British Culture: Albion Never Dies

Don't be shy, send me a message! Thomas Felix Creighton talks about Britishness in the 1950s, drawing on both academic sources, and family diaries, letters, and recollections. This episode covers family experiences of the Second World War, births in the baby boom, and life in Britain and the Empire in the new Elizabethan Age. Books recommended include: Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945,...

Don't be shy, send me a message! Thomas Felix Creighton interviews John Glen, who directed five James Bond 007 films, three with Sir Roger Moore KBE in the lead and two with Timothy Dalton: For Your Eyes Only (1981) Octopussy (1983) A View to a Kill (1985) The Living Daylights (1987) License to Kill (1989) He also directed Christopher Columbus: The Discovery (1992), and worked on The Italian J...

Don't be shy, send me a message! Thomas Felix Creighton talks about the 1981 James Bond movie Octopussy starring Roger Moore as British secret agent 007. His special guests for this episode include: Daniel Gaster , Instagrammer, blogger, and Youtuber, ' The Field Office' . Marc Henandez , author of “ On the Train Tracks: Filming Octopussy & GoldenEye at Nene Valley Railway ” – pr...

Don't be shy, send me a message! I am delighted to be joined by Canon Ned Lunn at Bradford Cathedral for this special Easter episode! I ask him: What is a Canon? What is a Cathedral? What is Easter, for Anglicans? Anglicans are, of course, members of the the Church of England or members of any Church in communion with it. You can find Bradford Cathedral on Youtube: @bfdCathedral  Message me an...

Don't be shy, send me a message! April 13th! It's James Bond's birthday today... (oh, and mine!) Check out my SmörgåsBond  playlist on Youtube : www.youtube.com/britishculture ...or indeed any of my previous Bond-themed podcast episodes. I always talk about the importance of Ian Fleming, and today marks the publication of his very first James Bond novel, ' Casino Royale '....

Don't be shy, send me a message! A real change for the podcast: After 5 years of talking about British culture, it's time to move on and talk about 'The Middle Kingdom', China.  I lived in China from 2015-2021, and regularly wrote e-mails to my parents detailing my time there. The first half of the podcast is me reading from these and adding in my reflections almost a decade on....

Don't be shy, send me a message! The UK is famously polite, but is the reputation well-deserved? I check out the Hugh Dennis book, ‘Britty Britty Bang Bang’, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Micheal Portillo’s Great British Railway Journeys, and a range of other sources. I also draw on my own experience in the US, China, Turkish Cyprus, and elsewhere. Most of all, I ask you for your experience, so do...

Don't be shy, send me a message! Your questions answered, whether sent via Instagram, Chinese social media, or in a comment on Youtube! The questions were: How do you feel being in the UK after 2 years?   - Instagram: @BondUpNorth (Sam) How is your Bond fitness challenge going?   - Instagram: Licensetolift What is your favourite British sitcom from the 1980s?  – [an old friend who will remain...

Don't be shy, send me a message! " Amazon MGM Studios, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli today announced that they have formed a new joint venture to house the James Bond intellectual property rights, and those parties will remain co-owners of the franchise. Under the terms of the new venture, Amazon MGM Studios will gain creative control of the James Bond franchise following closing...

Don't be shy, send me a message! I’ve just read all 7 Harry Potter books, plus the three supplementary books, for the first time .  I’ve also visited some of the movie locations in the UK (including Durham Cathedral and King’s Cross Station), tried Butterbeer and Fizzing Wizzbees (plus Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans and Chocolate Frogs), worn my house colours (having been sorted by the offi...

Don't be shy, send me a message! 5 very special guests join me for this episode from 4 continents: David Zaritsky @TheBondExperience Donnie Waldron @Quantum of History Pete Brooker @LondonBondMap Gabriel Rabenales @TheStyleisNotEnough Lincoln McConnell-Brown @DressingLikeMcQueen We talk about places, themes, and values shown in this film from our vantage points in London, the USA, Chile, and A...

Don't be shy, send me a message! Raymond Benson is the author of over forty published titles. He is most well-known as being the first American to write continuation James Bond novels (six original titles and three film novelizations, between 1996-2002), and for the best-selling and acclaimed five-book serial, THE BLACK STILETTO (2011-2014). I also mention in the episode that he wrote, JETHRO...

