Shift Run Stop

Artist, designer, writer, and man of extraordinary imagination Dominic Wilcox calls in for a chat about his latest creations which include bread lampshades and helium-powered crisp packets. We also find out what Leila would've tweeted had she still been on Twitter, and Roo starts feeling festive at the South Bank's Christmas fair. Oh, and you remember Alice Bartlett from episode 50? Of course you do. She pops up again this week, armed with snacks from Tobago. As ever, our snacking snack king Dave Green is holding the cutlery.

Links: Dominic Wilcox (speed creating etc) | Dominic Wilcox (Twitter) | Day 30 "Come Fly With Me" video | Dave's site Snackspot | Join our forum | Buy a tape of this episode

Leila went to R3PLAY, the enormous retro-gaming event in Blackpool, and has returned armed with interviews with loads of people, including Sensible Soccer creator John Hare, Adam from the National Museum of Computing, and retro computing enthusiast off-the-telly Iain Lee.

Back at Shift Run Stop Towers, our snackfood correspondent Dave Green takes us on a gastronomical voyage to far-off lands, and Roo shares the coolest thing he's seen all week.

Links: R3PLAY | Video of SID80s playing at R3play | Snackspot |  Join our forum | Buy a tape of this episode

We welcome another ridiculously talented guest this week, in the form of acclaimed screen actor Andy Nyman. The horror aficionado joined us on his only night off from the West End hit Ghost Stories, which he wrote and stars in - though you might also remember his turn as the deliciously aggressive Patrick in Charlie Brooker's zombie satire Dead Set. He's a magician too, and for the past decade has worked closely with Derren Brown.

Elsewhere, snack informant Dave shares some Swiss treats courtesy of listener Phil "Neorf" North, and Leila returns from R3PLAY in Blackpool with tales of a retrogamer paradise.

Links: Andy Nyman (IMDB) | Andy Nyman (home page) | Andy on Twitter | Ghost Stories | R3PLAY | Snackspot |  Join our forum | Buy a tape of this episode

It's all bionic legs, bananas and biplanes this week, as we meet the exuberant comedian Helen Keen, creator of acclaimed stand-up show and soon-to-be Radio 4 series "It IS rocket science". There's big news from Roo, inane comments about time travel from Leila, and your hosts finally get some decent food in them, via some very tasty cheese supplied by listener Kev Frost. It's nice to know someone's looking out for our glycemic index, thanks Kev!

Helen Keen (homepage) | Helen Keen (Wikipedia) | Helen on Twitter | Wallace and Gromit Wensleydale | Can we interest you in a souvenir tape of this episode?

Yes, we've reached episode 50. When we started a year ago we didn't really know what the show would be like, or how sustainable it could be, so we're pleased to have made it this far. Thanks for sticking with it (would a hug be inappropriate?)

In this one-off, one-for-the-fans, where-are-they-now geekstravaganza, excellent early guest Alice Bartlett returns to tell us about programming for Android and her fascinating family, and we take the mic to the live episode 50 games night we hosted the other week (did you come?) and poke it at some other former guests.

It's that time of year again, and by the light of the full moon, Dave masterminds a Hallowe'en snack massacre (but fortunately he's alright now.)

Alice Bartlett (Twitter) | Theme Hospital | Photos of our party on Flickr | Dave's site Snackspot | Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake | Sleeptalkin Man | Join our forum if you're not a spambot | Buy a tape of this episode or a different one, up to you

Rhianna knows games. We meet the famous "narrative paramedic" behind Heavenly Sword, the Overlord series, Mirror's Edge and lots more - and discover it all began with Leisure Suit Larry.

But that's not all! Your hosts discuss the great "Inventing the 21st Century" exhibition at the British Library over a beer somewhere, while back at Shift Run Stop towers, Dave 'Snacktime' Green hypes everyone up with caffeine-packed drinks and some extreme sweets.

Rhianna Pratchett (Wikipedia) | Rhianna's homepage | Leisure Suit Larry | British Library "Inventing the 21st Century" exhibition | Dave's site Snackspot | Buy a tape of this episode, we have some great new colourful ones in stock!

Robert Schifreen and Stephen Gold hacked into the Post Office/BT's Viewdata system 'Prestel' back in the 80s, gaining access to thousands of mailboxes (including Prince Philip's). It was the first high profile hacking case in the UK, and resulted in the passing of the Computer Misuse Act. We reminisce with Robert about the good old days of computer crime, take a stroll along the Thames, and find snacks hedgehog Dave Green under a bonfire of sweet wrappers.

Robert's company Security Savvy | Robert on Twitter | Robert's book Defeating the Hacker | Dave's site Snackspot | Buy this episode on tape, yes tape

++++Don't forget to come to our 50th episode party in London on Monday!

Special episode this week - two guests, several locations and lots of meaty snacks. We went to the annual London games conference Playful and Skype-interviewed very funny former Games Master host-turned farmer Dominik Diamond on stage - hear the best bits in this episode. Games consultant and former editor of Edge magazine, Margaret Robertson was at Playful too, talking about Minecraft. But we'd already booked her to come on our show, because we already knew she was ace, because we're way ahead of you.

Margaret on Twitter | Dominik on Twitter | Margaret's website | Dominik's website | Find out how we got Dominik Diamond to agree to this on Leila's write-up | Former SRS guest Myk Reeve's photo of us on stage | Chris O’Shea even videoed some of it | Dave's site Snackspot | Buy a tape of this episode

A return to video games chat this week, and who better to put our endless questions about narrative and puzzles to than friendly games maker Hayden Scott-Baron ("Docky"). Hayden is the man behind hit iPhone physics game Tumbledrop, and much of what you like about RollerCoaster Tycoon. He's a comic artist, too, so we exploited his talent to bring you some of our cutest tapes so far. Head over to our store now to grab one for yourself - it's a very limited edition run!

Also in this episode: your hosts discuss the text adventure documentary, Get Lamp and snackster Dave tracks down some "children's beer".

Links: Hayden Scott-Baron (Wikipedia) | Hayden on Twitter as Docky | Hayden's games company Starfruit Games | Tumbledrop on the app store | Sweatdrop studios, and Hayden's profile there | Demo of Sega game "Nights" | Get Lamp | Snackspot | Buy a tape of this episode and others.

This week as we talk to Simon Hickson, or to give him his full name: SIMON OUT OF TREVOR AND SIMON. He has one of those voices, and he uses it great effect in this nostalgic episode, revealing which of their characters were banned from Going Live, the thing that links Trev to Mad Men, and what really happened when Five Star were on. To be honest, we can't get enough of it.

In a quieter moment your hosts tuck into some unusually good sweets from a listener in Australia, and tentatively launch the official Shift Run Stop forum where you can all go and talk to each other about whatever you like, until you eventually establish some kind of primitive civilisation and decide you don't need us anymore. We're fine about it, really.

Links: Simon Hickson (Twitter) | Simon Hickson (IMDB) | Simon's WordPress blog | Shift Run Stop forum | Trevor & Simon on YouTube | Trevor & Simon (Wikipedia) | Buy a cassette tape of this podcast and work out what to do with it later.