The EscapeGoat Podcast

A discussion podcast about most things, flaws and all. Gruntled. Misleading, but not wrong. Hosted (usually) by David Faggiani. Now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube. Released fortnightly on Sundays.

And Ninthly... An Inside No 9 Podcast: S9 Ep2 - The Trolley Problem 05/16/2024

And Ninthly... An Inside No 9 Podcast: S9 Ep1 - Boo To A Goose 05/11/2024

Episode 64 - The Hitch-Hiker/Point Break 04/30/2024

Episode 63 - Monty Python's The Meaning Of Life 04/17/2024

Episode 63 - Monty Python's The Meaning Of Life This week, my brother Matt returns to the show! We have a terrifically fun chat about the deeply flawed, maniacally disturbing and nasty but still kind of wonderful movie Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983, Terry Jones). In the first half, we discuss our general thoughts and reactions to the movie, from childhood exposure to it, til now. In the second half, we do a discursive trawl in rough order through the film's disparate sketches, songs and nightmare fuel. We hope it's a good listen - we enjoyed it! 0.00 Intro/preamble 0.16 The Meaning Of Life (pt 1) - general discussion of the movie and Python 0.55 The Meaning Of Life (pt 2) - rough in-order discussion of the movie's sketches, songs and other sequences You can find the show on Twitter/X at (or tweet/post at me on - I'm also now on Bluesky) and email us with any feedback on . All our episodes so far are , , and Do spread the word! We also have - any amount of money will get you early access to episodes, and help support the show! Matt and Mike can be found on Spotify (and other streaming platforms) with their regular co-hosted movie analysis show '' - Matt has previously appeared on several episodes of this show - including, as we mention in the show, our 2022 episodes on and , and our 2021 episode on , which functions as a natural companion piece to this installment. Check them out! All original intro, outro and other incidental music recorded and made available by kind permission of Richard Gilbert. NOTES There's quite a lot of Python-related material (apart from the core shows/films) on Netflix at the moment - including an interview they did around 2013, where they talk about production elements of The Meaning of Life, amongst other things. Very illuminating. Also... if anyone else hadn't seen 'The Adventures of Martin Luther' scene cut from the film... . Extraordinary. The interviews Matt conducted quite recently which he references in the show, respectively with actors and , are both really, really worth checking out - would recommend! Also, if you wish to hear my nephew performing his punk epic '8 million/10 million Babies' - and who wouldn't - . Bracing stuff. /episode/index/show/escapegoatpodcast/id/30859918

Episode 62 - Calvary 03/31/2024

Episode 61 - The Long Good Friday 03/29/2024

Episode 61 - The Long Good Friday This is Series 5! Come on in. We kick off this run with a brilliant combination of returning guests Kit Power and James Murphy, joining me to pick apart (well, gush over) the seminal, thrilling yet melancholic and haunting British Gangster movie The Long Good Friday (1980, John Mackenzie). We discuss Bob Hoskins, Helen Mirren and the snapshot of dawn-of-Thatcher London presented here. Also politics, money, racism, queerness, violence... and Razors. Oh, and THAT ending. Spoilers. 0.00 Intro/preamble 0.14 The Long Good Friday pt 1 1.03 The Long Good Friday pt 2 You can find the show on X at (or post at me on - I'm on Bluesky too) and email us with any feedback on . All our episodes so far are , , and Do spread the word! We also have - any amount of money will get you early access to episodes, and help support the show! 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 ( with Volume 1 and 2 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 and on with George Lea. For weekly early access to his fiction, non-fiction, and podcasting work, visit . He has also been on five previous episodes of The EscapeGoat Podcast, discussing each part of the original UK House of Cards Trilogy in turn, the Stephen King short story collection Skeleton Crew, and then his essay collection My Life In Horror Volume II. Check them out! Also get him on Twitter and Bluesky. James podcasts at , about Doctor Who, Bob Dylan and whatever else he pleases. He also co-hosts the marvellous (check it out!) and his Springsteen project (with Kit) We Learned More From a Three Minute Record. He can be got primarily via jamesmurphy.bsky.social on Bluesky these days. This is his third appearance on this show - last year he featured talking about Douglas Adams' Mostly Harmless. NOTES Here is the full extended clip featuring Bob Hoskins and film critic Barry Norman in walkabout conversation around London from a few years after the movie, which we play an excerpt from in the episode. Watch it, they make a ridiculously charming unlikely pair. I'd watch a series of just them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTgqHsJ4410 Here's a retrospective piece from 2021, including some thoughts from Helen Mirren on the movie: Here is a BBC cast and crew documentary about TLGF from 2005: And here's a BFI panel discussion (including Paul Barber) from 2015: Finally... I've had this podcast planned for a while... but in autumn 2023, over at my brother Matt's podcast... they were lucky enough to have guest star Simon Osborne ('Pitt the Younger' in Blackadder III) on for a chat (which is a fascinating listen in its own right)... but guess what movie Simon picked as his favourite to talk about?? Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0ktV6CZqxuqon76fYDIQHz?si=ilM6R_GvR9aAOQ6w8i7xjg /episode/index/show/escapegoatpodcast/id/30573878

