VISION ON SOUND

STEVE HATCHER shares some of his eclectic viewing.First broadcast on FAB RADIO INTERNATIONAL at 19:00 on September 28th 2025.Such is the wibbly-wobbly nature of how I put the schedule for VISION ON SOUND together that this week’s show features a conversation I had with STEVE HATCHER way back in July after he’d not been on the show for a while, in which we discussed his then recent viewing choices.Obviously since then there has been our appearance at WHOOVERVILLE 16 which went out a couple of weeks back, so you will have heard him more recently, even if, when we recorded it, you hadn’t.Or something like that anyway.Anyway, all will either become clear, or perhaps it will hardly matter at all, as we have a TV viewing related chat that covers a wide range of TV series including FAMILIES LIKE OURS, BOB SERVANT, THE DETECTIVES, PATIENCE, THE GOLD ROBBERS, VILLAINS and THE PROFESSIONALS…PLEASE NOTE - For Copyright reasons, musical content sometimes has to be removed for the podcast edition. All the spoken word content remains (mostly) as it was in the broadcast version. Hopefully this won't spoil your enjoyment of the show.

MICHAEL SEELY talks to me about CALLAN.First broadcast on FAB RADIO INTERNATIONAL at 19:00 on September 21st 2025.This week’s show features the return to VISION ON SOUND of one of our guests MICHAEL SEELY, the prolific archive TV author, researcher, and publisher of several books which forensically explore topics as diverse as THE NIGHTMARE MAN, DOOMWATCH, and the almost totally forgotten R3, through his SATURDAY MORNING PRESS imprint.MICHAEL got in touch with me because, earlier in the summer I’d been giving the TV series CALLAN a long-overdue re-watch, because it felt as if it had been far too long since I’d seen any of the surviving episodes from the black and white series which began on ABC television in 1967 after a successful pilot as part of the ARMCHAIR THEATRE strand, and was popular enough to be picked up by THAMES TELEVISION and continue into the colour era, eventually having four series of containing 44 episodes of which 34 survive.It was also remade as a feature film in 1974, and was resurrected for a one-off television play in the early 1980s.CALLAN is one of those somewhat legendary series from the 1960s and 1970s which gets talked about a lot – often in hushed, awe-filled whispers – in archive television circles, so I make no apologies for returning to the subject today.I’d been extolling its virtues online and claiming it as a classy example of how writing, direction, and performance can build suspense and tension in a multi-camera studio situation, push the boundaries, and create something terrific, occasionally shocking, and utterly intense within those limitations.MICHAEL popped up to remind me how brilliant EDWARD WOODWARD’s intensity was, and how it sells the whole thing and, after an exchange of messages, we both agreed that his return to the show was long overdue, and the following conversation, recorded on JUNE the 18th 2025, is the result, and I do hope that you enjoy it.PLEASE NOTE - For Copyright reasons, musical content sometimes has to be removed for the podcast edition. All the spoken word content remains (mostly) as it was in the broadcast version. Hopefully this won't spoil your enjoyment of the show.

VISION ON SOUND at WHOOVERVILLE 16.First broadcast on FAB RADIO INTERNATIONAL at 19:00 on September 14th 2025.This year, for the fourth consecutive year, VISION ON SOUND was invited to once again take part in the annual event organised by the DERBYSHIRE WHOOVERS known as WHOOVERVILLE.This year was the sixteenth WHOOVERVILLE, or WHOOVERVILLE 16 as it was known on the day, and it took place on AUGUST THE 30th 2025 at THE QUAD creative centre in the very heart of the city of Derby.I’d been invited along by two of the main organisers for the event, STEVE HATCHER and ANDREW-MARK THOMPSON who are both old friends of VISION ON SOUND and have racked up several appearances on the show between them, and I’m always terribly grateful to both of them for their continuing support and enthusiasm for this show.STEVE managed to persuade the lovely M.C. PAUL GRIGGS to join us on the stage to chat about old TV for half an hour or so, and there was a promise of the sound engineering legend that is BRIAN HODGSON joining us later on in the session.I’m presenting the interviews featuring in this edition of the show unedited and as raw as on the day we recorded them, and so we find me in the middle of setting up some recording equipment as we attempt to get STEVE HATCHER, PAUL GRIGGS and myself on stage to try and have a natter that at least partly involves a few thoughts about the archive TV that all of us here at VISION ON SOUND know and love.Later we are indeed briefly joined by the legendary BRIAN HODGSON, and the show finishes with a catch up I had with STEVE a couple of days after the event.PLEASE NOTE - For Copyright reasons, musical content sometimes has to be removed for the podcast edition. All the spoken word content remains (mostly) as it was in the broadcast version. Hopefully this won't spoil your enjoyment of the show.

