BERGCAST

Andy and Jon meet with Steve Rogers from Hammer to discuss the work involved getting the first two Quatermass films out in those stunning box sets released last summer. And they're also joined by writer/filmmaker Simon Guerrier, whose two part Nigel Kneale documentary straddles both releases. You can buy the Quatermass films (and much more besides) from Hammer if you visit the Hammer shop here: ht...

Comedy writer Joel Morris explains why the ideas and concepts of Nigel Kneale have infected popular culture like a Quatermass monster.

BERGCAST stalwart Toby Hadoke's long awaited tome is out! Toby chats to Jon and Andy about its long gestation, the challenge of tenses and how to slay sacred cows respectfully.

We're back with a new co-host and an amazing new guest in the shape of the GIANT that is Brian Cox. Andy and Jon talk to Brian about making The Year of the Sex Olympics, how he was cast, why he remains so fond of something from the very beginning of his career, and the fact he'd really like to play Quatermass some day... There's also an extended intro to meeting co-host Andy Murray, Nigel Kneale's...

This 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 20...

It'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 How...

It 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 wheth...

In 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 Quater...

This 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 f...

In 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 A...

It'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 Pict...

For 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...

In 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...

In 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...

Talking 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 s...

In 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.

This 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.

For 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...

On 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.

Once 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 Kneal...

In 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.

We 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.

Once 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...

For 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 talki...

It'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 pe...