Podcasts, radio shows, writing and more by Alex Fitch
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Reality Check: Apocalypse Miao
Posters for Birdemic II and Best Friends Forever
Apocalypse Miao: In a pair of Q and As recorded at the London Science-Fiction Film Festival (SCI-FI-LONDON), Alex Fitch talks to the creators of two new low budget portrayals of the apocalypse on screen. Stars Alan Bagh and Thomas Favaloro, writer / director James Nguyen and producer Jeff Gross discuss the B movie spoof Birdemic II: The Resurrection and co-writer / star Vera Miao talks about her excellent mid-apocalyptic road movie Best Friends Forever. (Originally broadcast 3rd May 2013 on Resonance 104.4 FM)
This year’s SCI-FI-LONDON festival takes place at various venues around London from 30th April – more info at www.sci-fi-london.com
For more info about this podcast and a variety of other episodes you can download, please visit the home of this episode at www.sci-fi-london.com
Websites: www.bestfriendsforeverfilm.com / www.birdemic.com
Reality Check: the True Love of Arthur Sleep
April 26, 2013
Stills from Arthur Sleep and True Love
the True Love of Arthur Sleep: Alex Fitch talks to graphic designer turned film-maker Sam Harris about his short silent film Arthur Sleep, a half hour Stygian odyssey that mixes elements of The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari and Eraserhead, as a trip on the London Underground takes a traveller into more mysterious destinations than he envisioned. Also, in a Q and A recorded at last year’s SCI-FI-LONDON, Alex talks to the writers and producer of True Love, an SF thriller that tests a couple’s devotion to each other as a set of innocuous questions in a surrealist prison turn to torture. (Originally broadcast 26th April 2013 on Resonance 104.4 FM)
Arthur Sleep is premiering at Deptford Old Town Hall, New Cross, London SE14 6AF on 28 April at 4pm with a live score performed by members of the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and London art-rock bands – more info at
www.freefilmfestivals.org / True Love is released in Japanese cinemas on 27th April and this year’s SCI-FI-LONDON festival takes place at various venues around London from 30th April – more info at www.sci-fi-london.com
For more info about this podcast and a variety of other episodes you can download, please visit the home of this episode at www.sci-fi-london.com (more…)
Reality Check: The chances of anything coming from Mars…
April 1, 2013
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Liam Neeson in the music video for Forever Autumn / photo of The War of the Worlds concert by Ken Harrison
The chances of anything coming from Mars…: Alex Fitch talks to a musician and composer, whose recent concerts of a classic SF concept album will be shown on the big screen over the next few weeks. Jeff Wayne discusses The War of the Worlds – The New Generation, how he reworked the music over the last 35 years and oversaw animation to accompany the score in video games and live tours plus his hopes for the cinema release of the concert. Includes an extract from The Eve of the War (2012) featuring Liam Neeson. (Partially broadcast 29th March 2013 on Resonance 104.4 FM).
The War of the Worlds – The New Generation is screening at UK cinemas from 11th April – more info at www.thewaroftheworldscinema.com
For more info about this podcast and a variety of other episodes you can download, please visit the home of this episode at www.sci-fi-london.com (more…)
Reality Check: Time and relative Dimensions in the Search for Simon
March 21, 2013
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Posters for Dimensions and The Search for Simon
Time and relative Dimensions in the Search for Simon: Alex Fitch talks to the cast and crew of two new low budget British SF movies: director Sloane U’Ren, editor Adam Garstone and members of the cast of Dimensions discuss their ‘Merchant Ivory’ style time travel film which mixes a love triangle with a time loop that joins their pasts with their futures. Also, on the set of new alien abductee comedy drama The Search for Simon, director Martin Gooch and one of the stars – Doctor Who alumnus Sophie Aldred – talk about this crowd funded feature that mixes elements of travelogue with the X-Files.
