Our #SummerOfStrange continues. We step away from Hammer, Amicus, vampires, and classic screen monsters to explore British television’s most infamous media hoax: Alternative 3. Produced for Anglia Television’s Science Report and written by David Ambrose, this 1977 mockumentary sparked widespread paranoia regarding climate emergencies, the UK "brain drain", secret space programmes, and covert Mars bases.

We unpack the production history, cultural legacy, and fringe theories stemming from the broadcast – from its delayed April Fools’ Day airing to its impact on UFO literature, sci-fi audio dramas, and cult cinema.

• Live Screening & Podcast Event: Join us on Friday 30th October at 7:30pm at ActOne Cinema in Acton for Hammer’s Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde plus a live podcast recording – Book tickets here
• Watch Alternative 3 on YouTube: Stream the full television broadcast
• Read the 1978 Novelisation: Alternative 3 by Leslie Watkins on Archive.org

• The Plot & The Hoax: How a fake documentary detailing climate catastrophe and moon-colonisation duped viewers across the UK, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.
• The Aftermath & Pop Culture Legacy: Leslie Watkins’ 1978 tie-in book Alternative 003, Jim Keith’s conspiracy text Casebook on Alternative 3, Richard Linklater’s Slacker, and parallels to the Dimension X radio story "The Man in the Moon".
• Brian Eno’s Electronic Score: Ambient music tracks featured on Music for Films, Eno’s work with Roxy Music, high-profile production credits for David Bowie, Talking Heads, and U2, and creating the Windows 95 startup sound on a Mac. Plus, secondary score releases from Add N to (X), Stereolab, and Hairy Butter.
• Writer David Ambrose & Director Christopher Miles: Screenwriting credits behind D.A.R.Y.L., The Final Countdown, Taffin, The Survivor, and Oscar-nominated short The Six Sided Triangle.

• Tim Brinton (Presenter): ITN and BBC newsreader and Conservative MP featured in Carry On Emmannuelle, Dixon of Dock Green, and The Avengers.
• Shane Rimmer (Bob Grodin): Voice of Scott Tracy in Thunderbirds, actor in Dr. Strangelove, Star Wars: A New Hope, Rollerball, Space: 1999, Superman I–III, Batman Begins, and James Bond films You Only Live Twice, Diamonds Are Forever, and The Spy Who Loved Me.
• Richard Marner (Dr Carl Gerstein): Colonel Von Strohm in 'Allo 'Allo!, with roles in Count Dracula, The African Queen, The Dirty Dozen, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, The Boys from Brazil, Children of the Damned, and The Sum of All Fears.
• David Baxt (Harry): Played Thomas Wayne in Tim Burton's Batman, with appearances in Inseminoid, The Shining, and The Tomorrow People.
• Gregory Munroe (Colin Benson): Appeared in Mixed Blessings, Ace of Wands, and as Fariah in Doctor Who: The Enemy of the World.
• Ivor Roberts (George Pendlebury): Featured in Penda's Fen, Oh, Doctor Beeching!, You Rang, M'Lord?, and Boon.

Catch up on our previous #SummerOfStrange episodes covering Penda's Fen and 1970s parapsychology mania on your podcast app of choice.

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