WARREN CUMMINGS on THE STONE TAPE.First broadcast on FAB RADIO INTERNATIONAL at 19:00 on September 7th 2025.I suppose it’s something of a welcome back, of course, after the show took a few weeks off for personal reasons.Well, to be perfectly honest with you, after two hundred and fifty episodes on the bounce, I was basically knackered, and running on fumes, and decided that the world was unlikely to stop turning if I skipped a few weeks.Now I am rather sorry that we dropped off the air unannounced, which did confuse some of our loyal listeners for a while, but it was all rather unplanned, and the show had already been uploaded for transmission and such is the wibbly-wobbly way I put this show together, I didn’t get the opportunity to add a tag scene with Tara to explain what was going on whilst I poured gallons of ginger pop masquerading as the expensive stuff.It also meant that I allowed an entire summer to pass without addressing that faux pas that featured in our last show about American sitcoms, with the small matter of one of them not being American at all, but a Canadian show. Some might say that I could play the “North America” card, or wait for the day when a particular Orange turnip finally gets his own way on that matter, but all I can say as an excuse is that most of our chats on VISION ON SOUND are fairly spontaneous, and until I can persuade someone to sit in on our recording sessions, poised at their laptops and ready to pounce on any slight errors we make, then they are occasionally going to slip through, even though we try our very best to at least give the vague impression that we know what we’re talking aboot.Happily for me, those fabulous people at FAB RADIO were quite willing to be very forgiving, and keep the show’s slot available to welcome me back when I was good and ready, and, whilst some life stuff that I’m not going to bother you with is currently still making production of the show more of a slog than it might otherwise be, we’re back and ready to head into the autumn with a whole stack of as yet unheard interview recordings made before the production pause until we get into the giddy process of making a whole new batch of shows.So today we’ll start off with WARREN CUMMINGS returning (yes, him again!) to talk about – in our usual roundabout sort of a way - a personal favourite of his, THE STONE TAPE, as written by NIGEL KNEALE and broadcast on Christmas Day 1972. We recorded this on the 17th of June, so it’s somewhat appropriate that it found itself preserved in silicon to be released into the world a few months later, but could still come back and haunt you forever, should you wish to listen again one day.Anyway, I hope you enjoy it.PLEASE NOTE - For Copyright reasons, musical content sometimes has to be removed for the podcast edition. All the spoken word content remains (mostly) as it was in the broadcast version. Hopefully this won't spoil your enjoyment of the show.

PAUL CHANDLER presents THE SHY YETI's Top Ten USTV Sitcoms.First broadcast on FAB RADIO INTERNATIONAL at 19:00 on July 20th 2025.This week our friend PAUL CHANDLER, THE SHY YETI himself, returns to present another of his Top Ten choices, which this time is a follow up to him recently presenting his choice of his all time favourite British Sitcoms, as this week he crosses the Atlantic to give us his personal selection of his favourite American sitcoms.As with his other choices, I think that you might be a little bit surprised by several of PAUL’s selections, and, of course, the vast archive of quality options that have to be left out when you’re making a list like this. I’m sure that, if I’d spoken to him on another day, perhaps they might have been completely different. Two of them, after all, even change their places during the course of this conversation.PLEASE NOTE - For Copyright reasons, musical content sometimes has to be removed for the podcast edition. All the spoken word content remains (mostly) as it was in the broadcast version. Hopefully this won't spoil your enjoyment of the show.

