General Witchfinders: The British Horror Podcast

The 16th episode of the fourth season of the BBC anthology series Play for Today, Penda’s Fen – originally broadcast on 21 March 1974 – is widely celebrated as a visionary masterpiece of British folk horror and 1970s television drama. Written by David Rudkin and directed by Alan Clarke, Time Out London named it one of the 100 best British films.


The Visionary Realism of Alan Clarke
Director Alan Clarke is renowned for his stark social realism and controversial depictions of institutionalised communities. His 1977 borstal drama Scum was banned by the BBC, later returning as a 1979 feature film, while his television film Made in Britain introduced Tim Roth as a racist skinhead. He tackled corporate corruption in Beloved Enemy, military interrogation in Psy-Warriors, and directed David Bowie in Bertolt Brecht’s Baal. His final work, The Firm starring Gary Oldman, drew heavy press criticism for its depiction of violent football hooliganism in Thatcher’s Britain.
While Penda’s Fen trades Clarke’s urban realism for a mystical landscape of angels and demons, it retains his fierce preoccupation with identity, authority, and systemic oppression.

Cult Television & Audio Connections
The surreal atmosphere is driven by an electronic score from Paddy Kingsland of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Kingsland manipulated a Benjamin Britten recording for the play, and went on to score The Changes, the radio and TV versions of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and classic Doctor Who serials.
The cast links directly to landmark British cult media:

Spencer Banks (Stephen Franklin): The quintessential 1970s television adolescent, Banks also starred as Simon Randall in the children’s sci-fi series Timeslip.
Georgine Anderson (Mrs Franklin): A veteran of the Royal Shakespeare Company who later played May in the 2007 Doctor Who episode ‘Gridlock’ – representing the show’s first married same-sex couple.
Ian Hogg (Arne): Famous as the lead in Rockliffe’s Babies and the villainous Josiah Samuel Smith in the Doctor Who story Ghost Light.
Jennie Hesselwood (Mrs Arne): Mother of Toby Jones and wife of Freddie Jones (Dune, The Elephant Man).
Graham Leaman (Sir Edward Elgar): Features a massive Doctor Who pedigree including The Macra Terror (tying directly back to the Macra in ‘Gridlock’), The Seeds of Death, and The Three Doctors.
Ivor Roberts (Cooke): A familiar face from the ‘Croftiverse’ comedies Oh, Doctor Beeching! and You Rang, M’Lord?, as well as Genesis of the Daleks.
Ron Smerczak (Joel): Later transitioned to action cinema in American Ninja 4: The Annihilation and Cyborg Cop.

Current Promotions & Events

The General Witchfinders Book Club: Our debut spin-off episode is out now, run with independent bookshop Teaseland & Skylark in Dorchester. Host Ross welcomes author Ray Newman (The Grave Digger’s Boy) to unpack Andrew Michael Hurley’s folk horror novel, Starve Acre. Listen here: https://tinyurl.com/GW-BC-01
Summer Spin-Off – Department X: Join James and Ross as they investigate the 1970s obsession with ESP, telekinesis, and psychic premonitions. Listen to 'Mysterious Powers & Strange Forces' here: https://tinyurl.com/MYSpower
London Halloween Live Show: We are taking over ActOne Cinema in Acton on Friday 30th October at 7:30pm for a screening of Hammer’s Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde and a live podcast recording. Tickets are £14: https://tinyurl.com/DRJeky11
'Hammer Presents' Blu-ray Giveaway: Win a bundle of restored rarities including The Snake Woman, Dr. Blood’s Coffin, Cry of the Banshee, and Crucible of Horror. Enter before Friday 31st July: https://tinyurl.com/HamPrize
General Witchfinders Issue 4: Grab our 76-page zine of unsettling folk horror fiction, original artwork, and deep-dive features: https://tinyurl.com/gwZINE

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/general-witchfinders.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the very first episode of the General Witchfinders Book Club – a new spin-off from our regular British horror podcast, run in partnership with Teasel & Skylark, an independent bookshop in Dorchester.

To accompany our real-life, face-to-face book club meet-ups, host Ross Cleaver invites a special guest co-host onto the show every two months to discuss our latest reading choice.

On this inaugural episode, Ross welcomes author Ray Newman. Ray is the author of the novel The Grave Digger’s Boy, as well as three exceptional collections of short stories: Municipal Gothic, Intervals of Darkness, and Thin Places in Hard Concrete. Together, they delve into Andrew Michael Hurley’s acclaimed 2019 novel, Starve Acre.

Starve Acre

‘An impeccable work of folk horror’ – The Irish Times

The worst thing possible has happened. Richard and Juliette Willoughby's son, Ewan, has died suddenly at the age of five. Convinced that the boy still lives on in some form, and desperate to make contact, Juliette seeks the help of the Beacons, a seemingly benevolent group of occultists. Richard, an art historian, tries to blot out the pain of his grief by turning his attention to the field opposite their house, Starve Acre. Patiently he digs in the barren soil looking for the roots of a legendary oak tree, but unearths something which ought to have remained buried.

‘I will confidently predict that no reader will guess where it's heading . . . Hurley's ability to create a world that's like ours in many ways and really not in many others is again on full display’ – The Times


How to Get Involved
We want to build a community around these books, both locally in Dorset and remotely with our podcast listeners and zine readers.

Join us in Dorchester: Ross leads the in-person discussions at the King’s Arms Hotel. Spaces are limited, so sign up at the Teasel & Skylark shop. Local club members get 10% off the featured books, plus 10% off all other books and gifts in-store (excluding original artwork). These discounts are only available in person at the shop.

