Podcast

Alex Fitch
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2.12 - Phoenix Gamers

Alex Fitch talks to Hugh and Matt, members of The Phoenix Games Club, a group who meet at least once every week at the Black Lion pub in Plaistow to play board games, strategy games and RPGs together and Alex asks the guys about the type of games they play, the demographic of their membership and the social and intellectual aspects of gaming. (More info at www.phoenixgamesclub.org.uk)

2.11 - Genre (crossing) directors, Summer '09

Continuing our series of twice annual looks at pairs of directors who combine genres on screen to beguiling effect, Alex Fitch talks to Academy Award winning screenwriter turned director Charlie Kaufman about his new film Synecdoche, New York and the processes of getting his previous scripts Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Being John Malkovich to the screen. Alex also talks to Nacho Vigalondo, the director of the new Spanish film TimeCrimes / Los cronocrimenes which mixes the style of a 1970s psycho thriller with the tropes of a modern, cerebral time travel film. (More info at http://www.sonyclassics.com/synecdocheny/ and http://www.loscronocrimenes.com + read a partial transcript of the Vigalondo interview at www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk)

2.10 - The Arthur C. Clarke Awards 2009

In the first of our podcasts recorded at this year's Sci-Fi London Festival, guest presenter Graham Sleight talks to a nominee and two former judges of the Arthur C. Clarke awards. In case you don't know who won, why not listen to the podcast and hear the opening of the envelope and the winner's reaction! Authors interviewed include Niall Harrison, Tanya Brown and Ian R. Macleod, with the award ceremony presented by Dr. Marek Kukula (Royal Greenwich Observatory) and Tom Hunter. Edited and recorded by Alex Fitch. (more info at: www.clarkeaward.com)

2.09 - Gentlemen in Flight

In a special episode looking at two of the great gentlemen of the sky, who first found fame in the 1960s with their piloting of classic Sci-Fi air/spacecraft, Chris Patmore talks to George Takei about being the helmsman of the Starship Enterprise in Star Trek in both the classic TV series and beyond while Alex Fitch talks to Wing Commander Ken Wallis about building and flying the gyrocopter 'Little Nellie' in You only live twice and its stablemate in The Martian Chronicles... (For more info please visit www.georgetakei.com and www.startrek.com for more info about George and the re-release of the classic series on Blu Ray plus www.kenwallisautogyro.comand www.bfi.org.uk for more info about Ken and the BFI's current Bond and Beyond season...)

2.08 - Red Dwarf / Robot Zoo

In a special Easter episode looking at ways you can entertain kids and adults alike over the Bank Holiday, Alex Fitch talks to Craig Charles about playing Dave Lister again after a ten year hiatus in the new Red Dwarf mini-series Back to Earth. Alex also talks to Jo Hatton, keeper of the Robot Zoo at the Horniman Museum in Forest Hill which presents a collection of robotic and animatronic animals to the public and mixes education with the feel of a traveling carnival. (For more info about Red Dwarf: Back to Earth please visit http://dave.uktv.co.uk and for more info about The Robot Zoo, please visit www.horniman.ac.uk... We also have a a transcript online of Alex's interview with Craig)

2.07 - Have you heard the one about the vampire, the ghost and the werewolf...?

Alex Fitch talks to Toby Whithouse, writer of BBC3's excellent horror / dramedy series Being Human about his writing and acting career, the slow process of turning an ordinary series about a flatshare into a supernatural drama and writing the episode of Doctor Who (School Reunion) which brought back Sarah Jane Smith and K-9 to the series...(For more info about Being Human please visit www.bbc.co.uk/beinghuman)

2.06 - The Invisible art of acting on radio

Alex Fitch talks to actor Rupert Degas about his various roles in genre radio and audio dramas such as playing David Warner's sidekick "Rizla" in the BBC7 adaptation of Robert Rankin's The Brightonomicon and playing the father of a cyrogenically preserved child in Kim Newman's Cry-Babies which was recently broadcast on Radio 4. Alex and Rupert also talk about his roles in Dan Dare, Dirk Gently and The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy plus his uncredited role voicing the devil in Exorcist: The Beginning... (For more info about BBC radio's SF season, and for more podcasts about The Brightonomicon)

2.05 - State of the Art adaptation

Alex Fitch talks to writer Paul Cornell about dramatising Iain M Banks' novella "The state of the Art" for the afternoon play on Radio 4 with a cast including such luminaries as Anthony Sher and Patterson Joseph... Alex and Paul also discuss the author's adaptations of his own work - novelising the internet cartoon Doctor Who: Scream of the Shalka and conversely dramatising his novel Doctor Who: Human Nature for TV. (For more info about BBC radio's SF season, please click here and for Paul's blog, please click here)

2.04: Being Bruce Campbell

Alex Fitch talks to legendary 'B'-movie actor Bruce Campbell about his new film My Name is Bruce which features the actor directing, producing and playing a fictionalised version of himself on screen. My name is Bruce sees Campbell kidnapped by a fan and taken to the small town of Gold Lick, Oregon (pop. 333) to save the locals from an ancient Chinese demon prefaced by his own country and western musical numbers... Alex and Bruce also talk about the actor's career so far, appearing in memorable films by Sam Raimi such as The Evil Dead and Spider-man, his directorial debut Man with the Screaming Brain and his experience of dealing with fandom over the years... (For more info about all things Bruce please visit http://www.bruce-campbell.com)

2.03 - Michael Winterbottom's Code 46

During a special Architecture foundation screening of Code 46 at the Barbican centre, Alex Fitch caught up with director Michael Winterbottom in the foyer of the cinema and discussed issues of British Science Fiction, unreliable narrators and the importance of location in Sci-Fi films. Alex and Michael also look at issues of psychogeography, breaking the fourth wall in 24 hour party people and A cock and bull story and why Spielberg’s Minority Report (which also starred Samantha Morton) was an interesting attempt to make realistic SF... (with thanks to the Barbican and the Architecture Foundation - next screening: Los Angeles plays itself on 21st Jan 2009. Originally broadcast 11/12/08 on Resonance FM)

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