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Posts by Andrew T. Smith

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This @recordstoreday.bsky.social I’m remembering THE GREATEST and much missed record shop of all (don’t @ me) SOUND IT OUT. Here’s a scene from the film I made there.

Watch the full film here vimeo.com/ondemand/sou...

3 days ago 22 8 1 2

Worse than limited opening hours, it's the withdrawal of 2/3 of the archive for curiosity-driven research that is the real scandal for what is supposed to be a public-service organization.

1 week ago 74 41 2 0
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The Luton writer behind the original Airplane! How a play broadcast live on Canadian television in 1956 became the famous comedy film Airplane!.

This BBC News Online piece will be the most effective publicity my new documentary about Flight into Danger gets. So if you have enjoyed the programme, think you may enjoy it, or are just a kind soul, if you could please share this anywhere you think it may be worth sharing, I'd be very grateful!

2 weeks ago 130 112 5 14
THUNDERBIRDS ARE 60: Stand By For "Action!" (New Behind the Scenes Documentary)
THUNDERBIRDS ARE 60: Stand By For "Action!" (New Behind the Scenes Documentary) YouTube video by Century 21 Films

We've now reached Part 4 of our mammoth Thunderbirds anniversary documentary project. The instalments now run to a collective runtime of 2 hours 38 minutes and production on the first episode, "Trapped in the Sky", is yet to be completed. We mean business.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQ5i...

2 weeks ago 5 1 1 0

Imagine how distracting it would be if your phone worked – I've tried to call you since Wednesday!

3 weeks ago 1 0 1 0
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Days of Wine and roses... many congratulations to prolific comedy writer Roy Clarke on his knighthood. Photographed by @radiotimes.bsky.social on location with his Last of the Summer Wine cast in 1974.

3 weeks ago 8 2 0 0
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As of today, he is officially SIR Roy Clarke. I couldn't be happier for the man and his wonderful family. (Photo: PA)

3 weeks ago 23 4 1 0
World of Telly Episode 15: Whoops Apocalypse
World of Telly Episode 15: Whoops Apocalypse YouTube video by World of Telly

The video version of our latest episode is out now: youtu.be/ijlnPXmBDrY Please like, subscribe and share the video around, as it really does help us out. Thanks.

4 months ago 16 10 0 4
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Meet the woman whose magical music brought Bagpuss to life Sandra Kerr talks to RT about the ultimate storyteller, giggling mice and a new audio drama that captures TV's golden age.

We are in the new @radiotimes.bsky.social! Huge thanks to @braxtm.bsky.social for a lovely, full-page feature - discussing our latest release 'Patchwuff' with the legendary Sandra Kerr and our own @andrewtsmith.bsky.social. Extended version now on the RT website:
www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/bag...

1 month ago 13 5 0 0

Roy Clarke wrote a play for the BBC Light Programme and the BBC iPlayer.

1 month ago 10 1 0 0

The BBC’s job is to “inform, educate, and entertain”? Let’s talk about the middle word.

What follows is the story of what we found in an FOI request (per the Observer) about the Corporation killing off plans to launch an online catalogue and failing to deliver ‘learning for people of all ages’. 🧵

1 month ago 89 52 2 13
Video

RIP NEIL SEDAKA

1 month ago 909 270 74 50

I found the brashness a lot to get used to, but ended up falling in love with that show.

1 month ago 1 0 1 0

I still miss this series. It was the best company and I doubt anything like it will be made again. It was like a secret broadcast.

1 month ago 2 0 1 0

Journeying back to the North East after visiting Sir Roy Clarke and members of his wonderful family. Writing this book has taken longer than either of us anticipated – partly because even I had underestimated the scope of his output – but we're on the home stretch now!

1 month ago 10 2 0 0

We were rather inexplicably shown 'Dave' a few times when the drama department couldn't be bothered to teach. That's the 1993 film in which Kevin Kline replaces his doppelgänger – the president of the United States – after the latter dies shagging.

2 months ago 2 0 1 0
Cover of Penda's Fen: Scene by Scene.

Cover of Penda's Fen: Scene by Scene.

