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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

I think they'll be higher with distance - they will probably stick in the mind longer and familiarity may have dented them this time. I'm thinking The Wrong Man shouldn't be as high on mine. I'm not sure why I promoted it about NBNW!!

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) Saboteur Rear Window Foreign Correspondent The Wrong Man North by Northwest Strangers on a Train The 39 Steps Rope Psycho Spellbound Rebecca Vertigo Frenzy I Confess Jamaica Inn Sabotage Suspicion The Trouble with Harry Shadow of a Doubt

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Nearing the end of my Hitchcock marathon - here is my top twenty!

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

My honest reaction to this is that it's a great and original idea. We know that war gaming happens (or really should happen) as a legitimate way of preparing for real world crises. It should make for a fascinating series. Having ex-MPs, regardless of their party, makes it even better. Bring it on.

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

The main question is not whether Farage has a 'grip' on the scandals - it's whether he's complicit in them. And everything he's done and said in the past suggests that he's up to his nicotine-stained eyebrows in corruption. www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/...

bbc.co.uk

Chris Mason: 'Not what Nigel Farage wanted today to look like'

Chris Mason speaks from the Reform UK conference as two of its senior officials step down following a Channel 4 investigation.

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

'Getting older always felt like this' is the primary reason. I think this whole thread is basically middle-aged people discovering what it feels like not to be young anymore?

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Rich Neville @richneville.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Rod Liddle was very much like Marmite, in that you wouldn’t want him on your television screen, radio, or newspaper.

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

As referenced in my book on The Daemons which I don't like to talk about. obversebooks.co.uk/product/26-d...

obversebooks.co.uk

26. The Daemons – Obverse Books

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Latest movie pitch: an adaptation of Edmund Crispin's The Moving Toyshop in the style of Jacques Rivette. So a playful, semi-improvised psychogeographic drift through the streets of Oxford using Crispin's plot-beats as a framework for a mysterious and occult fantasy.

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Also - the truth is - we'll probably never know. I'm guessing it's already being used quietly behind the scenes for nuanced tasks. So the only way to boycott it would be to NOT WATCH ANYTHING EVER AGAIN.

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Yes - 'parts of the production' is unspecific. I'd be shocked if any television programme or movie DIDN'T use GenAI to some degree - but it's the degree that's important. If you're suggesting boycotting it regardless of what the use is - you'll end up spending your evenings staring at a cornfield.

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

File under: House of the Dragon clickbait magnet.

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

RIP Carlo Ginzburg. The Cheese and the Worms was a revelation and changed the way my brain understand the study of History.

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

Second thought - Trump's 'I'm not a rapist' is very reminiscent of the 'we didn't burn him' sketch from League of Gentlemen: www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOtp...

youtube.com

We Didn't Burn Him | The League of Gentlemen | BBC comedy

YouTube video by BBC Studios

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

Polanski's habit of complaining about aggressive interviewers uncomfortably parallel Trump's. I'm MUCH more aligned with the Greens than MAGA - but grumbling rather than focusing on turning the difficult questions into positive answers is a bad look. uk.yahoo.com/news/trump-e...

uk.yahoo.com

Trump Erupts in ‘60 Minutes’ Interview: ‘I’m Not a Pedophile’

President Donald Trump exploded at a reporter for quoting from the manifesto of the suspected gunman who opened fire near the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Saturday. In an intervie...

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

As far as I can tell - the film Alien is pretty much it!

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ArtButMakeItSports @artbutmakeitsports.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

The Garden of Earthly Delights (detail), by Hieronymus Bosch, 1480-1505, 📸 by @alexbrandon

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Strangers in Space @strangerscast.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

The Daleks' Master Plan is back! (Well, 5/12s of it now at least.) But is it any good, how delighted were we to hear the news, and what are the chances of more episodes in the future? jrsouthall.podbean.com/e/the-daleks...

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Strangers in Space @strangerscast.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

In which we watch the Myth Makers interview with Ian Levine, so you don't have to jrsouthall.podbean.com/e/ian-levine...

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Strangers in Space @strangerscast.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

The results of our poll to determine the best first Doctor stories will be out on our audio feed in a week or so - but if you can't wait that long you can watch them now on YouTube youtu.be/UjucntvZSNQ

youtu.be

Strangers in Space: The First Doctor Poll Results

YouTube video by JR Southall

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 22/02/2026

Another niche post - but I’m pretty sure the Chorus in the 2017 RSC Henry V is cosplaying John Barton.

