BERGCAST
39 episodes - English - Latest episode: 3 months ago - ★★★★★ - 1 ratingJon Dear and Howard David Ingham talk all things Quatermass with a variety of guests.
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Episodes
BERGCAST– Episode 35 – Quatermass 70
January 26, 2024 12:01 - 1 hour - 61.9 MBThis episode had an unavoidable delay, but it's worth it, as Jon talks in a round table with spooky dramaturges extraordinary Carrie Thompson and Chris Lincé of Hermetic Arts, the monstrously talented actor James Swanton and BERGCAST's friend and undisputed renaissance man Toby Hadoke about the 70th Anniversary recreation of The Quatermass Experiment that was held in Alexandra Palace in Autumn 2023.
BERGCAST - Episode 34 - Things Recorded in the Walls, feat Brontë Schiltz
February 28, 2023 12:06 - 58 minutes - 133 MBIt's another episode with a genesis almost as troubled as our Quatermass Conclusion Conclusion. This time, Jon was unable to make our discussion with Gothic expert Brontë Schiltz last November at very short notice, so Howard went it alone for the first time. But then, a bunch of uncontrollable life circumstances leading to a massive upheaval meant that the recording languished in the walls of Howard's laptop for three months. We hope that you feel it's worth the wait, as we discuss the TV st...
BERGCAST – Episode 33 – Kinvig, feat. Gemma Arrowsmith
September 28, 2022 13:37 - 1 hour - 147 MBIt had to happen. It's time for us to deal with the One Nigel Kneale Thing We Don't Like: Kinvig. Joining us is comedy writer and performer Gemma Arrowsmith, whose new show Gemma Arrowsmith's Sketched Out has just dropped on BBC Radio 4, and we talk about why the live studio audience is going to find it funnier than we do at home, the wild transformation of situation comedy in the 1980s, and whether sci-fi nerds really have that much of a crossover with UFO fans.
BERGCAST – Episode 32 – Back to the Woman in Black
August 15, 2022 11:55 - 1 hour - 145 MBIn this episode, we have the Woman in Black herself, Pauline Moran, who although unwell at the time, graciously agreed to talk to us about her career in rock music, Mike Leigh, clingfilm, auditioning for a role with no lines, and the shocking failure of the media industry to supply decent roles for older women in acting. Oh, and yeah, did you know there was an Australian adaptation of The Quatermass Experiment? No? Neither did we. A word about that in the preamble.
BERGCAST – Episode 31 – Bringing Back Tomato Cain
July 12, 2022 09:55 - 54 minutes - 125 MBThis month sees the publication of Tomato Cain and Other Stories, Nigel Kneale’s award winning short story collection, first published in 1949. Joining Jon in this episode is Kneale biographer Andy Murray, who’s been the driving force in getting this book back in print for the first time since the early 1960s. Andy talks about how the opportunity arose, why you’ll find more than just the stories from the original edition here, and what you can expect from this eclectic collection (spoiler f...
BERGCAST – Episode 30 – Restoring Nigel Kneale at the BFI
April 01, 2022 11:55 - 1 hour - 161 MBIn this episode of BERGCAST, we're joined by Dick Fiddy, Vic Pratt and Douglas Weir of the British Film Institute to talk about restoring and re-packaging Kneale's work for the centenary year, why archive TV matters, what's happening at the BFI this month and the upcoming release of the restored version of the BBC adaptation of Nineteen Eighty-Four. Nineteen Eighty-Four will be released on 11th April. Pre-order it here. If you're lucky enough to be able to get to London, you can book tic...
BERGCAST – Episode 29 – The Nigel Kneale Century
February 14, 2022 11:41 - 46 minutes - 106 MBIt's what they call in media a Very Special Episode, because the BERGCAST team is celebrating the 2022 centenary of Nigel Kneale's birth. We're joined by friends of BERGCAST Andy Murray, Toby Hadoke (and also Toby's dog Bernard) to talk about only some of the things that have happened and will happen very soon to mark that. The Nigel Kneale Centenary Celebration will be held at the Crouch End Picturehouse on April 23rd. You can find out a full rundown of what's going on at nigelknealecenten...
