Very British Futures

Time Riders took one of science fiction’s oldest questions — what if you could travel through time? — and wrapped it in a distinctly British television sensibility. It mixed adventure with education, history with fantasy, and that uniquely early-nineties atmosphere where earnestness and oddness often went hand in hand. Welcome to Very British Futures, the podcast where we digthrough Britain’s smal...

Ready to take a trip to Tracy Island? In the latest episode of Very British Futures, host Gareth Preston is firing up the atomic engines for a deep dive into the 1960s puppet masterpiece: Thunderbirds. To help navigate the high-stakes world of International Rescue, Gareth is joined by a powerhouse trio of guests from the Official Talking Pictures TV podcast: Mel Byron, Scott Phipps, and Daniel Rei...

Welcome to Very British Futures, the podcast where we explore Britain’s past visions of tomorrow on the small screen — the futures that became part of pop culture, and the ones that somehow slipped through the cracks of television history. We are launching a brand new season with an episode takes us back to 1977 and a groundbreaking docu-drama made when such programmes were relatively rare - Alter...

In this episode, Gareth Preston is joined by Ken Moss and Andrew Roe-Crines to venture into one of the quirkier corners of British science fiction television: Terrahawks. Zelda, a centuries old android with incredible powers over matter, an army of renegade aliens, and a grievance against all humanity, threatens the Earth. Standing in her way are the Terrahawks, a secret organisation of pilots and...

In this episode of Very British Futures, Gareth is joined by writer Stephen Hatcher to explore The Guardians (ITV, 1971), the gripping 13-part dystopian drama that imagined a Britain under authoritarian rule. Together, they revisit the series’ chilling vision of a one parry state, controlled media, violent political resistance, and a society kept in line by the brutal paramilitary force and secret...

"All irregularities will be handled by the forces controlling each dimension. Transuranic heavy elements may not be used where there is life. Medium atomic weights are available: Gold, Lead, Copper, Jet, Diamond, Radium, Sapphire, Silver and Steel. Sapphire and Steel have been assigned!" This cryptic introduction sets the tone for an eerie blend of science fiction and supernatural mystery. It hint...

Welcome to Very British Futures, the podcast that dives deep into the hidden vaults of British science fiction television, uncovering the bold, the bizarre, and the brilliant. Hosted by Gareth Preston. Today we’re decoding a 80’s cold war thriller with a cerebral twist: the 1981 BBC teen drama Codename: Icarus. Martin Smith may seem like a typical Northern teenager but he might be the next Einstei...

Welcome to a special episode of Very British Futures, where we dive deep into the UK cult classics that shaped sci-fi television history. Today, we're rewinding the clock to explore The Tomorrow People—the original 1970s British TV series that dared to imagine a new evolution of humanity. With its blend of telepathy, teleportation, and teenage idealism, this show captured imaginations and sparked...

Welcome to Very British Futures—the show where cult British TV series get the future-facing conversations they deserve. In this episode, host Gareth Preston is joined by special guests Amy Elizabeth and Una McCormack to dive deep into the world of Blake’s 7, the iconic space opera that launched a thousand philosophical debates and more than a few dodgy costume choices. Together, they unpack two st...

2016. Northern Ireland’s New Community College of Education is a symbol of integrated living between Protestant and Catholic communities. When founder and Director Cyril Brown returns from three weeks of convalescence, he is disturbed by the increased influence of his Security Chief turned Vice-Director, Lennie North. History lecturer Connor Mullan wants to turn a proposed art exhibition about the...

1999.A time when technology has created a comfortable materially rich UK. The government has converted empty office blocks into luxury living accommodation for all single young people, where they move in after turning 18. In return for an hour of work, all their physical needs are catered for, and the residents spend their days lost in virtual reality worlds. Sheena is a recent arrival. Invited to...

It’s 1999 and the Brown family are cooped up together in their family flat. Joe was made redundant at the start of the 80s, like most men in town. Now it’s his children Gary and Ann who are the breadwinners, working from home, much to Joe’s resentment. Joe decides that the family needs a holiday, and signs them up for a working break in the underwater Ministry of Defence Civilian Work Centre. Once...

