First broadcast on FAB RADIO INTERNATIONAL at 19:00 on August 8th 2021

As crickety-cricket returns to terrestrial television in yet another exciting new format, episode forty-four of VISION ON SOUND finds SANDY McGREGOR returning for a nostalgic ramble through our memories of watching cricket on television in our youth.

Regular listeners will no doubt expect an hour of total silence given my usual response to anything sport-related, but, happily for non-cricket fans, it's Sandy & I, so we rarely stick to the point for too long, so it's an enjoyable nostalgic chat mentioning highland games & caber tossing, Peter Davison's influence on this strange fascination, a school reunion, the strange combination of cigarette advertising and sport, the BBC's TEST MATCH SPECIAL on the radio, pre-second-world-war sports coverage, fielding positions, a weird fascination of numbers & statistics, Charters & Caldicott, Peter West & Tony Lewis, the poetry of the commentary of John Arlott, the legend of Ritchie Benaud, the eclectic career of Fred Trueman, the development of television graphics, and how people of a certain age followed overseas tours.

PLEASE NOTE - For Copyright reasons, musical content sometimes has to be removed for the podcast edition. All the spoken word content remains (mostly) as it was in the broadcast version. Hopefully this won't spoil your enjoyment of the show.

(2025 re-edit removes "Soul Limbo" and "Mambo No. 5" - sigh!)

First broadcast on FAB RADIO INTERNATIONAL at 19:00 on August 1st 2021

Episode forty-three of VISION ON SOUND finds regular guest contributor PAUL CHANDLER returning for a bit of a natter that is - at least initially - supposed to be all about literary detectives as seen on our television screens.

In another of our rambling conversations roaming around the topic in question, we talk about shows that it might surprise you to find are inspired by literature like HETTY WAINTHROPP INVESTIGATES and VERONICA MARS, a show inspired by other literary detectives - MURDER, SHE WROTE - involving a writer of crime literature, and even THE HARDY BOYS/NANCY DREW MYSTERIES and THE FAMOUS FIVE. We also touch upon HART TO HART (inspired by Dashiell Hammett's THE THIN MAN), JEMIMA SHORE INVESTIGATES, FATHER BROWN and CADFAEL, as well as, naturally, MISS MARPLE in her various iterations, and SHERLOCK HOLMES in his.

Along the way, we briefly dabble with LORD PETER WIMSEY, MISS FISHER'S MURDER MYSTERIES, CAMPION, and even shows like ANGEL, MOONLIGHTING and JONATHAN CREEK get a nod - even if perhaps they shouldn't in this context - as variations on the theme and televisual portrayals of the literary form of the locked-room mystery, and, because it's Paul, BERGERAC gets a mention as we inevitably vanish into the worlds of television detectives in general, although we do finally get back on track with POIROT, WEXFORD, DALGLEISH, MAIGRET, and, whilst we don't actually get around to INSPECTOR MORSE this time around, we do at least ponder upon returning to him at some point.

PLEASE NOTE - For Copyright reasons, musical content sometimes has to be removed for the podcast edition. All the spoken word content remains (mostly) as it was in the broadcast version. Hopefully this won't spoil your enjoyment of the show.

First broadcast on FAB RADIO INTERNATIONAL at 19:00 on July 25th 2021

Episode forty-two of VISION ON SOUND finds WARREN CUMMINGS returning to have an extended natter about one of his television favourites, CALLAN.

Way back in episode twenty-one of VISION ON SOUND, Warren and I had a long natter about the good, the bad, and the ugly of POLICE SERIES on TV, and it seemed natural to follow that up with a programme devoted exclusively to one of his favourites, which we eventually did in our thirty-sixth edition based upon THE SWEENEY. Similarly, in episode twenty-nine, we had one of our chats about SPY AND ESPIONAGE series on television, and so it seemed only natural to pluck one of Warren's favourite espionage shows down from the shelf, and we chose one of the greatest, the series CALLAN starring Edward Woodward.