For more info about this podcast and a variety of other episodes you can download, please visit the home of this episode at www.sci-fi-london.com (more…)
Reality Check: Animating the City
March 4, 2013
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Still from Babledom and poster for Cycle
Animating the City: Alex Fitch talks to the directors of two new cutting-edge animated films which mix animation and live action footage to beguiling effect. In a Q and A recorded at SCI-FI-LONDON, the London International Festival of Science Fiction and Fantastic Film, Zoltan Sostai discusses his film Cycle, a spiritual successor to Tron and The Matrix, which sees a nameless astronaut trying to escape a bleak urban landscape which twists and loops back on itself, creating an endless maze he can’t find the exit from.
Also, British animator Paul Bush talks about his first feature film Babledom which looks into the layers of history and potential future that are unearthed by explorers of the modern city. Mixing a dialogue between two residents of a dystopian city in the style of Chris Marker’s La Jetée, with visuals that recall the architecture of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, Babledom is an evocative look at mankind’s varied relationships with the crowded spaces we inhabit. (more…)
Reality Check: The life electric
February 5, 2013
Stills from Death and Zero One
The life electric: In a show looking at the possible consequences of computer technology and Artificial Intelligence on humanity, Alex Fitch talks to the directors of two new films that address these themes and how it might impact on peoples lives and after-lives. Kareem Gray discusses his movie Zero One, a cross between Knight Rider and The Terminator in which a couple of hackers discover a sentient intelligence on the internet with the power to download itself into robots and other machines; Martin Gooch and members of the cast of Death discuss this new British fantasy film starring Leslie Philips in which a pair of siblings return to their family manse after the death of their father and discover he had been working on a computer programme that allows people to converse with the dead…
(Expanded podcast of an episode of I’m ready for my close-up, broadcast 01/02/13 on Resonance 104.4 FM)
For more info about this podcast and a variety of other episodes you can download, please visit the home of this episode at www.sci-fi-london.com (more…)
Reality Check: The Scarifyers
January 30, 2013
Promo material for The Thirteen Hallows, David Warner and Terry Molloy, cover of The Scarifyers comic no.1
The Scarifyers: As we enter Doctor Who’s 50th anniversary year, Reality Check investigates a radio drama series tangentally connected to the franchise. The Scarifyers is a horror / black comedy series, with new installments broadcast each year on BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC 7) and released on CD and concern the adventures of an elderly horror writer and his retired police sidekick as they investigate supernatural crimes and occurances in 1950s Britain. Alex Fitch talks to series writer and producer Simon Barnard and CD cover artist Garen Ewing about the genre crossing narrative (more…)
Reality Check: Manhwa and Metamorphosis
November 9, 2012
Poster for Priest 3D, art from Priest and Ghostface by Min-Woo Hyung, poster for Metamorphosis, cover of Ghostwatch
Manhwa and Metamorphosis: Two events taking place this weekend are ideal places for fans of fantasy and science fiction to visit – SCI-FI-LONDON: EAST and Manhwa: Korean Story and Painting – each in venues not known for exploring those genres. Alex Fitch talks to director Chris Swanton about his adaptation of Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, screening Sunday 11th November at Stratford Picturehouse and to comic book creator Min-Woo Hyung regarding the art he’s exhibiting at the Korean Creative Content Agency, 1-3 The Strand. Alex and Chris discuss why the director chose a hard to translate novel by Kafka as his directorial debut, following a career as an editor on such projects as the BBC’s Ghostwatch, and Min-Woo talks about his career as a Manhwa creator from his debut Chronicle of a Hot-blooded Judo King to his latest project Ghostface and his most famous series Priest, which was adapted as a Sci-Fi blockbuster in 2011. (more…)
Reality Check: 35 years of 2000AD – Pencils and paint
September 27, 2012
2000AD covers by Kev Hopgood and Henry Flint
35 years of 2000AD – Pencils and paint: In a companion podcast to a recent edition of Panel Borders, Alex Fitch talks to a pair of iconic artists, responsible for illustrating many of 2000AD‘s most memorable characters to celebrate the title’s 35th anniversary year. Kev Hopgood has drawn Judge Dredd, Future Shocks and Harlem Heroes, before going on to co-create War Machine in the American Iron Man comic; while Henry Flint has rendered memorable runs on Nemesis the Warlock, Rogue Trooper and ABC Warriors.
