Breakfast in the Ruins

Phil's Choice - Revenge of the Manitou

It's our summer holiday special - and it was Phil's Choice. She reminded me that we had such a great time with The Devils of D-Day and the film of Masterton's novel The Manitou that we should read Graham Masterton's Revenge of the Manitou.
So we did... and we're going to talk about it.
And watch Grizzly.
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(The Secret of) The Runestaff Part Two

Dave returns to Derry & Toms to combat creeping fascism and technical issues, all whilst concluding our epic reportage on the final volume in The History of the Runestaff - THE RUNESTAFF (AKA The Secret of the Runetaff).
GUYLINER
UPSETTING FATES
PORNOGRAPHIC THRILLERS
And more....
Check out SÖNUS on bandcamp and buy their gear.
And take a look at Gates of Londra

The Sundered Worlds AKA The Blood Red Game

Miles is back to discuss another of Moorcock’s 1960s SF titles, arguably the most influential of the lot when considering the origins of the Multiverse. This may require some thoughtful, in-depth analysis.
Instead, we talk about caffeine, giro spending habits of the 1990s and racist space dogs for close to two hours.
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Listen to the Casual Trek Podcast

Slade in Flame

Joe Banks, author of Hawkwind: Days of the Undergound, is back in Derry and Toms to enthuse about a film that was, for me, a shock revelation about one of Britain's most misunderstood bands.
Not only were Slade a hard rocking act whose reputation as a live act belies their popular image as a slightly goofy glam rock fixture from early 70s Top of the Pops that invade our ears every bloody Xmas... But in 1975 they took a big swing (and commercially a miss), resulting in an incredible film about the seedy underbelly of the music business that turned 50 this year.
It spawned a fantastic novelisation too, courtesy of the late John Pidgeon and published by Panther, that ranks up there with the sweatiest, grittiest NEL pulps of the mid-70s. So we talk about that too.
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The Dying Earth

New guest co-host, author, gamer and podcaster Adrian Tchaikovsky joins me in Derry and Toms to look at Jack Vance’s The Dying Earth and discuss Vance's particular approach, his influence on Moorcock, and that mordant lyricism that defined numerous elements of the fantasy genre.
Check out Adrian's podcast with Emma Newman, Starship Alexandria - latest episode is on KJ Bishop's The Etched City.
For more Lionel Fanthorpe, see here (and thanks to Ben Haggar for the link).

Hawk the Slayer

Sometimes we don't have time to read a book. Sometimes we just wanna gas about ace things. This is one of those times so...
Hawk the Slayer...
featuring:
MORE Big Ron...
ACTUAL Warren Clarke...
SMOKY woods and DISCO....
and EVERYONE that's ever been on British telly EVER!
Listen to The Casual Trek Podcast
Support Dave and the crew with their production of The Hammer and Helena at the Edinburgh Festival

The Shores of Death

Andy Darby is back to look at another of Mike's 60s SF takes... THE SHORES OF DEATH. Replete with sexual deviancy, epic parties and a massive tool of a protagonist... it's classic 60s Moorcock!
Check out Andy's substack to read The Crow Feeder and pick up The Blade in the Angel's Shadow.

Special Bulletin - Beware THE WOODLICE

Graham is back in Derry & Toms to talk about his debut novel THE WOODLICE, as well as his influences, method, finding inspiration in Guy N Smith's Writing Horror Fiction, microdots, dogging and regrets over that vintage Amstrad PCW 8512... the one that got away.
The Woodlice is available from UK  and US amazon stores.
Fortean TV was released a couple of years ago by Network DVD - for a dose of nostalgia watch Episode 1 with an introduction from Reverend Lionel Fanthorpe.

PROJECT AVALON (Trevor Hoyle's Blakes 7 Part II)

Seeing as John and I had such a good time with Trevor Hoyle's first Blakes 7 novelisation and series watch-a-long, we thought sod it... let's do another.
And this time... it has Servalan, plus:
Roy from Eastenders...
Glynnis Barber...
Woke blasters...
Big Ron Tarr...
TRAVIS!!!
IT'S GOT THE LOT!

Filming Elric!

With news that the Apple TV/Skydance Eternal Champion series is "DOA", what better a time to talk to Chris Preyer, the man behind Elric: Chains of the Doomed One - a fan-film project. Chris lifts the lid on the joys and challenges of crafting and resourcing a passion-driven endeavour.
Follow Chris and the team's progress on Instagram and check out Tim Hintsala's armoury at Iron Ape Forge, Shai Winzer's make-up at Tesh Techniques, and the haunting music of Altoscliff.