Random Acts of Top of the Pops: #5 – February 25th, 1988

Episode Number: 1250
First Shown: 7.00pm on February 25th, 1988
Presenter(s): Peter Powell and Mark Goodier
Official Top 40: @The Official Charts
Studio: BBC Television Centre
iPlayer: Top of the Pops – February 25th, 1988
BBC Genome: Here!

Top of the Tops logo from February 25th, 1988

Intro

After our jaunt to the cold of February 1994, it’s time to slip six years back to the equally freezing wastelands of February 1988. Yes, pop pickers, it’s time for another Random Acts of Top of the Pops!

Continue reading

An Alien short for the 40th anniversary of the first film

Alien turns 40 this year and, to me, remains the pinnacle of horror movies and ranks amongst the top tiers of the science fiction pantheon.

Dirty, claustrophobic, unrelenting; it was the complete opposite of another great personal favourite – 2001: A Space Odyssey. Gone was the shining white heat of Kubrick and Clarke’s future, where a top tier crew pushes the boundaries of man’s knowledge with not a mote of dust to be seen. Instead our A Team is replaced with tired industrial workers, each one vested in little more than getting safely back home with their pay packet in their pockets. It was a grimy, tired future, one created by people worn out by the end of the post war dream and who were looking to see a future that reflected a present that refused to change.

Interestingly enough though, both crews get screwed over by a remote governance structure that doesn’t trust them and an artificial intelligence that acts as their local agent. Apparently some fears never change.

As part of this 40th anniversary celebration, a set of Alien themed shorts has been commissioned. The first, below, is a nicely compact piece that manages reflect the fear and claustrophobia of the original film whilst ignoring the pseudo-philosophical tripe that tainted recent efforts. I look forward to the release of the remaining shorts over the next month or so.