(Expanded podcast of the second half of a Clear Spot, broadcast 16/09/12 on Resonance 104.4 FM)
For more info about this podcast and a variety of other episodes you can download, please visit the home of this episode at www.sci-fi-london.com (more…)
Reality Check: Counter Measures
August 31, 2012
Counter Measures poster and still from Remembrance of the Daleks featuring Pamela Salem and Simon Williams
Counter Measures: In the second of a pair of podcasts about Doctor Who audio spin-offs, Alex Fitch talks to actor John Banks, producer David Richardson and director Ken Bentley about Counter Measures, a new Nigel Kneale influenced audio drama that continues the story of the supporting cast from Doctor Who: Remembrance of the Daleks. Alex also talks to actress Pamela Salem about reprising her Daleks role for the new series as well as her history of appearing in British telefantasy such as Blake’s 7 and Into the Labyrinth as well as her role of Miss Moneypenny in the Bond film Never Say Never Again. (Expanded podcast of the second half of a ‘Clear Spot’, broadcast 17/08/12 on Resonance 104.4 FM)
For more info about this podcast and a variety of other episodes you can download, please visit the home of this episode at www.sci-fi-london.com
Links: More info on Counter Measures at bigfinish.com (more…)
Reality Check: The Minister of Chance
August 20, 2012
— 3 Comments
Promotional images for The Minister of Chance and Kaldor City, starring Paul Darrow
The Minister of Chance: In the first of a pair of podcasts about Doctor Who audio spin-offs, Alex Fitch talks to the writer / director, Dan Freeman, and one of the stars, Paul Darrow, of The Minister of Chance. The series is a crowd-funded, mp3 download serial which follows the SF / fantasy adventures of The Minister, a character who first appeared in the Doctor Who webcast, Death Comes to Time. Alex talks to Dan about the creation of DCtT and The Minister of Chance and to Paul about acting alongside Paul McGann and Sylvester McCoy and reprising his iconic role of role of Avon in Blake’s 7 and Kaldor City audio plays. (Expanded podcast of the first half of a ‘Clear Spot’, broadcast 17/08/12 on Resonance 104.4 FM)
For more info about this podcast and a variety of other episodes you can download, please visit the home of this episode at www.sci-fi-london.com
Links: Minister of Chance / Kaldor City / Blake’s 7 audio websites (more…)
Reality Check: Trek Nation
August 2, 2012
Trek Nation poster featuring Eugene ‘Rod’ Roddenberry
Trek Nation: Alex Fitch and Dr. Marek Kukula (Public Astronomer, Royal Greenwich Observatory) conduct a Q and A with Eugene ‘Rod’ Roddenberry after a screening of his film Trek Nation, which looks at the legacy of Gene Roddenberry and Star Trek. Recorded in front of an audience at SCI-FI-LONDON, Spring 2012.
For more info about this podcast and a variety of other episodes you can download, please visit the home of this episode at www.sci-fi-london.com
Links: Official Roddenberry and Trek Nation websites
More info on the short film White Room and interview with the director, Greg Aronowitz (more…)
Reality Check: Documentary approaches to SF film
May 31, 2012
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Stills from Piercing Darkness and Ghosts with shit jobs
Documentary approaches to SF film: Alex Fitch talks to a pair of film-makers whose experiences outside of cinema have given them unique approaches to the medium. Shezad Dawood is a fine artist who, following a short film about westerns called Feature, is now tackling the SF genre with his movie Piercing Brightness, an extract of which is currently showing at the Museum of Modern Art, Oxford. Jim Monroe is a novelist and graphic novelist, whose excellent mockumentary Ghosts with shit jobs closed this year’s SCI-FI-LONDON festival and presents the lives of poor North Americans after the economy of the West collapses.
