The Day of the Triffids: Wyndham vs Sci-Fi Spectacle
There are spoilers ahead for all versions of The Day of the Triffids and also for the film Signs. You can follow the podcast on social media on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky. If you would like to be a patron of the podcast you can join Patreon and for £3 or $3 a month you can get ad free version of the show. https://www.patreon.com/everyscififilm This episode had been edited down to a more digestible length of under an hour but a longer (audio only) version is available for Patreon subscribers (alongside the shorter option). We are doing things a little differently and discussing the 1963 film along with the source material which is John Wyndham's 1951 book The Day of the Triffids. The Day of the Triffids film was released in 1963 after reshoots were required to add a whole new arc in the story and bring the time to a more suitable length for a feature. The film has many of the hallmarks of a 1950s science fiction film but seems to be reflective of the Golden Era of science fiction very much coming to its end. The film is (very loosely) based on John Wyndham's first successful novel but seems more dedicated to the tropes of a 1950s sci-fi marketed for a mass, US leaning audience. The book is chockful of themes that are touched upon throughout the story which have very little (if any) presence in the film. I have added a list of the characters we discuss below as well as a quick overview of their roles in the book and the film. As usual I have two insightful guests to help us understand all of this. Matthew Rule-Jones is a senior lecturer in film studies at the University of Exeter and author of the book Science Fiction Cinema and 1950s Britain: Recontextualising Cultural Anxiety. Adam Stock is a senior lecturer in English Literature at York St John University and author of the book Dystopian Fiction and Political Thought: Narratives of World Politics. Chapters: 00:00 Intro 01:30 John Wyndham's first hit 05:23 The concept of the cosy catastrophe 08:43 Wyndham's Britain: post-colonial triffids coming home to roost 14:48 The 1963 film: Wells, end of the golden age and marketing 20:04 The lighthouse sequences: Karen vs Josella 23:06 Weed killers in The Silent Spring era and WW2 imagery 25:17 The role of the Triffids 30:37 Bill Masen the hero 34:37 Coker's missing role 37:11 Women! 40:27 The ending 46:51 Legacy 53:57 Recommendations Bill Masen: Hero in both the book and the film. In the book Bill is English and works for the triffid farm where he has been almost blinded by a triffid sting. His colleague begins to suspect the triffids are indeed sentient and able to communicate. This brings up questions around exploitation and enslavement. In the film Bill is American and works for the US Navy who help save the hero and other survivors at the end of the film. Josella Playton: The heroine from the novel is not present in the 1963 film. Josella comes from a wealthy family (one with servants) and has written a notorious book titled Sex is my Adventure. Coker: Coker has a large role in the book and we meet him as an advocate for the newly blinded masses when many of the few sighted people left are attempting to save themselves from the threat of a disintegrating society. He is a strong public speaker from a working-class background who had learned to speak in a way that is more amenable to the intelligentsia and upper classes. His strongly held beliefs (of forcing the sighted to serve the blind) change through the book to become less idealistic and more practical. Coker in the film is an old man with a very minimal role who dies early in the story form a triffid attack. Susan: Is a young girl who is rescued by Bill in the film after a train crash and ensuing chaos. In the book Bill takes in Susan whose family have died. She is a capable young child who develops an understanding of triffid behaviour from observing them as she guards the home that Josella and Bill stay in for many years. Miss Durrant: In the film Miss Durrant is the beautiful heroine that Bill meets in a large house in France that is caring from blind survivors of the meteor shower. In the book, Miss Durrant is a religious minded woman who is appalled at a man named Beadley's attempts to rebuild society through polygamy. She seems to purposefully mislead Bill who is trying to track down Beadley because he thinks Josella will be with him. NEXT EPISODE! Next episode we will be speaking about The Manchurian Candidate from 1962 by John Frankenheimer. A film that may not fit the definition of science fiction for many people but by now I think we know how ambiguous those definitions can be! You can find the film on streaming platforms including Apple TV. The Just Watch website is a good resource to find where the film is available online in your region.
