The Best of This Way Up

Articles, features and episode guides from the archives of This Way Up are collected together in a unique volume.

Classic children’s Tv: The Ghosts of Motley Hall,  The Feathered Serpent, Sky, Tom Grattan’s War, Richard Carpenter, Children’s and post Watch with Mother serials

Telefantasy: Strange, Firefly, Invasion Earth, Out of this World, Virtual Murder, 1990s telefantasy
Films: Alien, Handmade Films, Jaws, Duck Soup
TV: Nigel Kneale,  Second Coming, Phillip Saville, The Comic Strip Presents, Lives & Loves of a She Devil, Adverts
Theatre: War Horse, The Pillowman, RUR
Miscellany: Pluto, La Machine, Anatomy of a tv advert, The end of record shops and much more
Written by Tim Worthington, Sean Alexander, Oliver Wake, David Rolinson,Matt Salusbury, John Connors

Available in print or digital version from Amazon here Tomorrow Is Now or search on Amazon for Tomorrow Is Now

Excerpts after the break....

Q&A The Feathered Serpent's Richard Willis

twuarchive: occasional slices of fanzine history
Back in 2009 the dvd of the children's series The Feathered Serpent was released and roved to be a suprisingly absorbing and mature work. You can read my overview of the series in the Best of This Way Up book (see the Stuff to Buy page). The issue also included an email Q&A with one of the series' stars Richard Willis who was by then based in the USA but still acting and here it is.....

There’s lots of killings, poisonings and torture going on; what impression did that make on you as a younger actor at the time?
I grew up with Shakespeare.  My first acting role was Young Macduff in Macbeth and so I was quite used to blood and violence.  However I did think that human sacrifice would be a grim way to go!

How much rehearsal time was there considering the large amount of dialogue? 
I think we had two weeks for two episodes, but I'm not sure. I also grew up with Weekly Rep.  That was a theatre whose company would stage plays in a week and so I was undaunted by the time.

The Best of This Way Up 2002-2014 - Now Available!

Tomorrow Is Now
 

The Best of This Way Up 2002 -2014

Articles, features and episode guides from the archives of the acclaimed fanzine/ blog This Way Up are collected together in a unique volume. 

Classic children’s TV: The Ghosts of Motley Hall,  The Feathered Serpent, Sky, Tom Grattan’s War, Richard Carpenter, Children’s and post Watch with Mother serials
 
Telefantasy: Strange, Firefly, Invasion Earth, Out of this World, Virtual Murder, 1990s telefantasy
 
Films: Alien, Handmade Films, Jaws, Duck Soup
 
TV: Nigel Kneale,  Second Coming, Phillip Saville, The Comic Strip Presents, Lives & Loves of  a She Devil, Adverts

Theatre: War Horse, The Pillowman, RUR
 
Miscellany: Pluto, La Machine, The end of record shops and much more 

Written by Tim Worthington, Sean Alexander, OJ Wake, David Rolinson,
Matt Salusbury, John Connors

Available in print or digital version from Amazon here Tomorrow Is Now

or search on Amazon for Tomorrow Is Now