The EscapeGoat Podcast

To see out 2020 (phew), I am joined by Jonny Kiehlmann to chat about the Alan Moore comics gem, the Superman 'finale' Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow? (1986, DC Comics). We also ramble a bit about other Moore works, and some other notable Superman stories, as well as 'endings' in popular heroic fiction generally. Give it a listen, and Happy New Year in advance! See you in 2021.

0.00 Intro and general chat

0.23 Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow?

1.10 'Endings' in ongoing heroic fiction

You can find the show on Twitter at @EGoat_pod (or tweet at me on @D_Faggiani) and email us with any feedback on [email protected]. All our episodes so far are on Spotify, our YouTube channel, and Apple Podcasts! We are also now on Patreon. Do share and enjoy.

Jonny Kiehlmann is a politics, maths, book and climbing nerd based in Aberdeen and London. He is on Twitter on @kiehlmanniac.

All original intro, outro and other incidental music recorded and made available by kind permission of Richard Gilbert.

NOTES

You can purchase WHTTMOT in a collected trade from most booksellers, and in the US (I think) from DC Comics Online. The Laurie Anderson clip used in the episode can be watched in its entirety on YouTube, as can the full interview with Stewart Lee and Moore (from BBC Radio). Oh, and the Kieron Gillen lecture on Watchmen that Jonny mentions can be found here. We thought we'd include the cover of All Star Superman #1 by Grant Morrison below, just because it's wonderful.

This week, I'm delighted to welcome Kit Power to the show! After some initial and vaguely relevant discussion about Season 4 of The Crown (Netflix, 2016-), we proceed to a thorough chat about a mutual favourite, the 1990 BBC TV political drama miniseries House of Cards, starring Ian Richardson and Susannah Harker.

SPOILERS for House Of Cards itself, and very minor spoilers for the US remake show (Netflix, 2013-2018). We make minor references to To Play the King and The Final Cut, but these are spoiler-free, as we hope to cover these sequel miniseries in the future!

0.00 Intro

0.06 The Crown (Season 4)

0.22 House Of Cards (1990)

You can find the show on Twitter at @EGoat_pod (or tweet at me on @D_Faggiani) and email us with any feedback on [email protected]. All our episodes so far are on Spotify, our YouTube channel, and Apple Podcasts! We are also now on Patreon. Do share and enjoy.

Kit Power lives in Milton Keynes and writes horror and dark crime fiction, with occasional forays into dystopian science fiction. His fiction work includes a novel, 'GodBomb!', and a novella collection 'Breaking Point', two short story collections ('A Warning About Your Future Enslavement That You Will Dismiss As A Collection Of Short Fiction And Essays By Kit Power' and 'Voices') and novellas 'The Finite' and 'A Song For The End'. He also writes non-fiction (https://www.gingernutsofhorror.com/my-life-in-horror.html with Volume 1 also available in book format) and has a limited hardback available on the subject of Ken Russell's movie Tommy. In his increasingly inaccurately labelled spare time, he podcasts - on his own show, Watching Robocop With Kit Power, What The Hell Is Wrong With Us? with George Lea, and a Patreon exclusive show on the Sherlock Holmes canon with the legendary Jack Graham. For weekly early access to his fiction, non-fiction, and podcasting work, visit www.patreon.com/kitpower.

All original intro, outro and other incidental music recorded and made available by kind permission of Richard Gilbert.

NOTES

House of Cards is currently available on BritBox, and can be purchased on Amazon Prime. The Andrew Marr interview with Ian Richardson (from 2006) which we play an excerpt from in the episode can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUXTzsWk3Bc. Also... this exists... and everyone must know about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwOCOm9Z0YE .

On this 20th installment, I'm joined by my friend Nannina to talk about one of my favourite films, The Birds (Alfred Hitchcock, 1963).

After a general catch up about the post-Election landscape in late November 2020 in the US, we turn to discussion of the indelible Hitchcock movie, in terms of its focus, its characters and its startling aesthetic style. We also touch on the original 1953 short story, by Daphne du Maurier.

