The Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever* podcast looks back at more than a century of films, beginning in 1902 and working towards the future. Each episode focuses on a film, director or theme and brings in experts to discuss the history, politics, and influences. Join sci-fi enthusiast Ayesha Khan as she travels through time and space, encounters aliens, and battles authoritarian regimes all from the comfort of your home planet. Released every two weeks*Almost Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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If you would like to be a patron of the podcast you can join Patreon and for £3 or $3 a month you can get ad free version of the show. https://www.patreon.com/everyscififilm
This episode had been edited down to a more digestible length of under an hour but a longer (audio only) version is available for Patreon subscribers (alongside the shorter option).
We are doing things a little differently and discussing the 1963 film along with the source material which is John Wyndham’s 1951 book The Day of the Triffids.
The Day of the Triffids film was released in 1963 after reshoots were required to add a whole new arc in the story and bring the time to a more suitable length for a feature.
The film has many of the hallmarks of a 1950s science fiction film but seems to be reflective of the Golden Era of science fiction very much coming to its end.
The film is (very loosely) based on John Wyndham’s first successful novel but seems more dedicated to the tropes of a 1950s sci-fi marketed for a mass, US leaning audience. The book is chockful of themes that are touched upon throughout the story which have very little (if any) presence in the film.
I have added a list of the characters we discuss below as well as a quick overview of their roles in the book and the film.
As usual I have two insightful guests to help us understand all of this.
Matthew Rule-Jones is a senior lecturer in film studies at the University of Exeter and author of the book Science Fiction Cinema and 1950s Britain: Recontextualising Cultural Anxiety.
Adam Stock is a senior lecturer in English Literature at York St John University and author of the book Dystopian Fiction and Political Thought: Narratives of World Politics.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:30 John Wyndham’s first hit
05:23 The concept of the cosy catastrophe
08:43 Wyndham’s Britain: post-colonial triffids coming home to roost
14:48 The 1963 film: Wells, end of the golden age and marketing
20:04 The lighthouse sequences: Karen vs Josella
23:06 Weed killers in The Silent Spring era and WW2 imagery
25:17 The role of the Triffids
30:37 Bill Masen the hero
34:37 Coker’s missing role
37:11 Women!
40:27 The ending
46:51 Legacy
53:57 Recommendations
Bill Masen:
Hero in both the book and the film. In the book Bill is English and works for the triffid farm where he has been almost blinded by a triffid sting. His colleague begins to suspect the triffids are indeed sentient and able to communicate. This brings up questions around exploitation and enslavement. In the film Bill is American and works for the US Navy who help save the hero and other survivors at the end of the film.
Josella Playton:
The heroine from the novel is not present in the 1963 film. Josella comes from a wealthy family (one with servants) and has written a notorious book titled Sex is my Adventure.
Coker:
Coker has a large role in the book and we meet him as an advocate for the newly blinded masses when many of the few sighted people left are attempting to save themselves from the threat of a disintegrating society. He is a strong public speaker from a working-class background who had learned to speak in a way that is more amenable to the intelligentsia and upper classes. His strongly held beliefs (of forcing the sighted to serve the blind) change through the book to become less idealistic and more practical.
Coker in the film is an old man with a very minimal role who dies early in the story form a triffid attack.
Susan:
Is a young girl who is rescued by Bill in the film after a train crash and ensuing chaos. In the book Bill takes in Susan whose family have died. She is a capable young child who develops an understanding of triffid behaviour from observing them as she guards the home that Josella and Bill stay in for many years.
Miss Durrant:
In the film Miss Durrant is the beautiful heroine that Bill meets in a large house in France that is caring from blind survivors of the meteor shower. In the book, Miss Durrant is a religious minded woman who is appalled at a man named Beadley’s attempts to rebuild society through polygamy. She seems to purposefully mislead Bill who is trying to track down Beadley because he thinks Josella will be with him.
NEXT EPISODE!
Next episode we will be speaking about The Manchurian Candidate from 1962 by John Frankenheimer. A film that may not fit the definition of science fiction for many people but by now I think we know how ambiguous those definitions can be!
You can find the film on streaming platforms including Apple TV. The Just Watch website is a good resource to find where the film is available online in your region.