Our conversation covers the entire run four series run of the show from its roots in the black & white ABC television era of the ARMCHAIR THEATRE series in A MAGNUM FOR SCHNEIDER right through the 1970s THAMES TELEVISION colour series, to the one-off resurrection in WET JOB a decade after the series finished, and briefly touches upon the feature film version. Along the way we discuss several aspects of the series including the many faces of Hunter, the several faces of Toby Meres, the real life of James Mitchell, the various themes that surface in the series, the sweaty horrors of making of studio-based thrillers, its parallels with other spy dramas, and even the general rattiness of official cardigans.

PLEASE NOTE - For Copyright reasons, musical content sometimes has to be removed for the podcast edition. All the spoken word content remains (mostly) as it was in the broadcast version. Hopefully this won't spoil your enjoyment of the show.

First broadcast on FAB RADIO INTERNATIONAL at 19:00 on July 18th 2021

Episode forty-one of VISION ON SOUND finds regular guest contributor PAUL CHANDLER returning to talk about his passion for watching all manner of Horror stories on television.

In another of our rambling conversations roaming around the topic in question, we tiptoe gingerly around such topics as late night horror films, THE HAMMER HOUSE OF MYSTERY & SUSPENSE and its sibling THE HAMMER HOUSE OF HORROR before having a wide-ranging conversation that includes THE TWILIGHT ZONE, DOCTOR WHO, SAPPHIRE & STEEL and, perhaps more unexpectedly, MIDSOMER MURDERS and BERGERAC.

We carefully - and briefly - creep past the Christmassy horrors of writers like M.R. JAMES, and more obscure series like THE OMEGA FACTOR, THE NIGHTMARE MAN and the writings of NIGEL KNEALE, and the gut-wrenching terrors of DESTINY OF THE DALEKS, before turning our attention towards THE PAN BOOK OF HORROR, TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED, RENTAGHOST, and THRILLER before landing up in Collinsport to appreciate the gothic weirdnesses of DARK SHADOWS and where to find them. Finally, we move on to the anthology horrors of SHADOWS OF FEAR and the real world horrors of THE MAD DEATH, and we discover why he walked away from THE WALKING DEAD, and was drawn towards the domestic horrors of DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES.

PLEASE NOTE - For Copyright reasons, musical content sometimes has to be removed for the podcast edition. All the spoken word content remains (mostly) as it was in the broadcast version. Hopefully this won't spoil your enjoyment of the show.

First broadcast on FAB RADIO INTERNATIONAL at 19:00 on July 11th 2021

Our Canadian Correspondent RICK LAWLOR returns to have a bit of a natter about the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of British Sitcoms, and, whilst he starts off with a long list of around ninety shows cross-indexed across several decades, over the course of our hour-long chat, we don't even manage to escape from the 1970s. If you're a fan of these shows, you may not learn much that you didn't already know, but I hope you'll enjoy our amiable nostalgic meander.

This obviously means that we'll be returning to the topic in at least one other future edition to cover the rest, but I hope that you'll enjoy our conversation, as we tiptoe around some uncomfortable content in certain shows, but also cover some of the greats like WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE LIKELY LADS, DAD'S ARMY, FAWLTY TOWERS, and LAST OF THE SUMMER WINE.

PLEASE NOTE - For Copyright reasons, musical content sometimes has to be removed for the podcast edition. All the spoken word content remains (mostly) as it was in the broadcast version. Hopefully this won't spoil your enjoyment of the show.

The original POLITICAL DYSTOPIAS ON TELEVISION episode 39 was first broadcast on FAB RADIO INTERNATIONAL at 19:00 on July 4th 2021.

For timing reasons, the original interview with STEVE HATCHER had to be trimmed to fit our weekly VISION ON SOUND hour-long timeslot.

The first edit of our original almost two-hour conversation came out at around 1hr 16min, and features a lot more background from Steve on the politics of the times the shows THE GUARDIANS, THE DONATI CONSPIRACY, and 1990 were being made, but, as I thought we should concentrate more on the television series themselves for a radio show about television, much of that didn't make the final cut, but I'm publishing it here as BONUS MATERIAL which I hope will prove of interest.

