What if - The History of Science Fiction (R4 1979).txt
What if - The history and development of Science Fiction (R4 1979)
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Three programmes on the history and development of Science Fiction, compiled and presented by Bryan Siicock
Produced by Michael Bartlett
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Part 1 - 1979-09-08 22:15 - New Hells on Earth
"Contemporary Science Fiction takes a whole lot of things that we know and imagines them for us. And the function of keeping the imagination alive has far more virtue than predicting clones or the space race. The imagination most readily feeds on the hopes and terrors of the present day and Science Fiction can show us what will happen if that sort of situation develops and gets out of hand." - Brian Aldiss
In this first programme Bryan Silcock talks to a number of Science Fiction writers and examines the art of writing alternative history and how SF can comment on contemporary problems.
Extracts performed by Peter Baldwin, Brian Haynes, Roger Hammond and Jenny Twigge
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Part 2 - 1979-09-15 22:15 - Here Be Aliens
"Classical SF starts with Frankenstein or the novels of Jules Verne and runs from the 19th century up to 1927 and Gernsback's founding of the American SF magazine Amazing. At that point there was a change. SF became commercial and if you wanted to publish SF as a writer, you had to publish within commercial magazines. There was no alternative." - J G Ballard
In this second programme Bryan Silcock discusses hard-core Science Fiction - Aliens, Time Travel, Interplanetary Invasions, Robots - with several leading Science Fiction writers, and examines the cult of SF Fandom.
Extracts performed by Philip Fox, Roger Hammond, Gordon Reid and Jenny Twigge
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Part 3 - 1979-09-22 22:15 - The Frankenstein Inheritance
Bryan Silcock discusses the special imaginative quality of Science Fiction and how it can express subconscious fears and hopes. He also looks at the cult of the disaster novel - how many ways are there to destroy a planet?
Extracts performed by Peter Baldwin, Roger Hammond, Philip Sully and Sandra Freeman
Also taking part in the series were Brian Aldiss, Kingsley Amis, J G Ballard, Alfred Bester, John Christopher, Arthur C Clarke, Thomas Disch, Harry Harrison, Peter Nicholls, Robert Sheckley, Robert Silverberg, Norman Spinrad and Theodore Sturgeon
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