Episode 60 - The 60th Anniversary of Doctor Who (pt 2) 12/30/2023

Episode 60 - The 60th Anniversary of Doctor Who (pt 1) 12/12/2023

Episode 60 - The 60th Anniversary of Doctor Who (pt 1) We're back for a pair of specials, ahead of the end of the year! In this first part, Colleen and Andrew discuss the three November/December 2023 Doctor Who Specials, featuring David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor - particularly The Giggle, which had just aired about 24 hours before we had the chat. It's first draft of history time, folks! Join us as we discuss strange quasi-retirements, fresh starts, disquiet, and, of course, comfort and joy. 0.00 pt 1 - General chat about the Specials/Tennant/RTD 0.37 pt 2 - Thoughts about The Giggle, and where the show goes next We'll be back with a part 2 just after Christmas! x You can find the show on X at (or post at me on ) and email us with any feedback on . All our episodes so far are , , and Do spread the word! We also have - any amount of money will get you early access to episodes, and help support the show! Colleen Cheetham-Gerrard, despite the name, is not a Daily Telegraph columnist. Instead, she's a stand-up comedian and public speaker who can mostly be found on the London circuit. Colleen was also a co-host for Strong Female Leads, a now-completed podcast focusing on nerd culture from a feminist perspective. You can find Colleen via on X, and she's also on Instagram and Bluesky. Andrew Blair is a writer, poet and software developer based in Edinburgh, and a frequent contributor to Den of Geek and other sites. You can . He can be found on X (and Bluesky) via . Both Colleen and Andrew featured on a previous episode of this podcast, in which we discussed the Flux series of Who - . And where Colleen and I chatted about the Matt Smith-led Season 6 of the show. All original intro, outro and other incidental music recorded and made available by kind permission of Richard Gilbert. NOTES Here's , and . I haven't even read Darren Mooney's review of The Giggle yet, but I know it'll be great - . Oh, and here's /episode/index/show/escapegoatpodcast/id/29035413

Episode 59 - The Straight Story 07/30/2023

Episode 59 - The Straight Story We cap off this current series with a great finale episode, in which I am joined by the brilliant Christine Kelley for the first time. After a general chat about a few things, we turn to talking about our mutual backgrounds with the films of David Lynch, and then in the second part we focus in on Christine's favourite Lynch film - the elegiac, melancholy and tenderly unconventional road movie The Straight Story (1999). Such a lovely chat. Hope you enjoy it. This episode is respectfully dedicated to the memory of Dr David Baume (1943-2023). 0.00 pt 1 - Intro/David Lynch chat in general 0.48 pt 2 - The Straight Story That's it for Series 4! Thank you for listening everyone! And many many thanks to all the contributors. You're the best bunch in the world. The EscapeGoat Podcast will return... You can find the show on Twitter at (or tweet at me on ) and email us with any feedback on . All our episodes so far are , , and Do spread the word! We also have - any amount of money will get you early access to episodes, and help support the show! Christine Kelley (@ballardiangorse on various platforms) writes about speculative fiction and radical politics from a queer revolutionary perspective. Currently her main project is Nowhere and Back Again, a psychogeography of J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. Her first project was the now semi-retired blog Dreams of Orgonon, a song-by-song study of Kate Bush. . All original intro, outro and other incidental music recorded and made available by kind permission of Richard Gilbert. NOTES This Cinephilia Beyond retrospective article on The Straight Story is well worth checking out (as is the B-roll footage it includes). Also, have a look at this wonderful piece by friend-of-the-show Kit Power on Wild at Heart, one of his long-running My Life in Horror series (now available in two-volume book form). Oh, we mention American Beauty as (bizarrely) outshining The Straight Story at the Oscars? Here's my brother Matt and his podcast partner Mike having a chat about that film: Finally, here is Christine's post which will make you want to watch the classic surreal Czech film Daisies. WATCH DAISIES. /episode/index/show/escapegoatpodcast/id/27602256

