PODCAST: DEATH IN ICE VALLEY

PODCAST: DEATH IN ICE VALLEY

An unidentified body. Who was she? Why hasn’t she been missed? A BBC World Service and NRK original podcast, investigating a mystery unsolved for almost half a century.

MY VERDICT: The above information is all the background you’re given before you start to listen to this well made documentary podcast. And it’s intriguing, which sets the tone for the mystery and the series. A woman is found dead and burnt in the remote valley near Bergen in Norway. No one knows who she is, no one knows where she came from, no one has reported her missing and all the labels are missing from her clothes.

I’d heard of this mystery a long time ago but didn’t research it at all as I was under the impression that there wasn’t much to know – nothing had been discovered in all the years since her death in 1970.  That was until this podcast from the BBC and NRK started digging.

Not only are the facts fascinating, and the investigating is amazingly well done, but I think one of the best aspects of this podcast is the style. The moody rain-scapes are atmospheric and perfect for setting the tone. The differences between the presenters are one of things that I find most interesting. The English man from the BBC, Neil McCarthy, is an outsider and a pragmatist with typical English pessimism while Marit Higraff, the presenter from NRK is forever optimistic and tells such a compelling background to McCathy and us, the listeners.  

Some information is held back, it doesn’t speculate madly (like the internet) and facts or information is given to us clue by clue, but it’s a testament to a well-made podcast and great storytelling rather than to give a biased opinion. 

There’s a great website to accompany this https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p060ms2h

I would recommend to listen to the podcast first and then look at all the notes. And then maybe look at all other crazy internet theories afterwards.