It goes without saying that you should not listen to Inside Psycho (iTunes) in the shower. Even though there is not even a mention of that scene in the first episode of this “six-part deep dive” into the Alfred Hitchcock classic, you know it’s coming. There is a gentle introduction to Ed Gein, the 50s bodysnatcher who inspired the hit film. Perhaps gentle is the wrong word. “You’ve. Been. Warned,” says narrator Mark Ramsey as he describes violent crimes that inspired the character of Norman Bates.

Only in episode two of this slow burner do those strings of doom sound as the story of Hitchcock’s masterpiece gets going. There is so much colour from the film set, where the enigmatic and witty Hitchcock held court. When an actress asked which was her best side, he replied: “My dear, you’re sitting on your best profile.” The anecdotes from the set are juicy, with Janet Leigh instructed to “take matters in hand” during a love scene, while Hitchcock puffed on a cigar nearby. There are nods to the director’s expensive tastes: he would have cases of chardonnay and foie gras flown in from France, with the pilot hand-delivering it to Hitchcock’s driver.

Inside Psycho highlights Hitchcock’s determination to continue in the face of what many thought was the biggest mistake of his career. The movie was panned by the studio as “too much” and “grotesque” with “nudity, violence … a guy dressed as a dame!” Hitchcock made Bates young and handsome and was so hellbent on keeping the film’s plot secret that he ordered his assistant to buy every copy of Robert Bloch’s original novel in Hollywood.

Killing off a central character so early on was a risk and it’s the shower scene that brings the richest stories. As the water dripped, costume designers came to adjust Leigh’s flesh-coloured bodysuit while a dancer acted as a double and Hitchcock himself wielded the knife. It’s this detail that makes Inside Psycho such a good listen. Like the movie that inspired it, this podcast is chilling, complex and unpredictable.

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