Episode 58 - And Then There Were None 07/19/2023

Episode 57 - Star Trek: Invasion! First Strike 07/02/2023

Episode 57 - Star Trek: Invasion! First Strike In this latest installment, I'm joined by film critic and pop culture commentator Darren Mooney, to have a ridiculously nerdy and only slightly rambling conversation about Star Trek - both in general terms (initially), and then our respective experiences of the various tie-in book series. Following that, we zero-in on one specific Star Trek novel - that being Star Trek: Invasion! First Strike (Diane Carey, 1996). We had a great time. If this interests anyone else, it will be a bonus. Many thanks to Darren. 0.00 Intro chat/David and Darren's background with Star Trek in general 1.12 A selective overview of the Star Trek novel tie-ins 1.41 Star Trek: Invasion! First Strike You can find the show on Twitter at (or tweet at me on ) and email us with any feedback on . All our episodes so far are , , and Do spread the word! We also have - any amount of money will get you early access to episodes, and help support the show! Darren Mooney is a pop culture critic at large for . He writes the twice-weekly In the Frame column, writes and voices the In the Frame videos, provides film reviews and writes the weekly Out of Focus column. Plus, occasionally he has opinions about other things as well. Darren lives and works in Dublin. He also writes for The Irish Independent and provides weekly film coverage for radio station Q102. He co-hosts the weekly and he has also written three published books of criticism on The X-Files, Christopher Nolan and Doctor Who. He somehow finds time to watch movies and television on top of that. Ironically, his superpowers are at their strongest when his glasses are on. His extensive work on Star Trek (and many other topics) at The M0vie Blog is, frankly, stupendous (our words). . All original intro, outro and other incidental music recorded and made available by kind permission of Richard Gilbert. NOTES Another trove of work regarding Star Trek is this sizeable archive of essays at Eruditorum Press. . I also greatly enjoy the long-running Pensky Podcast, who are at time of this episode covering Season 3 of Voyager, and Witney Seibold and William Bibbiani's All Our Yesterdays show, currently discussing Season 4 of TNG, and available on their Critically Acclaimed network's Patreon. /episode/index/show/escapegoatpodcast/id/27350628

Episode 56 - The Flash 06/23/2023

And Ninthly... An Inside No 9 Podcast: S8 Ep 6 - The Last Weekend 06/01/2023

And Ninthly... An Inside No 9 Podcast: S8 Ep 5 - 3 by 3 05/25/2023

And Ninthly... An Inside No 9 Podcast: S8 Ep 4 - Love Is A Stranger 05/18/2023

And Ninthly... An Inside No 9 Podcast: S8 Ep 3 - Paraskevidekatriaphobia 05/10/2023

And Ninthly... An Inside No 9 Podcast: S8 Ep 2 - Mother's Ruin 05/05/2023

And Ninthly... An Inside No 9 Podcast: S8 Ep 1 - The Bones of St Nicholas 05/04/2023