We then move on to the sad topic of Tippi Hedren's artistically productive but deeply toxic and unpleasant relationship with Hitchcock. Spoiler warnings for The Birds (and, briefly, Marnie) and trigger warnings for controlling abuse and sexual harassment.

0.00 Intro chat/the US in November 2020

0.28 The Birds

1.17 Hedren and Hitchcock

You can find the show on Twitter at @EGoat_pod (or tweet at me on @D_Faggiani) and email us with any feedback on [email protected]. All our episodes so far are on Spotify, our YouTube channel, and Apple Podcasts! Do share and enjoy.

Nannina is a screenwriter, who procrastinates at writing by going down deep research wormholes into alternate dimensions. She supports her writing habit by making coffee, and can be found on Twitter @NanninaGilder talking about early women filmmakers.

All original intro, outro and other incidental music recorded and made available by kind permission of Richard Gilbert.

NOTES

The full clip from the August 2012 BFI interview with Tippi Hedren which we play an extract from in the show can be found here. I found it pretty upsetting. There's also an interesting New Yorker piece by Richard Brody on Marnie and Hitchcock more broadly, from 2016.

This week, it's my pleasure to take a break from electoral matters, and welcome my friend John to the show (in what ended up being our longest episode yet) to talk about the dark comedy anthology TV show Inside No 9 (BBC, 2014-). We're both big fans.

After some general discussion of the show and our backgrounds with Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton, we get into specific analysis of (what else?) 9 episodes that we've picked as favourites to chat about in more detail.

SPOILERS for these episodes and more from 31 minutes in! I've put the specific timecodes below to aid in navigation.

0.00 Intro/general discussion of Inside No 9

0.31 The Understudy (S1)

0.45 The 12 Days of Christine (S2)

0.58 The Devil of Christmas (Special)

1.09 The Riddle of the Sphinx (S3)

1.19 Empty Orchestra (S3)

1.31 Diddle Diddle Dumpling (S3)

1.47 Bernie Clifton's Dressing Room (S4)

2.03 To Have And To Hold (S4)

2.14 Dead Line (Special)

2.30 Thoughts on Series 5/The future of the show

You can find the show on Twitter at @EGoat_pod (or tweet at me on @D_Faggiani) and email us with any feedback on [email protected]. All our episodes so far are now on Spotify, our YouTube channel, and Apple Podcasts! Do spread the word!

John has been watching and talking about television comedy since people repeatedly started singing the theme tune to 1980s sitcom Dear John at him.

All original intro, outro and other incidental music recorded and made available by kind permission of Richard Gilbert.

NOTES

Inside No 9 can currently be streamed in the UK on BBC iPlayer, and in the USA on Britbox. Anyone looking for more info on the show should either search on YouTube for material (especially commentaries) from Shearsmith and Pemberton themselves, or check out the YouTube channel of WeeLin, which is full of detailed interesting fan material and opinion.

For the first part of a conversation either side of 3rd November, I am joined this week by Tierney Hamilton, for a discussion of current US Politics ahead of the rapidly-approaching Presidential Election.

In the first half, we have a general political discussion, and get an idea of the mood on the ground in Tierney's part of the States (Rochester, NY). From 41 minutes in, we talk more about the performance of the Trump and Biden campaigns, how we feel about how it's all going, and we make a few predictions about States results and other outcomes. Eeeep.

A second part will definitely follow soon after Election Day... til then... good luck everyone.

0.00 Intro/General political chat

0.41 The Trump/Biden campaigns/Predictions for November

You can find the show on Twitter at @EGoat_pod (or tweet at me on @D_Faggiani) and email us with any feedback on [email protected]. All our episodes so far are now on Spotify, our YouTube channel, and Apple Podcasts! Do spread the word!

Tierney Hamilton (7 February 1812- 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. She created some of the world's best known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. If you want Alternative Facts... Tierney Hamilton is a dog person and PhD student in Visual and Cultural Studies at the University of Rochester. Her research interests include Art and Technology, Expanded Cinema, Interactivity, Relational Aesthetics, Exhibitions and Public Engagement, and Arts Equity.

All original intro, outro and other incidental music recorded and made available by kind permission of Richard Gilbert.

