Showing posts with label itv. Show all posts
Showing posts with label itv. Show all posts

Wednesday, 28 September 2022

Episode 33 – Kinvig, feat. Gemma Arrowsmith


It had to happen. It's time for us to deal with the One Nigel Kneale Thing We Don't Particularly Like: Kinvig.

Joining us is comedy writer and performer Gemma Arrowsmith, whose new show Gemma Arrowsmith's Sketched Out has just dropped on BBC Radio 4, and we talk about why the live studio audience is going to find it funnier than we do at home, the wild transformation of situation comedy in the 1980s, and whether sci-fi nerds really have that much of a crossover with UFO fans.

Find us as usual on the all your favourite podcast outlets or give us a listen on the fancy widget below.

Monday, 15 August 2022

Episode 32 – Back to the Woman in Black, feat. Pauline Moran


In this episode, we have the Woman in Black herself, Pauline Moran, who although unwell at the time, graciously agreed to talk to us about her career in rock music, Mike Leigh, clingfilm, auditioning for a role with no lines, and the shocking failure of the media industry to supply decent roles for older women in acting.

Oh, and yeah, did you know there was an Australian adaptation of The Quatermass Experiment? No? Neither did we. A word about that in the preamble.

 

Monday, 14 February 2022

Episode 29 – The Nigel Kneale Century

Still from The Quatermass Experiment
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. 

Jane Asher (from The Stone Tape)
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.

Friday, 24 December 2021

Episode 28 – The Woman in Black (1989)


For our bumper sized Christmas episode, what better subject than a ghost story?

Taking a deep dive into the terrifying Kneale-scripted Christmas drama The Woman in Black we're joined by Robert Taylor, author of the forthcoming book Sound Haunting: The Making of Central Films’ The Woman in Black. In a lengthy and intimate discussion, we talk about the genesis of the drama, what happened when Nigel Kneale wrote the script too quickly, how a woman in a dress and a hat standing absolutely still can chill you to the bone, and the enduring power of Christmas TV memories.

Robert recently wrote an essay about The Woman in Black on Horrified.com, which you can read here

It only remains for us to wish you all a merry, and ghostly Christmas. We've got big news coming in the New Year, so stay tuned. Contact will remain established. 

Friday, 23 April 2021

Episode 23 – Stephen Gallagher

(We are very keen that you know that this isn't Stephen Gallagher. This is Chad.)

For this episode of BERGCAST, we were joined by veteran novelist and screenwriter Stephen Gallagher, who chatted with us about the trajectory of his career, and the influence of Nigel Kneale on his work. In a wide-ranging conversation, we talked about how a false memory of Quatermass and the Pit haunted Stephen for years, how Hollywood treats writer-creators, what Emma Peel and Bernard Quatermass would look like as a team, and whether more screenplays should be written using the Marvel Method.

You can find our podcast on Spotify and Apple, and on your favourite podcast app, or just listen below. 

Thursday, 24 December 2020

Episode 21 – The Quatermass Conclusion, Part Two

Pictured: 2020 in retrospect

Once again we're joined by James Cooray Smith, journalist, expert and lovely bloke, for the final part of our discussion of the last televised Quatermass story, which makes this the Quatermass Conclusion Conclusion.

As we talk about the bleakest and most apocalyptic story of a pretty bleak canon, we also explore the links the 1979 ITV Quatermass has with Blood on Satan's Claw, compare Nigel Kneale with George Lucas and Charles Dickens, and what “aging well” really means.

Wednesday, 23 December 2020

Episode 20 – The Quatermass Conclusion, Part One

Time Out, 1979; artwork Mick Brownfield.

It took us four tries and the better part of a year finally to get a podcast about the final televised Quatermass story, 1979's ITV Quatermass, given a limited cinema release as The Quatermass Conclusion. We're joined by the endlessly patient and thoroughly lovely James Cooray Smith, journalist and cultural commentator, whose take on what is possibly the most 2020 of Quatermass stories is going to bring us to Christmas. 

And you won't have to wait too long for part two – we're posting it tomorrow. 


Monday, 16 November 2020

Episode 18 – Beasts, Part 2

Artwork: Ash Loydon

Once again, the people at BERGCAST are  delighted to welcome Andrew Screen, writer of a forthcoming guide to Beasts, Nigel Kneale's terrifying 1976 anthology series. 

What was Our Nigel’s beef with the Hammer Family? How did a toy poodle play a part in one of the most chilling scenes ever shown on broadcast telly? Was there really a time when Bernard Horsfall strangled two beloved TV scientists in a single week? Which Hellraiser movie was the one with the spaceship?

Tap the play button to find out. 

We'd like to say a big thank you to Caroline Champion, Johnny Mains and Andy Murray for their help on this one. 

Friday, 23 October 2020

Episode 17 – Beasts, Part 1


For this episode, Jon and I are joined by Andrew Screen, writer of a forthcoming book about Nigel Kneale's anthology series Beasts to talk about that, and its predecessor, the Against the Crowd episode Murrain, which is for obvious reasons very close to my heart. 

Join us for a discussion of how great a terse character description can be, the truth about the farmer's name in Murrain, and what Pauline Quirke has to do with a talking Mongoose called Gef. 

Andrew was also kind enough to send us pictures (taken by Julian Jones) of the locations from Murrain as they are now. a few of which you can see here. 


All photos were taken by Julian Jones


As ever, you can find BERGCAST in all the usual podcast places, but for your convenience feel free to liten below. And remember that you can find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter as @BERGCASTcalling

This is also a good time to point out that we're going to be recording a live BERGCAST on October 31st as part of the RURAL GOTHIC online symposium, a day-long event full of spooky goodness and we'll be talking about The Witches (the Hammer one, not the Angelica Huston one or the Anne Hathaway one) with film historian and actor Jonathan Rigby. Tickets are still available here.