Episode 55 - Jaws (pt 2) 04/23/2023

Episode 55 - Jaws (pt 1) 04/09/2023

Episode 54 - Mostly Harmless 03/26/2023

Episode 53 - Holiday/The Hudsucker Proxy 03/12/2023

Episode 52 - My Life in Horror Volume II 02/26/2023

Episode 52 - My Life in Horror Volume II Welcome to Series 4! We're back with a fresh run in 2023. And we're kicking off by welcoming back the wonderful Kit Power, to talk to me about his new essay collection, My Life in Horror Volume II! Join us as we talk about whether the Nightmare on Elm St movies ever lived up to their potential, whether Bruce Springsteen is a horror writer, why Superman III is utterly terrifying, and much much more! 0.00 Intro 0.08 pt 1 - General chat about My Life in Horror Volume II pt 2 - A closer look at some of the essays 0.47 I Had A Job, I Had A Girl (Born in the USA) 1.03 You've Been on my Nerves for a Long Time (Superman III) 1.24 Obnoxious, Self-Righteous Sadists (Smoking) 1.43 If Only There Is Something We Could Have Done (XCOM) 2.01 El Eye Vee, Ee Are Pee, Double Oh El (Cracker) 2.25 We Will Bury You (Confessions of a Reluctant Barman) You can buy Kit's new book , either in physical form or for Kindle (and ), or you can of course get your local bookshop or library (at least in the UK) to order it. Please do - it's a real experience! You can find the show on Twitter at (or tweet at me on ) and email us with any feedback on . All our episodes so far are , , and ! We are also now on . 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 ( with Volume 1 and 2 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, with George Lea, and a Patreon exclusive show on the Sherlock Holmes canon with Jack Graham. For weekly early access to his fiction, non-fiction, and podcasting work, visit . He has also been on four previous episodes of The EscapeGoat Podcast, discussing each part of the original UK House of Cards Trilogy in turn and then the Stephen King short story collection Skeleton Crew. Check them out! All original intro, outro and other incidental music recorded and made available by kind permission of Richard Gilbert. NOTES Kit actually recorded an episode of Jack Graham's Shabcast back in early 2020, to promote and discuss Volume I of MLiH - you can (and should!) The music at the beginning of this EscapeGoat episode is a clip from a peculiar rights-challenged Hip Hop oddity - if you're not aware of it, . /episode/index/show/escapegoatpodcast/id/26044683

Episode 51 - Count Duckula 11/16/2022

Episode 51 - Count Duckula We're back! With an autumn special, before a new series in 2023. I welcome once again to the show both Matt and George! After an introductory chat, mostly about our recent Halloween/horror experiences (and the recent Hellraiser movie)... we move onto our main topic... the Cosgrove Hall UK animated classic Count Duckula (ITV, 1988-1993). Including a bit of animation history context from former guest Dru... and our most special guest ever... the inimitable Doreen Edwards (vocalist of the Count Duckula theme tune) We hope it's fun! Stick around after the credits for me and George having a chat about the cult comedy-horror hit Don't Hug Me I'm Scared (YouTube/Channel 4, 2011-16, 2022-). 0.00 Intro/Halloween 2022 preamble 0.16 Hellraiser (2022) 0.30 Count Duckula pt 1 0.56 The History of Cosgrove Hall (with Dru) 1.18 Count Duckula pt 2 1.32 Interview with Doreen Edwards (vocalist of Count Duckula theme) 1.46 Count Duckula pt 3 1.58 Don't Hug Me I'm Scared You can find the show on Twitter at (or tweet at me on ) and email us with any feedback on . All our episodes so far are , , and ! Do share and enjoy. We also have - any amount of money will get you early access to episodes, and help support the show! Matt and Mike can be found on YouTube with their regular co-hosted movie analysis show '' - Matt has previously appeared on several episodes of this show - most recently, George is a prolific YouTube creator, mostly on videogames, pop culture and literature, . His horror fiction and reviews can be discovered on . He can be reached on Twitter on . He has previously featured on this podcast talking about , , and and I had the honour of featuring on his channel talking about ! Dru (our animation expert) previously appeared on our episodes about and . Highly recommended. All original intro, outro and other incidental music recorded and made available by kind permission of Richard Gilbert. NOTES So... here's Here's George and Kit Power (also a previous guest on this show!) and Alasdair Stuart talking about Cosgrove Hall too, with focus on s. I've got no idea about the legality of this... but is your easiest pathway to watching a lot of Count Duckula. Enjoy! Doreen Edwards is a living legend, and you can on Matt and Mike Pull Focus' channel. Furthermore, her work with Distant Cousins is outstanding. Start maybe with (which has been in my head for most of this year...) and, of course... the original Don't Hug Me I'm Scared material can be found . And the new stuff on Channel 4. /episode/index/show/escapegoatpodcast/id/25029735