For more info about this podcast and a variety of other episodes you can download, please visit the home of this episode at www.sci-fi-london.com (more…)
Reality Check: Dystopian TV and film
May 6, 2012
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Stills from We are all Cylons directed by Ilana Rein / Radio Free Albemuth by John Alan Simon
Dystopian TV and film: Alex Fitch talks to Ilana Rein (director: We are all Cylons), Andrew Mark Sewell (producer: Blake’s 7 audio) and Ben Aaronovich (writer: Blake’s 7 audio / Doctor Who) about dystopian TV from The Time Tunnel to Battlestar Galactica; and to Elizabeth Karr (producer) and John Alan Simon (writer / director) of Philip K. Dick adaptation Radio Free Albemuth.
N.B./ There is an additional screening of Radio Free Albemuth at 2.30pm on Monday 7th May at Apollo Piccadilly Cinema, Lower Regent Street, London
For more info about this podcast and a variety of other episodes you can download, please visit the home of this episode at www.sci-fi-london.com (more…)
Reality Check: The work of Warren Ellis
April 24, 2012
Excerpt from SVK by Warren Ellis & D'israeli / Covers of newuniversal: 1959 and Phonogram vs. the fans
The work of Warren Ellis: Iyare Igiehon (BBC 6music) discusses the work of Warren Ellis with Matt Jones (BERG design), Matthew Sheret (We are words + pictures) and Kieron Gillen (X-Men). Jones talks about SVK, the new comic by Ellis and D’Israeli, commissioned by BERG, Sheret discusses how Ellis inspired him to become a writer and Gillen talks about his friendship with the writer and their Marvel collaborations.
For more info about this podcast and a variety of other episodes you can download, please visit the home of this episode at www.sci-fi-london.com
Links: Buy SVK by Warren Ellis and Disraeli from BERG design (more…)
Reality Check: Modern childrens comics
April 5, 2012
The Mythical 9th Division by Alex Milway, Robot City adventures by Paul Collicutt, Doctor Who Adventures by Eddie Robson
Modern children’s comics: In a panel discussion recorded at last year’s SCI-FI-LONDON festival, CBBC presenter Chris Johnson talks to Paul Collicutt (Robot City adventures), Alex Milway (The Mythical 9th Division) and Eddie Robson (Doctor Who adventures) about creating Science-Fiction and Fantasy comics for kids and having interested children in the format, how to keep their love of comics going.
Listen to Alex Fitch’s interviews with Alex Milway and Paul Collicutt
(more…)
Reality Check: Worlds of Wonder at the British Library
November 18, 2011
— 3 Comments
Reality Check:
Worlds of Wonder at the British Library
Farah Mendlesohn, Neil Gaiman, Rachel Armstrong, Peter F. Hamilton, and Kari Sperring at The British Library. Photo by Marjorie Taylor
In a panel discussion entitled “Worlds of Wonder?”, recorded at the British Library as part of their events season to support the exhibition ‘Out of this World’, authors Neil Gaiman and Peter F. Hamilton, scientist Rachel Armstrong and critics Kari Sperring and Farah Mendlesohn (chair) discuss the current state of science fiction around the world and its relationship with the latest advances in science fact.
(This show replaces November’s episode of Book List on Resonance FM as the slot was overbooked)
For more info about this podcast and a variety of other episodes you can download, please visit the home of this episode at www.sci-fi-london.com
Links: Original listing for the event on The British Library website
Write up of the event on the Margo’s Musings blog
Reality Check: Doctor Who in comics and Superman on TV
October 22, 2011
— 1 Comment
Reality Check:
Doctor Who in comics and Superman on TV
Cover of Smallville season 10 DVDs, Jimmy Olsen and Chloe Sullivan in Smallville and comics, Doctor Who: The Lodger comic and TV adaptation, Doctor Who Tesseract graphic novel by Tony Lee
Some half term entertainment as Alex Fitch talks to writer Tony Lee about Doctor Who‘s continuing adventures in comic strips and to Superman expert Brad Ricca about the adventures of Clark Kent in the TV series Smallville and on the big screen. Also, Martin Rowson introduces the Doctor Who comics exhibition at the Cartoon Museum, which continues until October 31st when Smallville Season 10 is out on DVD and Blu-Ray.
