{"podcast":{"title":"General Witchfinders: The British Horror Podcast","slug":"general-witchfinders-the-british-horror-podcast-3516772","podcast_index_feed_id":3516772,"rss_url":"https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/5fd77337c08ac45a2c50d003","website_url":"http://www.generalwitchfinders.com","image_url":"https://assets.pippa.io/shows/5fd77337c08ac45a2c50d003/1772694982754-eb0af34b-8742-48c8-a3e1-0d3fc0433f39.jpeg","author":"Ross Cleaver, Jon Pountney, James Randall","episode_count":82,"summary":"General Witchfinders: The British Horror Podcast Welcome to General Witchfinders, a podcast dedicated to the dark heart of British horror and classic Hammer horror films – officially selected for permanent preservation in the British Library’s National Sound Archive. If you are passionate about British horror cinema, Hammer films, classic folk horror, Nigel Kneale’s Quatermass, and the chilling legacy of British supernatural television, this is the podcast for you. Hosted by lifelong friends Ross, Jon, and James, General Witchfinders dives deep into the world of British horror, gothic cinema, and unsettling archive television. We explore everything from Hammer horror’s blood-drenched vampire classics – starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing – to the eerie landscapes of The Wicker Man, Tigon’s The Creeping Flesh, and Amicus anthology films. Whether it is cinematic British horror icons like Dracula AD 1972 and The Curse of Frankenstein, modern independent UK folk horror like Possum and In The Earth, or sci-fi horror thrillers like Event Horizon and The Medusa Touch, we unearth the films that shaped the genre. We cover the definitive British sci-fi horror of Nigel Kneale – includ…","last_synced_at":null,"page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/general-witchfinders-the-british-horror-podcast-3516772"},"episode":{"title":"55: Hands of the Ripper (1971) – Hammer Horror – Dir. Peter Sasdy – Eric Porter, Angharad Rees & Jane Merrow","slug":"55-hands-of-the-ripper-1971-hammer-horror-dir-peter-sasdy-eric-porter-angharad-rees-jane-merrow","published_at":"2025-03-22T01:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/general-witchfinders-the-british-horror-podcast-3516772/55-hands-of-the-ripper-1971-hammer-horror-dir-peter-sasdy-eric-porter-angharad-rees-jane-merrow","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/general-witchfinders-the-british-horror-podcast-3516772","url":"http://www.generalwitchfinders.com/","audio_url":"https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/5fd77337c08ac45a2c50d003/e/67d9c44c8e0ad1dccd955f1a/media.mp3","summary":"Join us for Hammer’s Hands of the Ripper , a 1971 British horror film released as the second half of a double feature with Twins of Evil . Directed by Peter Sasdy, produced by Aida Young, and written by L.W. Davidson from a story by Edward Spencer Shew. Making good use of the large Baker Street set at Pinewood Studios—left over from The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes —the production was denied permission to film its final scenes at St. Paul's Cathedral, so a replica was constructed instead. If the Pritchards' home and staircase look familiar, it’s because Hammer’s ever-resourceful set designers reused elements from The Curse of Frankenstein years earlier (see episode 2 of our podcast for more on that classic). Director Peter Sasdy, who cited Hands of the Ripper as his favourite film, also directed the original Adrian Mole TV series (both The Secret Diary and The Growing Pains ), three episodes of Hammer House of Horror , and two other Hammer features: Countess Dracula and Taste the Blood of Dracula (the latter coming to the podcast later this year, hopefully). Most monumentally, he directed the legendary BBC sci-fi thriller The Stone Tape (definitely check General Witchfinders number 5—our third most popular episode to date!). Eric Porter stars as Doctor Pritchard. Renowned for his work in film, television, and theatre, he famously played Professor Moriarty opposite Jeremy Brett’s Sherlock Holmes and Soames Forsyte in The Forsyte Saga . Angharad Rees plays Anna, the daughter of the Ripper. She appeared in Boon (take a drink), starred as Demelza in 28 episodes of Poldark , and, the year after Hands of the Ripper , featured in Under Milk Wood alongside Richard Burton, Peter O'Toole, and Elizabeth Taylor. She was made a Fellow of the Royal Welsh College of Music & Dr…","meta_description":"Join us for Hammer’s Hands of the Ripper , a 1971 British horror film released as the second half of a double feature with Twins of Evil . Directed by Pet…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":6094,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/general-witchfinders-the-british-horror-podcast-3516772/episodes/55-hands-of-the-ripper-1971-hammer-horror-dir-peter-sasdy-eric-porter-angharad-rees-jane-merrow/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/general-witchfinders-the-british-horror-podcast-3516772/55-hands-of-the-ripper-1971-hammer-horror-dir-peter-sasdy-eric-porter-angharad-rees-jane-merrow.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}