Babysitters, Robots, Monsters and Dick Turpin.....It Must Be Talking Pictures TV

This week on the Talking Pictures TV Podcast, we've once again been let loose on the schedules to pick out some of the films coming up over the next three weeks on the nation's favourite archive TV and movie channel.

And it's quite a line-up.

Daniel turns up the temperature with Night of the Big Heat (1967), complete with Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and a Scottish island experiencing weather that definitely wasn't in the forecast.

Gareth goes for the gloriously pulpy sci-fi horror of Watchers (1988), where genetic experiments, mysterious creatures and one very unusual dog all combine to make life considerably more complicated than it needs to be.

Hal heads to Marseille with The French Connection II (1975), as Gene Hackman's Popeye Doyle continues his pursuit of drug kingpin Alain Charnier in a sequel that swaps New York grit for French sunshine without becoming remotely relaxing.

Mel takes us back to one of the great classics of science fiction with The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), featuring flying saucers, a mysterious visitor, a giant robot and a message for humanity that still has something to say more than seventy years later.

Sarah keeps the tension high with Fright (1971), a very British tale of babysitting, unwanted visitors and the sort of evening that would make anyone reconsider accepting a few quid to watch somebody else's children.

And your host, Scott takes a little time to remember Richard O'Sullivan, following his recent death, by looking back fondly at his much-loved turn as the swashbuckling highwayman in ITV's Dick Turpin. For many of us, O'Sullivan was simply part of the fabric of British television, and this feels like a fitting opportunity to remember one of his most enjoyable and slightly less obvious roles.

So, this week we've got aliens, monsters, murderers, narcotics, extreme weather, one very nervous babysitter and a highwayman thrown in for good measure.

Pretty standard fare for Talking Pictures TV, then.

This episode, along with all our previous shows, is available here:

https://directory.libsyn.com/shows/view/id/talkingpicturestvpodcast

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Three films, three reviewers, three weeks of Talking Pictures TV.

We're back with another trawl through the Talking Pictures TV schedules, picking out some of the films we think deserve a place on your watchlist over the next three weeks.

Mel gets things underway with Noël Coward's supernatural comedy Blithe Spirit (1945), directed by David Lean and starring Rex Harrison, Constance Cummings, Kay Hammond and the magnificent Margaret Rutherford. Ghostly goings-on, marital complications and one of cinema's most memorable mediums combine in a wonderfully British mixture of wit, exasperation and paranormal domestic chaos.

Hal, meanwhile, heads for Paris with Charade (1963), Stanley Donen's enormously entertaining blend of romance, comedy, mystery and Hitchcock-style thriller. Audrey Hepburn finds herself surrounded by suspicious characters, missing money and several people who appear to be telling her rather less than the truth, while Cary Grant demonstrates once again that being impossibly charming can get you through almost anything.

And Sarah takes us back to post-war Britain with The Guinea Pig (1948), starring Richard Attenborough as a working-class boy suddenly transplanted into the unfamiliar world of an English public school. Adapted from Warren Chetham-Strode's successful play, it mixes comedy and drama while taking a look at class, education and the social barriers that were beginning to shift in Britain after the war.

As ever, expect recommendations, memories, trivia, diversions and plenty of affectionate appreciation for the films, actors and unexpected discoveries that make Talking Pictures TV such an essential destination for lovers of classic cinema.

So settle down, make yourself comfortable and join Mel, Hal and Sarah as they rummage through another three weeks of the schedules and attempt to persuade you to add just a few more films to that increasingly unmanageable watchlist.

This episode, and every previous edition of the Talking Pictures TV Podcast, is available here:

https://directory.libsyn.com/shows/view/id/talkingpicturestvpodcast

Or wherever you download your podcasts.

#TalkingPicturesTV #TalkingPicturesTVPodcast #ClassicFilm #BritishCinema #BlitheSpirit #Charade #TheGuineaPig #DavidLean #NoelCoward #CaryGrant #AudreyHepburn #RichardAttenborough #MargaretRutherford #ClassicMovies #FilmPodcast

Five films, four reviewers, three weeks of Talking Pictures TV – and one very special guest.

We're back with another trawl through the Talking Pictures TV schedules, picking out some of the films we think deserve a place on your watchlist over the next three weeks.

Mel kicks things off with the glorious screwball comedy My Man Godfrey (1936), starring William Powell and Carole Lombard – a wonderfully sharp, funny tale of the idle rich, an unexpected butler and a family with rather more money than sense.

Scott heads into altogether more sobering waters with A Night to Remember (1958), Roy Ward Baker's superbly restrained account of the sinking of the Titanic. Still one of the finest British disaster films ever made, and proof that sometimes understatement can be far more powerful than spectacle.

Gareth, meanwhile, has clearly been spending too much time near the shoreline and brings us Behemoth the Sea Monster (1959) – a wonderfully enjoyable slice of British monster-movie mayhem involving radiation, destruction and a very large creature making a terrible nuisance of itself.

And Sarah ventures down into The Cellar Club with Caroline Munro, choosing the first two films in its latest season: Hammer's gloriously strange Dr Jekyll & Sister Hyde (1971) and Michael Powell's disturbing, controversial and now rightly celebrated Peeping Tom (1960).

Expect the usual mixture of recommendations, memories, trivia, disagreements, diversions and affectionate appreciation of the films that make Talking Pictures TV such an essential destination for lovers of classic cinema.

And don't switch off when the main episode finishes. We've got a very special feature immediately afterwards as Sarah chats with Ian Ogilvy about his latest movie, along with a look back at a remarkable career that has taken him through some memorable corners of British film and television.

This episode, and every previous edition of the Talking Pictures TV Podcast, is available here:

https://directory.libsyn.com/shows/view/id/talkingpicturestvpodcast

#TalkingPicturesTV #TalkingPicturesTVPodcast #ClassicFilm #BritishCinema #MyManGodfrey #ANightToRemember #BehemothTheSeaMonster #DrJekyllAndSisterHyde #PeepingTom #TheCellarClub #CarolineMunro #IanOgilvy #ClassicMovies #FilmPodcast