This time we watched the 1973 British horror film Psychomania, a cult biker horror oddity originally filmed as The Living Dead before the title changed. In the United States it appeared as The Death Wheelers. Not to be confused with the 1963 American film Psychomania, also known as Violent Midnight.

The film was produced by Benmar Productions, better known for Spaghetti Westerns shot in Spain. They also made Horror Express later the same year with the same writers, which we covered back in episode 7. Psychomania was created in association with Scotia Bar Distributors who had director Don Sharp under long term contract.

Don Sharp was born in Tasmania and began as an actor before becoming a director in the mid 1950s. He turned out low and medium budget films including the Tommy Steele musical It’s All Happening, then Hammer Films hired him and he made several well received thrillers. He also worked as second unit director on Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines. Quiz time for Jon. Sharp directed BigChrisLee six times. Name them.

Beryl Reid plays psychic medium Mrs Latham. She left school at 16 and debuted in 1936 as a music hall performer at the Floral Hall in Bridlington. She became famous on BBC radio in Educating Archie as Monica and as the Brummie Marlene. She later worked for the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. She made the very first challenge on Just A Minute in the 1967 pilot. In the late 1970s and early 1980s she played Connie Sachs in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Smiley’s People, earning two British Academy Television Award nominations and winning for Smiley’s People. Doctor Who fans will know her as Captain Briggs in Earthshock. The same year as Psychomania she appeared in Dr Phibes Rises Again. Ross will always remember her as Grandma in the Adrian Mole TV adaptation.

Nicky Henson plays lead biker Tom Latham. A familiar face across British television, he excelled at playing cultivated gents, snobs and playboys. His many guest roles included several appearances in The Bill, A Touch of Frost, Pie in the Sky, Fawlty Towers and Witchfinder General as Trooper Swallow. His first wife was Una Stubbs, with whom he later appeared in EastEnders. Despite living with cancer for twenty years he continued acting on screen until 2018.

Robert Hardy plays Chief Inspector Hesseltine. We discussed him fully in episode 41a when we covered The Stalls of Barchester from the BBC Ghost Stories for Christmas series.

Academy Award winner George Sanders plays Shadwell. Born in Russia to an English horticulturist mother and a rope maker father, he became a British subject when the family fled during the revolution. His smooth voice and upper class accent made him perfect for polished villains. His roles included Jack Favell in Rebecca, Scott Folliott in Foreign Correspondent, the Saran of Gaza in Samson and Delilah and Addison DeWitt in All About Eve which won him the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. He voiced Shere Khan in Disney’s The Jungle Book and played Simon Templar in several films in The Saint series. British horror fans may know him from the Doomwatch movie as The Admiral.

There are brief appearances by June Brown as Mrs Pettibone, John Levene from Doctor Who and Bill Pertwee as a publican. Levene worked with Jon Pertwee who was Bill’s second cousin.

The soundtrack by John Cameron was released in 2003 by Trunk Records. Cameron said they needed something spooky and different with a rock feeling, all pre synthesizer. They recorded at Shepperton’s studios which had not been updated since before the war. He described hooligan musicians scratching inside pianos while the engineer sat there in suit and tie, completely anachronistic.

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We return to our rundown of Flash Gordon, just as Flash and Prince Barin are being taken to the Hawkmen’s planet to fight to the death!

Flash Gordon was directed by Mike Hodges, the British filmmaker behind Get Carter and Pulp, and produced by the legendary Dino De Laurentiis. Based on the King Features comic strip created by Alex Raymond, the film stars Sam J. Jones as the all-American hero Flash, Melody Anderson as Dale Arden, Ornella Muti as the dangerous Princess Aura, Max von Sydow as Ming the Merciless, and Topol as the eccentric scientist Dr. Hans Zarkov. The supporting cast includes Timothy Dalton, Brian Blessed, Peter Wyngarde, Peter Duncan and John Hallam — a line-up that reads like a who’s who of cult cinema.

We dig into the incredible production history of Flash Gordon, from De Laurentiis’ first attempts in the 1960s to his decision to turn down George Lucas — a choice that helped inspire Star Wars. The film’s troubled development included a scrapped version by Nicolas Roeg, with Debbie Harry once rumoured to play Princess Aura. Eventually, Hodges took the reins, working from a screenplay by Lorenzo Semple Jr., the same writer who brought Batman’s colourful POW! ZAP! style to TV in the 1960s. That influence is clear throughout, giving Flash Gordon its unmistakable comic-book tone.

The film was shot mainly at Elstree and Shepperton Studios, pushing British set design and visual effects to the limit. For the famous Hawkmen sequence, the crew built a sixty-foot-high, hundred-foot-wide blue screen powered by a million watts of light. The result is one of the most gloriously excessive moments in sci-fi history — a flying army, Brian Blessed shouting “Gordon’s alive!” and Queen blasting through the speakers.

