'Come and Find Me' (1980) by Russell Hoban [Leap in the Dark] - supernatural and paranormal anthology series
'Leap in the Dark' was a supernatural BBC series shown in the late 70s into 1980. Over it's 4 series it morphed from documentaries to docudramas to, in it's 4th season, pure drama. This episode is taken from that final season which included episodes written by Alan Garner, Fay Weldon, David Rudkin and, in this instance, Russell Hoban who is perhaps best known around these parts as the author of the post-apocalypse novel 'Riddley Walker'.
Hoban's 'Come and Find Me' gives a writer, Quilling (Alan Dobie - also to be seen in the 1987 adaptation of Robert Aickman's 'The Hospice' elsewhere on this channel), a comission from the producer of a series called, funnily enough 'A Leap in the Dark', to write about a supernatural experience of his own or one from their files., We're never sure which he chooses but presumably it's the latter as he's soon seen chatting with a widowed woman, Mrs Anders (Penelope Lee), haunted by her husband who talks about how it's the very bricks and clay of the house that holds the ghosts. In line with this idea for Quilling a ghost is "It's what's left behind when you go away and you haven't the strength to take all of yourself with you." But it's left ambiguous here whether that 'leaving' is entirely connected to death as the widow seems as much haunted by the absence of her ... possibly ... still living daughter as she was by the husband and is by the spirits of the young girl and the roundhead soldier that she sees potentially with the aid of spirits of a differnent kind.
The documentary is written, produced and directed by Derek Pykett and pays tribute to Peter Cushing, Freddie Francis and Roy Ward Baker. The actual documentary is essentially hosted by actor Geoffrey Bayldon, with most of the 3 hour-plus running time focusing on surviving cast and crew members, following some background information on the two producers.
Best remembered for their portmanteau/anthology features, this documentary offers us a chance to hear from such directors as Peter Duffell ("The House That Dripped Blood"), Stephen Weeks ("I, Monster"), Kevin Connor ("From Beyond the Grave"), and Paul Annett ("The Beast Must Die"), owing to the recent passing of the more prolific Freddie Francis and Roy Ward Baker. We get particularly interesting glimpses of Barbara Ewing ("Torture Garden," "Dracula Has Risen from the Grave") and Angela Pleasence, who actually worked with lookalike father Donald Pleasence in "From Beyond the Grave" (and is scared by horror films!). There are anecdotes about stars like Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Jack Palance, Burgess Meredith, and character players such as Bernard Lee, Herbert Lom, and Patrick Magee, but only minute name dropping for Michael Gough, Nigel Green, or Anton Diffring. A pity about the amateurish sound quality but never the less, certainly worth a look for avid fans of Britain's Golden Age of Horror.
In the 1950s Hammer, England’s world-renowned production company, initiated a new style of horror film-making that transformed the genre. At the end of the 1960s, the world that Hammer had helped to create was changing fast – the once-reliable business model was unraveling and audiences wanted something new from their films.
Amid this uncertainty, Hammer’s short-term survival was secured by an alliance with American distributor Warner Bros. The films the two companies made together are among the most renowned in Hammer’s history. Classics such as Dracula Has Risen From the Grave (1968), Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1970) and Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970) were produced alongside the Oscar-nominated epic When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (1970), the disturbing thriller Crescendo (1970) and the bizarre sci-fi western Moon Zero Two (1969).
The films became increasingly experimental in the 1970s, challenging the perception of traditional Gothic horror with Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972), The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973) and The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974).
HAMMER HORROR: The Warner Bros Years documentary features exclusive interviews with some of the key players from that period, as well as authors and popular culture historians like Sir Christopher Frayling and Jonathan Rigby. Also included are rare production stills, previously unseen film footage, Hammer’s original shooting locations, and access to previously unpublished archive documents.
Tales of the Uncanny is an exploration of the portmanteau horror film format that features dozens of filmmakers, critics and notable fans, providing brief commentary and impressions about major portmanteau titles. It's a history that expands from the silent film era to today.
For those unfamiliar with portmanteau films they consist of several short films often linked by a wrap around narrative. These stories often are adaptations of literary shorts. As expressed in the documentary, the anthology format lent itself to experimentation and freedom for filmmakers resulting in some terrifying, bizarre, funny and unforgettable segments throughout the format's history.
