MILTON KEYNES IS, it’s safe to say, not exactly a cultural lodestone –particularly in the horror sphere. But the home of concrete cows and franchise football did play a part in sparking the imagination of Lucy Catherine, writer of Harland, a five-part drama for Radio 4/BBC Sounds concerning what its author describes as “weird shit, with weird paranormal things happening” in a new town.
“I was brought up on the west coast of Scotland, in the middle of nowhere, in a place that felt really infused with Celtic mythology,” the writer tells SFX. “Then I moved when I was 16… to Milton Keynes. Harland isn’t about Milton Keynes, but those towns which were built to erase the past and be the shiny, happy future are fascinating. I’ve been trying to find a way to put those two worlds together, and it occurred to me: Milton Keynes was built on an ancient village.
“So my town, Harland, is built on an ancient village as well. The town is really the central character. It’s about how this materialist world that we live in connects to this ancient folklore just beneath our feet.”
This isn’t a ’60s new town though, but one founded in 2000 by a “Steve Jobs type” tech billionaire, which is now gearing up to celebrate its 50th anniversary via a festival. Yes, Harland (whose events take place over the course of five days) is a near-future tale. “It’s everything we could identify with now, but slightly heightened,” Catherine explains. “So a world run online, where there’s electric, driverless cars, and people are disconnected from their roots and the land.”
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة November 2021 من SFX.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة November 2021 من SFX.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Making Alien - Jaws in Space - Forty-five years on from its original release, Alien continues to terrify. We dissect what arguably remains the most chilling instalment in the saga
The seven-strong crew of the commercial mining spacecraft the Nostromo seal their fate after reluctantly responding to a mysterious distress signal on a hostile planet. Here, a face-hugging alien from a derelict ship impregnates and later kills executive officer Kane (John Hurt) after its offspring is birthed onboard. After being unleashed, the fearsome newborn with acid for blood proceeds to dispatch the remainder of the crew.Ridley Scott's much more convoluted prequels have yet to reveal how the knowledge that led to this initial interception was acquired. However, the premise of the original Alien is perfect in its uncomplicated purity.
PURE AND SIMPLE
IN THE FINAL PART OF OUR EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW, SHOWRUNNER RUSSELL T DAVIES TALKS RELAUNCHING DOCTOR WHO
TO CAP IT ALL OFF
CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF THE BBC SERIES THE TRIPODS
FRENCH REVOLUTION
THE WALKING DEAD SPIN-OFF SHOWRUNNER DAVID ZABEL ON BEING GIVEN THE TOUGH TASK OF REUNITING DARYL AND CAROL IN FRANCE
SILENT KILLERS
THE DIRECTOR OF HOLLYWOOD'S SPEAK NO EVIL REMAKE ON HORROR, COMEDY AND JAMES MCAVOY
BRING OUT YOUR DEAD
THE GHOST WITH THE MOST RETURNS FINALLY - IN BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
TEENAGE DREAM
JOE LOCKE HITS THE ROAD RUNNING
MOB RULE THE PENGUIN
GOTHAM'S UP FOR GRABS IN BRUISING NEW CRIME SAGA BUT WHERE IS THE BATMAN?
SEASON OF THE WITCH
AS MARVEL TELEVISION CARVES OUT A NEW PATH FOR ITSELF, WE SPEAK TO CREATOR JAC SCHAEFFER, PLUS A CAST OF STARS LED BY KATHRYN HAHN AND JOE LOCKE, ABOUT THE MAGIC OF WANDAVISION'S SPIN-OFF AGATHA ALL ALONG
Ghouls Allowed
Even silence can't save you at this year's Halloween Horror Nights