BERGCAST – Episode 28 – The Woman in Black (1989)
December 24, 2021 12:50 - 1 hour - 217 MBFor our bumper sized Christmas episode, what better subject than a ghost story? Taking a deep dive into the terrifying Kneale-scripted Christmas drama The Woman in Black we're joined by Robert Taylor, author of the forthcoming book Sound Haunting: The Making of Central Films’ The Woman in Black. In a lengthy and intimate discussion, we talk about the genesis of the drama, what happened when Nigel Kneale wrote the script too quickly, how a woman in a dress and a hat standing absolutely still...
BERGCAST – Episode 27 – HMS Defiant (1962)
October 01, 2021 10:55 - 1 hour - 145 MBIn this episode of BERGCAST we take to the high seas as, rather than performing our usual deep dive, we stay afloat in the Kneale-scripted 1962 broadsides-and-sails spectacular HMS Defiant. Joined by film academics Prof. Melanie Williams and Dr. Mark Fryers, we investigate whether a ship is the best metaphor for the British class system, how Dirk Bogarde went from being known for light comedies to being a go to for faintly pervy villains, why the British don't do revolutions and ask the ques...
BERGCAST – Episode 26b – Stephen Bissette on The Witches
September 17, 2021 15:04 - 29 minutes - 66.7 MBIn this special mini-episode of BERGCAST, Jon and I talk some more with legendary comics illustrator and horror expert Stephen R Bissette, about the 1966 Hammer film The Witches and its legacy and we go into what Steve’s doing these days. Stephen’s book on The Brood can be found here: https://www.pspublishing.co.uk/the-brood-hardcover-by-stephen-r-bissette-4784-p.asp Studio of Screams: https://www.pspublishing.co.uk/studio-of-screams-ebook-s-r-bissette-m-morris-c-golden-t-lebbon-s-volk-528...
BERGCAST – Episode 26 – First Men in the Moon (1964) with Stephen R. Bissette
August 20, 2021 10:00 - 1 hour - 224 MBTalking with us about 1964's First Men in the Moon, we're honoured to have as our guest horror legend Stephen R. Bissette, who although perhaps best known one as of the primary collaborators with Alan Moore on the seminal 80s run of Swamp Thing, has produced a significant corpus of writing on the horror genre in all media over the space of several decades, including, most recently, an exhaustive study of David Cronenberg's early highlight The Brood. We discuss the one time Nigel Kneale shar...
BERGCAST – Episode 25 – The Abominable Snowman, with John J. Johnston
July 12, 2021 13:08 - 1 hour - 41.1 MBIn this episode, the voices of Jon and Howard are joined by the mellifluous and delightful tones of Egyptologist and Horrified editor-at-large John J. Johnston. Join us as we explore the early career of Peter Cushing, the history of imperialism and the 50s craze for Yeti movies, Nazi practical jokes and the transcendent, formative power of the media we loved as children.
BERGCAST — Episode 24 – Stephen Volk
May 07, 2021 10:55 - 1 hour - 58.9 MBThis time we're delighted to be joined by legendary screenwriter Stephen Volk, known for a list of great TV and film scripts including The Awakening, Midwinter of the Spirit, Afterlife and, of course, Ghostwatch. in a wide-ranging discussion of Stephen's career, we talk about the legacy of Nigel Kneale, how The Stone Tape changed Stephen's life, and how Stephen's own work has itself changed lives.
BERGCAST – Episode 24 – Stephen Volk
May 07, 2021 10:55 - 1 hour - 58.9 MBThis time we're delighted to be joined by legendary screenwriter Stephen Volk, known for a list of great TV and film scripts including The Awakening, Midwinter of the Spirit, Afterlife and, of course, Ghostwatch. in a wide-ranging discussion of Stephen's career, we talk about the legacy of Nigel Kneale, how The Stone Tape changed Stephen's life, and how Stephen's own work has itself changed lives.
