Author Archives: alexfitch

About alexfitch

Co-presenter / producer of "Panel Borders", Thursdays 5pm Resonance 104.4 FM. Film reviewer for www.electricsheepmagazine.com Podcaster for www.sci-fi-london.com

Reality Check: Being Doctor Who

Reality Check: Being Doctor Who

With another season of the show currently over, Alex Fitch looks at the enduring legacy of Doctor Who in a trio of interviews originating at a ‘Who’ convention in the Home Counties. Alex talks to former Doctor Sylvester McCoy, former Time Lord nemesis (and honorary Doctor) Michael Jayston, and also to San Franciscan cosplay expert Johanna Mead about her creating Who inspired costumes and contributing to the anthology ‘Chicks dig Time Lords’.

A soslovie of ersatz Doctors gather outside a replica TARDIS at the Time Quest 2 convention in Theobalds park

A soslovie of ersatz Doctors gather outside a replica TARDIS at the Time Quest 2 convention in Theobalds park

For more info about this podcast and a variety of other episodes you can download, please visit the home of this episode at www.sci-fi-london.com

Links: Wikipedia pages on Sylvester McCoy and Michael Jayston, a.k.a. The Valeyard

Listen to the accompanying podcast featuring an interview with Doctor Who writer Rob Shearman also recorded at Theobalds park

Doctor Who audio trailer archive

Johanna Mead‘s website – www.skaro.com

Buy Chicks dig Timelords featuring Johanna Mead from www.madnorwegian.com

Buy He Jests at Scars starring Michael Jayston and ‘season 27’ starring Sylvester McCoy at www.bigfinish.com

Electric Sheep podcast: alt.cowboy

Electric Sheep podcast: alt.cowboy

In a pair of Q and As / intros recorded at the Electric Sheep Film Club, in the Prince Charles Cinema in London, Alex Fitch talks to BFI programmer Emma Smart about gay themes in Westerns before and after a screening of Midnight Cowboy and to Ian Rakoff about the crossover between Western themed comics and movies before a screening of For a few Dollars more…

Unusual images of the western - from left to right, Gene Autry comic no. 4, Western Fighters vol.3 no.4, Midnight Cowboy poster, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, no.1

Unusual images of the western - from left to right, Gene Autry comic no. 4, Western Fighters vol.3 no.4, Midnight Cowboy poster, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, no.1

More for more information and a variety of formats you can stream / download, please visit the home of this podcast at www.archive.org

Links: Info about the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival on tour
Midnight Cowboy pages on wikipedia and the IMDb
Listen to Alex’s other interviews with Emma Smart

Info about Ian Rakoff‘s talk about ‘Magical realism and social realism’ in comics at the Victoria and Albert Museum on July 21st 2010
Listen to Alex’s first interview with Ian, about writing The Prisoner and his experiences in the world of film and second interview about comics at the Victoria and Albert Museum

Definition of the ‘alt.’ prefix
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Panel Borders: Comica Argentina

Panel Borders: Comica Argentina

In the first of two shows looking at Latin American comics, and in advance of this weekend’s mini Comica Argentina festival, Alex Fitch talks to graphic novelist and animator Oscar Grillo about his work, from travelling the world to find employment in the 1960s and 70s, to creating an animation studio in the 80s and working on graphic novels as diverse as the children’s book The world is round to an adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest…

Panel from The world is round by Oscar Grillo and Graham Marks

Panel from The world is round by Oscar Grillo and Graham Marks

For more info about this podcast and a variety of formats you can stream or download, please visit the home of this episode at www.archive.org

Links: Oscar’s commercial and personal blogs
Animation studio – Klacto productions
Read The World is Round
Info about comic book artist John Watson

Recommended events:

Comica Argentina

A mini Comica festival for Summer: an exhibition of the cream of Argentine comic art accompanies a trio of events at King’s Place in Somers Town…

July 2nd: Paul Gravett gives an illustrated talk about the history of comic art in Argentina. 6.30 pm
July 3rd: The Mystery Of The First Animated Movies – Gabriele Zucchelli’s documentary film, made in 2006, explores the making of El Apóstol. 6.30 pm
July 4th: Paul Gravett talks to cartoonist Oscar Grillo and director / animator Gabriele Zucchelli. 6.00 pm

The exhibition is being held at Canning House, 2 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8PJ to June 25 and then at King’s Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9AG from July 1st-4th.

