Exhaustive and extremely readable, Dylan Rees tells the history of Reeltime Pictures as he reviews virtually every one of their 250 plus interviews, documentaries and dramas. It’s a big undertaking but the result is a book that is going to be a useful reference for years to come for fans. I must admit I had no idea there were so many titles. My memories of Reeltime are mostly caught up with the Eighties releases, when a shiny disc filled with accompanying extras to the main feature was the stuff of SF.

Oscar Wilde's brilliantly witty The Importance of Being Earnest will open Bolton Little Theatre's new season on Saturday.

ALT: Going For A Ride Grogu

Young Stephen, in the last summer of his boyhood, has a very clear and intense view of the world, but an awakened force in the landscape is trying to communicate some warning, a peril he is in.

I've been feeling nostalgic lately, thanks to reading the excellent Justyce Served by Alun Harris and Matt West, their excellent guide to the old Audio Visual Doctor Who stories produced by fans, many of whom went on to contribute to Big Finish Productions. Back in the late Nineties I was inspired by them to create my own Doctor Who tapezine stories, which eventually became CDs and MP3 downloads. I called them Fine Line Productions. and they are still available. If you are interested in hearing them please check out…

ALT: Sammie Sinners Excited Reaction

Very British Futures · Episode

I've been a fan of The Prisoner since I watched in 1983 on the still relatively new UK television station called Channel 4. But I resisted covering it on my podcast because its hardly been unremarked on. There's several Prisoner podcasts out there, not to mention countless books, documentaries and web pages. Yet there are still plenty of people, particularly in later generations who haven't heard of. Besides which, I know I generally get the best episodes when guests are really passionate about the subject and I have plenty of friends who wanted to talk about one of ITC's most memorable series, even though it was hardly in their usual formula.

British television has long demonstrated a fascination with time travel. The very first UK television SF production was an adaptation of H G Wells' The Time Machine. From ambitious science fiction dramas to educational children’s programming, television has often used time travel not simply as a device for adventure, but as a means of exploring larger questions about history, identity and the world to come. However, the subject of this episode is simply escapism all the way. Our latest episode of Very British Futures turns its attention to one of the more overlooked examples of this tradition: …

ALT: Jeremy Irons: Outstanding Performance in Watchmen

Thunderbirds, a classic British sci-fi series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, debuted in 1965. It follows the International Rescue organization, utilizing advanced technology to save lives and fight crime. Renowned for its exciting rescues and creativity, the show remains iconic. Our latest podcast episode revisited key episodes, highlighting its enduring appeal.

Very British Futures is back. Alternative 3, a controversial 1977 piece, sparked public intrigue about a conspiracy for human survival, becoming a part of fringe mythology.

Last year saw me recording episodes of Very British Futures with Simon Exton and Ken Moss, two awesome podcasters. We dove into vintage TV shows Sapphire and Steel and Terrahawks. They’ve now re-released those episodes with fresh edits. Find out more!

Alt: A man wearing a hat says "Skip to the end" to a woman, in front of a brick wall

One of the hazards of nostalgia for old children's television is that fans sometimes forget they've done a lot of maturing since they watched their favourite programmes as youngsters. It became a problem for Terrahawks, Gerry Anderson's comeback to puppet adventures in the Eighties, only to face criticisms from the viewers who'd grown up on Thunderbirds in the Sixties who found these new stringless stories somewhat lacking. Nevertheless plenty of their children did enjoy it, and not just in the UK but in countries such as the United States and Japan too.

If you listen to my podcast Very British Futures than chances are you know about I Don't Do Sci-Fi, the podcast produced by good friends of mine. This Christmas, Kevin Hiley and Rebecca Wray produced a two-hour special episode for YouTube featuring clips from Dani Wray's least favourite decade - The Seventies. Joining her and Rebecca to watch this smorgasbord of vintage television was myself and John Isles. Despite the title of their podcast, the one genre this night did not cover was science fiction. Instead we commented on a wide range of mainstream, mostly peak-time television, interspersed with period adverts.

Who hasn't dreamed of stepping into a time machine and whizzing off to an exciting historical destination? Dominick... | Listen & Review on Goodpods™

Season 2 kicks off with E4's seemingly little remembered comedy drama about extra-terrestrial immigrants - The Aliens. UK in the near future and h...

Alt: Bob and Linda at the counter. Linda is saying "I love it"

We’re getting political this week in the latest episode of Very British Futures as we examine little known near-future dystopian drama The Guardians. The Guardians, a 13-episode political drama produced by London Weekend Television in 1971, stands as one of British television’s most thoughtful dystopian works. Created by Rex Firkin and Vincent Tilsley, with important contributions from John Bowen, the series imagines a near-future Britain that has slid quietly into authoritarianism, ruled not by a charismatic dictator but a gentlemanly, patrician businessman and fear of the G’s - the Guardians of the Realm.

This was one of my favourite things I’ve ever had the privilege to do. Today I hosted the first simulated higher education session in Criminology and Sociology in the history of the UK! Students joi...

Des Kinvig's small world is turned upside when he discovers one of his customers, sexy Miss Griffin is in fact an a... | Listen & Review on Goodpods™

There's a brand new episode of Very British Futures out there now, tackling another of British TV most famous SF series - Sapphire and Steel. When Sapphire & Steel first aired on ITV in July 1979, it didn’t so much arrive as materialize—mysterious, minimalist, and utterly unlike anything else on television. Created by Peter J. Hammond, who had written for Ace of Wands and Shadows but had mostly worked on conventional fare like Z-Cars and Crossroads, the series was born from a desire to explore the fragility of time and the eerie consequences of its disruption.

The tourist season is over and Inverdee Island is closing down and preparing for the winter. But when the body of S... | Listen & Review on Goodpods™

It's just another day in Sheffield, everyone going about their own affairs, when suddenly the unthinkable happens -... | Listen & Review on Goodpods™

Mankind is busy colonising the solar system. Space stations in orbit, a busy moonbase, and pioneers on Mars. A new ... | Listen & Review on Goodpods™

ALT: a man in a suit and tie is standing in front of a grid background .

When retired photojournalist Steve Blake sees a man die in a car explosion, then meets the same man the next day ap... | Listen & Review on Goodpods™