Plenty going on this month but the biggest news for this blog is that there is finally a new episode of my podcast Very British Futures out there – The Day After Tomorrow.
Nothing to do with the dreadful 2004 Roland Emmreich film but everything to do with Gerry Anderson’s continuing efforts to conquer America. UFO had come close but after a strong start in the ratings it had faltered. Space 1999 was doing reasonably well in syndication but the question of a second season was still up in the air. Then Gerry Anderson was approached by George Heinemann, producer of NBC’s new youth orientated anthology strand Special Treat. Special Treat was a series of documentaries and educational family dramas, and Heinemann was looking for a way to dramatise Albert Einstein’s famous theories for children. The result was the 50 minute special The Day After Tomorrow. Hoping it might act as a backdoor pilot for a TV series, Anderson and writer Johnny Byrne (Space 1999, Doctor Who) added the subtitle Into Infinity.
It’s an entertaining family SF adventure and something of an unintended callback to the pioneering Pathfinders in Space series with its young protagonists and parents and the emphasis on science and engineering. The short running time means it moves at a fair clip, and it enjoys the same high-quality production values as Space 1999. For this podcast I tried to reach out beyond my usual circle and recruited Felicia Baxter from the podcast guest site matchmaker.fm Felicia turned out to be a wonderful guest and her fresh perspective and presence make this an excellent episode. It’s also the first of what I intend to be an extra format for the podcast. As well as the traditional discussions with a group of guests, I’d like to more conversational two handers like this, looking at more targeted subjects and shorter form TV plays.
You can hear this episode on your favourite podcast app and also on the web here.
My friend Rik Hoskin has had a good month too. His comic strip adaptation of the second book in The Wheel of Time saga is out now and there’s a new trailer online.
In addition he has published a marvellous creepy short story by a scuba diving holiday that takes a strange twist in The Dive, published by Cornice. You can enjoy for free and I recommend you give it a read.
The Phantom Frame 