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Panic in Year Zero: Nuclear Apocalypse & the Nuclear Family
As always there are spoilers ahead! You can follow the podcast on social media on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky. If you would like to be a patron of the podcast you can join Patreon and for £3 or $3 a month you can get ad free version of the show. https://www.patreon.com/everyscififilm There is a trigger warning for discussion of rape in this episode. I have marked the beginning of that part of the discussion with a beep and the discussion lasts for four minutes and four seconds after the beep if you wanted to skip past it. Last week we told you "Don't Panic!" but this week we focus in on the panic. Panic in Year Zero was directed by and stars Ray Milland and is about a father taking his family on the road to do some camping. One the way there a nuclear bomb is dropped on Los Angeles and the world starts to fall into disarray. Not because of the bomb causing devastation or radiation but because of how human s are absolute nutters given the slightest chance. This film has a very 1950s sensibility but with a Jazz laden soundtrack that hints at the unruly decade ahead. The Federal Civil Defense Administration in the US in the early 50s was set up by President Truman to educate and prepare the public in case of an attack on US soil. The short film mentioned in the discussion The House in the Middle can be viewed on YouTube here. This episode we talk not just about the film but the human fascination with apocalypse. I have the perfect guests for the task. Steven Schlozman is a psychiatrist and a writer of books including the novel The Zombie Autopsies which was being adapted to film by George Romero before his death in 2017. John Wills is a Professor of American Media and Culture at the University of Kent. He has written lots about popular culture including 1950s American and Nuclear film. Chapters 00:00 Introduction 01:52 The non-nuclear nuclear film 07:10 Nuclear drills in schools 10:07 USA nuclear prep: Civilian education and CONELRAD 16:33 Jazz music and sociopaths 20:05 Daddy's gaze 26:39 The fun of Armageddon 32:02 The developmental stage of apocalypse fantasy 37:35 Ann is always wrong 39:21 Sexual violence 43:27 A pre-cursor to zombie apocalypse 48:25 Legacy 52:45 Recommendations for the listener Recommendations Steven: The Day After (1983) is a made for TV film. John: The book Every Home a Fortress: Cold War Fatherhood and the Family Fallout Shelter by Thomas Bishop NEXT EPISODE! Next episode we will be discussing The Day of the Triffids! Although we will be using the 1963 film as a starting point there will be a lot of discussion about the original novel and the differences between the theme heavy book and the fun 50s style scifi of the film. The film can be found on Fubo, Roku, Pluto and Plex and a few other online streaming platforms in the US and UK. The Just Watch website is a good resource to find where the film may be available in your region.
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Don't Panic: The Hitchhiker's Guide Phenomenon
As always there are spoilers ahead. You can buy the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy book in most bookshops and you can listen to the radio play on YouTube and also on the Internet Archive. You can follow the podcast on social media on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky. If you would like to be a patron of the podcast you can join Patreon and for £3 or $3 a month you can get ad free version of the show and be revered amongst both the G'Gugvuntts and the Vl'Hurgs: https://www.patreon.com/everyscififilm As mentioned elsewhere this is not an analysis of the film or any kind of review of the book but more like a chat amongst fans of what the story means to us and why. My amazing guests are very qualified to wax lyrical about the topic at hand. Michael Newton is a University Lecturer at the Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society. He is a cultural historian who has written about film amongst many other topics including being the Editor of the book The Origins of Science Fiction. Mark Steadman creative digital producer, long time podcaster and host of the Beware of the Leopard podcast which explored the A to Z of the Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy. (He also has what I consider the best productivity podcast in the world as it takes into consideration that we are humans with feelings and lives. Undo – How history's outliers got stuff done can be found here.) Chapters 00:00 Introduction 01:52 When we were first exposed to H2G2 05:01The Late 70s and scifi 06:54 Mental health and the art of Zen 10: 40 Zaphod: Douglas Adams and the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster 15:31 Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect 19:53 Suburban life and bathos 21:46 Douglas Adams' "first album" 24:41 The broad appeal 28:03 Douglas' delightful detours 32:25 We love Douglas and his thin plot 32:58 No happy ending 36:18 Absurdism 37:31 Sirius Cybernetics Corporation and Silicon Valley 41:29 Gadgetry in H2G2 47:11 Shoutout to the super intelligent colour blue 50:25 Legacy: Tech, atheism, and imagination 54:02 Recommendations for the listener NEXT EPISODE! In two week's time (if all goes well!) we shall be discussing Panic in the Year Zero (1962) and the appeal of Armageddon. The film is available to buy or rent online in many places in the USA and UK but may be tricky in certain regions.
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La Jetée: French New Wave's 1962 Sci-Fi Classic
The Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever* podcast looks back at more than a century of films, beginning in 1902 and working towards the future. Each episode focuses on a film, director or theme and brings in experts to discuss the history, politics, and influences. Join sci-fi enthusiast Ayesha Khan as she travels through time and space, encounters aliens, and battles authoritarian regimes all from the comfort of your home planet. Released every two weeks*Almost Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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