| Author | Message | ||
     Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.70.62.122 |
DARKNESS OVER BRITAIN – This weekend at CORNERHOUSE, MANCHESTER DOUBLE BILL SCREENING (CTBA) Sat 25 October, 4.05pm Cornerhouse is pleased to present the return of our annual halloween celebration of British television horror, Darkness Over Britain. This event will be introduced by freelance writer and Darkness Over Britain programmer, Andy Murray. DOCTOR WHO - BLINK A chance to see this highly acclaimed episode of the BBC hit show on the big screen at Cornerhouse. Garlanded with critical acclaim when broadcast in 2007, Blink went on to win a whole host of major awards. Blink tells the story of Sally Sparrow as she delves into a petrifying world of hidden messages, charismatic strangers, involuntary time travel with the doctor… and statues. THE INCREDIBLE ROBERT BALDICK - BBC Drama Playhouse A memorable piece of TV drama in the period Gothic suspense vein, Robert Baldick was the pilot for a never-made series. When death stalks a ruined abbey, the call goes out to Victorian aristocrat Robert Baldick, acknowledged expert in all things unearthly. The master sleuth arrives swiftly but will his investigations reveal a supernatural cause, or something even more extraordinary? The first book to trace Russell T Davies’ entire life in television, T is for Television, by Mark Aldridge and Andy Murray, will be available to buy from Mon 27 November. Also, visit Cornerhouse ground floor bookshop to purchase Doctor Who: The Writer’s Tale, a candid and in-depth correspondence between Russell T Davies and journalist Benjamin Cook, revealing the behind the scenes stories of series four of the BBC hit show, specially signed by Russell T Davies. Bookings at Box Office, between 12:00 and 20:00 (tel: 0161 200 1500; minicom: 0161 236 6184) www.cornerhouse.org | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
Hmmm...I'm afraid that doesn't excite me at all. I can think of countless better choices to celebrate British television horror. | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 90.203.130.127 |
Yes - what a bloody silly programme, which looks as if it's been put together to plug Russell T Davies' book more than anything else. Zed & I could do a better tribute in a shed. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.187.180 |
I, for one, would definitely like to see what the two of you could get up to in a shed... If they really want to celebrate British television horror, why not show some Sapphire and Steel, Quatermass, Hammer House of Horror, Ultraviolet... | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.70.62.122 |
Does seem like that. I said that I'd post it in case someone might be interested. | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.70.62.122 |
The series Ultraviolet would go down a storm...I'll pass the comments along for next year. John and Gary - any from you? | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.187.180 |
Blink was very good, though. Ghostwatch might be another one to consider. | ||
| Jonathan (Jonathan) Username: Jonathan Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 91.143.178.131 |
Blink is, pardon my language, sheer fucking genius. One of the best bits of horror telly to ever grace British TV. What they should also show is Shalken The Painter. I haven't seen that in years and years. Hammer House of Horror has its moments but some of it is utter utter garbage. | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.70.62.122 |
I think that they should have a whole day or weekend of films to show a good range. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.157.114.136 |
Most, I'd say. Shalken was sort of boring, I thought, until the weird rude bit. I remember as a kid making my mum and dad stay up to watch 'the spooky programme' only for it to turn all kinky and horrible, at least for my family. Boy what a silence that was... | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
"What they should also show is Shalken The Painter." Agreed, because I've never seen it. "Blink" was superb, but I'd rather see something more obscure on the programme - it's on all the time on BBC2 or 3, or one of those. The other thing just sounda a bit...dull. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
Hammer House of Horror is brilliant. I watch them every year. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.157.114.136 |
Oh, a lot were excellent. But some seem just unreal, and not in a good way. | ||
| Jonathan (Jonathan) Username: Jonathan Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 91.143.178.131 |
We watched The House That Bled To Death the other night. Truly horrible for all the wrong reasons. | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.74 |
The Cornerhouse did indeed show Schalken the Painter some years ago - I introduced it, in fact. It's a remarkably beautiful film that often looks like a Dutch old master's painting, and it also conveys a real sense of spectral dread. I prefer it to almost all the BBC M. R. James films (Jonathan Miller's excepted). | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.187.180 |
For years, I've wanted to see Schalken the Painter, but it doesn't seem to be available anywhere. I've heard so many good things about it, and it's my second favourite Le Fanu tale (my favourite being The Familiar). | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.187.180 |
The person who is introducing the show is Andy Murray - I wonder if that's the same Andy Murray who wrote the book on Nigel Kneale? | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.74 |
It will be, Huw - he often organises these Cornerhouse events. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.157.114.136 |
Hm... my opinion of Shalken is based on quite a distant (time-wise) watch. The story, read last year, was better, although the teen me appreciated the nudity/kinkiness in the tv show. The tv Jameses can be patchy, even flat, although Whistle and Curious I can still watch. | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.21.234.94 |
"Whistle" isn't bad, but the apparation (especially in the scene with the groyne) is a letdown. I quite like "A View from a Hill", even if it takes liberties with the original. The scene in the wood is spot-on. "The Ash Tree"'s grand climax is laughable - what, mumbling golliwogs instead of giant spiders? | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
"Whistle" is a masterpiece, IMHO. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.187.180 |