For more info about this podcast and a variety of other episodes you can download, please visit the home of this episode at www.sci-fi-london.com
Links: Buy Smallville Season 10
and Smallville Complete Seasons 1-10
Buy Doctor Who graphic novels: The Forgotten
Info about the Doctor Who comics exhibition at The Cartoon Museum
Interview with Brad Ricca at www.clevelandmagazine.com
Alex’s interviews with Martin Rowson about his graphic novels and other Doctor Who writers and illustrators
Also, the pilot episode of SCI-FI-LONDON’s new video magazine show The Pulse is now online…
Lian, Lyndsy Fonseca, Alex Fitch and Shaun Tan, Rob Spence in The Pulse
Featured in the first episode are Chris’ interviews with Lyndsy Fonseca about John Carpenter’s The Ward and with bona fide cyborg Rob Spence who demonstrates his ‘camera’eye’ plus Alex Fitch catches up with Oscar winning animator Shaun Tan who talks about his short film The Lost Thing and his collection of sketches, The Bird King.
For more info, please go to www.sci-fi-london.com/pulse where you can also download longer edits of the three interviews.
Reality Check: Fringe Event / The Pulse: Shaun Tan, Cyborg Ward
October 4, 2011
Reality Check:
Fringe Event
Promo images for Fringe and The Event
In this edition, hosted by Chris Patmore, we really do take a reality check on two popular TV series that have just come out on DVD. For Fringe Season 3 we speak with Oxford University quantum physicist David Deutsch about the possible existence of parallel universes. For the release of The Event we speak with psychologist Dr Patrick Lehman about the fascination with conspiracy theories
For more info about this podcast and a variety of other episodes you can download, please visit the home of this episode at www.sci-fi-london.com
Links: Buy Fringe Season 3 and The Event
Also, the pilot episode of SCI-FI-LONDON’s new video magazine show The Pulse is now online…
Lian, Lyndsy Fonseca, Alex Fitch and Shaun Tan, Rob Spence in The Pulse
Featured in the first episode are Chris’ interviews with Lyndsy Fonseca about John Carpenter’s The Ward and with bona fide cyborg Rob Spence who demonstrates his ‘camera’eye’ plus Alex Fitch catches up with Oscar winning animator Shaun Tan who talks about his short film The Lost Thing and his collection of sketches, The Bird King.
For more info, please go to www.sci-fi-london.com/pulse where you can also download longer edits of the three interviews.
Reality Check: Autumn Sci-Fi – Source Code and Witch Mountain
September 14, 2011
— 1 Comment
Reality Check:
Autumn Sci-Fi – Source Code and Witch Mountain
In a glass brightly - Source Code and Escape to Witch Mountain
As the Autumn nights start to draw in, we have a couple of recommendations of DVDs worth staying in for, as Alex Fitch interviews a pair of directors who have both earned cult followings for their work in the SF genre. Duncan Jones talks about his new film Source Code, a time travel thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal and about how themes in his new movie consciously and unconsciously reflect some of his concerns of humanity dislocated by technology in his debut Moon. Alex also chats, alongside SCI-FI-LONDON’s newest interviewer Lily Savy-Gorman, to John Hough, director of the classic Disney film Escape to Witch Mountain (1975), starring Ray Milland and Donald Pleasance. Hough followed his first family film with a couple more for Disney – Return from Witch Mountain and The Watcher in the Woods – and talks about how the company’s approach to live-action filmmaking has changed over the years.
For more info about this podcast and a variety of other episodes you can download, please visit the home of this episode at www.sci-fi-london.com
Links: Read a transcript of Alex’s interview with Duncan Jones
Info about the Escape to Witch Mountain screening at SCI-FI-LONDON
Recommended events:
New Science Fiction Reading Group
In discussion: Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon (we have some copies for loan).
1st meeting on Wednesday 21st September @ 7pm
Streatham Library
63 Streatham High Road
London SW16 1PL
For more info contact 020 7926 6768 and ask for Pat / e-mail: pdunne@lambeth.gov.uk