NOTES

The Reply All Podcast Tierney mentions in the episode can be found here (their episode on QAnon), and here also is the Left Right and Centre Podcast referenced. The Game of Seats Facebook group which Tierney and I are both members of can be found here, for FB users... do join us there, if interested!

Matt joins me for a chat about his first impressions of the first two seasons of The Sopranos (1999-2007, HBO). He has just finished watching them for the first time, and I'm a massive long-term fan, so I couldn't resist getting his take on the early stages of the show!

We also ramble a bit at the start about the current commercial state of cinema in late 2020, and somehow drift from The Sopranos into Close Encounters of The Third Kind at some point.

N.B. This podcast contains no spoilers for The Sopranos beyond the end of Season 2, so if you've only seen that far, it's safe to listen!

This episode is dedicated to the late great Carl Whiteley, great friend of Matt's and Sopranos super-fan. RIP.

0.00 Intro

0.22 The Sopranos

0.33 Season 1

1.08 Season 2

You can find the show on Twitter at @EGoat_pod (or tweet at me on @D_Faggiani) and email us with any feedback on [email protected]. All our episodes so far are now on Spotify, our YouTube channel, and Apple Podcasts! Do spread the word!

Matt can be found on YouTube with his regular co-hosted movie analysis show 'Matt and Mike Pull Focus' - in fact, their Hallowe'en special on obscure Horror movie picks is now out! He previously appeared on Episodes 1,4, 9 and 15 of this podcast, where we discussed Zombies, South Park, All About Eve/Meet The Feebles and The Black Adder respectively!

All original intro, outro and other incidental music recorded and made available by kind permission of Richard Gilbert.

NOTES

The HBO Sopranos trailer from 1999 that I play in the show can be watched here. The Talking Sopranos podcast hosted by Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa is highly recommended and fascinating - full of spoilers though!

In this episode, I welcome Isobel back to the show! After getting distracted with other topics (mostly, my recent rewatch of Season 3 of The Wire - minor spoilers for that show) we turn to an examination of the VERY dark comedy/drama movie Happiness (Todd Solondz, 1998). Skip straight to 34 minutes in for that.

It's a fun conversation, but also touches on some very dark themes, as the movie does. So, content warnings for discussion of harassment, sexual abuse/paedophilia and sexual assault.

0.00 Intro

0.14 The Wire (Season 3 mostly)

0.34 Happiness (pt 1 – Helen, Allen, Christina, Lenny/Mona, Joy/Vlad)

1.41 Happiness (pt 2 – Bill, Billy, Trish)

You can find the show on Twitter at @EGoat_pod (or tweet at me on @D_Faggiani) and email us with any feedback on [email protected]. All our episodes so far are now on Spotify, our YouTube channel, and Apple Podcasts! Do spread the word!

Isobel is a full time Nomad who travels from home to home, house-sitting and exploring new places. Her blog, house-sitting booking form, and online shop can be found here: https://www.thenomadlifestyle.co.uk/. She previously appeared on Episode 2 of this podcast, where we discussed Star Trek: Voyager, and Episode 6, where we discussed All Good Things/The TNG movies/Star Trek: Picard.

All original intro, outro and other incidental music recorded and made available by kind permission of Richard Gilbert.

NOTES

The Wire podcast I just discovered is The Wire: Way Down In The Hole by Jemele Hill and Van Lathan. Recommended!

You can find the hilariously-and-inappropriately-jaunty contemporary US Theatrical trailer for Happiness (played in the episode) on YouTube here, alongside the clip of Todd Solondz on Conan O'Brien in 1998, from which we play an excerpt. You can find information on Stop SO, the sexual abuse prevention charity Isobel mentions, on their website.

This week, I welcome Matt back to the podcast, to talk about a very unusual and much maligned semi-obscurity... the first series of a subsequently highly revered UK comedy, The Black Adder (1983, BBC Television). Is it as bad as its reputation suggests? And what did the following more acclaimed Blackadder series take from it... and what did they leave behind?