Jonathan Miller's Whistle and I'll Come to You is my favourite of the M.R. James television adaptations. The use of sound is as effective as any of the visuals, in my opinion. | ||
| Simon_b (Simon_b) Username: Simon_b Registered: 10-2008 Posted From: 86.24.165.182 |
Yes- wonderfully understated, and a fantastic performance from Michael Hordern, which is also outright funny. Very underrated actor- if he hadn't been part of the same 'wave' as Olivier, Gielgud, Richardson, Redgrave, Ashcroft et al he'd probably have received much more recognition. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.187.180 |
Some of the scenes in Whistle were actually painful to watch, I thought. The scene in the dining room, for example, had a almost unbearable sense of suffocating tension. I thought Hordern did a wonderful job of portraying a repressed, eccentric personality, even if it doesn't mesh entirely with the character in James's original story. He also provided some wonderful readings of James's ghost stories, but these all seem to be out of print at present. | ||
| Danzinger (Albie) Username: Albie Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 212.50.191.46 |
"Father would watch us play for hours as he sat there, smiling and writing his stories. But no matter how earnestly we begged, he would never allow us to read them." | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.157.114.136 |
I was just writing a minute ago. Tris asked me what I was writing and I didn't - couldn't - tell him. Had you been watching? | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.11.102 |
Simon: Seeing Hordern in the BBC Shakespeares - as Prospero, as Lear, as Lafew (ALL'S WELL...) - made me an instant fan: he is utterly compelling, totally commanding. What an actor! | ||
| Simon_b (Simon_b) Username: Simon_b Registered: 10-2008 Posted From: 86.24.165.182 |
Not seen the BBC All's Well, Craig, but I saw The Tempest and Lear. Don't remember his Prospero too well, but remember liking it. His Lear was a real revelation- I chiefly remembered him before then for doing the voice for Paddington (you rarely hear voices as rich as that these days) and getting hacked to bits at the start of THEATRE OF BLOOD. Another actor I remember being blown away by is Edward Woodward. I'd only ever seen him in THE EQUALISER (not a great ad for anyone's acting skills) but there was a BBC production called IN MY DEFENCE which, as far as I know, has never been repeated or released on DVD/VHS. Kind of like Talking Heads, but the characters were all real people, defending some stance or action they'd taken. Woodward played Gourgen Yanikian, a survivor of the Armenian Genocide who shot two Turkish diplomats in Santa Barbera in the 70s. I remember staring at the TV screen and thinking, 'bloody hell, this guy can really act!' Also I'd never even heard of the Armenian Genocide before, so it was an education too. Anyone else know of any overlooked greats in the acting department? | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.11.102 |
Yes, that was my first impression of Hordern - I knew him instantly from that hacking scene in THEATRE OF BLOOD. He's in one last BBC Shakespeare, the ROMEO & JULIET, which I've yet to catch.... I'm pretty sure he's not playing Romeo.  I wish I could see that IN MY DEFENCE - I too remember Ed. Woodward from "The Equalizer" - a soundtrack is suddenly running through my head too. There's a show they can revive on TV, or as a movie, they're reviving everything else nowadays.... | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.191.202 |
He was great in The Equalizer - his acting really elevated the show above others of its type. He was also excellent in The Wicker Man and Breaker Morant. Haven't seen In My Defence - I wish they'd release some of these old gems on DVD. | ||
| Simon_b (Simon_b) Username: Simon_b Registered: 10-2008 Posted From: 86.24.165.182 |
God yes. Haven't seen Breaker Morant in years, but The Wicker Man... although the sight of Christopher Lee in drag probably scarred my fragile and impressionable mind most of all...  | ||
| Simon Strantzas (Nomis) Username: Nomis Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 38.113.181.169 |
I remember being quite excited that A&E was going to start rerunning episodes of the Equalizer ... until I actually saw one. It doesn't hold up, alas, to my memories. Still, that intro ... Need help? Odds against you? Call The Equalizer. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.157.114.136 |
Yeah, it was sort of flat. And Woodward can get too stirred up sometimes in some dramas; he can't simmer or even boil, he has to go into meltdown. A shame because he can be great - when he's laid back. | ||
| Martin Roberts (Martin_roberts) Username: Martin_roberts Registered: 06-2008 Posted From: 86.5.239.91 |
I was going to mention that The Cornerhouse did indeed screen Schalken the Painter a few years back, but our esteemed landlord beat me to it... ...I can add that I did video that introduction, which I should have lying around somewhere. It was on the PurpleRage site before I closed it down. I too must admit that this years choices were a let down and I did hear that Andy had to fight to get the event this year... but that is not from him directly so it could be just rumour. | ||
| Albie (Albie) Username: Albie Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.195.236.131 |
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=uB1NiNKwueE | ||
| Simon_b (Simon_b) Username: Simon_b Registered: 10-2008 Posted From: 86.24.165.182 |
Ah, thanks, Albie, that takes me back. I remember wishing I could hire Robert McCall for the day, and set him on the various school bullies I had to deal with... I suspect we all have people in our lives we'd like to wish a gutful of 7.65mm hollowpoints on. | ||
| Albie (Albie) Username: Albie Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.195.236.131 |
I'm having sandwiches for tea. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 61.216.33.78 |
Simon, I think all of us would, if we were honest, admit to wanting to call upon the services of Robert McCall once in a while. I know I would! <- proud owner of The Equalizer DVD | ||
| Simon_b (Simon_b) Username: Simon_b Registered: 10-2008 Posted From: 86.24.165.182 |
Too true, Huw! For those who prefer a less violent way of getting back at certain people in life, see here: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Ekx3unEYYWg If only... |