Panic in Year Zero: Nuclear Apocalypse & the Nuclear Family
If you would like to be a patron of the podcast you can join Patreon and for £3 or $3 a month you can get ad free version of the show. https://www.patreon.com/everyscififilm
There is a trigger warning for discussion of rape in this episode. I have marked the beginning of that part of the discussion with a beep and the discussion lasts for four minutes and four seconds after the beep if you wanted to skip past it.
Last week we told you “Don’t Panic!” but this week we focus in on the panic.
Panic in Year Zero was directed by and stars Ray Milland and is about a father taking his family on the road to do some camping. One the way there a nuclear bomb is dropped on Los Angeles and the world starts to fall into disarray. Not because of the bomb causing devastation or radiation but because of how human s are absolute nutters given the slightest chance.
This film has a very 1950s sensibility but with a Jazz laden soundtrack that hints at the unruly decade ahead.
The Federal Civil Defense Administration in the US in the early 50s was set up by President Truman to educate and prepare the public in case of an attack on US soil. The short film mentioned in the discussion The House in the Middle can be
Don't Panic: The Hitchhiker's Guide Phenomenon
Episode 42
Sunday, September 28, 2025 • Duration 57:04
As always there are spoilers ahead. You can buy the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy book in most bookshops and you can listen to the radio play on YouTube and also on the Internet Archive.
If you would like to be a patron of the podcast you can join Patreon and for £3 or $3 a month you can get ad free version of the show and be revered amongst both the G'Gugvuntts and the Vl'Hurgs: https://www.patreon.com/everyscififilm
As mentioned elsewhere this is not an analysis of the film or any kind of review of the book but more like a chat amongst fans of what the story means to us and why.
My amazing guests are very qualified to wax lyrical about the topic at hand.
Michael Newton is a University Lecturer at the Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society. He is a cultural historian who has written about film amongst many other topics including being the Editor of the book The Origins of Science Fiction.
Mark Steadman creative digital producer, long time podcaster and host of the Beware of the Leopard podcast which explored the A to Z of the Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy. (He also has what I consider the best productivity podcast in the world as it takes into consideration that we are humans with feelings and lives. Undo – How history’s outliers got stuff done can be found here.)
La Jetée: French New Wave's 1962 Sci-Fi Classic
Episode 41
Sunday, September 14, 2025 • Duration 59:08
As always there are spoilers ahead!
A quick note that I shall be at the London Film Festival on October the 16th giving a whistlestop tour of sci-fi cinema. It is a free event but you have to reserve tickets so if you happen to be in London and wanted to attend here is the information.
Translation for the beginning of the podcast:
“Later, he knew he had seen a man die.
And sometime after came the destruction of Paris.”
If you would like to be a patron of the podcast you can join Patreon and for £3 or $3 a month you can get ad free version of the show. https://www.patreon.com/everyscififilm
La Jetée is very different from the science fiction films I have covered so far. A 28-minute art film mostly made of still images that went on to inspire many films as well as the 1995 12 Monkeys. The filmmaker, Chris Marker was an elusive French multimedia journalist, artist, writer, filmmaker, photographer who very rarely did interviews. He was part of the Left Bank group in Paris which was part of the larger French New Wave movement.
My amazing science fiction authorities today are Lisa Yaszek who is Regents' Professor of Science Fiction Studies at Georgia Tech and has written/edited multiple books on science fiction and Mark Bould who is a professor of Film and Literature at the University of West England, Bristol. He has also written/edited numerous books on science fiction.
The Day the Earth Caught Fire: Britain’s 1961 Apocalypse
Episode 40
Sunday, August 31, 2025 • Duration 55:27
As always there are spoilers ahead!
If you’d like to join in on more conversations and keep up to date on what I’m working on you can follow me on social media: Threads, Instagram and Bluesky.
After last episode’s UK village setting we stay in the country but head to London for a newsroom apocalyptic drama. We have more hints that we are heading into the 60s with a surly hero and a sultry ex-Disney heroine.
The Day the Earth Caught Fire was finally released in 1961 after eight years of director Val Guest trying to get the film made. Perhaps the mid-50s Britian wasn’t ready for this story although it would be interesting to see what kind of differences there would have been. (Val Guest was busy making The Quatermass Xperiment during that time!)
