-
Patrick McGoohan
I just heard of the death of actor/writer/director Patrick McGoohan at the age of 80, following a short illness. A terrific and brooding screen presence, an actor of integrity and eccentricity, mad as a box of bats in the best possible way… otherwise how could he ever have become the creator and driving force of…
-
The Thirty-Nine Steps (2)
Back in July I posted some thoughts inspired by a re-reading of John Buchan’s The Thirty-nine Steps. If so inclined, you can find them here. What I didn’t go on to explain was that my revisiting of the book had been part of a discussion between me and producer Archie Tait, whom I’ve known and…
-
My Year
Well, every other blogger seems to be doing it… but I’ll keep mine short because, frankly, it’s been one of those years where you can’t run through the best of it without the risk of sounding like a total arse. Let’s just say I’ve had a lot to be grateful for. But to put that…
-
Crusoe Slash
I suppose it had to happen…
-
Future Proof
In the comments to Television Q and A, Piers Beckley writes: “Riffing off the technology point: Lew Grade’s ITC stuff from the 70s was shot in 35mm with a view to worldwide sales. And the thing about 35mm is that you can even now remaster it into blu-ray and other hi-def formats… (snip) Record your…
-
Television Q and A
How did you begin your career in television? I was writing for radio at the time. It was a science fiction piece for Radio 4’s Saturday Night Theatre and Martin Jenkins, my producer, sent the script over to the Doctor Who production office. So out of the blue came this call to go over and…
-
Eleventh Hour USA
This just in from somewhere… DISPLAYING SIGNIFICANT WEEKLY GAINS, ELEVENTH HOUR DELIVERS STRONGEST PERFORMANCE TO-DATE Earning significant weekly increases among all 18-49 and 25-54 measures (ranging from +21% to 54%), as well as Households (+24%) and Total Viewers (+24%), ELEVENTH HOUR earned 1st place in its 10PM hour among those same demos. Delivering its largest…
-
It Quacks Like a Duck
The BBC has announced Defying Gravity, a 13-part science fiction series to be co-produced with America’s Fox Network. “Set in the near future, Defying Gravity will star Sex and the City and Band of Brothers actor Ron Livingston and will follow eight astronauts from five countries on a mysterious journey through the solar system.“ Oh,…
-
Truth in Escapism
Andy Greenwood’s comment on Crusoe and the Doctor, directing us onward to a fan’s mashup of Doctor Who images cut to the music from the Happy Days title sequence, made me think. In today’s Guardian, playwright Mark Ravenhill writes: “in the minds of many programme-makers, there now seems to be a crude binary option: you’re…
-
“Physics is the New Black”
Recent editions of the Wired blog and The Los Angeles Times carry similar articles about the rising popularity of hard science in TV drama, reflected in the launch of the Science and Entertainment Exchange. The Exchange is “a program of the National Academy of Sciences that provides entertainment industry professionals with access to top scientists…
Hauling Like A Brooligan
Stephen Gallagher