Tales of the Uncanny is about breadth rather than depth, which frankly is perfect since this film is likely to introduce fans to at least a few new titles. Films are generally covered quickly, often one or two segments from each film are focused on. It's apparent which films, or more specifically studio, is most influential on the pool of folks contributing to this documentary since Amicus' portmanteaus are covered most extensively. This makes sense, give the small British studio's commitment to the format and their influence over the format and genre.
Taking a mostly chronological look at the format, the first section begins in the silent era, stepping to 1945’s Dead of Night and the films Amicus and then onto Milton Subotsky’s post Amicus films such as The Uncanny and The Monster Club.
There’s a detour into the world of television anthologies next. Movies such as the 1979 Dead of Night and Trilogy of Terror are covered as are series like The Twilight Zone, Night Gallery and Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Tales from the Darkside, Tales from the Crypt and Hammer House of Horror.
Tales of the Uncanny is an enjoyable overview of a much loved film format that should offer many views a string of titles to discover and fall in love with and the blu ray is highly recommended as it contains a few very rare horror anthologies for viewers to enjoy. This is a must watch doc for any horror lover!
A visual exploration into the origins of witchcraft in the UK and in particular the demystification of symbolism still embedded today within many modern religious artefacts and rituals
Broadcast as a Play For Today by the BBC in 1970, James MacTaggart's Robin Redbreast remains a unique proposition in British television history.
An uneasy tale of human sacrifice deep in the English countryside and an early example of what we now refer to as 'folk horror', it has retained its power to unsettle despite the passing decades.
It can even lay claim to being a prime influence on that most seminal slice of cinematic pagan horror, The Wicker Man, which arrived in all its sacrificial glory three years later.
On 14th February 1945, the lifeless body of Charles Walton, a 74-year-old farm labourer, was discovered in Meon Hill, Lower Quinton, Warwickshire. Walton’s murder became known as the ‘witchcraft murder’ because his body was pinned to the ground with a pitchfork and there is an ancient Anglo-Saxon custom of slashing or sticking spikes into a murdered witch’s skin. This form of murder is called ‘stacung’ or ‘stanging’ – ‘stang’ being a two pointed stick witches associate with the Horned God. Scotland Yard became involved but the murder was never solved and became the stuff of local legend with added embellishments, such as a large cross carved into the victim’s chest which wasn’t in the autopsy notes.
In his book Anatomy of Crime, the detective in charge of the case wrote, ‘I advise anybody who is tempted at any time to venture into Black Magic, witchcraft, Shamanism – call it what you will – to remember Charles Walton and to think of his death, which was clearly the ghastly climax of a pagan rite.’ The witchcraft murders provided inspiration for two pieces of writing that later became known as Folk Horror. The first was a teleplay by John Bowen called Robin Redbreast (1970, James MacTaggart) and the second was a book called Ritual by David Pinner, which became the 1973 film, The Wicker Man (Robin Hardy).
Bowen wrote the play for a suspense anthology series but it was rejected and ended up with Graeme MacDonald, Producer of Play for Today – a BBC1 drama series, that ran from 1970 to 1984:
The transmission of Robin Redbreast, which was broadcast on the 10th December 1970 , coincided with an electrician’s strike whereupon millions of houses in London and the Midlands missed the end. The play was eventually repeated in February 1971 but the original screening, which was in colour, was recorded over and it is now only available in a 16mm black and white telecine recording.
John Bowen (1924 – 2019) was a prolific English novelist and playwright who worked on several long running drama strands including Play for Today and ITV Play of the Week. He also wrote two films for the BBC strand, A Ghost Story for Christmas which ran from 1971 to 1978 : The Treasure of Abbot Thomas (1974, Lawrence Gordon Clark), which is an adaptation of a short story by MR James, and an original drama called The Ice House (1978, Derek Lister). He wrote A Woman Sobbing (1972, Paul Ciappessoni) for Dead of Night, which was a 1972 BBC anthology of short supernatural films. Bowen also wrote another folk horror called A Photograph (1977, John Glenister) https://odysee.com/@Misty_Isles:a/A-Photograph-(1977):1 which can be seen as a loose follow up to Robin Redbreast.
Part Mondo movie, part countercultural artefact, 'Secret Rites' is a strange mid-length 'documentary' by exploitation director Derek Ford.
