Hauling Like A Brooligan

Stephen Gallagher

Author: Steve

  • Brian Clemens, OBE

    Delighted to hear confirmation of the OBE for Brian Clemens in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. I’m no big royalist but these are national honours and, much as I’d like to imagine Her Maj slipping in an Avengers DVD to keep the grandkids entertained, there’s more at work here than just patronage and whim. Although…

  • Lost and the Long-Distance Plan

    I dropped out of Lost a couple of seasons ago, after the introduction of the flash-forwards (which drew a gasp of admiration out of me when they reversed all my assumptions with the first one) but before they started with the sideways-flashes. I was curious about how they’d wind it up, but I’d been too…

  • Arise, Sir Hood

    Congratulations to Sir Patrick Stewart, knighted today. He used the occasion to give credit to the English teacher who opened his eyes to literature and first encouraged him to perform. It’s no surprise; many a career in the arts can be traced back to the influence of a charismatic and inspiring figure in the classroom.…

  • Chimera at the BFI

    Here’s some news… on Monday July 5th as part of the Future Human season, my 1990 miniseries Chimera is getting a screening at the BFI South Bank. A while back I was asked if I’d say a few words before it, but that’s now expanded to become a Q&A with me and director Lawrence Gordon…

  • Dennis Hopper

    I just heard on the radio that Dennis Hopper died at his Venice home this morning, of complications relating to prostate cancer. Not too long ago, I was working on a project where the producer was pursuing him for a major role. To be honest, the part and the actor weren’t a fit, and Hopper…

  • Testing the Audience

    We just got back from Las Vegas. It’s a long drive through the desert, with nothing but country music on the radio. If you’re ever thinking about it, you have been warned. The last time we did the trip was around 1980, and that was by Greyhound bus. Back then it was essentially still ’50s…

  • Scares on the Shelf

    Twice the Terror is a second collection of material from The Horror Zine, Jeani Rector’s Sacramento-based webzine of dark-themed fiction, art and poetry. The previous print collection, And Now the Nightmare Begins, featured a range of contributors, from the newly-launched to the likes of Ramsey Campbell, Simon Clark, and Joe R Lansdale. I have to…

  • Crusoe Region 2

    This one sneaked by without my hearing about it… the full season is now available on a Region 2 3-disc set, presumably replicating the content of the Region 1 release. Which will mean no DVD extras, which is a pity. NBC had a behind-the-scenes crew covering just about every aspect of the show’s making, and…

  • The Future is Then

    From the day that I saw Kenneth Kendall reading the BBC news on one in Kubrick’s 2001, A Space Odyssey, I wanted widescreen TV. Up until then, I’d no idea that the industry had domestic widescreen in its sights. But given the meticulousness of Kubrick’s research, I imagine that the notion was there on some…

  • What’s in a Band Name?

    Ever wonder why new bands always have such weird names? Because the simple ones are all used up, is why. Google for just about any common noun and you’ll find at least one band using it, usually with a MySpace page. They may not have any track record, they may not even have any songs…