With apologies for some repetition, especially in musical choices; an event in my personal life (as many of you will know) has limited my prep time.
As usual, the schedule will be subject to change towards the end of the evening. Or even earlier.
16:30 – Intro Music
16:33 – Musical Train Journey – A cab-ride entitled “Spirit of the [Australian] Outback – Alpha to Emerald Part 1 – Alpha to Bogantungan” set to the Sugarcubes’ first album, some Dead Can Dance tracks, and “Cadenza” by Andrew Poppy. My God, the Outback is samey.
18:01 – A Very English Genius – A 2002 BBC documentary telling the story of how Michael Ventris became obsessed with the quest of cracking the earliest known writing system, Linear B, which originated in Greece. The programme begins with his introduction to the ancient script, on a school trip to a museum, continues through his endeavours to crack the language, and ends with his unexplained death, providing various theories to what exactly caused his final demise. The discovery was made all the more remarkable by the fact that Ventris was no more than an amateur enthusiast, a man passionately and often tortuously determined to crack the linguistic code which had puzzled experts, archaeologists and academics for three decades. First broadcast Mon 22nd Jul 2002, 21:30 on BBC4.
19:00 – For All Mankind (1989) – Legendary film about the Apollo 11 moon landing, comprised entirely of footage shot at the time, with no narration or later interviews. Soundtrack by Brian Eno (released on the album “Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks” six years earlier), including the famous tune “An Ending (Ascent)”. Not this film’s first showing on CaB TV (previously shown by Delete on 2019/06/18, and by me on 2021/11/17 to just Phil and a filthy lurker 😉 ) but I think it deserves yet another repeat as in my opinion more people ought to see it. 🙂
20:20 – James Burke – Connections – S01E07 – “The Long Chain” – The seventh episode of the legendary series exploring the history of technology in a non-conventional way. From the Radio Times listing: “What’s the connection between Lloyd’s of London and the Glasgow gasworks, or between the invention of the gin-and-tonic and nylon stockings – and how does that connection mould the shape of your life?” First broadcast Tue 28th November 1978, 7.20pm, BBC1.
21:10 – FILM: Cosmos: War of the Planets (1977) – (Italian: Anno zero – Guerra nello spazio, literally “Year Zero – War in Space”) is an Italian science fiction film directed by Alfonso Brescia and starring John Richardson. A spaceship intercepts a mysterious message and then crashes on the planet the message is being sent from. There they uncover a force that threatens to take over the Earth.
Apparently, according to a comment I read, this was one of at least two films that resulted from a five-hour original draft: another was War Of The Robots (1978) which Delete showed way back on The Project Week 20, Tuesday 2018/05/08.
Film historian Howard Hughes described the film as a remake of the 1965 film Planet of the Vampires. In his Cinema Italiano: The Complete Guide from Classics to Cult, Hughes criticizes the movie in every respect, stating, “Cosmos is the most consistent Italian sci-fi movie: script, special effects, costumes, music, and acting are all terrible.”
22:39 – Concorde – A Supersonic Story – The life of the most glamorous plane ever built, told by the people whose lives she touched. We uncover rare footage telling the forgotten row between the French and British governments over the name of Concorde that threatened to derail the whole project. On the eve of the opening of Bristol’s multi-million-pound aerospace museum, a cast of engineers, flight technicians and frequent fliers tell the supersonic story aided by Lord Heseltine and Dame Joan Collins – and we meet the passenger who shared an intimate moment with The Rolling Stones. Narrated by Sophie Okonedo. First broadcast Tue 10th Oct 2017, 21:00 on BBC4.
23:38 – A repeat of the very boring Musical Train Journey for those who weren’t around earlier.
01:06 – Closedown Music.
01:11 – Closedown.