When Marc Fennell Isn’t Making Documentaries, Here’s What He’s Tuning in To

The award-winning documentary maker and author has a new podcast, House of Skulls. This is what he’s into off-air.

The last movie I watched was…

Empire of Light. I know it’s a sad movie, kind of a downer, but Olivia Colman makes it. These days, with kids, I find myself falling asleep in almost every movie. But as I was dozing off on a plane, her acting woke me up and drew me back into the film. Honestly, her face, her emotions – she can communicate a storm in her stillness. She’s one of those once in-a-generation actors.

The podcast I listen to the most is…

The Intelligence. It’s a daily current-affairs podcast from The Economist. They’ll either cover a major event, like the war in Ukraine, or something obscure, such as yak milk and how making and selling it affects a town. Either way, it’ll tell you something new or provide an unexpected angle. It’s very bare bones; the host almost sounds like AI – it’s that pared down – but it means I absorb the information better.

The show I’m bingeing…

Heartstopper. It’s an ordinary, low-key series about two teenage boys falling in love in high school in the United Kingdom. The actors are all brilliant, especially the leads, Kit Connor and Joe Locke. I wish there had been something like it when I was growing up because it’s just wonderful, like a big, warm hug.

The app I use the most...

I’ve been on the road filming the second series of the podcast Stuff The British Stole so I’ve been glued to the Qantas App. I’m on there looking at my next 14 flights! I’ve also been getting into TikTok, which I think of as a context-free galaxy. This is going to sound bad but the comments there are written without much thought, which I actually love.

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