We’ve been promising you this for ages, and here it is at last – an in-depth discussion of the boy wizard.

Our resident expert Sarah Burrow is joined by special guest Suzie Nockles (last heard in our Hunger Games episode) to assess the sprawling universe that is the Harry Potter phenomenon.

Just what made J.K. Rowling’s books so successful and did their big screen adaptations actually improve on them?  Could the Pottermore website have yet more surprises in store for fans? Hogwarts may have conquered Florida’s theme parks but will it fare as well in Japan? And was Dumbledore gay just because J.K. Rowling says he was?

All this and more, in the latest Impossible Podcast!

Join Caleb Woodbridge, Sarah Burrow and – making his debut on the podcast – Kieran Mathers as they tackle George RR Martin’s epic fantasy sequence.

After an in-depth discussion of the books, including their use of history and magic, the team turns a ciritcal eye on the smash hit HBO series. Where did it succeed? Where did it fail? And how should Season 2 (and Season 3) move forward? All this, plus the burning question: do too many lesbian prostitutes spoil the broth?

PLEASE NOTE: The first 30 minutes of the podcast are spoiler free, but there are significant spoilers for the rest of the running time. You have been warned!

Sarah Burrow and special guests Suzie Nockles, Charlotte Marchant-Jones and Alex Gatherer discuss the new film adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ book The Hunger Games!

Join us as we compare the book and the film, and give you our thoughts on the casting choices and how the film was shot. We also discuss our favourite characters and how they’ve translated to the big screen. And interestingly we see what differences arise when you put two Team Peeta and two Team Gale supporters together in front of a microphone!

The first three minutes contain a quick spoiler free review while the rest of the podcast contains spoilers for the film and first book (with very minimal spoilers for the two other books in the series).

What did you think of the film? Are you happy with what they did with the book and the characters? Has seeing the film made you want the read the book? And are you Team Peeta or Team Gale or are you more TeamWhatAreAllTheseTeamsAbout? Head over to Facebook or Twitter and let us know what you think.

It’s time to ride to Camelot in our second podcast of the day…

Caleb Woodbridge, Sarah Burrow and Olivia Cottrell discuss the fourth series of the BBC’s other big telefantasy success – Merlin. Does it pay to play fast and loose with Arthurian myth? What direction could the show take next? These and other searching questions are answered in our latest podcast. Click below and listen!NB: This podcast was recorded via Skype so the audio quality does vary in places.

The dust has settled, the hangovers faded and the cosplay has been packed away for another year. But was this year’s SFX Weekender – one of Britain’s biggest sci-fi and fantasy conventions – worth the trip?

It’s safe to say that not everything went according to plan, but did the stellar guest list make up for the freezing temperatures and interminable queues? P.G. Bell shares the high and low points with Caleb Woodbridge and Sarah Burrow. PLUS! a report on the inaugural cosplay competition and interviews with a few of the participants. Click on the jump below to find photos of some of the people we spoke to, but head on over to our Facebook page to see a complete gallery of the weekend’s events! (right click and “Save Target/Link As…”)

P.S. The excellent ‘Transdimensional Mix’ of the Doctor Who theme music comes courtesy of HardWire.

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“The greatest danger in life is not taking the adventure…”

The loudest man in sci-fi (or any other genre, for that matter) was guest of honour at last week’s SFX Weekender in North Wales. P.G. Bell was there to record the action and we’re very pleased to bring you Brian’s complete Q&A session, conducted on Saturday 4th February, in front of a capacity crowd.

Brian explained his passion for science fiction, outlined his plans to bump off old friend Patrick Stewart and revealed why he calls Her Majesty the Queen “Knuckles”.

Most importantly, he publicly announced two very important projects for the first time – one in the realm of science fiction, the other based firmly in science fact. Seriously, this is pretty big.

He also uses some rather salty language at times, so be prepared!If that’s not enough for you, stay tuned for our full review of the SFX Weekender experience, including a gallery of this year’s cosplay event and interviews with the participants. PLUS! Full Q&As with Sylvester McCoy, Eve Myles and Colin Baker! Coming soon to Impossible Podcasts!