Breakfast in the Ruins

Derek AKA Imrryr joins me in Derry and Toms as we take a look at the Elric tale, The Jade Man's Eyes. Initially published in 1973 in Flashing Swords 2 and as a standalone novella by Unicorn Press, this story would later be heavily revised and repackaged as part of the fix-up novel The Sailor on the Seas of Fate. So plenty to look at, including unpronounceable names and this story's key place in El...

We're back... we've crawled out of the ruins of our Christmas and New Year bottles to witness the fantastic world of 1973 through the eyes of Oswald Bastable. Robert MacMillan is my co-pilot for this journey as we have to look up what things are and marvel over Moorcock's invention of a genre that these days seems largely about gluing cogs to pith helmets, tea duels and "chap-hop". OR IS IT? I don...

Another year, another Birthday Special... our sixth! It's Mike's birthday... it's Phil's birthday... it's the podcast's official state birthday... so what better than a silly, hastily assembled drunken quiz? No ? required... that was a rhe A chance for Loz to close the gap on Phil's epic quiz streak as well as to introduce a wild card in the shape of a third contestant! OK, fine. This wasn't the a...

Andy Darby joins me as we take D and Ts on the road to eons-old Mars to explore mysteries, machinations and mild disappointments. Check out Andy’s substack to read The Crow Feeder and sign up to his website for updates and to receive a free e-copy of his latest novella .

Miles is back in Derry & Toms as we tackle another 60s Moorcock classic... The Ice Schooner. Lots to talk about here, and some pearls to clutch too, as we visit one of Mike's sweatiest rime-encrusted tales that, one way or another, remind us of our hometowns. And we talk about Doctor Who and Star Trek a bit too. Content warning: there is some discussion of SA that occurs in this book.  JOIN US...

As voted for by our dear patrons, the subject for this year's Halloween Special is SLUGS! Shaun Hutson's breakthrough best seller has been on the poll list for three or four years, but 2025 was its year. So, join Graham, Phil and me as we evaluate Shaun Hutson's entry into that classic and most pulpy of British horror traditions, the Killer Critter novel. Also, we mull over whether four clefts are...

Author and game designer Tone Milazzo joins me in Derry & Toms as we look at another work by the late, great Robert Sheckley, his first novel Immortality Inc. Last time we talked about Sheckley with Derek , I had the distinct sense that we would be going back for more… and this turned out to be an apt choice, with this podcast being released during October, because it's a Halloween episode by...

Bryan Talbot returns to Derry and Toms to talk to about Alice in Sunderland, Grandville and his upcoming release, The Case of Stamford Hawkmoor - and we get a special guest appearance from Dr Mary Talbot too! Also, James Robertson calls in to talk about his two decades and more working on Bryan's website , being green in an increasingly grey world and all sorts of other stuff along the way. My co-...

Simon is back to finish our look at the final instalment in the first Corum trilogy... The King of the Swords... and, as it runs ramraid style into the conclusion of The Vanishing Tower, we roped in Miles too, because he'd only recently read it! This is another pivotal book in Moorcock's oeuvre, and for this podcast, because it means that the second sequence of eternal champeen books we've managed...

THIS EPISODE: I'm joined in Derry & Toms by Powys Media's Mateo Latosa and, via ringer (Phil), Patricia Sokol, to talk about Space 1999 and the 20-plus-year efforts of Powys Media to keep the show alive via novelisations and original stories. I was very lucky to receive a copy of the incredible (and impressively girthed) Space 1999 Year One Omnibus c/o Mateo. A handful are still available, and...

John is back in Derry & Toms to talk about another novelisation, but we're taking a break from Blakes 7 to focus on another early 80s obsession of ours... Well. Two. They just happen to combine to glorious effect in the classic slice of Daily Mail wet dreamery that is Who Dares Wins. Therefore, we get to watch it again for the 8,000th time and discuss it alongside its novelisation, The Tiptoe...

We're finally back to finish our reportage on Phoenix in Obsidian (AKA The Silver Warriors). It's an epic tale of anguish and self-pity on an earth where the sun has dimmed, the moon has crashed down to simply be called Moon and the menace known as the Silver Warriors have extreme problems figuring out the point of polearms. How will Count Ulrik Skarsol endure...? Loz is back alongside Phil for th...

