Tunnel 29 was a 10-part podcast series, launched by the BBC in October 2019, revealing how a group of young men tunnelled under the Berlin Wall in the early 1960s to smuggle people out of East Berlin.[1] The podcast had over 3 million listeners.[2] It won the Best Radio Podcast and Best Moment awards at the British Podcast Awards 2020: "A beautifully crafted and well-timed podcast that tunnelled right into our hearts. The series gathered TV and press coverage across the world, and helped bring the medium – and an incredible story – to a brand new audience. Brilliant work."[3]
The book Tunnel 29: The True Story of an Extraordinary Escape Beneath the Berlin Wall was published by Hodder & Stoughton in 2021 to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the building of the Berlin Wall.[4] It was named one of The Economist's best books of 2021.[5] Writing in The Guardian, Philip Oltermann described the book as a "thrilling page-turner".[4]
The television rights were acquired by Sister. Other bidders included See-Saw, Temple Hill and Endeavor[6]
