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Arts Aplenty. Or Rather, Not
“Get the scientists working on the tube technology immediately”—Tenacious D, City Hall I haven’t known many Politics graduates, but daily observation suggests a political class to whom science is a house servant, to be instructed or overruled as required, while the arts are a hobby like your cousin’s am dram or your widowed uncle’s watercolours.…
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Luther, Follower, Bryan and Me
A justified stir was caused last month by the announcement that production company Three River Studios has optioned the Luther Arkwright story cycle of my old friend Bryan Talbot for TV series development. From his roots in the underground Comix scene Bryan was a pioneer of the adult, epic graphic novel form, and the influence…
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Jeff Hayes 1953 – 2021
The entertainment industry’s a sociable business, but mostly you’re working in an ever-changing team that reconfigures with every project. It’s always great to see the good people again, and you can try to avoid the not-so-good people the next time around. But meeting someone professionally and quickly getting the sense that here’s a friend for…
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Doctor Who: From The Wilderness Years
I’ve been archiving some old files and I came across this piece, written as the preface to a charity anthology called Walking in Eternity in 2001. Doctor Who had been cancelled 12 years before, the Russell T Davis revival wasn’t even on the horizon, and… well, read on. I suppose now that we’re firmly into…
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My Second Ever TV Sale
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Plane Sailing
Before pandemic measures kicked in I was set to take a work-related trip to New Zealand. The prospect of a return to air travel has reminded me of flying Economy to the US for the first time in the 1970s. Midway over the Atlantic, a screen was pulled down at the front of the cabin.…
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Roger Simons
I only just picked up the news that Roger Simons died back in April. Roger was a core member of the British film industry, a veteran First Assistant Director with a long list of feature and TV credits from 1963’s Summer Holiday to the last season of Rosemary &Thyme. He ran the crew on just…
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The Governess
A stocking filler or secret Santa for less than four quid? I’ve written this Edwardian-style chapbook featuring The Lost World’s Professor Challenger and Edward Malone. Available only for this holiday period, then it’s gone. Paperback, 40 pages, illustrated. Would suit Sherlockian or similar. No time wasters. Click here to buy The Governess
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Night Vision Memories
Came across this photo while searching the old albums for something else. Back in the day I had the honour of sharing Night Visions 8, one of Dark Harvest’s classic series of three-author anthologies, with John Farris and Joe R Lansdale. Joe and I had met at the previous year’s Fantasycon. Our families were together…
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Of Nightmares and Angels
Recently I saw a gratifying burst of Twitter affection directed toward Nightmare, with Angel. It was as unexpected as it was welcome. I once saw a member of an online book group refer to it as her go-to ‘comfort read’ and that was pretty unexpected, too. If you don’t know it, Nightmare, with Angel is…
Hauling Like A Brooligan
Stephen Gallagher