I welcome back two excellent guests to teach us more about this film.
Jay Telotte is Professor Emeritus of film and media studies at Georgia Tech. He has written/edited numerous books and articles about science fiction film including the 2023 book Selling Science Fiction Cinema.
Glyn Morgan is Head of Collections and Principal Curator at the Science Museum in London and a science fiction scholar.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
02:17 1961: Anxiety, British Free Cinema & Angry Young Men
07:28 The CND and memories of the war
Village of the Damned: Creepy Kids & the Cosy Catastrophe
If you want to support the podcast you can get ad free versions at Patreon.
In 1956 the film The Bad Seed was a big hit for Warner Bros featuring a blond-haired evil child.
One blond scary child sometimes isn't enough! Writer John Wyndham published The Midwich Cuckoos in 1957 which had already sold to MGM before he’d completed it. The film tells the story of a different kind of alien invasion. Midwich village is infested with pregnancies affecting the female population who all give birth to blonde haired and light eyed, rapidly growing, telepathic children (did I mention they were creepy?). Outsiders who will go to any length to keep their kind alive.
I have two absolutely amazing guests who can tease apart some of the history and themes of this wonderful sci-fi horror.
Mark Bould is a professor of Film and Literature at the University of West England, Bristol. He has written/edited extensively about science fiction cinema.
Roger Luckhurst is a Professor at Birkbeck, University of London. He has written/edited numerous articles and books on cultural history and film.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
01:38 John Wyndham, The Midwich Cuckoos and MGM’s British studios
04:22 Post War anxieties
07:10 Wyndham and pacifism
08:29 Feminism, forced birth and Wyndham’s women
The Silent Star: 1960 East German Sci-Fi & the Space Race
Episode 38
Sunday, August 3, 2025 • Duration 55:15
As always there are spoilers ahead!
In 1951 Poland, during its Stalinist era, acclaimed science fiction writer Stanislaw Lem released his first book: The Astronauts. (He had already written the novel The Man from Mars which was serialised).
In 1960 The Astronuats would go on to become the basis of East Germany’s ambitious communist sci-fi film Der schweigende Stern or The Silent Star. The script would go through 12 drafts before filming by which time Lem had removed his name from the project.
Although the script lacks focus it is full of historical and cultural significance and is a strong an indictment of why ideological control should not be asserted on the arts.
I have two top notch academics to discuss the film.
Sonja Fritzsche is a professor of German Studies and Senior Associate Dean at Michigan State University. She has also written/edited many books about science fiction.
Evan Torner is an Associate Professor of German Studies and Niehoff Professor of Film & Media Studies at the University of Cincinnati.
Chapters
00:00 Intro
01:53 Post Metropolis German Sci-Fi
09:50 East German filmmaking in 1960: DEFA, Kurt Maetzig & Utopian futures
16:34 The Bitterfelder Weg programme: the working class in the arts
18:50 The Polish influence: Stanislaw Lem, ideological space & the Polish October
24:31 12 drafts of the scripts: Too many cooks
29:24 Influences: Forbidden Planet, Woman in the Moon and If All the Guys in the World
The Time Machine: HG Wells’ Legacy in 1960s Sci-Fi
HG Wells shadow is a long one and his seminal work on time travel was published in 1895. But well over a half a century later Hollywood was still hooked on Herbert (George Wells). The Time Machine was directed by George Pal and released 1960. From the turn of the century to the beginning of a new decade my amazing guests break down the themes and influences on this mid-century steampunk precursor.
Keith Williams is a Reader in English Literature at the University of Dundee where he runs the science fiction programme. He has a special interest in the pre 1945 period and is the author of the book H.G. Wells, Modernity and the Movies.
Ian Scott is a Professor of American Film and History at The University of Manchester. He has written extensively about politics and film in Hollywood.