Ford l ifts the lid on witchcraft in 1970s Notting Hill. Mystery band The Spindle provide the groovy, psychedelic sounds while tentative occult enthusiast Penny and a serious-sounding narrator introduce the viewer to three ritual actsis a 1971 British pseudo-drama. It concerns the study of witchcraft and black magic, with a rare appearance by real-life occultist Alex Sanders.
Three teenagers discover a mysterious set of owl and flower-patterned dinner plates in the attic and the magical ancient legend of the 'Mabinogion' comes to life once again in their Welsh valley.
Scripted by Alan Garner from his own novel of two years previous The Owl Service was an 8-part television series originally screened in the UK in late 1969 and early 1970. It is the story of an eternal love triangle played out again and again throughout history with it's roots in the Welsh myth of Blodeuwedd, a magical woman made of flowers who is turned into an owl for her role in the deaths of two men.
Alison (Gillian Hills), Gwyn (Michael Holden) and Roger (Francis Wallis) are three teenagers thrown together in an isolated Welsh farmhouse when Roger's father Clive (Edwin Richfield) and Alison's mother Margaret (who is never seen) go there for their honeymoon. The house, formerly owned by Alison's uncle Bertram is home to Gwyn and his housekeeper mother Nancy (Dorothy Edwards) and the eccentric gardener Huw (Raymond Llewellyn).
Confined to her bed Alison hears scratching in the attic where she and Gwyn find a set of plates with an unusual pattern that Alison realises can be traced and combined to create an owl. This is the trigger for a series of events that finds the trio of teens becoming increasingly embroiled in the myth as class and sexual tensions are brought to the surface.
Since it's original screening, and with minimal repeat showings, The Owl Service has deservedly come to be considered as being amongst the finest pieces of supernatural television. It's beautifully filmed on location in the Welsh countryside around Dinas Mawddwy in North Wales which along with it's use of film and colour makes it a visual feast and the themes it plays with make it an unlikely children's programme and to this day feels more suited to a more mature - even if only YA - audience.
A unique television experiment that pushed all manner of boundaries for a children's programme in ways that had never been done before and have rarely been done since and which combined the supernatural with the mundane in a subtle and pervasive manner that has very much stood the test of time.
A tribute to author Fay Weldon.
'Watching Me. Watching You' by Fay Weldon starring Jennie Linden with Keith Barron, Rula Lenska.
Any man was better than no man at all. After what I did to you, I couldn't let go the idea that I loved him. Love was the only justification for my cruelty.'
Producer Michael Croucher Director Colin Goodman BBC Bristol
LEAP IN THE DARK started life as a BBC2 documentary series which looked at paranormal events and phenomena, but by the time Series Two arrived, in 1975, its scope had expanded to encompass dramatised reconstructions as well. Series Three completed the metamorphosis and dispensed with the documentary aspect entirely. Series Four featured original dramas themed around the paranormal and included episodes written by, amongst others, renowned writers Fay Weldon and Russell Hoban, alongside Alan Garner and David Rudkin, the latter two of whose work has since come to be associated with “wyrd” rural and folk or otherly pastoral culture.
Catweazle, the bumbling 11th century wizard thrust into the modern day, delighted children and adults alike when he first hit our TV screens in 1970. It was created by Richard Carpenter for London Weekend Television and ran on ITV from February 1970 to April 1971.
The series started with our title character, played by Geoffrey Bayldon, in the 11th century, running through the woods being chased by Norman soldiers. Armed only with a charm and his familiar (a toad called Touchwood), Catweazle says a spell to invoke flight, and jumps into a pond. When he climbs out and the soldiers are gone, he thinks he has escaped, but he’s actually jumped 900 years into the future!
The hairy wizard meets and befriends a farmer’s son, Edward “Carrot” Bennet (Robin Davies), who spends the rest of the series trying to hide Catweazle from his father, Mr Bennet (Bud Tingwell) and farmhand Sam Woodyard (Neil McCarthy), while Catwweazle tries to find his way home.
Carpenter wanted the series to teach children about science. He felt kids often used technology without thinking about how it worked. Catweazle prompted viewers to consider what life would be like without electricity, telephones, motor cars etc. Arthur C. Clarke said that “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”. It’s for this reason, Catweazle is startled, scared and amazed by modern times. He sees things like telephones (“telling bones”), electricity (“elec-trickity”) and light bulbs (“sun in a bottle”) as magic!