The visitation drama has formed a lasting sub-genre in plays and it's not hard to see why, a stranger intruding in a home/family unit is both a simple and effective dramatic device. It is also straightforward and relatively cheap to stage. Nikolai Gogol's The Government Inspector (1836) and An Inspector Calls (1945) by JB Priestley … Continue reading Foreign Countries #21: Play for Today: Brimstone and Treacle (1976/1987)
Royal Holloway's ongoing project 'The History of Forgotten Television Drama in the UK’ is currently running ‘Drama She Wrote’, a season of neglected TV dramas by women writers from the ’50s to the ’70s, held at BFI Southbank. You can find more details over on their blog here. The screening on 11 September 2018 was … Continue reading The Value of Myth #6: ITV Playhouse: A Splinter of Ice (1972), Then and Now: Over (1973)
When I was ten, my parents moved us from urban Essex to rural Norfolk. I spent my adolescent years wishing I was as far away from this new county as I could get, lazily describing the reason for this as simple boredom. Nothing ever happened in a Norfolk village that would interest a proud urbanite … Continue reading Foreign Countries #20: West Country Tales: The Breakdown/The Beast (1982)
Arguably the most influential post-War writer doesn't need much by way of introduction. By the mid 60s Harold Pinter was past the disaster that was the opening of The Birthday Party (1958) and the phenomenal success that was The Caretaker (1960). Five of his plays had been broadcast on ITV and lasting fame was secured. … Continue reading The Value of Myth #5: The Largest Theatre in the World: Tea Party (1965), Theatre 625: The Basement (1967)
The BBC has decided that now is the moment to put an old TV series about negative outside influence, racism, uncomfortable truths, incompetent government, and large-scale social unrest on iPlayer. Never mind about genre, the BBC serial Quatermass and the Pit is one of the finest pieces of television ever made and you can watch … Continue reading The Man from Another Place #5: Quatermass and the Pit (1958/9)
The great thing about trawling through old British telly is there’s always something new to discover. Some long forgotten programme you’ve been completely unware of. The not so great thing about trawling through old British telly is there’s often a reason these programmes have been long forgotten. So when Simply Media announced the latest batch … Continue reading Foreign Countries #19: The Mad Death (1983)
I've been watching Evil Genius (2018) this week, a truly extraordinary story of an investigation into a pizza delivery man robbing a bank before being killed by a home-made bomb secured round his neck, and where the trail leads the FBI. Real life crime documentaries are certainly in fashion at the moment. Real life stories … Continue reading Foreign Countries #18: Worlds Beyond: The Eye of Yemanja (1987)
Every time my wife watches a mid-eighties Top of the Pops repeat on BBC Four these days I feel the need to point out the portion of Bernard Lodge’s slit scan effect created for the Doctor Who titles in 1973. And I do mean every time. Those titles that ran from 1973 to 1980, accompanied … Continue reading Foreign Countries #17: Shadows of Fear: The Death Watcher (1971)
The revelation a few years ago that the Black Death might have been caused by marmots and gerbils has done little to rehabilitate the reputation of rats in Western society. I imagine this is because few people have had to gingerly walk around a bunch of great gerbils feasting out of bins while taking a … Continue reading The Value of Myth #4: Doomwatch: Tomorrow, the Rat (1970), Beasts: During Barty’s Party (1976)
You can listen to our latest podcast here and now on iTunes (gosh). But before Howard I delved in to Kim Newman's favourite horror film we took a little time to discuss my thoughts on seeing Unburied, Hermetic Arts' hour long folk horror performance piece, playing at Waterloo East Theatre as part of VAULT Festival. … Continue reading M4 Death Trip #5: Let’s Scare Jessica To Death (1971)
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