Speaking of Queen, we explore how their soundtrack revolutionised film music, paving the way for rock bands to score major blockbusters. The combination of Freddie Mercury’s operatic flair and Howard Blake’s orchestral compositions gave Flash Gordon a sonic identity that still feels fresh today.

We also look at the film’s eclectic cast. Sam J. Jones’ brief but memorable career, Melody Anderson’s move from acting to social work, and Ornella Muti’s headline-grabbing life and legal troubles. There’s Max von Sydow’s path from The Seventh Seal to The Exorcist and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Topol’s secret links to Mossad, Timothy Dalton’s long and winding journey to becoming James Bond, and Peter Wyngarde’s transformation from Department S to the gold-masked villain Klytus.

And, of course, the mighty Brian Blessed — mountaineer, Shakespearean thunder-god, near-astronaut, and national treasure. From I, Claudius to Doctor Who, Cats, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, and beyond, he’s one of Britain’s most extraordinary performers.

In this episode, we unpack the layers of Flash Gordon as both cult classic and chaotic masterpiece: how its bright visuals masked a difficult shoot, how its camp sensibility influenced generations of filmmakers, and why it remains a cornerstone of British sci-fi fandom. Whether you’re here for trivia, nostalgia, or the Queen soundtrack alone, this is one of our most detailed episodes yet — and we’ll be back next week with part two to finish the adventure.

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Sorry this one’s a bit late — but to make up for it, we’ve gone all in with an extra-long episode of General Witchfinders, split into two parts. This week, we take you through the extraordinary, over-the-top world of Flash Gordon (1980) — the space opera superhero film that blended camp comedy, science-fiction spectacle, and Queen’s iconic soundtrack into something truly cosmic. The second half of this intergalactic adventure will land next week.

Flash Gordon was directed by Mike Hodges, the British filmmaker behind Get Carter and Pulp, and produced by the legendary Dino De Laurentiis. Based on the King Features comic strip created by Alex Raymond, the film stars Sam J. Jones as the all-American hero Flash, Melody Anderson as Dale Arden, Ornella Muti as the dangerous Princess Aura, Max von Sydow as Ming the Merciless, and Topol as the eccentric scientist Dr. Hans Zarkov. The supporting cast includes Timothy Dalton, Brian Blessed, Peter Wyngarde, Peter Duncan and John Hallam — a line-up that reads like a who’s who of cult cinema.

We dig into the incredible production history of Flash Gordon, from De Laurentiis’ first attempts in the 1960s to his decision to turn down George Lucas — a choice that helped inspire Star Wars. The film’s troubled development included a scrapped version by Nicolas Roeg, with Debbie Harry once rumoured to play Princess Aura. Eventually, Hodges took the reins, working from a screenplay by Lorenzo Semple Jr., the same writer who brought Batman’s colourful POW! ZAP! style to TV in the 1960s. That influence is clear throughout, giving Flash Gordon its unmistakable comic-book tone.

The film was shot mainly at Elstree and Shepperton Studios, pushing British set design and visual effects to the limit. For the famous Hawkmen sequence, the crew built a sixty-foot-high, hundred-foot-wide blue screen powered by a million watts of light. The result is one of the most gloriously excessive moments in sci-fi history — a flying army, Brian Blessed shouting “Gordon’s alive!” and Queen blasting through the speakers.

Speaking of Queen, we explore how their soundtrack revolutionised film music, paving the way for rock bands to score major blockbusters. The combination of Freddie Mercury’s operatic flair and Howard Blake’s orchestral compositions gave Flash Gordon a sonic identity that still feels fresh today.

We also look at the film’s eclectic cast. Sam J. Jones’ brief but memorable career, Melody Anderson’s move from acting to social work, and Ornella Muti’s headline-grabbing life and legal troubles. There’s Max von Sydow’s path from The Seventh Seal to The Exorcist and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Topol’s secret links to Mossad, Timothy Dalton’s long and winding journey to becoming James Bond, and Peter Wyngarde’s transformation from Department S to the gold-masked villain Klytus.

And, of course, the mighty Brian Blessed — mountaineer, Shakespearean thunder-god, near-astronaut, and national treasure. From I, Claudius to Doctor Who, Cats, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, and beyond, he’s one of Britain’s most extraordinary performers.

In this episode, we unpack the layers of Flash Gordon as both cult classic and chaotic masterpiece: how its bright visuals masked a difficult shoot, how its camp sensibility influenced generations of filmmakers, and why it remains a cornerstone of British sci-fi fandom. Whether you’re here for trivia, nostalgia, or the Queen soundtrack alone, this is one of our most detailed episodes yet — and we’ll be back next week with part two to finish the adventure.

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/general-witchfinders.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.