Hitchhiker

The brain behind the show and scriptwriter is renowned Czech screenwriter Petr Hudský. He has written, among other things, the screenplays for the TV series Kriminálka Anděl (Anděl PD), Labyrint (Labyrinth), Špunti na cestě (Kids on the Road) and the fairy tales Korunní princ (The Crown Prince) and Princezna a půl království (The Princess and Half a Kingdom).

Together with creative producer and dramaturge Kateřina Rathouská, director Aleš Vrzák and many other creators, he managed to make the idea a reality. The project has a special page, which contains an introductory audio with basic information, eleven different stories in eleven different genres, a quiz and a bonus hitchhiking play. It is therefore not primarily intended for broadcasting, the listener chooses which play to start with.

The initial situation is always the same - two people (Anna and Pavel) are going somewhere and a hitchhiker gets in their way. After listening to the eleven stories, those interested can complete a short quiz and unlock the twelfth bonus play. The podcast’s goal is for visitors to the site to listen to all the audios. That’s why their running times are short, suitable, for example, for listening on the way to work, etc.

Basic Information  

The podcast (with interactive elements) Hitchhiker was created for the mujRozhlas.cz web portal. It includes an introductory audio with basic information, eleven different stories in eleven different genres, a quiz and a bonus hitchhiking play. As the listener learns in the opening audio, all the plays are based on the same situation: two characters - Anna and Pavel - are going somewhere together. But where are the coming from? And where are they going to? They could be spouses, colleagues, siblings or strangers. Or even not human. A hitchhiker enters their lives. What happens next?

The podcast series offers eleven different stories in eleven different genres that expand on the initial situation. You can choose from: action drama, detective, horror, musical, mystery, fairy tale, family drama, scifi, thriller, war drama and western. The individual audios are short, their lengths vary between about 5 and 13 minutes.

The project is designed so that the listener chooses which play to start with and ideally plays all the stories in sequence. He can then complete a short quiz containing questions based on the eleven plays, and if he answers everything correctly, a bonus (again with the same starting situation) will open up for him to listen to.

The main roles were played in all cases by the same actors - David Novotný, Tereza Císařová and Ondřej Rychlý. Some of the audios contain binaural elements, many of the plays were filmed outdoors, outside a radio studio (for example, the thriller was filmed in a real car and in the Czech Radio basement).

The tracker recorded 247,000 downloads in the period from 12 July 2021 to 30 April 2022. It is permanently available at the mujRozhlas website. The visuals were created by the Družina studio.

Listen the document at Prix Bohemia Radio festival!

When: Thursday 13^th October 2022 | 13:15 – 13:35 | listening session
Where: Film hall, Arts Centre UP
Entrance: Free admission with accreditation

Look at the detailed program of the listening session.

All podcasts are available here.