INTERVIEW: Writer and producer Brian Clemens

What a wonderful chap. Brian Clemens chuckled and plugged his way through our interview with ease, like the seasoned pro that he is. Renowned for the ever-so classy handling of his slice of UK cult-televisual pie, most would say it was The Avengers; that quaint, idiosyncratic upper-class British adventure-cum sci-fi production, that Brian's name would ring most familiar. Not the only celebrity in the family, Brian is permitted to boast about his achievements; he even has a medal to show for it all...

The following interview was broadcast on The Geekend, Radio Reverb on 10th September 2011. 

LIVE MUSIC FROM TOM GRAY OF GOMEZ

Every week, with my two awesome friends audio mover-shaker Wayne and the filmically au fait James, we put together the highly acclaimed The Geekend radio show.

From what was just a miniscule acorn of a brilliant idea, cycle six months later, and we can boast shows and guests that honestly make me need to pinch myself to make sure I'm not stuck in some Matrix style machine-dream (check out the list further down this post).

But this week's show was one of my most enjoyable. To celebrate The Persuaders! 40th anniversary, I got to interview Brian Clemens, the fine fellow writer/producer of it (and a right royal British shed load more). But we were also very lucky to be graced with the presence of one fifth of Mercury Music Prize winning band Gomez, in the form of Tom Gray. Now, ashamedly I thought I didn't know any of their music. So when his dulcet tones burst out these magical musical poems (Flyaway Katie in particular), well I was most impressed. Post event I popped on to Spotify to discover what a numpty I was as Gomez are a band who you may not think you know, but actually, it's impossible not to recognise Whippin' Piccadilly or Options. I totally retract the pub admission Tom.

INTERVIEW: Actor, David Prowse

The iconic role of Darth Vader may have been the performance that brought David to his height of fame, but this chap is a character himself. Having played an exhibition of monsters and heavies throughout film and British cult TV, from The Saint to Doctor Who, The Tomorrow People to a flirtation with comedy in the Morecambe & Wise Show, perhaps David was always destined to portray the similitude of a cinematic god.

The following interview was broadcast on The Geekend, Radio Reverb on 3rd September 2011.

GG: You are the man behind the mask of Darth Vader; the light-saber wielding, hand severing, Obi-Wan slaying, Dark Lord of Star Wars. Now I’m sure all avid Star Wars fans know this inside out including myself, but for the benefit of our listeners, how did you get the part of the galaxy’s most feared super-villain; Darth Vader?