Discerning UK television and film from the past.
Nigel Kneale had an impressive career. Interviewed by the BBC when he died, Mark Gatiss referred to him as the man who invented popular television and it's a sentiment that's hard to argue with. His collaborations with Rudolph Cartier brought about the first adult science fiction for television with The Quatermass Experiment (1953), The Year … Continue reading Foreign Countries #12: The Woman in Black (1989)
Sure, Flash Gordon (1980) and Morons from Outer Space (1985) may only ever been seen as cult favourites but when you mention Mike Hodges, there's usually one film you think of, and it stars Michael Caine........ Get Carter's uncompromising style and informal camera work betrays Hodges' background in TV documentary. But when it comes to … Continue reading Foreign Countries #11: The Frighteners: The Manipulators (1972)
Question: what do Steptoe and Son (1962-74), Porridge (1974-77) and The Onedin Line (1971-80) all have in common? If you answered "they all featured work from Production Designer David Chandler" then congratulations on being Andrew Pixley. If however you answered "they all started life as a one-off in an anthology series" then you might have … Continue reading Foreign Countries #10: Drama Playhouse: The Incredible Robert Baldick: Never Come Night (1972)
It's my first guest post, from my frequent collaborator and occasional mentor Howard Ingham, who runs the excellent Room 207 Press blog, although despite my best efforts he still refuses to call it Howard's Way. His loss. Below, Howard's looking at ITV car crash and non-thinking-person's-Please Sir, Hardwicke House, which hopefully you won't remember. Howard … Continue reading Foreign Countries #9: Hardwicke House (1987)
As previously discussed, the 70s saw the white heat of technological optimism replaced by something rather darker as the world grew into a less secure place and people's respect for authority deteriorated. While a number of films around this time took in the sweeping, epic scale of an imagined dystopia, television had its own, occasionally … Continue reading Foreign Countries #8: ITV Sunday Night Theatre: A.D.A.M. (1973)
"Talent borrows, genius steals" said Oscar Wilde ("and Doctor Who writers get it wholesale off the back of a lorry, no questions asked" added Doctor Who writer Ben Aaronovitch, but I digress). Great TV and film make their mark, they change the landscape that future productions operate in. Most obviously nothing was the same for … Continue reading Foreign Countries #7: The Corridor People (1966)
Many people with an interest in such matters will have no doubt purchased Stephen Brotherstone and Dave Lawrence's recently published Scarred For Life Volume One, examining just how dark and macabre pop culture could be in the 1970s. And that includes a hell of a lot of kid's stuff. If you ever saw Building Sites … Continue reading Foreign Countries #6: Music Scene: Mr Humphreys and His Inheritance (1976)