WARREN CUMMINGS talks TV fashions.First broadcast on FAB RADIO INTERNATIONAL at 19:00 on July 13th 2025.This week WARREN CUMMINGS is back again, and this time we decided to take a slightly irreverent look at the notion that our enjoyment of archive television might be reduced simply because of the fashions being worn or the appearance of the people that turn up in it. Does a great contemporary drama, or a classic comedy series now look just a little bit silly because the characters are wearing terrible fashions, have ridiculous haircuts, or sport quite ludicrous facial hair? And will the cutting edge series currently being made and shown look just as ridiculous in a few years time.All of this was prompted by a mention of some terrible underpants in an episode of a classic TV drama series that we mentioned in passing a few episodes ago, so we really do have to be very careful of what we are talking about and where it might take our explorations of the archives next time…PLEASE NOTE - For Copyright reasons, musical content sometimes has to be removed for the podcast edition. All the spoken word content remains (mostly) as it was in the broadcast version. Hopefully this won't spoil your enjoyment of the show.

WARREN CUMMINGS talks about those 1960s puppet series.First broadcast on FAB RADIO INTERNATIONAL at 19:00 on July 6th 2025.This week I welcome back WARREN CUMMINGS once again, and this week he wanted to talk all about the Gerry Anderson puppet series of the 1960s, and, although his take on them might be somewhat different to the version you might normally expect when we talk about archive television, I do think we had an entertaining, if highly animated discussion, all about FOUR FEATHER FALLS, FIREBALL XL5, STINGRAY, THUNDERBIRDS and CAPTAIN SCARLET.And whilst we did also manage to take in THE ADVENTURES OF TWIZZLE and TORCHY THE BATTERY BOY in passing, we somehow managed to almost completely forget about SUPERCAR, which is the kind of thing that happens when you get carried away with the things that you are actually talking about.PLEASE NOTE - For Copyright reasons, musical content sometimes has to be removed for the podcast edition. All the spoken word content remains (mostly) as it was in the broadcast version. Hopefully this won't spoil your enjoyment of the show.

LISA PARKER on CROWN COURTFirst broadcast on FAB RADIO INTERNATIONAL at 19:00 on June 29th 2025.Recently, LISA PARKER, one of the regular contributors to the radio programme known as VISION ON SOUND found herself in court. This was not, however, because she had done anything wrong, but because she had been called up for jury service, and she felt compelled to do her civic duty.After this experience was over, because it had inspired her to start re-watching CROWN COURT, Granada Television’s iconic afternoon drama series from the 1970s and 1980s, she contacted the show and suggested that we might want to talk about that series for a programme, and today’s offering is the result of that conversation.Today, on VISION ON SOUND, she presents her evidence of the enduring greatness of those many serialised dramatisations of events in Fulchester CROWN COURT…PLEASE NOTE - For Copyright reasons, musical content sometimes has to be removed for the podcast edition. All the spoken word content remains (mostly) as it was in the broadcast version. Hopefully this won't spoil your enjoyment of the show.

PAUL CHANDLER, THE SHY YETI's Top Ten British Sitcoms.First broadcast on FAB RADIO INTERNATIONAL at 19:00 on June 22nd 2025.This week our friend PAUL CHANDLER, THE SHY YETI himself, returns to present another of his Top Ten choices, although this time we go into perhaps more familiar territory for Top Ten discussions with him presenting his choice of his all time favourite British Sitcoms.And whilst you might think that we’re covering some entirely predictable ground with this choice of topic, I think that you might be a little bit surprised by several of PAUL’s choices, and, if nothing else, they might set you thinking about what your own choices might be, and whether you want to share them with the wider VISION ON SOUND community.If you would like to appear on the show and share your own TOP TEN choices about anything Archive TV related, of course, feel free to let me know via the usual Social Media outlets, and I’ll see what I can do.Meanwhile, this particular episode of the show was beset by some terrible technical problems, and I’m very grateful to PAUL that we were able to salvage as much as we could to present this show to you at all, so I can only apologise for any sound issues that there may be. I will try harder in future. PLEASE NOTE - For Copyright reasons, musical content sometimes has to be removed for the podcast edition. All the spoken word content remains (mostly) as it was in the broadcast version. Hopefully this won't spoil your enjoyment of the show.

