British Archives - Have You SEEN This?

190 – Magical Mystery Tour

Would it be so bad if Paul was a dead man

Jen and Tim suffer through the half-baked hippie whimsy of the Beatles’ first major creative cock-up, Magical Mystery Tour.

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If you’re curious, you can watch the Pet Shop Boys’ head-scratcher of a longform music video, It Couldn’t Happen Here, at the Internet Archive. It looks like it was ripped from someone’s VCD copy of a Hong Kong laserdisc, but it still has plenty of bops!

The Anton Corbijn-directed Strange (A Black and White Mode) incorporates all those songs that Tim says you know from Depeche Mode’s Music for the Masses. You can watch it right now on YouTube, but a restored DVD and Blu-ray release will arrive in December.

Still mad at Paul McCartney? Listen to our Give My Regards to Broad Street episode with special guest Jane Altoids.

189 – The Carry On Films

31 films when a lesser series would have gone limp!

Tim and Jen seek aid from wacky funster Bitter Karella to explain a film series as British as lousy weather and inedible food: the Carry On series! Also, Tim positively bursts with Carry On-related research.

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The Carry On series is so popular that you’re spoiled for choice when it comes to documentaries about them. A Perfect Carry On Documentary is relatively lighthearted, but for more dirt, start with What’s a Carry On? – The Story of the Carry On Films and 40th Anniversary Reunion and finish (ooh-err!) with the incredibly bleak Carry On Darkly. The latter two delve into the financial straits and personal problems of many of the most beloved cast members from the series.

The fittingly-titled Cor, Blimey! telefilm dramatizes the affair between Sid James and Barbara Windsor, set against notable Carry On moments of the ’60s and ’70s.

If you’re not familiar with the canon and want to sample the world of Carry On for yourself, stop by the Internet Archive. Be warned, though: if you’re as susceptible to broad comedy as Tim seems to be, you might end up Carry On-pilled too! Cor blimey!

186 – Ghost Stories

Spooky psychological horror from one of the modern British greats

Jen is pleasantly surprised when Tim suggests a horror movie that’s actually pretty good: the eerie anthology with a twist, Ghost Stories (2017). Also, Tim gives an impromptu lecture on the deeper meaning of American zombie movies. (He also seizes an opportunity to wedge in his love for League of Gentlemen. C’mon, that was 20 years ago!)

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Read an interview with Ghost Stories co-writer Derren Brown about his new stage show. He also confesses that he used to be a cape guy (“a bit intense, and a bit socially maladroit,” according to the article). No surprise there! He also has a YouTube channel if you would like to see him hypnotize people into giving him their wallets.

Need another spooky fix? Try our free episode on another slept-on horror anthology 50 States of Fright!

174 – Penda’s Fen

Tim is too cool to talk about a nerdy British kid’s coming of age story, so Jen and special guest @bitterkarella step in to talk about cult BBC teleplay Penda’s Fen.

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BFI did indeed release Penda’s Fen on blu-ray in 2016, but it’s also available on YouTube!

The 2010 post that originally turned Jen on to the film may be found at John Coulthart’s excellent art blog, Feuilleton. At the time of writing, Penda’s Fen was almost impossible to see, as a home video release was far in the future.

As for Penda’s Fen, whenever a TV executive tries to argue that television hasn’t dumbed down I’d offer this work as Exhibit A for the prosecution. Rudkin and Clarke’s film was screened at 9.35 in the evening on the nation’s main TV channel, BBC 1, at a time when there were only three channels to choose from. A primetime audience of many millions watched this visceral and unapologetically intelligent drama; show me where this happens today. – John Coulthart

Jen mangled the words to the Bonzo Dog Band’s “Sport” a little bit (“Sport, sport, masculine sport / equips a young man for society”), but you get the idea.

Also, be sure to listen to our discussion of the Alan Clarke-directed The Firm, along with its inferior remake.

112 – The Wicker Man: The Summerisle Cut

Tim and Jen welcome a special guest to discuss a fan edit of a beloved horror classic, The Wicker Man: The Summerisle Cut! Listen for yourself and decide if you want to leave angry comments on archive.org!

Hear the whole episode at our Patreon and get access to more than 50 bonus episodes!

View the Summerisle Cut at the Internet Archive.

Visit the Wicker Man site mentioned by our guest, which describes all of the different cuts of the film in detail.

For more great British horror, try our episode on the BBC’s controversial Ghostwatch!

108 – The Firm(s)

Jen and Tim look at two takes on football hooliganism called The Firm. The 1989 version is a masterpiece, the other, not so much! Hear the whole episode at our Patreon and get access to more than 50 bonus episodes!

The 20-minute documentary Alan Clarke: His Own Man is a nice intro to the director. Also, many of his works can be found on YouTube, so happy hunting!

Jen referred to a film called “WarGames” when she actually meant The War Game, a 1965 dramatization of nuclear warfare against England that the BBC withdrew from broadcast until 1985. It did not star Matthew Broderick or Ally Sheedy.

She also sorta muffed the description of Ken Loach’s teleplay Cathy Come Home, which horrified the British public with its account of a homeless couple (to little material effect, according to Loach). This short article describes the production and draws from some of the news coverage of the time.

Also, “If you know what’s good for you…Weetabix!”

For more of bleak Britain, try our episode on nuclear horror film Threads!

099 – Hammer House of Horror with a slice of Pi

Jen and Tim note the peculiar similarities between an episode of an obscure British horror anthology and Darren Aronofsky’s debut (NOT Life of Pi!!!!!). Also, Jen seizes an opportunity to talk about Rowdy Roddy Piper.

Hear the whole episode at our Patreon and get access to more than 50 bonus episodes!

Hammer House of Horror is free to watch with ads over on Tubi!

If you’re looking for more British horror, why not try our episode on the controversial one-off TV special Ghostwatch?

071 – Threads

Tim speaks cogently on the world’s most depressing nuclear apocalypse drama, Threads, from 1984. Jen tries not to fall into a well of despair.

We’re not kidding; Threads is possibly one of the bleakest films ever made, and everyone should see it at least once. Severin Films offers it on region-free DVD.

For a slightly lighter British horror telefilm, try our episode on the controversial faux documentary Ghostwatch.

068 – Breaking Glass

Tim and Jen argue about cult rock movie Breaking Glass in a surprisingly contentious episode!

Breaking Glass star Hazel O’Connor did a revealing interview with Music Republic Magazine in 2017. As it turns out, she earned nothing from her movie role, sadly.

For more cult 80s cinema, listen to our episode on Weird Al Yankovic’s lone feature, UHF.

066 – Ghostwatch

Jen and Tim discuss a program aired and then disappeared by the BBC for being too spooky. Ghostwatch is one of the most controversial television programs that ever appeared on British television, and it still has the power to creep audiences out.

Hear the entire episode at our Patreon and get access to all our other bonus content!

The good people at the Internet archive have preserved Ghostwatch, but if you prefer physical media and have a region-free player there’s also a DVD available from 101 Films.

If you want to hear about a British production that’s even scarier, why not sample our episode about the terrifying vision of nuclear apocalypse, Threads?