3 – 9 JUNE MAY 2023

For me, second only to the enjoyment/excitement/wonder of watching a film, has been reading a book on an actor or director, or flicking through a reference book on film. I should really be downsizing, and part of my film library is in storage, but . . . what would my detour to Hay-on-Wye, and the aptly named The Cinema Bookshop, bring me in 2023? (In 2020, it was John Ford The Complete Films; the many stills are gorgeous.) Well, I had a splendid couple of hours and came away with: the autobiographies of actor Ernest Borgnine and British director Roy Ward Baker; a book on the ITC adventure series of the 1960s and (the icing on the cake) a book that covers every episode of the legendary TV series Maverick. Later, in Aberystwyth, I added Glenn Mitchell’s Laurel and Hardy Encyclopaedia (Mr Mitchell is one of the leading experts on silent comedy) and a book on the Western by (I kid you not) the author of the novel Death Wish, Brian Garfield. It is fair to say, then, that I had a very good time away! However, back to the night job . . .  
FIREBALL XL5 episode 1 (1962) Saturday 3 June 2.35-3.05pm TP (Ch 82)         
You can never find a Lazoon when you need one . . . ah, here we are! Apologies for this brief sojourn away from the world of film, but I have just been enveloped by a space cloud of nostalgia. TP has brought Steve Zodiac out of the vaults for (one hopes) a 39-episode run. Earth is under attack from a planetomic missile! “I’d like to be a spaceman, the fastest guy alive . . .” – Gerry Anderson, you were a true TV pioneer and genius.
PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK (1975) Saturday 3 June 9.30-11.50pm TP (Ch 82)       
This story of a group of three Australian schoolgirls and their teacher who disappeared, whilst on a school outing, in the year 1900, still fascinates and mesmerises us in equal measure. It was also one of our earliest successes (1988-1989 season, 81%). 
THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD (1970) Sunday 4 June 9.00-11.00pm Legend (Ch 41)          
Wow – the Legend Channel obtaining the rights to show this rarity, and cult classic, is a surprise (my DVD is a Spanish import). It is a short-story omnibus that treads a delicious line between chills and comedy. It has a great cast, too. It was directed by our friend and former member, the late Peter Duffell; I still miss our chats before and after the show at the Regent.  
ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED (2022) Sunday 4 June 10.00-11.55pm BBC 2    P           
Whilst we haven’t considered this for Season No. 35, it is a documentary that merits our attention. Photographer and activist Nan Goldin probes the links between major art galleries and the major pharmaceutical companies. It is quite an eye-opener!
THE ABOMINABLE DR PHIBES (1971) Friday 9 June 9.05-11.00pm TP (Channel 82)         
We have another horror classic this evening, in which an organ-playing madman seeks revenge on the surgeons who failed to save his beloved wife. Who else but Vincent Price would we expect to play him? It was a success at the box office (there was a sequel) and director Robert Fuest’s work is odd, but worth catching. His And Soon the Darkness (1970) has a persuasive sense of unease.