WARREN CUMMINGS on television characters and likeability.First broadcast on FAB RADIO INTERNATIONAL at 19:00 on June 15th 2025.Likeability is an elusive thing. I certainly have spent a lot of my life not feeling that I have any of it, but on television, the likeability, or otherwise, of the characters, the situation, or even the programme itself can have a lot of bearing upon whether a show is ultimately successful, or memorable, and the likability of the stars, or the characters they are playing, can shape or break careers in the area of comedy, drama, and light entertainment alike.Many TV personalities have benefitted from the perception of likeability that the general public has about them, and many have risen to great heights in the public consciousness, and some have fallen just as quickly if that likeability gets scratched away or is revealed to be nothing more than a light veneer.Similarly, some great and popular TV shows have become forgotten once their likeability has faded and the whims of a fickle public have moved onto other things.But what exactly is “likeability” anyway. Some dreadful people have become the Nation’s Favourites, and some truly depressing television programmes have somehow seized the public’s affections and become runaway hits despite looking appallingly unlikeable when they first appear.I’ve recently been watching a couple of seventies sitcoms that still bear the distinction of being “much loved” featuring performances by “much loved” actors playing “much loved” characters, despite those characters, with the benefit of hindsight, being some of television’s most selfish and monstrous creations.To discuss this quandary, I’ve invited back the always likeable WARREN CUMMINGS, for what I hope is an entertaining conversation which takes this notion as our starting point, and which takes us on a journey which considers the pros and cons of such likeable characters as TOM & BARBARA GOOD, TERRY MEDFORD, DEN & ANGIE WATTS, BERT LYNCH, THE MASTER, BLAKE’S SEVEN, ALF GARNETT, and even ANGELA RIPPON.PLEASE NOTE - For Copyright reasons, musical content sometimes has to be removed for the podcast edition. All the spoken word content remains (mostly) as it was in the broadcast version. Hopefully this won't spoil your enjoyment of the show.

PAUL CHANDLER, THE SHY YETI's Top Ten TV Sidekicks!First broadcast on FAB RADIO INTERNATIONAL at 19:00 on June 8th 2025.This week’s show sees another swift return for the perennial friend of VISION ON SOUND, PAUL CHANDLER, THE SHY YETI himself, and this week we decided, in the fine tradition of archive TV retrospectives throughout the decades, to have a go at letting PAUL do a TELEVISION TOP TEN.Naturally, he didn’t want to do ANY OLD Top Ten. Oh no! PAUL wanted to try something a little more avant garde, a little more off the wall, and away from the mainstream, and so the Top Ten that we discuss during the next hour is all about his favourite TV sidekicks, or at least his favourites for the morning we recorded the show. And, being PAUL, whilst his list might include some very familiar and not unexpected TV pairings, and one or two might seem entirely predictable if you’ve been following our conversations over the years, I still hope that a few of them might surprise you – especially with regard to the dynamics of just which of them he considers the sidekick to be – and some of them might even shock you, although probably not enough to make any of you require counselling.As ever, our conversation based upon those choices goes off in some wildly unexpected directions, but I hope they give you an entertaining and perhaps even thought-provoking hour, which, if they do inspire you to think of a few of your own Top Tens, do please get in touch, especially if you feel like you might want to share them with us in a future edition of VISION ON SOUND.PLEASE NOTE - For Copyright reasons, musical content sometimes has to be removed for the podcast edition. All the spoken word content remains (mostly) as it was in the broadcast version. Hopefully this won't spoil your enjoyment of the show.

WARREN CUMMINGS has been watching THE VIEW FROM DANIEL PIKE..First broadcast on FAB RADIO INTERNATIONAL at 19:00 on June 1st 2025.This week, WARREN CUMMINGS is back again and, when I finally allowed him to, he really wanted to talk about a Scottish drama from the early 1970s that he’s discovered called THE VIEW FROM DANIEL PIKE and which starred RODDY McMILLAN.Naturally, that’s not all we talk about, and this hour encompasses a lengthy discussion about the joys of regional drama in general, 1970s drama in particular, and, perhaps most importantly, kipper ties, drop leaf tables, and terrible underpants.PLEASE NOTE - For Copyright reasons, musical content sometimes has to be removed for the podcast edition. All the spoken word content remains (mostly) as it was in the broadcast version. Hopefully this won't spoil your enjoyment of the show.