First broadcast on FAB RADIO INTERNATIONAL at 19:00 on July 4th 2021

In a very early edition of VISION ON SOUND, we discussed DYSTOPIAN TELEVISION and our guest in another episode got in touch to point out that we hadn't addressed the sub-genre of POLITICAL DYSTOPIAS. To rectify this omission, episode thirty nine of VISION ON SOUND finds STEVE HATCHER returning to talk about POLITICAL DYSTOPIAS ON TELEVISION.

After we touch upon the BBC's 1954 version of George Orwell's NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR, and the alternative history sub-genre of "What would have happened if..." with AN ENGLISHMAN'S CASTLE, we mostly look in detail at three series: THE GUARDIANS, THE DONATI CONSPIRACY (and its linked sequel STATE OF EMERGENCY), and 1990, as well as putting a certain amount of these productions in the political context of the times in which they were made, and we do mention other shows like A VERY BRITISH COUP.

For reasons of timing (and not because I'd been "got at" by the Powers That Be) the conversation had to be cut to length to fit our time slot. This means that a longer cut of this episode (which runs about twenty minutes longer) will also be available hereabouts should you wish to hear it.

PLEASE NOTE - For Copyright reasons, musical content sometimes has to be removed for the podcast edition. All the spoken word content remains (mostly) as it was in the broadcast version. Hopefully this won't spoil your enjoyment of the show.

First broadcast on FAB RADIO INTERNATIONAL at 19:00 on June 27th 2021

Episode thirty eight of VISION ON SOUND finds regular guest contributor PAUL CHANDLER returning to talk about his passion for quiz and game shows on television.

Starting, rather naturally, with TELLY ADDICTS, we consider the shows featuring such hosts as Bob Monkhouse and Paul Daniels before moving on to the extraordinary adventures of TREASURE HUNT, and Paul's own very personal connection with BLOCKBUSTERS.

Games shows like RUNAROUND are name-checked, and Crackerjack [CRACKERJACK!!!] makes another fleeting appearance, as well as wallowing in the general nostagia of SCREEN TEST and PLAY YOUR CARDS RIGHT. We also take the time to ponder upon the viewers' relationship with the game show on television, and the general difficulty of coming up with yet another brand new concept designed to give people the opportunity to win prizes, points, and pounds in the modern era.

PLEASE NOTE - For Copyright reasons, musical content sometimes has to be removed for the podcast edition. All the spoken word content remains (mostly) as it was in the broadcast version. Hopefully this won't spoil your enjoyment of the show.

First broadcast on FAB RADIO INTERNATIONAL at 19:00 on June 20th 2021

Episode thirty seven of VISION ON SOUND finds that "Man Of The Theatre" SANDY McGREGOR returning (Huzzah!!!) to discuss all things about theatre on television.

This means that we take a long look at the version of THE BBC TELEVISION SHAKESPEARE which debuted in 1979, as well as taking our seats for THEATRE NIGHT, and a couple of AYCKBOURN and PINTER productions as seen on TV. There's also a certain amount of discourse on the experience of watching theatrical productions on television, the obligatory mention of QUATERMASS comes from a brief discussion of live television generally, and we mull over the career of the greatest actor of his generation, and whether he was or not.

PLEASE NOTE - For Copyright reasons, musical content sometimes has to be removed for the podcast edition. All the spoken word content remains (mostly) as it was in the broadcast version. Hopefully this won't spoil your enjoyment of the show.

First broadcast on FAB RADIO INTERNATIONAL at 19:00 on June 13th 2021

Episode thirty six of VISION ON SOUND finds WARREN CUMMINGS returning to have an extended natter about one of his television favourites, The Sweeney.

In preparation I did rewatch the Armchair Cinema sort-off pilot, "REGAN", and the opening episode of the series proper "RINGER", but our off-the-cuff conversation is fairly wide ranging, and includes some of Warren's real-world tales of dealing with the actual Sweeney, and a little bit of the history of the Flying Squad, but we also discuss seedy villains, wonderful dialogue, the various guest stars, some atrocious accents, crockery, and 1970s motor cars, as well as giving a little attention to the episode featuring Morecambe & Wise.

PLEASE NOTE - For Copyright reasons, musical content sometimes has to be removed for the podcast edition. All the spoken word content remains (mostly) as it was in the broadcast version. Hopefully this won't spoil your enjoyment of the show.