germany, Sweden, South America, U.S., Canada etc. Each actor (most not professionals, just hardcore fan geeks like myself) records their parts of the script. Once a script is to the actors, some sessions are done as a group over Skype ; they record their own dialogue and it’s edited together. “The actors have been playing roles really really well but it does require a bit of direction,” says Smith.

“We gathered a team of writers, sat down and plotted, griped and talked about what we could do. We sat down with Emma who wrote the most of the season and we just said ok, what’s this character’s motivation ? How can we get from here to there ? There was a lot of background things we had to consider. Then, when I sat down to write episode one, where they bury Buffy, I thought, every fan has their own idea of relationships on the show and I wanted it to be poignant. I was very nervous about how do we get these people into your head ? What would Giles say, what would Anya say ? The first episode had to be awesome,” says Smith. And for those of you who are wondering, the first episode was. “As soon as the episode was up we got feedback instantly, we just knew we had hit gold. For season one, we wondered about where is Willow getting this pressure to not be Willow, to not be herself ? Why is Spike sticking around ? Who came up with idea to raise Buffy back from the dead ? Where did they get this book and this urn ? Why is Tara agreeing ? Why is everyone agreeing ? It’s been fun.”

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