Tunnel 29, another podcast hit from the BBC

First, there was the Ratline, the story of a high-ranking and much-wanted Nazi who escaped justice after World War II.

Now, the BBC’s Intrigue series has come up with another podcast hit: Tunnel 29.

This is the true story of a group of people, mostly students, who found themselves in West Germany in the early 1960s when the Soviets built the wall that divided East and West Berlin. Being in West Germany was good for them, but they still had ties to people in the east and wanted to get them out.

So, they dug a tunnel.

Presented by award-winning broadcaster Helena Merriman, Tunnel 29 explores the against-all-odds relationships that developed between refugees who sought freedom together. We also hear about the astonishing role that American TV network NBC played in the escape.

Told through an immersive and cinematic sound design, shaped by using recordings from inside various tunnels, including Tunnel 29 itself – this new podcast is a story of love, espionage, and one of the most daring escapes of the 20th century. (BBC press release)

This is a 10-part podcast, but most of the episodes are less than 30 minutes (sometimes only about 15 minutes). As I write this, I have listened to four of the 10 episodes and am eager to get back to it to find out what happened.