BERGCAST – Episode 23 – Stephen Gallagher
April 23, 2021 10:10 - 1 hour - 68 MBFor this episode of BERGCAST, we were joined by veteran novelist and screenwriter Stephen Gallagher, who chatted with us about the trajectory of his career, and the influence of Nigel Kneale on his work. In a wide-ranging conversation, we talked about how a false memory of Quatermass and the Pit haunted Stephen for years, how Hollywood treats writer-creators, what Emma Peel and Bernard Quatermass would look like as a team, and whether more screenplays should be written using the Marvel Metho...
BERGCAST Holiday Special – The Witches (1966), live
December 26, 2020 12:17 - 1 hour - 42.1 MBOn October 31st, Jon and Howard were able to do one off recording of an episode with a live audience, as part of the RURAL GOTHIC Samhain Surprise live online event. We were honoured to be joined by actor, critic and writer Jonathan Rigby, to talk, appropriately enough, about the Kneale-scripted 1966 Hammer movie The Witches.
BERGCAST – Episode 21 – The Quatermass Conclusion, Part Two
December 24, 2020 14:48 - 1 hour - 70.4 MBOnce again we're joined by James Cooray Smith, journalist, expert and lovely bloke, for the final part of our discussion of the final televised Quatermass story, which makes this the Quatermass Conclusion Conclusion. As we talk about the bleakest and most apocalyptic story of a pretty bleak canon, we also explore the links the 1979 ITV Quatermass has with Blood on Satan's Claw, compare Nigel Kneale with George Lucas and Charles Dickens, and what “aging well” really means.
BERGCAST – Episode 20 – The Quatermass Conclusion, Part One
December 23, 2020 13:54 - 59 minutes - 65.9 MBIn the first episode of a festive flurry, we're joined by journalist and expert cultural critic James Cooray Smith to discuss the troubled genesis of the final televised Quatermass story, broadcast on ITV as simply Quatermass, and given a very limited cinema release as the The Quatermass Conclusion.
BERGCAST – Episode 19 – Nigel Kneale and Woodfall, featuring Samira Ahmed
December 14, 2020 12:10 - 56 minutes - 59.6 MBWe were very excited to welcome the simply amazing Samira Ahmed to talk about the somewhat overlooked contribution Nigel Kneale to the early Woodfall films. On the way we’ll examine influence of Judith Kerr or Kneale’s work, what sets Kneale apart from writers like John Wyndham, and if Donald Pleasance has ever looked young. Hope you enjoy.
BERGCAST - Episode 18 - Beasts, Part 2
November 16, 2020 11:27 - 1 hour - 56.1 MBOnce again, the people at BERGCAST are delighted to welcome Andrew Screen, writer of a forthcoming guide to Beasts, Nigel Kneale's terrifying 1976 anthology series. What was Our Nigel’s beef with the Hammer Family? How did a toy poodle play a part in one of the most chilling scenes ever shown on broadcast telly? Was there really a time when Bernard Horsfall strangled two beloved TV scientists in a single week? Which Hellraiser movie was the one with the spaceship? Tap the play button to ...
BERGCAST – Episode 17 – Beasts, Part 1
October 23, 2020 13:31 - 1 hour - 63.2 MBFor this episode, we're joined by Andrew Screen, writer of a forthcoming book about Nigel Kneale's anthology series Beasts to talk about that, and its predecessor, Murrain, which is for obvious reasons very close to Howard's heart. Join us for a discussion of how great a terse character description can be, the truth about the farmer's name in Murrain, and what Pauline Quirke has to do with a talking Mongoose called Gef. Andrew was also kind enough to send us pictures (taken by Julian Jon...
BERGCAST – Episode 16 – The Stone Tape
August 21, 2020 11:22 - 1 hour - 69.4 MBIt's another very special episode of BERGCAST, as we're joined by our second-favourite Doctor in media, the tremendous Dr Una McCormack, with whom we're talking about the 1972 Kneale play The Stone Tape. In a discussion where we talk about the history of British manufacturing, the surprising role of Boromir, the value of fanfiction and parallels with classic Japanese horror, Una raises the very pertinent point of whether the story of a man's downfall really needs to be presented over the co...