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

And a sign of how progressive his documentaries were - the poster for Titicut Follies has been flagged as adult content on here.

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

RIP Frederick Wiseman. Titicut Follies and High School were groundbreaking documentaries - but for my money, Ex Libris and National Gallery are his masterpieces. Two epic films that dissect, with surgical precision, the value of public funded art and knowledge.

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

So by that logic - folk horror would also have to be grounded in the real world as well.

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

I think so? For me it’s about the distinction between folklore in the real world and ‘folklore’ recreated in a fantasy world. The latter is a kind of simulation of folklore, which I’m guessing would then just be ‘fantasy’. For folklore to be folklore it has to have a source in the real world.

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

Niche post - but I’ve just realised that PD James’s The Black Tower is a pastiche of Trollope. It’s The Warden with murders.

Front cover of PD James’s The Black Tower

Front cover of Anthony Trollope’s The Warden

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Michael Spicer @michaelspicer.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

I love that Prince Andrew had a codename email address to avoid suspicion and all the emails are like 'Had to spend the weekend at Balmoral, Mother wants me to look after the corgis, my brother's here too - not Edward, but Charles, you know the heir apparent.'

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

This - but also Lab should look to the Libs in Canada as a template for tackling the right AND boosting popularity. The more Trump tries to blackmail us, the more Reform and the Tories will come across as Quisling appeasers who, if given power, will simply cave to all of Trump's desires.

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Strangers in Space @strangerscast.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

What better way for the randomiser to inaugurate Blakes 7 into the Who Review Extra canon than by choosing the story where Paul Darrow meets the Doctor? Our thoughts on City at the Edge of the World: jrsouthall.podbean.com/e/blakes-7-c...

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Strangers in Space @strangerscast.bsky.social · 28/12/2025

It's going to be another busy week on the Strangers feed this week as we make our way through the back end of the seasonal break - but here's a taster of what's coming up in January and beyond...

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Marc Morris @marcmorris.bsky.social · 20/12/2025

The complete Bayeux Tapestry has finally been released and proves that Bishop Odo had absolutely nothing to do with the illegal Norman invasion of England.

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Strangers in Space @strangerscast.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

We couldn't let Christmas pass without checking in on the latest Knives Out Mystery from Rian Johnson, Wake Up Dead Man: jrsouthall.podbean.com/e/film-club-...

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

Traditional nativity scene with extra Bok this year…

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Strangers in Space @strangerscast.bsky.social · 13/12/2025

Next week on Strangers in Space... It's Week 2 of The War Between the Land and the Sea, there's a new Knives Out Mystery to talk about, there will be two volumes of Hammer retrospective and we'll be choosing our first Blakes 7 review Find all our links here: strangersinspace.weebly.com/links.html

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Strangers in Space @strangerscast.bsky.social · 11/12/2025

Did week one of the latest Doctor Who spin-off, The War Between the Land and the Sea, run aground, take flight, or sink without trace? jrsouthall.podbean.com/e/who-review...

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Strangers in Space @strangerscast.bsky.social · 10/12/2025

Barry Lyndon turns fifty this week. We thought we'd mark the occasion by taking another look. jrsouthall.podbean.com/e/film-club-... Download here: mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/xnwqx... Find the rest of our back catalogue via the links here: strangersinspace.weebly.com/links.html

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Strangers in Space @strangerscast.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

Did the first RTD era ever go too far and forget it was family entertainment? Join JR, @jonarnold.bsky.social, @mattbarberuk.bsky.social and @stephenhatcher.bsky.social to find out... jrsouthall.podbean.com/e/blue-box-1... Find our episodes in these places: strangersinspace.weebly.com/links.html

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 12/11/2025

“Is there anyone in Rome who has not emailed Jeffrey Epstein!?”

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

This. With the main series, mystery and a lack of info works, because we all know the fixed structures and can speculate. With Turf and Surf - no info leads to no speculation.

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 03/11/2025

Of course, to Doctor Who fans, East Hagbourne is:

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The CineHistorians Podcast @cinehistorians.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

#CineHistorians host @ckjsweeney.bsky.social on the similarities between Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960) and Chantal Akerman's Jeanne Dielman (1975) #filmsky

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

Not by isolating the drum track, presenting it specifically as evidence and only comparing that? You would compare the whole new piece to the old - in the way it’s intended - then make the criticism. Ideally you would even compare - you’d just take the new version and decide if you liked it or not.

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