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.”
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Denne historien er fra November 2021-utgaven av SFX.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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ANCER MAHAGEMENT
WITH A NEW TRILOGY IN SIGHT, WE SPEAK TO THE DIRECTOR OF 28 WEEKS LATER THE ORIGINAL CHILLING SEQUEL TO DANNY BOYLE'S SEMINAL SURVIVAL HORROR
WHO YA CONNA CALL?
BEHIND THE SCENES AT HALLOWEEN HORROR NIGHTS FOR GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE
SPEAK OF THE DEVIL
THE DEVIL'S HOUR STRIKES TWICE AS THE GENREDEFYING DRAMA RETURNS
SCARRY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK
FROM THE RETURN OF EC COMICS TO SCREAM!, THIS YEAR'S HALLOWEEN OFFERS UP HORROR COMICS FOR ALL THE AGES
UNDEADS REFLECTIONS
NEIL JORDAN ON BRINGING ANNE RICE'S MODERN VAMPIRE CLASSIC TO SCREEN, 30 YEARS ON
MUNSTER MASH!
PRODUCTION HELL, SHOCK RECASTING AND HOTLY CONTESTED AUTHORSHIP. AS THE MUNSTERS CELEBRATE THEIR 60TH ANNIVERSARY, WE UNCOVER HOW THE SPOOKY SITCOM WAS ALMOST DEAD ON ARRIVAL
COMING TO AMERICA
THE MOGWAI LIVE THE AMERICAN DREAM IN THEIR SECOND CHAPTER, GREMLINS: THE WILD BATCH
BEING HUMAN EVOLUTION
IT MAY HAVE BEEN AN INSTANT HIT, BUT BBC THREE'S DARKLY COMIC DRAMA ABOUT A HOUSE-SHARING VAMPIRE/WEREWOLF/GHOST TRIO HAD A STRANGE JOURNEY TO THE SCREEN, SERIES CREATOR TOBY WHITHOUSE TELLS SFX
THE MAINE EVENT
THE DARK IS RISING IN SALEM'S LOT AS STEPHEN KING'S DEATHLESS TALE RETURNS TO THE SCREEN
WHY DON'T YOU STAY FOR A BITE?
THE VAMPIRE COMES HOME AS DIRECTOR EUROS LYN WELCOMES SFX TO HIS NEW DARK COMEDY THE RADLEYS