BERGCAST – Episode 15 – Mark Gatiss on the legacy of Nigel Kneale
August 07, 2020 10:30 - 59 minutes - 50 MBMark Gatiss referred to Nigel Kneale as “the man who invented popular television”. It can be a curse of a writer tagged as ‘genre’ that they may never been seen alongside the very best. As Mark said when Kneale died, “He is amongst the greats – he is absolutely as important as Dennis Potter, as David Mercer, as Alan Bleasdale, as Alan Bennett, but I think because of a strange snobbery about fantasy or sci-fi, it’s never been quite that way.” In this episode, we chat with Mark about his l...
BERGCAST – Episode 14 – The Lost Kneales, Part 2
July 17, 2020 10:00 - 1 hour - 60.2 MBIn the concluding part of our look at the lost work of Nigel Kneale, Toby Hadoke talks about the practicalities of adapting The Road for radio, and Andy Murray examines the controversy of The Big, Big Giggle and its legacy in other Kneale works. We also look at why his two Wednesday Plays are less well remembered than other missing work like Out of the Unknown: The Chopper & wonder, did Nigel invent joyriding?
BERGCAST – Episode 13 – The Lost Kneales, Part 1
July 02, 2020 10:57 - 1 hour - 65.3 MBIn our latest lockdown special we welcome back Toby Hadoke and Andy Murray for the first of a two part look at some of Nigel Kneale's lost stories. In this episode we examine Kneale's early radio plays, The Long Stairs and You Must Listen, Kneale's application to work at the BBC as well as classics like The Creature and The Road, which Toby adapted for radio in 2018.
BERGCAST Ghost Stories, Episode 2 – The Magician's Wireless
May 13, 2020 12:29 - 15 minutes - 15.5 MBThere's a risk inherent in a love for obsolete technology. It can haunt us, especially if it once belonged to someone evil. Enjoy the second of our lockdown ghost stories, written and read by Howard and introduced by Jon in his guise as BERGCAST's own Man in Black.
BERGCAST – Episode 12 – The Year of the Sex Olympics
May 08, 2020 12:28 - 1 hour - 53.1 MBIn Episode 12, Jon discusses Nigle Kneale's dystopian classic The Year of the Sex Olympics with writers, film historians and curators Vic Pratt and William Fowler, writers of The Bodies Beneath and leading lights of the BFI Flipside series.
BERGCAST Ghost Stories, Episode 1: The Austringer (1969)
April 27, 2020 10:31 - 44 minutes - 38.6 MBBERGCAST Season Two will begin soon enough, but until then, we're going to supply you with some dead air, as the Man in Black introduces the first of a series of ghost stories, written for your pleasure and discomfort. The first of our tales, “The Austringer (1969)”, tells the story of a man who finds the Holy Grail of archive television, and the consequences of its discovery.
BERGCAST – Episode 11 – Quatermass and the Pit AKA Five Million Years to Earth (1967)
February 21, 2020 11:57 - 1 hour - 76.7 MBIt's a force more powerful than 1,000 H-bombs unleashed to devastate earth! What is? Our excitement at, for the final episode of BERGCAST Season One, not only the both of us being in the same place, but getting to meet Hammer archivist and Doctor Who Magazine editor Marcus Hearn in the headquarters of the BFI no less. Marcus enlightened us on why it took so long to make a third Quatermass (but why they kept trying), and who else could have played our pal Bernard. We touch on the awkward...
BERGCAST - Episode 10 - Quatermass and the Pit (1958) - Part Two
January 24, 2020 09:58 - 1 hour - 75.7 MBThis is the second part of our descent into the Pit with prolific writer Maura McHugh. Along with our discussion of what may be Nigel Kneale's finest moment, we look at MONSTERS FROM THE ID, the Nazi rocket scientist no one wanted, great character surnames, the entire absence of a philosophical leviathan, and HP Lovecraft's debt to bad archaeology.
BERGCAST - Episode 9 - Quatermass and the Pit (1958) - Part One
December 13, 2019 10:00 - 1 hour - 66.8 MBToday, the BERGCAST team takes a deep dive into the only place to go: the pit, source of terror, haunting and the awful Darwinian impulse that drives the human race to suicidal mass action, which isn't remotely topical. We're joined by our special guest, novelist, playwright and Squaxx dek Thargo, the brilliant Maura McHugh. The sky. The sky is purple.