Chapters
00:00 Intro
02:39 HG Wells in 1985: the book and the birth of cinema
05:37 1960s USA: the cusp of a new age
10:02 The influences on Wells: Thomas Henry Huxley and William Morris
17:21 James Bond: Rod Taylor’s missed opportunity
19:08 Time travel: the time machine, mannequins and the BBC
27:57 The far-flung future: evolution, class and nuclear war
35:32 Fritz Lang, Metropolis, and the death of flower power
39:24 The Legacy
47:09 Recommendations for the listener
The Wasp Woman: Roger Corman’s Corporate Queen
Episode 36
Sunday, July 6, 2025 • Duration 50:41
As always there are spoilers ahead!
Scroll down to read a brief synopsis of the film. The idea is to watch the film in advance before tuning in but apparently many of you listen without prep which is lovely albeit confusing! Next episode’s film is also listed below.
Roger Corman began his career in film in 1950 and would go on to leave a huge mark on the industry by mentoring many filmmakers in the 1970s (Peter Biskind’s book Easy Riders, Raging Bulls is a great read if you’re interested!).
The Wasp Woman from 1959 was produces and directed by Corman and rounds of the podcast’s fantastic foray into the 50s.*
A film that focuses on the CEO of Janice Starlin Enterprises: Janice Starlin herself! The company is suffering and Janice is ageing but scientist Dr Eric Zinthrop had discovered the secret to youth in extracts of royal jelly taken from queen wasps.
My two amazing guests are here to enlighten us on wasps, women and workplace* etiquette.
Roger Luckhurst is a Professor at Birkbeck, University of London. He specialises in literature, film, and cultural history from the 19th century to the present.
Sherryl Vint is Professor of Science Fiction Media Studies at the University of California, Riverside. She has written/edited many books about science fiction.
Chapters
00:00 Intro
02:00 Roger Corman
07:06 Women in 1959, the Mad Men era and real life women CEOs
09:38 The Fly: death, face reveals and campiness
15:52 The 1995 remake
18:13 The parasitic wasp
20:59 Royal jelly, royalty and matriarchs
22:50 Office politics: youth, beauty and 50s expectations
The Tingler: Vincent Price, William Castle & 1959 Ballyhoo
Thank you so much to Patreon subscribers! If you would like to support the podcast and get ad free versions you can subscribe for $3 or £3 a month at https://www.patreon.com/everyscififilm
The idea behind the podcast is we all watch the film (with film choices and where to watch given in the show notes of the previous episode) and then you can listen to the podcast after two weeks and learn more about the film.
It has been brought to my attention (thank you, Olivia!) that sometimes a synopsis might be very helpful to know what on earth is going on. It seems not everyone is watching these films before listening. So, I have added more information further below. As always there are spoilers ahead!
The Tingler (1959) was released in cinemas with the expectation that cinema owners would install “Percepto!” under certain seats. This was a small electric buzzing device that would be triggered during key moments of the film.
Director William Castle was known for these kinds of interactive, promotional gimmicks and had used them many times before. The tradition of “Ballyhoo” in cinema is an old one and involves enticing audiences to the movies with various types of marketing stunts.
Vincent Price plays the hammy lead with a gravitas very few people can pull off. I found this to be a thoroughly enjoyable film despite the lack of “Percepto!” in my own home.
Related Shows Based on Content Similarities
Discover shows related to Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever*, based on actual content similarities. Explore podcasts with similar topics, themes, and formats, backed by real data.
This episode we talk not just about the film but the human fascination with apocalypse. I have the perfect guests for the task.
Steven Schlozman is a psychiatrist and a writer of books including the novel The Zombie Autopsies which was being adapted to film by George Romero before his death in 2017.
John Wills is a Professor of American Media and Culture at the University of Kent. He has written lots about popular culture including 1950s American and Nuclear film.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
01:52 The non-nuclear nuclear film
07:10 Nuclear drills in schools
10:07 USA nuclear prep: Civilian education and CONELRAD
16:33 Jazz music and sociopaths
20:05 Daddy’s gaze
26:39 The fun of Armageddon
32:02 The developmental stage of apocalypse fantasy
John: The book Every Home a Fortress: Cold War Fatherhood and the Family Fallout Shelter by Thomas Bishop
NEXT EPISODE!
Next episode we will be discussing The Day of the Triffids! Although we will be using the 1963 film as a starting point there will be a lot of discussion about the original novel and the differences between the theme heavy book and the fun 50s style scifi of the film.
