9/23/2007

I can't remember if there's something I've forgotten to remember ...

Here's a question about a TV show I seem to remember from decades ago, in such vague detail I can't entirely rule out the possibility it is entirely a product of my fevered imagination. Sometime between very roughly the mid and late seventies, I'm sure there was a kind of documentary series on science fiction in both film and books that ran around teatime, possibly on BBC2. They interviewed writers like, I think, Michael Moorcock and Brian Aldiss. The opening credits featured a kind of line-drawing animation where a dragon would turn into a spaceship, would turn into a ... whatever. There might have been perhaps half a dozen episodes of it, possibly on the weekend.

If anyone has even the vaguest recollection of some series matching this, I'd be very grateful to know I'm not actually accidentally making it up, and what the hell it's called if it actually does exist.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It did exist, Gary. I think that it ran for about half-a-dozen half hour episodes at around 7.00pm on a Monday on BBC2. Each episode featured a differant author. I can remember John Brunner and Ann McCafferty (who was living in Ireland at the time)in addition to the ones that you name. Was Ballard on it as well. I can remember seeing some footage that was shot at the '79 Worldcon in Brighton, so it postdated that slightly. 1980, possibly? It was a damned fine show, and intelligent with it. Can't remember the credits, for the life of me, but the title's on the tip of my tongue. Of course, there is the possibility that we're both talking about totally different programmes.

Jim Steel

Gary Gibson, science fiction writer said...

Yes! We are talking about the same programme. I remember the McCaffrey, vaguely. All we need now is the title of the damn programme. I have a vague memory of seeing Harry Harrison filmed at a village fete in Ireland, in another episode. It's really stuck with me over the years. Surely someone out there can remember the name ...