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Post by doug61 on Aug 19, 2021 13:12:10 GMT
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Post by doug61 on Aug 19, 2021 13:14:35 GMT
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Post by Lord Emsworth on Aug 19, 2021 14:29:52 GMT
Looks flipping great - thanks Doug
Not heard of this before
AND it's the same Rob Young who wrote the excellent Electic Eden |
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Post by personunknown on Aug 19, 2021 14:59:49 GMT
Love the cover, three wholesome kids watching the Village of the Damned, one of the best Brit science fiction films ever.
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Post by doug61 on Aug 20, 2021 10:47:30 GMT
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Post by Lord Emsworth on Aug 20, 2021 11:19:11 GMT
If Electric Eden is any indication then Rob Hughes is a brilliant writer and very good at making connections. This makes me very hopeful for this book |
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Post by Lord Emsworth on Sept 28, 2021 13:59:39 GMT
Just finished this
Rob Young's gift is to provide fascinating connections, context and insights about whatever he writes about. In this book he takes the reader on a tour of British television and films from the 1950s onwards.
If you lived through any of this era, and you regularly watched television, then you will probably have heard of, or even recall the likes of Bagpuss, Children of the Stones, Quatermass, Tom Jones, The Wicker Man, Brideshead Revisited, A Canterbury Tale, The Go-Between, and so on. Rob Young lifts the lid on how sci-fi, folk horror, public information films, period dramas and Xmas Ghost Stories reflected tensions between the past and the present, and illuminated the fractures and injustices within British society.
One name that recurs through is Nigel Kneale (no, me neither). A visionary and towering presence who was responsible for Quatermass and numerous other dystopian dramas. Sadly many of these were wiped or are now lost. The campaign for a blue plaque should now start in earnest.
Everything Rob Young describes in this book sounds intriguing and interesting. I am now keen to get my mitts on DVDs of Robin Redbreast (a folk horror Play for Today), Bagpuss (children’s classic), Tarry-Dan Tarry-Dan Scarey Old Spooky Man, Winstantley, Gallivant, amongst many others. I already have Penda's Fen and Children of the Stones in my collection - both excellent by the way. A lot of what exists can be found on YouTube so be prepared to dive down many a fascinating rabbit hole.
An absorbing dive into Britain’s collective psyche during its golden age of television and film.
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Post by personunknown on Sept 28, 2021 14:20:27 GMT
Nigel Kneale wrote the screenplay for Quatermass and the Pit. The budget for this was probably a tenth of what the Yanks used to throw at their fifties sci fi alien invaders, they have Gort and pod creatures whereas we have giant grasshoppers. But ours is better because the story is so well worked it comes over as more believable despite the dodgy special effects. The series with John Mills got a run out a few years ago on some rerun channel, not in the same league as the film's unfortunately.
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Post by zeopold on Sept 29, 2021 16:16:58 GMT
Love the cover, three wholesome kids watching the Village of the Damned At first glance I thought they were watching a UKIP party political broadcast |
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