The film can be found on Fubo, Roku, Pluto and Plex and a few other online streaming platforms in the US and UK. The Just Watch website is a good resource to find where the film may be available in your region.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
01:52 When we were first exposed to H2G2
05:01The Late 70s and scifi
06:54 Mental health and the art of Zen
10: 40 Zaphod: Douglas Adams and the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster
15:31 Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect
19:53 Suburban life and bathos
21:46 Douglas Adams’ “first album”
24:41 The broad appeal
28:03 Douglas’ delightful detours
32:25 We love Douglas and his thin plot
32:58 No happy ending
36:18 Absurdism
37:31 Sirius Cybernetics Corporation and Silicon Valley
41:29 Gadgetry in H2G2
47:11 Shoutout to the super intelligent colour blue
50:25 Legacy: Tech, atheism, and imagination
54:02 Recommendations for the listener
NEXT EPISODE! In two week’s time (if all goes well!) we shall be discussing Panic in the Year Zero (1962) and the appeal of Armageddon. The film is available to buy or rent online in many places in the USA and UK but may be tricky in certain regions.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
02:15 The French New Wave
08:50 The New Wave of science fiction literature
13:00 The New Wave science fiction films
17:53 Vertigo’s influence
21:10 Eros and Thanatos: Love and death (and time loops)
23:55 A very different science fiction film: Un photo-roman, sound and reliable narrators
32:00 The darker future: gritty retrofuturism and echoes of WWII
36:59 What is real? (And why is it so beautiful?)
40:52 Distressing distortions and more death
46:03 The one moving image
48:33 12 Monkeys
51:47 Legacy of the film
55:30 Recommendations for the listener
NEXT EPISODE!
Next episode is episode 42 and it seems patrons on Patreon would like a detour to cover the meaning of life the universe and everything. So we shall be talking about The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. You do not need to watch the film but if you felt like reading the book , listening to the original radio play, watching the TV series or indeed watching the film either as a new experience or to refresh your memory you absolutely can!
08:05 The highs and lows of Cli-Fi
13:16 The beginning of the end
15:47 Val Guest
18:43 Snappy dialogue or too much talk?
22:25 The newsroom
27:40 Arthur Christiansen
30:06 The surlier hero
34:47 Janet Munroe
37:05 Disney & breaking out of type
41:06 One foot firmly in the 60s
42:09 Ambiguous and alternate endings
46:39 Legacy
51:57 Recommendations
NEXT EPISODE!
Next week we will be talking about the beautiful, half hour long, science fiction art film La Jetée (1962) that 12 Monkeys was based on. You can find the film on Apple, Amazon and also on YouTube but the version with English subtitles is not great quality.
11:16 The life of George Sanders: a fabulous cad
18:50 The Cosy Catastrophe
21:38 The premise: terrifying telepathic toddlers
27:20 The evil child and the concept of innocence
31:42 The legacy of the evil child in cinema
35:59 Telepathy
41:47 Class and post war social mobility
47:25 Legacy and the John Carpenter remake
51:29 Recommendations for the listener
The telepathic couple Mark mentions are most likely the Piddingtons.
When Mark says "Astounding" he is referring to the magazine Astounding Science Fiction where the editor was John W Campbell Jr.
NEXT EPISODE!
Next episode we will be talking about The Day the Earth Caught Fire from 1961.
You can rent the film on Apple or Amazon in the US or on Amazon or BFI Player in the UK. The Just Watch website is a good option to find where films are available in your region.
32:03 The communist ideal in spaaaace!
38:32 Visual delights: Box office draw and Nazi Agfacolor
45:11 The stolen US edit: First Spaceship on Venus
47:15 Legacy, language and recommendations
NEXT EPISODE!
Back to Blighty for some good old fashioned evil children in Village of the Damned (1960). The film is easy to rent or buy on an array of streaming platforms including YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cujvDkHxFcg
You can check the Just Watch website for details of where to find it in your region.
NEXT EPISODE!
Next week I will be discussing the Eastern Block with brainy experts and discussing one of the first sci-fi films from the region Der schweigende Stern, AKA The Silent Star from 1960.
