British Invaders 411: Haunted (Part 1)
December 11, 2022 Leave a Comment
Haunted presented a pair of ghost stories on ITV for Christmas 1974.
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The Avengers was a classic 1960s ITV espionage series. This “spy-fi” show included some science-fiction elements along with its spy concepts. It isn’t related to the Marvel Superhero franchise with the same name.
Remember Me is a 2014 BBC ghost story about Tom Parfitt (played by Michael Palin). Why is he terrified of what’s in his house? What isn’t he telling people? Why does death seem to follow him wherever he goes?
Kaldor City is a series of audio plays unofficially based on both Doctor Who and Blake’s 7. The series from Magic Bullet Productions includes characters from Doctor Who: The Robots of Death and Blake’s 7: Weapon. This is our annual discussion of a spinoff of a British TV show into another medium.
Bagpuss was a 1974 stop-motion animated children’s series from the BBC and Small Films. Each episode focuses on a newly discovered item that has a story to tell. These stories and folktales are told through songs, storytelling and different types of animation.
Gerry Anderson’s New Captain Scarlet was a 2005 computer-animated remake of the 1967 Supermarionation puppet series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. After inadvertently starting a war with the alien Mysterons, the Spectrum organization must defend the Earth! Can humanity survive?
Five Children and It was a BBC serial from 1991. Based on the book by E Nesbit, it has a group of four children encountering a Psammead (a sand fairy) that grants wishes. Will these four young siblings learn to be careful what they wish for?
Alice Through the Looking Glass was a very faithful adaptation of the Lewis Carol novel Through the Looking Glass (which was the sequel to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland). This 1973 BBC production features Sarah Sutton as Alice. Sutton would go on to play Doctor Who Companion Nyssa in the 1980s.
The War of the Worlds was a 2019 BBC adaptation of the novel by H.G. Wells. It was partly set during the early-twentieth-century martian invasion, and part of it takes place in the horrific aftermath.
The Georgian House was a 1976 serial from ITV. When two present-day teenagers are sent back to 1772, they interact with a British slave trader and his family. Can they rescue a tenager called Ngo from slavery?
Jekyll & Hyde was a 1990 adaptation of the classic book by Robert Louis Stevenson. ITV and ABC (from the US) co-produced this TV-movie which stars Michael Caine in the famous dual-role.
Alice in Wonderland was a 1966 BBC adaptation of the classic by Lewis Caroll. Jonathan Miller directed this unusual dreamlike take on the story. Period clothing took the place of animal costumes and makeup.
Hogfather was a 2006 Sky One adapatation of the Terry Pratchett novel of the same name. An ominous figure steps in to replace the missing Hogfather. Can Hogswatch and the Hogfather be saved?
A Christmas Carol was a BBC adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic story. Its original broadcast was in 1977.
Supernatural was a spooky horror anthology series from 1977. This BBC show brought us eight stories as presented to “The Club of the Damned”. It is not related to the long-running American series of the same name.
Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams was a 2017 co-production from Channel 4 and Amazon Studios. It presented ten adaptations of Philip K. Dick’s stories. Many well known American and British actors starred in individual episodes. Concepts relating to identity, reality and humanity were highlighted in interesting ways.
Torchy the Battery Boy was an early puppet series from Gerry Anderson and Roberta Leigh. A toymaker makes a walking talking toy based on a torch (or flashlight) battery. This toy flies a rocket to a far away star called Topsy Turvey Land!
Psychoville is a horror/comedy show with a wide variety of characters living in different parts of England. What connects them? What happened at the mysterious Ravenhill Hospital?
The Supermarionation Revival is our roughly once-per-year topic about a spinoff from British SF TV into another medium. This time we are discussing the Supermarionation projects that Stephen La Riviere and Century 21 Films started releasing in 2014. These documentaries, new episodes and more were inspired by the 1960s puppet shows from Gerry Anderson!
Little Lost Robot is the only surviving episode of ITV’s 1962 anthology series Out of this World. A robot with a modified version of one of the three laws of robotics is missing. What damage could it cause if it escapes? Dr. Susan Calvin must find this robot in a group of nearly identical robots. The episode was adapted from a short story by Isaac Asimov.