Episode 38 - The Spores of Nigel Kneale with Joel Morris

 

Comedy writer and Cunk creator Joel Morris joins Jon and Andy to discuss how Nigel Kneale has infected popluar culture like the spores about to fire from a creature that was once three astronauts.

Joel and writer Will Maclean have a new series of their hit podcast Broken Veil coming soon and you can join them on Patreon to support the venture here:

https://www.patreon.com/brokenveil/collections

Enjoy:

BERGCAST - Episode 37 - Toby's Hadoke's book on The Quatermass Experiment.

 

BERGCAST stalwart Toby Hadoke's long awaited tome is out!

Toby chats to Jon and Andy about its long gestation, the challenge of tenses and how to slay sacred cows respectfully.

BERGCAST - Episode 36 - Brian Cox

 

We're back with a new co-host and an amazing new guest in the shape of the GIANT that is Brian Cox. Andy and Jon talk to Brian about making The Year of the Sex Olympics, how he was cast, why he remains so fond of something from the very beginning of his HUGE career, and the fact he'd really like to play Quatermass some day...

There's also an extended intro to meeting co-host Andy Murray, Nigel Kneale's biographer.

Episode 31 – Bringing Back Tomato Cain

This month sees the publication of Tomato Cain and Other Stories, Nigel Kneale’s award winning short story collection, first published in 1949.

Joining Jon in this episode is Kneale biographer Andy Murray, who’s been the driving force in getting this book back in print for the first time since the early 1960s. Andy talks about how the opportunity arose, why you’ll find more than just the stories from the original edition here, and what you can expect from this eclectic collection (spoiler free of course), that sees the formative Kneale shaping the ideas and styles that would make him one of the more important screenwriters of the 20th century.

You can order Tomato Cain and Other Stories from Comma Press here.

Episode 29 – The Nigel Kneale Century

Contact is established!

It's what they call in media a Very Special Episode, because the BERGCAST team is celebrating the 2022 centenary of Nigel Kneale's birth. We're joined by friends of BERGCAST Andy Murray, Toby Hadoke (and also Toby's dog Bernard) to talk about only some of the things that have happened and will happen very soon to mark that.

The Nigel Kneale Centenary Celebration will be held at the Crouch End Picturehouse on April 23rd. You can find a full rundown of what's going on at nigelknealecentenary.com, or cut out the middlehuman and just buy your ticket here – but be quick, they're selling steadily. 

Did we mention Jane Asher will be there?

Toby's 7th Dimension special will air on Radio 4 Extra in the week running up to that – why not bookmark the schedules so you don't miss it? 

And you can pre-order your copy of Tomato Cain and Other Stories at the Comma Press site right now.

Oh, and let's not forget that we'll be posting frequent updates on our Twitter feed – follow us on @BERGCASTCalling.

Episode 14 – The Lost Kneales, Part Two

In the concluding part of our look at the lost work of Nigel Kneale, Toby Hadoke talks about the practicalities of adapting The Road for radio, and Andy Murray examines the controversy of The Big, Big Giggle and its legacy in other Kneale works.

We also look at why his two Wednesday Plays are less well remembered than other missing work like Out of the Unknown: The Chopper & wonder, did Nigel invent joyriding?
Find us, as ever, in the usual podcast venues, or listen below.

Episode 13 – The Lost Kneales, Part One

In our latest lockdown special we welcome back Toby Hadoke and Andy Murray for the first of a two-part look at some of Nigel Kneale's lost stories. In this episode we examine Kneale's early radio plays, The Long Stairs and You Must Listen, Kneale's application to work at the BBC as well as classics like The Creature – and The Road, which Toby adapted for radio in 2018.

You can find us in all the usual places, as ever.

Episode 5 - Quatermass II (1955) - Part Two

For the second part of our look at Quatermass II, we are once again with Andy Murray, writer of Into the Unknown: The Fantastic Life of Nigel Kneale, which you can purchase here. 

There's some dark stuff in the later episodes of Quatermass II, so we have to warn you that BERGCAST is not for children or persons of a nervous disposition.

Episode 4 - Quatermass II (1955) - Part One

Distract yourself from the political crisis and sinister machinations of the U.K. Government by letting Bernard Quatermass deal with it instead.

This episode we're joined by writer Andy Murray, whose book Into the Unknown: The Fantastic Life of Nigel Kneale is an absolute must read. You can get it here.

In the first of a two part chat, we look at what Nigel Kneale's been up to since The Quatermass Experiment, the casting of John Robinson and how the BBC felt the need to combat the launch of commercial television and a quick side step to the proposed Quatermass prequel, set in 1930s Berlin.


Howard's short story, The Austringer, can be found here.