WARREN CUMMINGS has been rewatching THE X FILES.First broadcast on FAB RADIO INTERNATIONAL at 19:00 on May 25th 2025.This week, my regular co-host on the show, WARREN CUMMINGS has started on his re-watch of the 1990s sci-fi drama phenomenon from the mind of CHRIS CARTER which was, of course, THE X FILES, a ridiculously successful show that ran for nine seasons, spawned two feature films, and has since been resurrected for mini-series several times.The show featured the weekly adventures of two FBI agents as they investigated the kinds of strange and unusual phenomena that had been deemed worthy of inclusion in the infamously secret “X” files of the FBI, and involved investigations into such fascinating areas as the paranormal, the supernatural, the unexplained (including the possibilities of visits by aliens in unidentified flying objects), and attempting to untangle – or further entangle – all manner of the conspiracy theories that persisted towards the end of the increasingly paranoid 20th century.The series made stars of its two lead actors GILLIAN ANDERSON, who played the ever-sceptical DANA SCULLY, and DAVID DUCHOVNY, who played investigator and want-to-believer-in-chief FOX MULDER.Very much in the television tradition of THE TWILIGHT ZONE, KOLCHAK THE NIGHT STALKER and the recent hit at that time TWIN PEAKS, and borrowing much of its imagery from popular films of the time like THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, THE X FILES also spawned a spin-off in the form of THE LONE GUNMEN, and in no small way led to the creation of the remarkable series MILLENNIUM, which is in itself a significant stepping stone in the history of the police procedural, and the coming of shows like CSI in the following decade.PLEASE NOTE - For Copyright reasons, musical content sometimes has to be removed for the podcast edition. All the spoken word content remains (mostly) as it was in the broadcast version. Hopefully this won't spoil your enjoyment of the show.

PAUL CHANDLER, THE SHY YETI considers some TV remakes.First broadcast on FAB RADIO INTERNATIONAL at 19:00 on May 18th 2025.This week, we’re returning to a topic that we cover from time-to-time here on VISION ON SOUND, that of the television shows that were so popular, or made such an impact, that, in the absence of any better ideas, the television production companies decide to remake them in a new era, often (although not always) with a new cast, and sometimes with an almost completely different set up which means that the new version barely resembles the original other than by sharing its name.You can see why it seems like a good idea. Often the original is so fondly remembered that you’ve almost certainly got a built in audience before you even start, and even if a large proportion of that audience is unimpressed by your efforts, there might still be enough interest to keep you on air long enough to build your own audience who are just as loyal to your show as the old audience was to theirs.A popular recognised brand does seem to do a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to getting a show off the ground and whilst some may think that the new version might taint the original in some way, the classics still remain, and the new version can become just as fondly remembered by an entirely different section of the viewing audience.The eighties classic crime caper BERGERAC has recently made a comeback, so it only seemed right to invite one of that show’s biggest fans, PAUL CHANDLER, THE SHY YETI himself along to share his opinion on that, as well as discussing a few of his own favourite television remakes in a far reaching conversation that brings in such delights as THE NEW AVENGERS, STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION and MISS MARPLE.PLEASE NOTE - For Copyright reasons, musical content sometimes has to be removed for the podcast edition. All the spoken word content remains (mostly) as it was in the broadcast version. Hopefully this won't spoil your enjoyment of the show.

WARREN CUMMINGS gets all eclectic.First broadcast on FAB RADIO INTERNATIONAL at 19:00 on May 11th 2025.This week, WARREN CUMMINGS is back for another of our eclectic little meanders around the fringes of this strange little obsession we have with the thing we call Archive TV. As ever, we start off not really knowing where our conversations are going to take us, so, whilst we begin with a few reflections on the Christmas TV viewing delight that was WALLACE AND GROMIT: VENGEANCE MOST FOWL, we deviate through such murky waters as the reimagined version of THE PRISONER from 2008, the antipodean sequel to THE ADVENTURES OF BLACK BEAUTY, and give some consideration to the whole philosophy of classic TV remakes such as VAN DER VALK and BERGERAC.As we are in a philosophical mood we also pay a brief visit to what was perhaps HILDA OGDEN’s most astonishing television moment, and mull over the various dramas that investigated what happens when the investigators are investigating the very institutions that they work for in BETWEEN THE LINES and REDCAP.Not only that but, as is our wont, in this packed hour, we also give a little thought to the future of television, and mull over the influence or otherwise of the celebrity lead actor upon our lives.PLEASE NOTE - For Copyright reasons, musical content sometimes has to be removed for the podcast edition. All the spoken word content remains (mostly) as it was in the broadcast version. Hopefully this won't spoil your enjoyment of the show.

