{"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":"63 (Part 2): Flash Gordon (1980) – Starling Productions – Dir. Mike Hodges – Sam J. Jones, Melody Anderson & Max von Sydow","slug":"63-part-2-flash-gordon-1980-starling-productions-dir-mike-hodges-sam-j-jones-melody-anderson-max-von-sydow","published_at":"2025-11-08T08:26:05+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/general-witchfinders-the-british-horror-podcast-3516772/63-part-2-flash-gordon-1980-starling-productions-dir-mike-hodges-sam-j-jones-melody-anderson-max-von-sydow","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/690efe9ea1e2bd2652bc38b7/media.mp3","summary":"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…","meta_description":"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…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":4927,"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/63-part-2-flash-gordon-1980-starling-productions-dir-mike-hodges-sam-j-jones-melody-anderson-max-von-sydow/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-3516772/63-part-2-flash-gordon-1980-starling-productions-dir-mike-hodges-sam-j-jones-melody-anderson-max-von-sydow.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}