Dr Eric Zinthrop has been research the royal jelly of queen wasps and has discovered an elixir of youth that changes grown animals into baby ones. He is exactly what Janice Starlin, the ageing CEO of the hugely successful but failing cosmetics brand Janic Starlin Enterprises needs to change her and her companies fortune around.
A couple of the men who work for Janice do not trust Zinthrop. They enlist Janice’s secretary Mary to spy on her boss. Although Janice can see the effects of the new drug she impatient with the slow results and Zinthrop’s cautious attitude. She goes to the laboratory and injects herself to speed up results.
Meanwhile Zinthrop realises his formula makes his test animals crazy but before he is able to warn Janice he gets into a car accident. Janice cannot find him and so decides to continue to self-administer doses of the serum and begins to look increasingly younger.
When Zinthrop is finally found by Janice she pays for and takes over his care sleeping at the office. She also discovers the serum has an unfortunate side effects of turning her head into that of a huge wasp and causing her to kill! This all leads to a big fight at the end in which Janice Starling’s wasp form is attacked and thrown off a high floor balcony.
NEXT EPISODE!
We will be shimmying into 1960 with the classic HG Wells adaptation The Time Machine. The film is available to buy or rent online from major outlets including Apple. You can check the Just Watch website to see where the film is available in your region.
*I would like a gold star for alliteration please.
As always, I am lucky to have two excellent guests joining me.
Scott Higgins is Professor of Film at Wesleyan University as well as being the Curator of the Wesleyan Cinema Archives.
Matthew Rule Jones is a senior Lecturer in Film Studies at the University of Exeter.
Chapters
00:00 Intro
01:57 William Castle the King of Ballyhoo
04:21 William Caste’s background
10:19 The death of Florence Lawrence and movie myth-making
13:50 The Avant Garde, The Grand Guinol and The Surrealists
18:40 Red blood in a black and white film
21:50 A brink film: LSD, insanity and the impending Psycho
25:53 Loose ends and ethical loopholes
29:03 Vincent Price as the part-time mad scientist
33:33 The bad wife
34:57 The Tingler, teen audiences and a screaming crescendo
40:07 Manly screaming and scream queens
42:33 The silent era references
46:32 Legacy
52:14 Recommendations
NEXT EPISODE!
Next episode we will be talking about The Wasp Woman from 1959 directed by Roger Corman. I believe the film is in the public domain and is easily available online for free or to buy and rent on many streaming services.
The Tingler begins with the director William Castle addressing the audience about how they are about to experience a tingling sensation that no audience has ever experienced before. Relief can be gained by screaming!
The story involves Dr Warren Chapin (played by Vincent Price) investigating the cause of why some inmates are frightened to death before their executions. A man names Olly Higgins visit Dr Chapin and tells him that it is his brother-in-law that Chapin is doing an autopsy on. Chapin is convinced there is something physical in the body that causes death by fear!
Olly Higgins runs a silent cinema with his deaf-mute wife Martha.
Warren Chapin is obsessed with his work and ignores his wife who has decided to spend her time cavorting with other men! Her sister Lucy is good, kind and the epitome of idealised 1950s femininity. Lucy is in love with Dr Chapin’s assistant David.
In his experiments Dr Chapin pretends to kill his wife to scare her, tests LSD on himself (a relatively new drug that is in 1959 legal and used by psychologists) and experiments on animals and potentially on Martha Higgins with LSD although that part isn’t really clarified.
In an x-ray of his wife (who he has frightened into believing she’s dead – we can’t expect things to make sense) Dr Chapin discovers there is a long caterpillar-like creature that hugs the spine when people are terrified.
Dr Chapin visits Martha Higgins to give her some medication which may or may not be LSD. After this she experiences many frightening experiences including a bath filled with red blood (in a black and shite film). Martha is terrified of blood and collapses.
Olly Higgins brings his wife Martha to Dr Chapin. She is very sick or dead. Dr Warren declares Martha dead but after she moves he gets permission to find out why. He discovers and extracts the tingler!
Shenanigans commence involving a murderous wife, an escaped tingler in the silent cinema and Martha’s revenge!