STEVE HATCHER with some more "forgotten" TV sitcoms.First broadcast on FAB RADIO INTERNATIONAL at 19:00 on April 27th 2025.STEVE HATCHER is back this week, and this time he’s been watching a selection of the more obscure and mostly forgotten British sitcoms from the 1960s, so, over the next hour, we’ll be discussing his thoughts on THE LARKINS, HUGH AND I, NEVER MIND THE QUALITY FEEL THE WIDTH, NO THAT’S ME OVER HERE, TWO IN CLOVER, and the DUSTBINMEN, as well as one or two other rarities related to those series.PLEASE NOTE - For Copyright reasons, musical content sometimes has to be removed for the podcast edition. All the spoken word content remains (mostly) as it was in the broadcast version. Hopefully this won't spoil your enjoyment of the show.

STEVE HATCHER and ANDREW-MARK THOMPSON (plus guests!) on ACE OF WANDS and AN AUDIENCE WITH TAROT at DERBY QUAD.First broadcast on FAB RADIO INTERNATIONAL at 19:00 on April 20th 2025.On SATURDAY the 29TH of MARCH, our friend ANDREW-MARK THOMPSON along with his colleague STEVE HARDY organised an event at THE QUAD in DERBY to celebrate all things ACE OF WANDS, the popular (but largely now lost) children’s fantasy drama series created by TREVOR PRESTON which was made and broadcast by THAMES TELEVISION for three years across 46 episodes, and 14 stories from 1970 to 1972.Two of the series’ stars, TAROT himself MICHAEL MACKENZIE alongside PETRA MARKHAM who played MIKKI DIAMOND in the surviving third season, were on stage to answer questions and available to pose for photographs with fans, and two complete stories - THE MEDDLERS and PEACOCK PIE - were shown on the big screen, and, by all accounts it all went down rather well and was something of a success which hopefully might lead to other similar Archive TV themed events.I was unable to attend in person, but happily our old friend STEVE HATCHER was on hand and was able and willing to grab a few quick interviews with MICHAEL, PETRA, and co-organiser STEVE HARDY which will pop up during today’s show, in which I am joined by STEVE HATCHER and ANDREW-MARK THOMPSON to talk all about the enduring appeal of ACE OF WANDS, as well as their experiences of the event itself.PLEASE NOTE - For Copyright reasons, musical content sometimes has to be removed for the podcast edition. All the spoken word content remains (mostly) as it was in the broadcast version. Hopefully this won't spoil your enjoyment of the show.

PAUL CHANDLER, THE SHY YETI and IRWIN ALLENFirst broadcast on FAB RADIO INTERNATIONAL at 19:00 on April 13th 2025.Recently, I’ve been re-watching a whole load of late-era VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA episodes, as well as a smattering of examples from THE TIME TUNNEL, and this set me to thinking that I’d quite like to talk to one of my regulars about the quartet of high-concept television adventure series that were created by IRWIN ALLEN in the mid 1960s, which also included LOST IN SPACE and LAND OF THE GIANTS.Across a highly productive five years from 1964, around three hundred episodes of these shows were produced for the American networks, which, in an era of three main channels, where having just one show on the air is quite some achievement, is nothing short of impressive.Granted, the IRWIN ALLEN productions can sometimes be rightly accused of being a little bit eccentric or simplistic in their storytelling, and perhaps sometimes concentrate far more on the action and not so much on the drama, but these four shows definitely influenced a generation, both at home, and internationally, as they were sold across the world, and excited young minds wherever and whenever they were broadcast.Furthermore, such were the strong ideas at the core of these shows, that elements from all of them have often been taken and used in other series that built upon the imaginative ideas that were always at the core of IRWIN ALLEN’s shows.Anyway, after our shows last year in which PAUL CHANDLER, THE SHY YETI joined me to talk about various quartets of classic USTV shows, he seemed the obvious choice to join me this week to mull over his experiences of discovering these four shows during their repeat runs in the 1980s, and I hope you enjoy the hour as much as I did.PLEASE NOTE - For Copyright reasons, musical content sometimes has to be removed for the podcast edition. All the spoken word content remains (mostly) as it was in the broadcast version. Hopefully this won't spoil your enjoyment of the show.