More info at www.comicafestival.com

Comics at The London Literature Festival

The London Literature Festival runs from July 1st – 18th at The South Bank Centre in London and features a multitude of talks, panels and presentations on the world of books. Comics are represented at the festival in a couple of events including:

Martin Rowson talks about adapting the ‘anti-novel: The Life and opinions of Tristram Shandy, gentleman into graphic novel format – Saturday 3 July 2010 – 4 pm

Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá talk about their careers so far as Brazilian comic creators who have found critical acclaim producing work for the US market – hosted by Jamie McKelvieMonday 5 July 2010 – 7pm

More info at www.londonlitfest.com

Panel Borders: Caught up with a Long Scarfe

Panel Borders: Caught up with a Long Scarfe

In the third of three shows about and inspired by the Tate Britain exhibition ‘Rude Britannia’, Alex Fitch talks to the beloved British cartoonist Gerald Scarfe about his contributions to the exhibition and Dickon Harris talks to comedienne Josie Long about her interest in creating ‘zines and comics for distribution at her stand-up comedy gigs…

Clockwise from top - part of Rude Britannia curated by Gerald Scarfe, a classic drawing of Thatcher by the artist, cover of a zine by Josie Long

Clockwise from top - part of Rude Britannia curated by Gerald Scarfe, a classic drawing of Thatcher by the artist, cover of a zine by Josie Long

For more info about this podcast and a variety of formats you can stream or download, please visit the home of this episode at www.archive.org

Links: Rude Britannia microsite
Video tour of the exhibtion on The Telegraph website
Gerald Scarfe‘s website

Josie Long‘s website including her comics archive
Info about The Black Heart, home of Josie’s ‘Lost Treasures’…

Recommended events:

David Hine and Shaky Kane signing and exhibition at Orbital Comics

David Hine (Son of M, X-Men Noir) and Shaky Kane (Soul Sisters, Judge Dredd) willl be signing their new comic, Bulletproof Coffin, at Orbital Comics Thursday 24th June 2010 from 5-7pm.

There is also an exhibition of Shaky Kane artwork in the Orbital Comics Gallery from 14th-30th June.

Orbital Comics, 8 Great Newport Street, London WC2H 7JA
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Panel Borders: A tour of Rude Britannia

Panel Borders: A tour of Rude Britannia

Originally broadcast 09/06/10 as part of a Clear Spot on Resonance 104.4 FM

In the second of a trio of shows about and inspired by ‘Rude Britannia’, Alex Fitch introduces a special episode of Panel Borders presenting a tour of the Tate Britain exhibition of the same name narrated by curator Martin Myrone, featuring additional commentary by Gerald Scarfe who introduces his section of the exhibition and a short interview with Myrone.

Images from Rude Britannia - a giant copy of Viz, If Not Now Then When by John Isaacs, Ladies Night by Beryl Cook

Images from Rude Britannia - a giant copy of Viz, If Not Now Then When by John Isaacs, Ladies Night by Beryl Cook

For more info about this podcast and a variety of formats you can stream or download, please visit the home of this episode at www.archive.org

Links: Rude Britannia microsite
Video tour of the exhibtion on The Telegraph website
Gerald Scarfe’s website
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Panel Borders: Martin Rowson and Tristram Shandy

Panel Borders: Martin Rowson and Tristram Shandy

In the first of a trio of shows about and inspired by the Tate Britain exhibition ‘Rude Britannia’, Alex Fitch talks to newspaper cartoonist Martin Rowson about his rereleased graphic adaptation of the humorous and experimental Eighteenth century novel The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Lawrence Sterne. Alex and Martin also talk about the latter’s interest in the history of cartooning from William Hogarth to George Herriman, the artist’s experiences in using different drawing media and his ways of overcoming boredom!

Images from Tristram Shandy and The Guardian newspaper by Martin Rowson

Images from Tristram Shandy and The Guardian newspaper by Martin Rowson

For more info about this podcast and a variety of formats you can stream or download, please visit the home of this episode at www.archive.org

Links: Guardian archive of Martin Rowson’s cartoons
Info about Tristram Shandy at publisher Self Made Hero’s website
Rude Britannia microsite

Electric Sheep podcast: The Polish New Wave?

Electric Sheep podcast: The Polish New Wave?

On the Silver Globe, an esoteric Polish sci-fi epic directed by Andrzej Zulawski in 1977 – then lost and believed destroyed by the authorities for a decade before its cinema release – was screened at Tate Modern last year as part of a mini-season of films titled ‘Polish New Wave – The History of a Phenomenon that Never Existed’. Looking ahead to the release of this film on DVD in the UK, Alex Fitch talks to Andrzej Zulawski about his struggles in getting the film released and the travails involved in making his horror films The Third Part of the Night (1971) and Possession (1981) under the eyes of a communist regime.
Alex Fitch also talks to Polish poster designer Andrzej Klimowski and his wife Danusia Schejbal (famously depicted as the victim of an assassin’s bullet on Klimowski’s poster for Robert Altman’s Nashville) about working on the fringes of Polish filmmaking in the late 1970s and whether the films of the time could be seen as belonging to an artistic movement. (N.B./ Shorter edits of the two interviews were broadcast in an episode of I’m ready for my close-up on Resonance FM, 11/06/10)

Still from On the Silver Globe by Andrzej Zulawski and posters for The Godfather part II, Nashville and Stranger than Paradise by Andrzej Klimowski and Danusia Schejbal

Still from On the Silver Globe by Andrzej Zulawski and posters for The Godfather part II, Nashville and Stranger than Paradise by Andrzej Klimowski and Danusia Schejbal


More for more information and a variety of formats you can stream / download, please visit the home of this podcast at www.archive.org

