As usual there are spoilers ahead!

For the full show notes with no character limits you can visit the website.

Description
Creature from the Black Lagoon released in 1954 is in many ways the epitome of 1950s science fiction cinema. Jack Arnold (director), William Alland (producer) and Richard Carlson (the leading man) were all people who has become associated with the increasingly popular genre. It also has a beautiful and stylish Julie Adams as the heroine, scientists on a mission and of course the monster. But there are no themes of nuclear radiation, Russian invasion or small town shenanigans here. The film was filmed in 3D although the peak of 3D popularity had faded and most viewers saw this film in 2D.

Two absolute heavyweights of sci-fi research join me to enlighten us.

The Experts
Jay Telotte is a Professor Emeritus of film and media studies at Georgia Tech. He has written/edited numerous books and articles about science fiction film.

Mark Bould is a professor of Film and Literature at the University of West England, Bristol. He has also written/edited extensively about science fiction cinema.

You can take a look at the Forbidden Planet poster mentioned amongst others that have the same trope by viewing my instagram post here.

Chapters
00:00 Introduction to the film and guests
02:16 Little Jay goes to the cinema
03:19 Universal monsters and comebacks
06:20 The mythical origin of the story
10:03 The monster, its maker and dangerous desires
21:37 Human invaders and Jack Arnold
23:22 Everybody loves Kay
28:59 Man, nature, science and the environment
29:12 Evolution: The Scopes Monkey Trial
33:32 1950s sci-fi: Space opera to the dangers of the depths
38:55 The Legacy: Sequels
45:00 Legacy cont: The Shape of Water
53:10 Recommendations for listeners

NEXT EPISODE!
Next episode we will be taking a closer look at Them! (1953). You can check Just Watch to see where it can be found in your region and the film is available to buy or rent at many outlets including Apple TV.

As with all episodes of this podcast there are spoilers ahead!

Earlier this year I approached a brilliant theoretical physicist about whether she would like to come on the podcast to speak about her favourite science fiction film but instead she wanted to speak to me about the science of the film Interstellar (2014).

I apologise in advance for my own level of understanding of physics which is a mix of decades old lessons in school, a tiny handful of pop science books and a number of science fiction films.

Interstellar was released ten years ago in November 2014.

Theoretical physicist Kip Thorne was the main consultant to director Christopher Nolan on the science of the film which is packed with scientifically accurate scenarios (and a few scientifically fantastical ones too).

The Guest
Claudia de Rham is a theoretical physicist at Imperial College, London. Her expertise lies at the interface between Quantum Field Theory, Gravity, Gravitational Waves, Cosmology, Particle Physics, Numerical Simulations and Theoretical Mathematical Physics.

She is also the author of the book The Beauty of Falling: A Life in Pursuit of Gravity.

Chapters
00:00 Introduction to the show and guest
01:20 Claudia’s first viewing: Science, emotion and the world you leave behind.
03:25 A quick overview of the premise
04:37 Wormholes: folding paper and spacetime
17:17 Kip Thorne and gravitational anomalies
11:14 Time dilation and black holes
15:14 Time is relative, gravity is multi-dimensional and the transition to science fiction
16:49 Going beyond Einstein’s theory of general relativity to the holy grail of science
19:34 Differences in singularities and being pulled apart by black holes
21:47 The tesseract and extra dimensions
24:50 Gravity as communicator
29:38 Gravity vs light
33:20 Direct detection of gravitational waves, interferometers and LISA* in space
35:06 Observation of the shadows of black holes
36:50 Claudia’s love of gravity

Next Episode:
The next film we will be looking at is Creature from the Black Lagoon from 1954!

You can check JustWatch for where you can find the film in your region. It is available to rent or buy in various places including Apple TV. Sequels Revenge of the Creature and The Creature Walks Among Us are trickier to track down though there are some online streaming services. The Shape of Water (2017) which is heavily inspired by the original film is available to rent or buy in various places and is also available for those who have a Disney+ subscription.

* The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna

As always there are spoilers ahead!

If you want to read the full show notes you can click the episode on this page and
scroll down.

Description
Are we sick of alien invasion films? I certainly hope not! Although this one is a little different as the aliens just want to leave. It Came from Outer Space (1953) was directed by Jack Arnold who would make a name for himself in the 1950s as a director of many sci-fi films. Although the script was written by Harry Essex the treatment for the film was by none other than the famous Ray Bradbury. The film is a mix of schlocky sci-fi and poetic soliloquies set in small town USA. To help us dig a little deeper into this film I have two fantastic guests.

The Experts
Scott Higgins is a Professor of Film at Wesleyan University as well as being the Curator of the Wesleyan Cinema Archives.

Phil Nichols is a visiting lecturer at the University of Wolverhampton and a researcher with a special interest in Ray Bradbury. He is Senior Consultant to the Ray Bradbury Centre at Indiana University and editor of The New Ray Bradbury Review. He is also the man behind the Bradbury 100 podcast and the Science Fiction 101 podcast.

Chapters
00:00 Introduction to the show and guests
01:40 The beginnings of a sci-fi film director Jack Arnold
04:30 Ray Bradbury’s influence on the film
09:40 The schlocky and elusive Aliens
15:54 Bradbury’s politics in the 1950s
18:22 Bradbury’s treatment vs Harry Essex’s screenplay
21:38 Small town USA: provincial views, scandal and something simmering beneath the surface
28:11 Teenage culture: post war boom, TV and rock n roll
33:26 Body snatching
36:00 3D cinema!
42:57 Ray Bradbury’s treatment
45:22 The legacy of the film
50:56 Recommendations

NEXT EPISODE!
Next episode we will be taking one of my pesky detours! I speak to brainiac theoretical physicist Claudia de Rham about the science of Interstellar which is ten years old on November 6th 2024. Interstellar (2014) is available to rent or buy at an array of outlets. You can check JustWatch to check which platforms it is available in your region.