‘Astonishing. I enjoyed a deeper working involvement in the making of the film than most authors are granted — but even so, there was so much going on that I didn’t know. Thank you for teaching me’ David Rudkin

‘Indispensable. It left me longing to see the film again and wishing that television today had room for works of such outstanding individual imagination’ Michael Billington

‘Astonishing. I enjoyed a deeper working involvement in the making of the film than most authors are granted — but even so, there was so much going on that I didn’t know. Thank you for teaching me’ David Rudkin ‘Indispensable. It left me longing to see the film again and wishing that television today had room for works of such outstanding individual imagination’ Michael Billington

‘A comprehensive, immersive deep dive into the creation of David Rudkin and Alan Clarke’s massively influential and hallucinatory coming-of-age story. Highly recommended!’ Grant Morrison

‘Play for Today was, for many years, the most exciting strand in British television and Penda’s Fen is one of its most remarkable highpoints: visionary, original and under perfect control’ David Hare

‘A comprehensive, immersive deep dive into the creation of David Rudkin and Alan Clarke’s massively influential and hallucinatory coming-of-age story. Highly recommended!’ Grant Morrison ‘Play for Today was, for many years, the most exciting strand in British television and Penda’s Fen is one of its most remarkable highpoints: visionary, original and under perfect control’ David Hare



‘A welcome revelation of insight, background and new resonances 
to Clarke’s masterwork’ Jim O'Rourke

***** ‘Surely the definitive statement on Penda’s Fen’ SFX Magazine

‘A first-class read. It is like witnessing a first-class documentary in written form’ Spencer Banks

‘A welcome revelation of insight, background and new resonances to Clarke’s masterwork’ Jim O'Rourke ***** ‘Surely the definitive statement on Penda’s Fen’ SFX Magazine ‘A first-class read. It is like witnessing a first-class documentary in written form’ Spencer Banks

Praise for our book Penda's Fen: Scene by Scene, @greavesian.bsky.social's definitive exploration of the classic Play for Today from script to screen. Available now from tenacrebooks.co.uk

2 months ago 38 18 0 1
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This has just gained someone an ebay sale from me.

2 months ago 2 0 0 0

I had no idea this was anything other than a theme tune!

2 months ago 2 0 2 0

And Voyager is great and would have been even better with Julie Walters in it 😘

2 months ago 1 0 1 0

They seem to very quickly sweep aside the fact that Mirror Georgiou was full on Pol Pot before she turned up in the prime universe. She full on eats people, but it's already 'cos she's a bit sassy.

2 months ago 1 0 1 0

What is the deal with modern Star Trek series and opening titles? Fifteen minutes into an hour long episode, your title sequence fails to be a scene setter and instead become an unwelcome interruption.

2 months ago 2 0 0 0
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BBC Four - Remembers..., Roy Clarke Remembers... Open All Hours Sitcom writer Roy Clarke looks back on one of his best-loved creations, Open All Hours.

Tonight on BBC4, Sir Roy Clarke introduces a classic episode of 'Open All Hours' in advance of the series' 50th anniversary later this month.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

2 months ago 1 0 0 0

This month marks 50 years of 'Open All Hours' and Roy Clarke is on hand to recall how it all came together. Here, he speaks to the Radio Times.

2 months ago 3 1 0 0
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So sorry, Neil.

2 months ago 1 0 0 0

It's the most blatant pilot passed off as a special and if the biggest pop star on the planet can't get the numbers in then I think the Muppets really are done with for now.

2 months ago 1 0 0 0

The new Muppet Show special with Sabrina Carpenter is about as good as any fan could have hoped for. Why they haven't tried this approach before is a mystery. Just get a move on with the next one. Momentum is key!

2 months ago 4 0 1 0
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I've just been on the phone with the old young Bill... he's delightful. Very pleased to say that Paul Greenwood has now contributed an interview to Writing All Hours.

2 months ago 3 0 1 0
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The opening scenes of Roy Clarke's 'Pictures' – a seven part series broadcast by ITV in 1983. I don't think it has ever been repeated in the UK.

2 months ago 3 0 1 0