Episode 50 - Aguirre/Nosferatu/Fitzcarraldo 06/26/2022

Episode 50 - Aguirre/Nosferatu/Fitzcarraldo Here it is - the last episode of our third series! In which returning guest Nannina and new guest Lauren Humphries-Brooks join me to chat about three amazing Werner Herzog movies, Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972), Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) and Fitzcarraldo (1982). And also Bob's Burgers, obviously. Thank you so much to all our guests this year, and everyone who has listened. The EscapeGoat Podcast will return.... 0.00 Intro/preamble 0.19 our backgrounds with Herzog's movies 0.32 Aguirre, the Wrath of God 1.02 Nosferatu the Vampyre 1.31 Fitzcarraldo 1.46 Wrap-up You can find the show on Twitter at (or tweet at me on ) and email us with any feedback on . All our episodes are , , and Do share and enjoy. We also have - any amount of money will get you early access to episodes, and help support the show. 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 via talking about early women filmmakers. Lauren is a writer, editor, and media journalist. She regularly contributes to film and pop culture websites, and has written extensively on Classical Hollywood, British horror films, and the sci-fi, fantasy, and horror genres. She is the co-host of . She can be found on Twitter via . All original intro, outro and other incidental music recorded and made available by kind permission of Richard Gilbert. NOTES A couple of podcast recommendations... firstly, the Cult Movies Podcast, which works through the films written about by Danny Peary in Cult Movies, did last year. Secondly, They Must Be Destroyed on Sight! did an episode a few years ago (featuring Jack Graham, who has been on this show) . Both recommended. The can be found on YouTube - and you can probably find a few others on there too, alongside in the middle of this episode. /episode/index/show/escapegoatpodcast/id/23541425

And Ninthly... An Inside No 9 Podcast: S7 Ep 6 - Wise Owl 06/16/2022

And Ninthly... An Inside No 9 Podcast: S7 Ep 5 - A Random Act of Kindness 06/05/2022

And Ninthly... An Inside No 9 Podcast: S7 Ep 4 - Kid/Nap 06/01/2022

And Ninthly... An Inside No 9 Podcast: S7 Ep 3 - Nine Lives Kat 05/29/2022

Episode 49 - Skeleton Crew 05/22/2022

Episode 49 - Skeleton Crew Our latest episode - and our longest ever - in which I welcome back Kit, and we go deep on the 1985 Stephen King horror short story collection Skeleton Crew. And get pretty dark. After 20 mins at the start about Die Hard 2, naturally. Enjoy! 0.00 Introduction/chat about Die Hard 2 0.19 Our backgrounds with short fiction and Stephen King 1.03 The Mist 1.48 Here There Be Tygers 2.01 Milkman (#1 and #2) 2.11 Gramma 2.35 Word Processor of the Gods 3.06 The Jaunt 3.31 Survivor Type You can find the show on Twitter at (or tweet at me on ) and email us with any feedback on . All our episodes so far are , , and ! We are also now on . 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 ( 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 Jack Graham. For weekly early access to his fiction, non-fiction, and podcasting work, visit . He has also been on three episodes of The EscapeGoat Podcast, discussing each part of the original UK House of Cards Trilogy. All original intro, outro and other incidental music recorded and made available by kind permission of Richard Gilbert. NOTES Kit has put out a fair bit in both written and recorded form about King and his works. A few highlights and perhaps the ones most relevant to this podcast include these two pieces ( and ) about The Mist (2007), and these two chats ( and ) about It (book and film) with George Daniel Lea. Talking of other people who have featured on this podcast, back in 2016 (just before the US Presidential Election) Kit and Jack Graham got together on The Shabcast to chat about . A few years later, they got together again t , which comes up in our episode here. All very worth a listen, in my view. /episode/index/show/escapegoatpodcast/id/23188886

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