ADAM HENLEY on BLAKE'S 7 series oneFirst broadcast on FAB RADIO INTERNATIONAL at 19:00 on April 6th 2025.A couple of months ago, a new voice joined us on VISION ON SOUND in the form of ADAM HENLEY, and he introduced himself by talking about both his personal television history and a little bit about THE WEST WING.This went so well, that ADAM felt like making another appearance and, as he’d just finished watching the exciting new Blu-Ray release of the first series of BLAKE’S SEVEN, we thought we’d spend an hour having a bit of a chat about this iconic late 1970s BBC science-fiction series as it gets re-introduced to its long-standing fans and, perhaps a brand new generation eager to explore this fascinating dystopian drama.BLAKE’S SEVEN was a science-fiction series created by TERRY NATION who had been one of the early writers on DOCTOR WHO, for which he created the iconic Daleks, and he had also created the post apocalyptic drama series SURVIVORS for the BBC a few years earlier, so this exploration of a rebellion against the forces of the evil Federation was definitely just the sort of bleak vision of the future that you might expect from him.The series itself lasted for four series and fifty-two fifty minute episodes and ended on a shattering cliffhanger that definitely left its scars on a generation of television viewers just before Christmas 1981.Its first season introduced BLAKE played by GARETH THOMAS and his loyal–ish gang of rebels and freedom-fighters as played by SALLY KNYVETTE as space pilot JENNA, MICHAEL KEATING as lock-picking wizard VILA, DAVID JACKSON as the man-mountain GAN, JAN CHAPPELL as the telepathic alien CALLY, and PAUL DARROW as the enigmatic AVON who would eventually take the leading role as the series progressed. They were helped enormously by the fact that they luckily managed to acquire the super starship LIBERATOR and its wise master computer ZEN, as voiced by PETER TUDDENHAM, and this was how the original SEVEN was made up.Towards the end of the first series, and another devastating cliffhanger that helped give the show an astonishingly high profile at the time, another super computer ORAC was introduced, which changed the dynamic of the show in its second year.The forces of the Federation were mostly represented by JACQUELINE PEARCE as SERVALAN, a powerful and ruthless woman prone to wearing astonishing gowns, and STEPHEN GREIF as TRAVIS, a hate-fuelled leather-clad cyborg with an eyepatch and a gun for a hand, and they crossed swords with BLAKE and his crew on several occasions during the second half of this series.Fans of BLAKE’S SEVEN had been waiting a long time for it to get the Blu-Ray release that they felt it deserved, with many of its special effects updated from their somewhat low-budget and dated roots, and ADAM was one of the enthusiastic early adopters, and was very eager to share his enthusiasm with us today.And here's a link to Adam's Marathon challenge, if you are able to contribute https://2025tcslondonmarathon.enthuse.com/pf/adam-henleyPLEASE NOTE - For Copyright reasons, musical content sometimes has to be removed for the podcast edition. All the spoken word content remains (mostly) as it was in the broadcast version. Hopefully this won't spoil your enjoyment of the show.

STEVE HATCHER on twenty years of "New Who" (part two)First broadcast on FAB RADIO INTERNATIONAL at 19:00 on March 30th 2025.Last week, as you hopefully already will know, STEVE HATCHER joined me to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the revived version of DOCTOR WHO from CHRISTOPHER ECCLESTON right through to the current incumbent NCUTI GATWA, and, whilst we had a long chat about the show, we did fail to address the copious notes that STEVE had made in preparation for that show, for which he had selected his one favourite episode - or story – from each of the DOCTORS from across those twenty years.So it really only seemed fair to invite him back to discuss those stories, why he chose them, and make our little VISION ON SOUND celebration, or acknowledgement, into a two-part episode that hopefully brackets the anniversary week in a most satisfying way.Also, please try not to worry. We’re not trying to make this show into yet another DOCTOR WHO themed production. There’s plenty of other archive telly just waiting to be talked about. It’s just that, well, the DOCTOR WHO community do have a lot to say, and sometimes that show does pass one of those significant milestones that we really can’t ignore, given that its longevity does mean that its name runs through popular TV archive history like letters through a stick of rock.PLEASE NOTE - For Copyright reasons, musical content sometimes has to be removed for the podcast edition. All the spoken word content remains (mostly) as it was in the broadcast version. Hopefully this won't spoil your enjoyment of the show.