Science Fiction 101

Fifty years ago, schoolboy Phil was knocked out by a British science fiction TV show, the post-apocalyptic Survivors . Created by Terry Nation - who also created Doctor Who 's recurring enemy the Daleks and Blakes Seven  -  Survivors  ran for three seasons. And it's had a long afterlife as a cult favourite, and as a long-running audio drama starring many of the original cast. Survivors  was about a plague which wipes out  99.998% of the world's population, and its aftermath. It follows the struggles of a handful of British people to survive and rebuild after the collapse of civilisation. It's uncomfortably close to what we all experienced when COVID-19 came along, but thankfully COVID wasn't as deadly as the  Survivors  plague.    Today, Phil has persuaded Colin to take a first look at this sometimes harrowing (but ultimately life-affirming) '70s classic, and together they discuss some selected episodes from the series. As we announ...

Our next podcast episode will drop on 28th August, and we'd like to give you a heads-up on what we're covering - in case you'd like to do the "homework" preparation! We're going to review the classic BBC science fiction drama series  Survivors  (1975-1977).       Survivors  was created by  Doctor Who  writer Terry Nation, the guy who created the Daleks. Nation also wrote for the John Steed/Tara King era of  The Avengers,  and later created  Blakes Seven . This is one major TV SF writer! Survivors  was about a plague which wipes out  99.998% of the world's population, and its aftermath. It follows the struggles of a handful of British people to survive and rebuild after the collapse of civilisation. It's uncomfortably close to what we all experienced when COVID-19 came along, but thankfully COVID wasn't as deadly as the  Survivors  plague.  If you would like to watch some of  Survivors , so as to get the...

For this episode, we decided to challenge each other with books, stories and films that we thought the other hadn't read or seen. The result is some suggestions for reading and watching that we'd like you all to consider. These aren't necessarily the best science fiction around, but they are all items we greatly enjoy and heartily recommend. We hope you enjoy our suggestions every bit as much as our robo-butler enjoys serving them up to you. Among the items discussed in this episode: Alan Dean Foster's  Sentenced to Prism John Sladek's  Tik-Tok Robert Jackson Bennett's  The Tainted Cup   Ray Bradbury's " The Toynbee Convector "   Brandon Sanderson's  Legion   Doppelganger aka  Journey to the Far Side of the Sun * batteries not included Ken Liu's " The Sith of Datawork " Our quiz , taken from  Super Science Stories , October 1944! New French adaptation of Richard Matheson's  The Incredible Shrinking Man Quatermass 2   4k box s...

What on earth does science have to do with science fiction? Is science fiction about science? Is it fiction that takes a scientific approach to fiction? Without getting into the tedium of multiple possible definitions of science fiction, Colin and Phil explore what they expect of something labelled "science fiction". What you can expect is a rambling conversation that touches on philosophy, physics, logic, time travel, and much more. We also have our usual quiz, and our dash through the past, present and future of our favourite genre. Among the items mentioned in this episode:   The Three-Body Problem  by Cixin Liu 3 Body Problem , the Netflix series based on Liu's book series   The Life of Chuck,  movie Brandon Sanderson , author A.J. Ayer and Karl Popper , philosophers Stephen Jay Gould and Carl Sagan , scientists and science communicators John Scalzi's  When The Moon Hits Your Eye Medicine Man , film Nope , film Maybe Happy Ending , musical 28 Years Lat...

Every year, we review the short stories shortlisted for the famous Hugo Awards. It's our way of keep abreast of trends in the field of science without having to read a ton of longer works! All of the shortlisted stories are available online for free (see links below), so why not take a look at them yourself, and see if you agree with Colin's and Phil's assessment? Also in the episode we have our usual features: a quiz (about SF movies), and our recommendations of past/present/future science fiction.   Links to all the shortlisted short stories... " Five Views of the Planet Tartarus " by Rachael K. Jones " We Will Teach You How to Read | We Will Teach You How to Read " by Caroline M. Yoachim (page includes link to audio version which we highly recommend listening to!) " Marginalia " by Mary Robinette Kowal " Three Faces of a Beheading " by Arkady Martine " Why Don't We Just Kill the Kid In the Omelas Hole " by Isabel J. K...

Sometimes the podstreams just cross, and this episode is a prime example. When Colin suggested reviewing It Came From Outer Space , the classic 1953 science fiction movie created by Ray Bradbury, it was right up Phil's alley - and so this episode is also going out (slightly modified) as part of his Bradbury 100 pod! The discussion ranges from Bradbury's contribution to the screenplay to the quality of the 3D, and takes in your humble hosts' views on whether or not screen creatures should be revealed or concealed. Also mentioned in this episode: The recently completed OMSI Film Festival , Oregon Which US states have the best chance of surviving an alien invasion ? 75 years of Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles Phil's other pod, Bradbury 100 And for good measure, Colin's other pod, Take Me To Your Reader And... Phil was bemused at the prominence of Kathleen Hughes in the end credits of the film, given that she has hardly any dialogue or close-ups. In case you...