Posted by: RFM on: July 3, 2009
Now the BBC has cancelled Robin Hood, the only surviving Saturday night escapist fantasy dramas are Doctor Who and Merlin. Robin Hood got under 2 million viewers for its last episode. Amazingly, this is mainly because it was shoved over onto BBC2 so that BBC1 could keep Andy Murray on screen.
Why not put Andy Murray [...]
Posted by: RFM on: December 7, 2008
Anyone interested in the history of radio broadcasting could do worse than pop over to the
Internet Archive, where there is a selection of old Columbia Workshop radio dramas. This is US radio from the same era that brought us Orson Welles’ Mercury Theatre broadcasts, including the notorious 1938 version of War of the Worlds.
Read more [...]
Posted by: RFM on: November 24, 2008
Bonekickers, crap drama starring that Julie Graham, has been axed. Actually, for a summer show, its ratings weren’t that bad – 4.something million for something so badly scripted is quite repectable, I think.
I think the real reason it has been cancelled is to do with the critical reception and the fact that personnel changes [...]
Posted by: RFM on: November 16, 2008
So who watched Apparitions, the BBC’s attempt to bring exorcism-based drama to the small screen?
I have to admit, it wasn’t quite as bad as I thought it would be, though it was quite bad. This review in The Observer is typical. Snip:
[L]ong before the gorgeous gay priest had been eviscerated by Satan in the sauna [...]
Posted by: RFM on: November 9, 2008
This slideshow is meant to compliment the student presentations, which I will also upload to Slideshare (once I have corrected spelling, grammar etc.!). I may also do one on the critical reception of The Exorcist, because films like this – and the earlier Rosemary’s Baby – started to change perceptions of the genre.
The presentation above [...]
Posted by: RFM on: October 7, 2008
Posted by: RFM on: October 6, 2008
The photo above is one of a selection of scary vintage hallowe’en photos, posted by this bloke on Flickr. He’s got an annoying habit of posting his pics to too many groups, but I’ll forgive him this once. This photo reminds me of all the bags-on-head horror movies we’ve seen this year. It dates from [...]
Posted by: RFM on: September 22, 2008
As promised, the presentation is now on Slideshare. In examining any genre text, some theoretical groundwork is essential, as well as an attempt to place the text in its historical, cultural, economical, and political context.
You should do some further reading on some of these theories – read a little more about Freud, for example (you [...]