It's our summer holiday special - and it was Phil's Choice. She reminded me that we had such a great time with The Devils of D-Day and the film of Masterton's novel The Manitou that we should read Graham Masterton's Revenge of the Manitou. So we did... and we're going to talk about it. And watch Grizzly . JOIN US!

Dave returns to Derry & Toms to combat creeping fascism and technical issues, all whilst concluding our epic reportage on the final volume in The History of the Runestaff - THE RUNESTAFF (AKA The Secret of the Runetaff). GUYLINER UPSETTING FATES PORNOGRAPHIC THRILLERS And more.... Check out SÖNUS on bandcamp and buy their gear. And take a look at Gates of Londra

Miles is back to discuss another of Moorcock’s 1960s SF titles, arguably the most influential of the lot when considering the origins of the Multiverse. This may require some thoughtful, in-depth analysis. Instead, we talk about caffeine, giro spending habits of the 1990s and racist space dogs for close to two hours. JOIN US! Listen to the Casual Trek Podcast

Joe Banks , author of Hawkwind: Days of the Undergound , is back in Derry and Toms to enthuse about a film that was, for me, a shock revelation about one of Britain's most misunderstood bands. Not only were Slade a hard rocking act whose reputation as a live act belies their popular image as a slightly goofy glam rock fixture from early 70s Top of the Pops that invade our ears every bloody Xmas......

New guest co-host, author, gamer and podcaster Adrian Tchaikovsky joins me in Derry and Toms to look at Jack Vance’s The Dying Earth and discuss Vance's particular approach, his influence on Moorcock, and that mordant lyricism that defined numerous elements of the fantasy genre. Check out Adrian's podcast with Emma Newman, Starship Alexandria - latest episode is on KJ Bishop's The Etched City. For...

Sometimes we don't have time to read a book. Sometimes we just wanna gas about ace things. This is one of those times so... Hawk the Slayer... featuring: MORE Big Ron... ACTUAL Warren Clarke... SMOKY woods and DISCO.... and EVERYONE that's ever been on British telly EVER! Listen to The Casual Trek Podcast Support Dave and the crew with their production of The Hammer and Helena at the Edinburgh Fes...

Andy Darby is back to look at another of Mike's 60s SF takes... THE SHORES OF DEATH. Replete with sexual deviancy, epic parties and a massive tool of a protagonist... it's classic 60s Moorcock! Check out Andy's substack to read The Crow Feeder and pick up The Blade in the Angel's Shadow .

Graham is back in Derry & Toms to talk about his debut novel THE WOODLICE, as well as his influences, method, finding inspiration in Guy N Smith's Writing Horror Fiction, microdots, dogging and regrets over that vintage Amstrad PCW 8512... the one that got away. The Woodlice is available from UK   and US  amazon stores. Fortean TV was released a couple of years ago by Network DVD - for a dose...

Seeing as John and I had such a good time with Trevor Hoyle's first Blakes 7 novelisation  and series watch-a-long, we thought sod it... let's do another. And this time... it has Servalan, plus: Roy from Eastenders... Glynnis Barber... Woke blasters... Big Ron Tarr... TRAVIS!!! IT'S GOT THE LOT!

With news that the Apple TV/Skydance Eternal Champion series is "DOA", what better a time to talk to Chris Preyer, the man behind Elric: Chains of the Doomed One  - a fan-film project. Chris lifts the lid on the joys and challenges of crafting and resourcing a passion-driven endeavour. Follow Chris and the team's progress on Instagram  and check out Tim Hintsala's armoury at Iron Ape Forge , Shai...

Tom Murphy of Colossive Press  drops by Derry and Toms to discuss The Adventures of Luther Arkwright. Plus, Bryan Talbot  joins us so we can quiz him about his early career and the origins of Arkwright!

For the first time in several years I recently managed to make it to one of the UK's premier RPG gatherings, GROGMEET, a joyous celebration of roleplaying games hosted by Dirk of The Grognard Files. And this time... I TOOK PHIL... so we decided, 'what the fluff!' and recorded our reflections on a cracking weekend and, into the bargain, I also gamed with Andrew Beck  so I roped him in for a chat to...

Dave , frontman of Space Rock Colossus SÖNUS , is back in Derry and Toms to tackle the final volume in the first Hawkmoon saga... The Runestaff (AKA The Secret of the Runestaff). Huon's tongue is flicking, Meliadus is plotting and Hawkmoon is SULKING ABOUT BOATS!