Links: Andrzej Klimowski and / Danusia Schejbal‘s websites
Andrzej’s pages at www.polishposter.com and The Royal College of Art
Theatre design by Danusia: A Chaste Maid in Cheapside and A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Listen to Alex’s previous interviews with Andrzej
Info on Polish posters at Cinéphilia West

Info on ‘The Polish New Wave’ at Tate Modern including On the Silver Globe
Buy The Third Part of the Night from Second Run DVD

Panel Borders: From Wonderland with love

Panel Borders: From Wonderland with love

In the last of this month’s shows about ‘cross-cultural comics’, Alex Fitch talks to Steffen P. Maarup about the collection of Danish comics he’s edited and translated into English: ‘From Wonderland with love – Danish comics in the third Millennium’, an anthology that surveys the current comics scene in Denmark and collects creators from outside the world of comics also, including illustrators and fine artists alongside their sequential art peers. Alex and Steffen also talk about the wider world of Danish comics, including Danes who have found work on American titles and the controversy over the dozen cartoon illustrations printed in the Jyllands-Posten (Jutland Post) which led to death threats for the creators.

Extracts from From Wonderland with love by Jacob Ørsted with Søren Mosdal and Simon Bukhave

Extracts from From Wonderland with love by Jacob Ørsted with Søren Mosdal and Simon Bukhave

For more info about this podcast and a variety of formats you can stream or download, please visit the home of this episode at www.archive.org

Links: Steffen’s publishing company – Aben Maler
The Comics Journal message board thread on From Wonderland with love
Info about Komiks.dk – the International Comics festival in Copenhagen

Recommended events:

London ‘zine symposium

Saturday 29th May 2010, The Rag Factory, off Brick Lane, London sees the finest ‘zine, small press comics, art pamplet and radical literature creators convene for this one day festival. Badges, cakes, prints and comix!

The Rag Factory, Heneage Street, London E1 5LJ / www.londonzinesymposium.org.uk

Spring 2010 MCM Expo

…or heading further East, is this first of this year’s MCM Expos in the London Docklands – cast and crew from SF series Caprica, Fringe and Stargate: Universe rub shoulders with some of the top UK comic creators such as Ben Templesmith, Jock, Paul Cornell, Richard Starkings, Andy Diggle, Paul Duffield, Marc Ellerby, Kieron Gillen, Gary Northfield, Jamie McKelvie, Daniel Merlin Goodbury, Emma Vieceli, Jon Scrivens, Sarah McIntyre, Melody Lee, Gary Erskine, Oliver Lambden, John Aggs, Lizz Lunney, Ilya, Ian Churchill, Simon Spurrier and Kevin Maguire!

Saturday 29th / 30th May, Excel Centre, Docklands, London E16 1XL / www.londonexpo.com

I’m ready for my close-up: A lifetime of Cult films by Joe Dante

I’m ready for my close-up: A lifetime of Cult films by Joe Dante

Coinciding with veteran genre film maker Joe Dante receiving a lifetime achievement award at the Cine-Excess Cult film festival in London, Alex Fitch talks to the director about his career so far, concentrating on his new / old film The Movie Orgy (1968) which premièred at the festival. The Movie Orgy was initially a 5 hour film made of found footage spliced together by the director in the 1960s as a calling card for editing work in the industry. It succeeded in this aim, leading to a job under Roger Corman and Dante has just finished a new 90 min cut of the film for 21st Century audiences. Alex and Joe also talk about his shift from ‘adult’ horror films such as The Howling and Piranha (which also screened May 1st at Cine-Excess) in the 1970s to subversive family fare such as Gremlins in the 80s and the possibility of that film receiving a belated second sequel.

Director Joe Dante and his most famous creation

Director Joe Dante and his most famous creation

To download / stream this radio interview in a variety of formats, please visit www.archive.org

Links: Cine Excess website
More info about the cult film archive and MA course at Brunel University
Wikipedia and IMDb pages on Joe Dante

Reality Check: The Arthur C. Clarke Awards 2010

Reality Check: The Arthur C. Clarke Awards 2010

In the first of this year’s podcasts recorded at the most recent Sci-Fi London Festival, Graham Sleight and Alex Fitch talk to nominees for this year’s Arthur C. Clarke awards for SF literature and Graham also discusses this year’s short list with critic Niall Harrison. Authors discussing their work include China Miéville, Gwyneth Jones and Adam Roberts…

Three of the Clarke Award nominees: Spirit by Gwyneth Jones, Yellow Blue Tibia by Adam Roberts and The City and The City by China Mieville

Three of the Clarke Award nominees: Spirit by Gwyneth Jones, Yellow Blue Tibia by Adam Roberts and The City and The City by China Mieville

For more info about this podcast and a variety of other episodes you can download, please visit the home of this episode at www.sci-fi-london.com

Links: Clarke Awards website
Graham Sleight’s website
Niall Harrison‘s magazine Vector
Adam Roberts’ website
Gwyneth Jones’ website
China Miéville’s author’s page at Pan / MacMillan
2009 / 2008 Clarke Awards podcasts…