Have you ever wondered what kind of story you would get if you mixed Quadrophenia with Invasion of the Body Snatchers? Apparently, that’s a question that the horror podcast Baron Sordor’s Theatre of the Doomed wanted to answer with its latest story, Mods vs Rockers vs Pod People.
Since 2023, Baron Sordor’s Theatre of the Doomed has released numerous horror stories for the audio medium. It’s also an anthology series, so it’s a podcast that you can easily dive into at almost any point. For this particular writer, who loves classic British rock music as much as he enjoys horror, a story that depicted mods and rockers against aliens was too exciting to miss.
As a first-time listener, the first thing that leaps out about the podcast is how much it feels like a mix between old-school radio play and grindhouse cinema. That’s an unusual combination, but Theatre of the Doomed does an excellent job of making it work. This is due to a great mix of colorful narration, strong sound design and music, and even fake trailers for ultra-violent movies that sound both awful and amazing at the same time.
The Mods and Rockers
As for the story itself, this is only part 1 of Mods vs Rockers vs Pod People, so unsurprisingly, this episode is mainly setup. In fact, the Pod People don’t appear until two-thirds into the episode.
But that’s not too much of a problem, as the story takes its time introducing the first two groups of its title. For those who aren’t familiar with the history of Mods and Rockers, this portion of the story works well at introducing the audience to both the characters and the history.
Of course, for those more familiar with this brief but distinctive era of British history, there’s definitely plenty to enjoy with this episode, especially for fans of Quadrophenia. The film has an extremely strong influence on this episode, with some particular scenes acting as direct homages. This works well in the story’s favor, as it helps to make this audio story easy to visualize.
The Pod People
As previously mentioned, the Pod People don’t appear until the last twenty minutes of the episode. But when they do show up, so does the horror, too. Thanks to both colorful narration and sound design, the audience is given a lot of gory and disgusting imagery when the aliens finally arrive. Not only is it satisfying to listen to, but it also makes you wonder what’s planned for part 2. Regardless, part 1 of Mods vs Rockers vs Pod People kicks things off to a very promising start.
Baron Sordor’s Theatre of the Doomed is free to listen to and available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other streaming platforms. Mods vs Rockers vs Pod People contains strong language and violence throughout.