Don't be shy, send me a message! Introduced by Joe Darlington ( Being James Bond ), I investigate the uniquely British aspects of this 007 film, with 6 special  interviews from China thanks to my previous guest Max James Joy ( A Brit Abroad... in China - Celebrating a 'British Day' in Guangzhou ).    We talk about: What makes this film so special? British submarines British-Greek Rel...

Don't be shy, send me a message! What makes the 007 films so uniquely British? In this episode, I take a deep (1-hour) dive into 2012's ' Skyfall ' starring Daniel Craig . If you haven’t seen the film ‘ Skyfall ’ since it came out in 2012, don’t worry, there is plenty for you. In fact, if you’ve never seen this film , I hope you’ll still enjoy this podcast, and indeed can still...

Don't be shy, send me a message! Every year, on October 21st, the Royal Navy celebrates Admiral Nelson’s most famous victory, near Trafalgar in 1805 when 27 British Royal Naval ships defeated a combined French and Spanish fleet of 33 warships.  But, what if Nelson had lost? And how can we celebrate this night? I draw upon three books: ‘ The Rise and Fall of the British Empire ’ by Lawrence Jam...

Don't be shy, send me a message! What is it like to be a Brit in China, before, during, and after the pandemic? Today's special guest, Max James Joy, shed some light on how being a Brit in China has changed over the last few years (since I left). He also talks about the different cultures found *within* China, and even within the same city. Max is a UOI (Unit of Inquiry) teacher, helping...

Don't be shy, send me a message! Have you ever wondered what it's like to live overseas? In this episode, I share a selection of clips from my audio diary, recorded on cassette tape in 2006. At that time, I had been living in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus for 5 years, the first experience of 'expat living' that I remember. I had lived in West Berlin in the 1980s, but m...

Don't be shy, send me a message! Today, I met the Prime Minister of the UK. I give my very quick impressions of the event, from out in a field Support the show https://www.albionneverdies.com/

Don't be shy, send me a message! In this episode, I am delighted to interview Pete Brooker (From Tailors With Love) about his work about the forthcoming memoir of Timothy Everest MBE. Boy Wanted on Savile Row is a revealing memoir that charts the evolution of British tailoring over the past four decades, starting in the 1980s, when Timothy Everest MBE studied under the rebel of Savile Row, Tom...

Don't be shy, send me a message! Thank you to Instagram's @Izi_Ready_GoesBond for suggesting this topic! In this episode, I cover: H.G. Wells The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Aldous Huxley  Arthur C Clarke  Gerry Anderson  Dr Who Star Wars The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy  Dirk Gently The Quatermass Experiment  The Tomorrow People  Blake's 7 I also read from 'The F...

Don't be shy, send me a message! Chris Morales, @thatonebondguy on Instagram and Youtube gives me his unique take on the James Bond continuation novel, ‘On HIS Majesty’s Secret Service’ by Charlie Higson - who previously wrote the ‘Young Bond’ book series which are a prequel to the original Ian Fleming series. We also talk about Chris’ Anglophilia: The Stormbreaker Alex Rider series by Anthony...

Don't be shy, send me a message! Happy Year of the Dragon, which in Mandarin is 'long' so it's going to be a looong year as a Chinese friend pointed out to me this week. In this episode, I (briefly) talk about my grandfather's time in Hong Kong as child, and the First Chinese Man in Britain (longer ago than I thought). I talk about the Opium Wars, drawing on two books I rec...

Don't be shy, send me a message! Thank you very much to Kyle Barbeau (Instagram's Easy Smiles and Expensive Watches) and David Nix (via e-mail) for suggesting these three topics! I spend 10 minutes on each one, roughly. 1-10: Underground London has the oldest underground train system in the world, but how does it compare to modern Chinese cities such as Shenzhen? I share my experiences. 1...

Don't be shy, send me a message! The British Empire is scarcely taught in schools in modern Britain, yet many of us Brits have personal connections to it. Learning about our individual heritage can connect us to a wider national and global story. Here, I talk about my own interest, my travels to places once ruled by the UK, and the five books that helped inform me on the reality of Empire. I g...

Don't be shy, send me a message! What is Britishness? Well, there's no doubt Shakespeare is a British institution, and much of the UK's theater industry seems to rest heavily on these 500 year old plays. Never mind the tourist industry in Stratford-upon-Avon ! Actors from Timothy Dalton (007) to Patrick Stuart (Jean-Luc Picard), Ian McKellen (Gandalf), Diana Rigg (Mrs. James Bond) an...