BERGCAST - Episode 8 - Quatermass 2 (1957) - Part Two
November 29, 2019 10:07 - 1 hour - 59.4 MBThis episode sees the conclusion of Jon and guest James Goss's look at Hammer's Quatermass 2. In a wide-ranging discussion that encompasses everything from Alan Plater to Flesh Gordon, they witnesses the trauma of Sid James being shot in the face (apparently), admire the inventive use of filler text and investigate if this really is the first use of the suffix '2' in a film title. James also tells us about interviewing Nigel Kneale for his student magazine...
BERGCAST - Episode 7 - Quatermass 2 (1957) - Part One
November 15, 2019 10:17 - 1 hour - 60.2 MBDonlevy's back! This episode sees the first of a two-part chat between Jon and producer and writer James Goss as we look at how he first discovered Quatermass and a slightly wider discussion on Nigel Kneale's influence on Doctor Who (including an interesting conspiracy theory concerning The Invisible Enemy), before we make the two-hour trip from London to Carlisle, via Hemel Hempstead, to begin our look at Hammer's Quatermass 2 and wonder what Donlevy's Quatermass must be like at the Rocket...
BERGCAST - Episode 6 - X The Unknown
November 01, 2019 11:23 - 1 hour - 64.3 MBIn this episode, Jon and Howard are joined by writer and actor Gareth Preston as they examine Hammer's attempt to do Quatermass without Nigel Kneale, in Jimmy Sangster's attempt at his very own Royston and the Pit... On the way we look at how the portrayal of radiation in films might depend on which side of the atomic bomb you were at the end of World War II. We examine whether Royston just spends the entire film trying to kill his boss's son, and we witness what might be the birth of Fras...
BERGCAST - Episode 5 - Quatermass II (1955) - Part Two
October 18, 2019 11:23 - 1 hour - 116 MBFor the second part of our look at Quatermass II, we are once again with Andy Murray, writer of Into the Unknown: The Fantastic Life of Nigel Kneale, which you can purchase here. There's some dark stuff in the later episodes of Quatermass II, so we have to warn you that BERGCAST is not for children or persons of a nervous disposition.
BERGCAST - Episode 4 - Quatermass II (1955) - Part One
September 27, 2019 10:31 - 48 minutes - 68.2 MBDistract yourself from the political crisis and sinister machinations of the U.K. Government by letting Bernard Quatermass deal with it instead. This episode we're joined by writer Andy Murray, whose book Into the Unknown: The Fantastic Life of Nigel Kneale is an absolute must read. You can get it here. In the first of a two part chat, we look at what Nigel Kneale's been up to since The Quatermass Experiment, the casting of John Robinson and how the BBC felt the need to combat the launch o...
BERGCAST - Episode 3 - The Quatermass Xperiment
August 30, 2019 11:36 - 1 hour - 61.7 MBQuatermass gets Hammered, with Brian Donlevy. This episode we're joined by Dave Thomas, writer of Hammer: Back From The Dead, to look at Quatermass's first big screen adventure. On the way we'll look at the origins of this film and what it meant for Hammer, why Brian Donlevy might actually be the villain of the piece and what connects The Quatermass Xperiment with the Marlboro Man. We'll awaken cathartic memories of Britain's scariest comic... ...and investigate just what the bloody he...
BERGCAST - Episode 2 - The Quatermass Experiment, Part Two
August 16, 2019 09:35 - 1 hour - 173 MBIn this episode, Jon Dear and guest Toby Hadoke talk about whether anything was recorded of episodes 3-6, the reason why the finale didn't go right, and the precise meaning of the word "colloidal". Find out more at bergcast.room207press.com.
BERGCAST - Episode 1 - The Quatermass Experiment, Part One
August 02, 2019 10:17 - 59 minutes - 45.2 MBThe first episode of BERGCAST, (Not Really) Official Podcast of the British Experimental Rocket Group. In episode 1, Jon Dear and guest Toby Hadoke explore what connects Inspector Lomax with the Loch Ness Monster, the question of whether Katie Johnson got a cat sacked and whether the cast took a bow at the end of the final episode, and much more.