A rare of example of a SF take of rural politics, set in Northumberland. The selection committee of Coanwood Cricket Club is meeting to decide the lineup for the final match of the season, at the farmhouse of chairman John Ridley. His wife Morna is providing afternoon tea and she notices the men are acting unusually secretively. Once she has been sent away, Lord Slaggyford activates a device to di...

New Year’s Eve 1999. Great Britain is part of the European State. The Euro army is in the midst of a controversial war in the Middle East. Sam Howard has come to a French prison to see his daughter Cathy, who has been arrested for being part of a conspiracy to assassinate a pro-war politician, and is facing execution. The authorities hope he can persuade her to issue an apology regretting her acti...

A British prison at the beginning of the 21st Century. Psychologist Melvyn is leading a therapy group of prisoners. What constitutes a crime in the near future? As different prisoners tell their stories and build up a picture of Britain, we are left to wonder whether Melvyn's world is quite as reasonable as it seems? Presenting a special mini series examining BBC1's Play for Tomorrow from 1982. Si...

“Born of the world’s foremost science fiction imaginations...each week, a specially written hour long play of Tomorrow. Always different. Always compelling.” Out of this World was British TV’s first adult science fiction anthology. Each week, Boris Karloff would introduce a story which brought the works of writers like Issac Asimov and Clifford Simak. Broadcast on ITV and story edited by the legen...

Science Fiction television is more that a genre, it’s a sub-culture. For this episode we’re stepping out one kind of imaginary world, and into one rather more similar to ours. It’s also possibly the most personal episode yet. Cruise of the Gods is a poignant, darkly comedic British television film that aired during Christmas on BBC Two in 2002. Written by Tim Firth, Peter Baynan and Michael Thomas...

A for Andromeda is a BBC science fiction TV series that originally aired in 1961. It was the first adult BBC science fiction series since the Quatermass trilogy of the Fifties. Created by reknown (and controversial) astronomer Fred Hoyle and television writer and producer John Elliot, and directed by Michael Hayes (Replaced by John Knight for the sequel). One of the earliest mainstream British TV...

Imagine Star Trek designed by Stanley Kubrick and inhabited by a plethora of familiar (or soon to be familiar) British actors, led by three American TV stars. It's a SF show that mixes big imaginative concepts with foam machines and alien babes in tight costumes. It looks amazing, with one of the most iconic spaceships that ever flew across the small screen. And for a while, it was one of the bigg...

Seasons greetings! Stingray is the iconic children's television series that captured the imagination of Sixties viewers. Created by the legendary Gerry and Sylvia Andersonthis pioneering show set new standards for their Supermarionation process, as well as being their first in colour. The series follows the adventures of the crew aboard the futuristic submarine known as Stingray, designed for unde...

A fascinating curio from producer Gerry Anderson's peak period, made in between seasons one and two of Space: 1999 and featuring many personnel from that programme. The spaceship Altares, with a photon drive capable of accelerating it to the speed of light, leaves an Earth-orbiting space station. The Altares crew, two families of trained specialists, journey at light speed to Alpha Centauri, exper...

The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham is one of the best known science fiction novels in Britain. For many viewers, the 1981 BBC adaptation remains the best and closest version. The series follows the story of Bill Marsden, a farmer living in a post-apocalyptic world after a meteor shower has rendered most of the population blind. The disaster also allows a species of mobile carnivorous plant ca...

Chocky was a science fiction novel by John Wyndham, the final one published in his lifetime (1968). It tells the story of an 11 year old boy named Matthew, who begins to exhibit strange behavior and abilities that concern his parents. They learn that Matthew has an imaginary friend named Chocky, who is actually a highly advanced alien being with a mission to help humanity. Yet the alien knows enou...

It wouldn't be claiming too much to say that George Orwell's dystopian novel 1984 is one of the key books of post-war Britain and its influence is still with us today. Big Brother, newspeak, double-think, thought police, are all concepts used in politics and social media. However, the book might not have broken into the mainstream without the help of a BBC television adaptation in 1954. It created...

Who hasn't dreamed of stepping into a time machine and whizzing off to an exciting historical destination? Dominick Hide certainly has, but he's under strict instructions to only observe from the air, never land, never get involved. But Dominick is insatiably curious about the wild heady world 1980 and his long lost ancestor, so one night he does touch down, stepping into a romantic adventure with...