The year is 1987 and NASA launches the last of America’s deep-space probes. In a freak mishap, Ranger 3 and its pilot Captain William ‘Buck’ Rogers are blown out of their trajectory into an orbit which freezes his life support … Continue reading Return to the 25th Century: Buck Rogers Revisited
Whenever you see one of those lists of the Top British Sitcoms in a Sunday supplement, or on one of those fatuous I Love [Insert Decade Here] TV shows, you can guarantee that it’s always going to be the usual … Continue reading 6 Classic British TV Comedies That Are Often Overlooked
The BBC’s 1981 6-part adaptation of The Day of the Triffids is easily the best visual adaptation of John Wyndham’s classic science fiction novel. Previously there had been the 1962 film version, which played down the human elements, but lacked … Continue reading The Day of the Triffids – Blu-Ray Review
ITV made several attempts to emulate the success of the BBC’s Doctor Who during the 1970s and I was too young to enjoy most of them. I only remember watching Into the Labyrinth and the tail-end of The Tomorrow People; … Continue reading Let’s Do the Timeslip Again!
Roald Dahl led a curious double life in the 1970s. He was already widely known as a popular author of children’s fiction, with his books appearing frequently on Jackanory and Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach … Continue reading Expect (Tales of) the Unexpected
The history of sci-fi on British television is littered with oddities, but few come odder than the 1975 ITV series Star Maidens. Co-produced by a Scottish investment company and a German TV network, Star Maidens was filmed in Slough with … Continue reading The Past is a Different Planet: Star Maidens Revisited
I’m not the sort of person who goes on about the children’s television shows of the 70s and 80s that ‘traumatised’ them as a child; in fact, that sort of behaviour really annoys me. If the most traumatic thing that … Continue reading Stepping Back into the Shadows
This is a revised and updated version of material first published in the Strange Skins Avengers Special (2004). Such was the great impact and popularity of The Avengers that it was inevitable its success would impact upon other shows on British – … Continue reading The Avengers: The After Party
This is a revised and updated version of material first published in the Strange Skins Avengers Special (2004). There were big changes behind the scenes of The Avengers beyond the departure of Diana Rigg from the series. The top brass at ABC … Continue reading The Avengers: King’s Gambit
This is a revised and updated version of material first published in the Strange Skins Avengers Special (2004). With the departure of Honor Blackman and the imminent move into filmed production, The Avengers was changing. Out went the producer John Bryce, and … Continue reading The Avengers: ‘M’ Appeal
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