Matt and I recall our childhood background with the show, discuss The Black Adder in general, including its cast and style, and then examine the six episode series in a bit more detail, including what makes it so disconcerting and odd. Hope you enjoy it!

0.00 Intro

0.07 The Black Adder

0.53 Episodes 1-6: analysis

You can find the show on Twitter at @EGoat_pod (or tweet at me on @D_Faggiani) and email us with any feedback on [email protected]. All our episodes so far are now on Spotify, our YouTube channel, and Apple Podcasts! Do spread the word!

Matt can be found on YouTube with his regular co-hosted movie analysis show 'Matt and Mike Pull Focus'. He previously appeared on Episodes 1,4 and 9 of this podcast, where we discussed Zombies, South Park, and All About Eve/Meet The Feebles respectively!

All original intro, outro and other incidental music recorded and made available by kind permission of Richard Gilbert.

NOTES

The unaired The Black Adder pilot can currently be found on Dailymotion here - it really is worth a look! For anyone wishing to remind themselves about the whole Michael Gove vs Blackadder row in 2014, here's a refresher.

For this episode... we present the unearthed EscapeGoat pilot! A conversation recorded in June 2019, with the thought of being a dry run for a potential podcast which eventually became this show!

In this chat (recorded face to face in a very hot room), Rich and I talked about the then-recent finale episode of Game of Thrones (2011-19, HBO) and what we made of it, and indeed some of the general direction of the show.

We go on to talk about the (again) then-recent comeback special/belated finale of Deadwood (2004-2006, 2019), and how it's an odd TV event, but one that made us feel very good!

As I say in the intro, this is kind of our The Menagerie (for Star Trek fans!) and both these shows have drifted out of the cultural conversation since last summer, but we hope you enjoy it, as a barely edited 'dry run'!

0.00 Intro

0.03 The finale of Game of Thrones

0.59 The Deadwood movie

You can find the show on Twitter at @EGoat_pod (or tweet at me on @D_Faggiani) and email us with any feedback on [email protected]. All our episodes so far are now on Spotify, our YouTube channel, and Apple Podcasts! Do spread the word!

If you enjoyed this, check out Episode 03, where Rich and I discussed Westerns (although not Deadwood!), Episode 08, where we discussed The Pixies, and Episode 12, where we talked about the Road Runner cartoons with Dru.

All original intro, outro and other incidental music in this and prior episodes recorded and made available by kind permission of Richard Gilbert.

NOTES

In keeping with the casual summer 'holiday hiatus' feel of the existence of this episode in general.... I hope you enjoy this clip featuring Peter Dinklage :)

This week, I'm joined by Olivia, to discuss two respective childhood passions with some similarities - the Pokemon and Monster in My Pocket franchises!

We discuss our introduction to the brands as kids, our passion for collecting and exploring these worlds, and the origins, inspirations and symbolism behind the monsters in each series. Olivia talks about how her recent acquisition of Pokemon Shield for the Nintendo Switch has helped her cope with lockdown, and I share how similar rediscovery of my childhood MIMP figures (and a very expensive sticker album!) has helped me deal with a very odd year.

0.00 Pokemon

0.47 Monster In My Pocket

You can find the show on Twitter at @EGoat_pod (or tweet at me on @D_Faggiani) and email us with any feedback on [email protected]. All our episodes so far are now on Spotify, our YouTube channel, and Apple Podcasts! Do follow us wherever you prefer.

Olivia previously appeared on episode 4 of the show, where we discussed South Park! Check it out. Olivia can be reached on Twitter on @olivia_broome or on Instagram via @oliviaxbroome.

All original intro, outro and other incidental music in this and prior episodes recorded and made available by kind permission of Richard Gilbert.

NOTES

Pokemon is obviously a very widely discussed cultural phenomenon, almost 25 years on from its launch. Obviously the greatest manifestation of the entire franchise is this late nineties promotional TV linking clip featuring Lou Bega. Enjoy.

Monster in my Pocket hasn't left quite such a big cultural footprint, but you can have a look at the Series 1 and Series 2 monsters on this fan wiki. The controversy over the Kali figure in the British Hindu community is referenced in this piece by Don Jolly.