Join us from elsewhere: If you are not local, read along at home and send your thoughts or audio voicemails to generalwitchfinders@gmail.com.


Support Independent Bookshops
If you are close enough to Dorchester, please order your copy through Teasel & Skylark and pop in to collect it. If you cannot get to West Dorset, please find your local indie store via Bookshop.org.

Links & Resources
Book Club Info: General Witchfinders Book Club
Our Partner Bookshop: Teasel & Skylark
Find Indie Shops Nationwide: Bookshop.org
Support the Show: General Witchfinders Patreon
Social Media: Instagram | Bluesky

Featured Guest Links (Ray Newman):

Blog: Precast Reinforced
Bluesky: Ray Newman on Bluesky
Books: The Grave Digger’s Boy | Thin Places in Hard Concrete | Intervals of Darkness | Municipal Gothic
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/general-witchfinders.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Summer is the season of the spin-off at General Witchfinders. We have a few episodes beyond our usual format to share, starting with James’s exploration of parapsychology in the 1970s.
Why did that decade see such a dramatic rise in the cultural obsession with ESP, telekinesis, and psychic premonitions? James has been digging into the archives and thinks he has the answer.
Join James and Ross for an intriguing journey into the seventies counterculture in our new spin-off: ‘General Witchfinders – Department X: Mysterious Powers & Strange Forces’.

For people who struggle with background music behind speech, here is a voice-only version – https://drive.google.com/file/d/1am2tJWJtB_wIqxax3E11S-7eZQVLzyAw/view?usp=sharing

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/general-witchfinders.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

https://www.actonecinema.co.uk/movie/general-witchfinders-present-dr-jekyll-sister-hyde/

We are bringing General Witchfinders to London on Halloween-eve – Friday 30th October at 7:30pm.

We really want to make this night a success – and by success, we mean not spending a load of money just to watch a film in a cinema all on our own! If you can make it, please grab a ticket and bring along a Hammer-friendly friend or two to help us fill the room. We would also massively appreciate your help to spread the word so we can reach as many people as possible.

We are teaming up with ActOne Cinema in Acton for a big-screen outing of Hammer’s Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde, followed by a live podcast recording.

Tickets are £14 and available now.

https://www.actonecinema.co.uk/movie/general-witchfinders-present-dr-jekyll-sister-hyde/

If you can tell everyone you know, it would mean the world to us.

ActOne Cinema, 119 – 121 High Street, London, W3 6NA

Acton Town (Tube) and Acton Central (Overground).
Bus routes 70, 266, 440, E3, 207, SL8, and 218 stop nearby.
Salisbury Street car park is a two-minute walk away.
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/general-witchfinders.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hammer Horror delivered one of its finest 1970s films with Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb, despite a notoriously cursed production. This 1971 British release is the studio’s fourth and final Mummy film, loosely adapted by Christopher Wicking from Bram Stoker’s 1903 novel The Jewel of Seven Stars. Crucially, it remains the only entry in the franchise where a physical mummy never actually appears.
The trouble began early when a gap in the studio schedule forced the film into premature production. Wicking wanted to keep Stoker's original book title, but James Carreras refused, leading to a brainstorming session that birthed Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb – a title Wicking never expected them to use. Wicking also clashed with producer Howard Brandy and was barred from the set, forcing him to work with director Seth Holt secretly in the evenings. Brandy later claimed the script was unshootable and heavily rewritten by Holt. Brandy also wanted to cast Amy Grant, but Sir James Carreras insisted on Valerie Leon.
Tragedy struck five weeks into the six-week shoot when Seth Holt suffered a fatal heart attack on set, collapsing into the arms of actor Aubrey Morris. Michael Carreras tried to recruit Don Sharp to finish the film, but Sharp was committed to a project in Israel. Michael Carreras ultimately directed the final week himself, later noting that Holt’s footage did not cut together well, forcing them to salvage what they could.
Valerie Leon shines in the dual roles of Margaret Fuchs and Queen Tera. Beyond her famous Hai Karate aftershave adverts and seven Carry On appearances – including Carry On Christmas: Carry On Stuffing – Leon delivered a critically praised performance but clashed with the studio. She was deeply upset when producers denied her time off to attend Holt’s funeral, and her refusal to perform a nude scene required a body double. Hammer never hired her again. Her career later included roles alongside two different James Bonds, Roger Moore and Sean Connery.
The supporting cast features incredible British character talent. James Villiers plays Corbeck, George Coulouris plays Berigan, and Aubrey Morris features as Doctor Putnum. Morris was described by Jeremy Brett to Noël Coward as the finest small-part player in London, boasting roles in The Wicker Man, A Clockwork Orange, and as the bubble-bathing B-Ark captain in The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Rosalie Crutchley plays Helen Dickerson. James Cossins brings his trademark blustering authority to the role of an abusive psychiatric nurse, and a young Anthony Head makes an uncredited appearance.
Andrew Keir plays Julian Fuchs, stepping in after Peter Cushing completed just one day of filming before leaving due to his wife’s emphysema diagnosis. Keir's presence links back to our Quatermass and the Pit reviews, Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D., and Cleopatra alongside Richard Burton. The film is elevated by a brilliant electronic score by Tristram Ogilvie Cary, the pioneer who founded EMS, created the VCS 3 synthesiser, and composed the music for the first Doctor Who Dalek serial.
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/general-witchfinders.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.