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Very British FuturesAuthor: Gareth Preston
Enthusiastic, informed analysis of British television's most interesting science fiction series. From cult favourites like "The Tripods" to obscurities such as "The Uninvited". Each episode, host Gareth Preston is joined by special guests to discuss a show, celebrating its ideas, achievements and sometimes its mistakes. Visit our website at https://westlakefilms.uk/verybritishfutures/ Follow us on Twitter @futuresvery Visit our Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/verybritishfuturespodcast/ Visit uk.bookshop.org/shop/verybritishfutures for books relating to the podcast and its contributors Language: en Genres: Arts, Performing Arts Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it Trailer: |
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Alternative 3
Episode 1
Saturday, 14 March, 2026
Welcome to Very British Futures, the podcast where we explore Britain’s past visions of tomorrow on the small screen — the futures that became part of pop culture, and the ones that somehow slipped through the cracks of television history.We are launching a brand new season with an episode takes us back to 1977 and a groundbreaking docu-drama made when such programmes were relatively rare - Alternative 3. Originally aired on ITV on the 20th of June that year and immediately caused confusion, alarm, and a fair bit of late-night debate in pubs and living rooms across the country. Was it a serious investigative documentary? A science fiction thriller in the vein of Quatermass? Or an elaborate hoax that proved more convincing than its makers intended?Journalists on a science magazine show claimed to reveal a secret plan devised by world governments and scientific elites: a desperate response to a dying planet involving disappearing scientists, a secret space programme, and a supposed off-world escape route for the elite of humanity. It was bleak, conspiratorial, and delivered with astraight-faced authority that blurred the line between factualreporting and speculative fiction.Nearly fifty years later, the programme still holds a strangeplace in British broadcasting history. It sits somewhere between Cold War paranoia, mischief, and the enduring fascination with hidden truths. To help us untangle the story behind Alternative 3 — its production, its reception, and the long conspiracy-theoryafterlife it spawned — Gareth Preston is joined by actor, writer,broadcaster, and noted expert on the odd corners of British film and television, Toby Hadoke.So settle in as we dig into a real one-off of British telefantasy.Very British Futures is hosted and produced by Gareth Preston, with guest Toby Hadoke. Music by Chatri Art, and James Leatherbarrow. Artwork by Ken Moss. This is a Phantom Frame production.Find out more about Toby Hadoke and his work -https://tobyhadoke.com/Order his marvellous book on The Quatermass Experiment -https://tenacrefilms.bigcartel.com/product/the-quatermass-experiment-the-making-of-tv-s-first-sci-fi-classicToby Hadoke’s adaptation of Nigel Kneale’s The Road -https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0000y1dIMDB page for Alternative 3https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075664/reference/Visit our website at http://westlakefilms.uk/verybritishfutures/Follow us on X at https://x.com/FuturesVery
