The all-new Moderate Fantasy Violence format debuts! Every fortnight, Nick and Alastair now review a recent release, then discuss a related topic.
But first, just like the old days, they talk about their recent cultural consumption – Alastair revisits MFV #17’s recommendation and catches up on WW2 superhero comic Uber, while Nick dives into a rare non-fiction book: Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari.
And then it’s time to tackle the latest big-screen adaptation of Stephen King’s classic novel It (8:57), before staring down the big issue of the fortnight: are clowns still scary in 2017? (19:25)
And here, for anyone interested, is a link to the mentioned article ‘Why are we scared of clowns?’ by Chris Brosnahan.
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Forty-four, forever more! It’s a particularly event-packed episode (including Nick defrosting his freezer mid-episode and a huge chunk of ice falling out), but first, Nick and Alastair discuss a top Amsterdam tourist attraction, Nick finishing the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman and Alastair’s trip to Worldcon 75 in Helsinki.
Almost as newsworthy – time for a big look at Game of Thrones season seven (24:14) – with full spoilers, just so you’re aware. Following that, a relaxing citybreak to Berlin with new action spy thriller Atomic Blonde (45:00).
Forty-three years since our last recording! Alastair’s gone on holiday and Nick’s about to do the same, so they recorded this back around when they did 
Then Alastair brings one of his all-time favourite films: Withnail & I (30:36), the classic British dark comedy starring Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann.
Is this episode the meaning of life? We lead off this week by discussing Netflix zombie-suburbs series Santa Clarita Diet and Kameron Hurley’s epic book of essays The Geek Feminist Revolution.
Forty-one days since our last accident! Nick and Alastair have not only taken in some culture this week (specifically the comedy of Daniel Kitson and Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy), they’ve also delved into the exciting new field of cultural hot-takes, as they discuss Jodie Whittaker’s casting as the first female Doctor Who (6:07)!
But that’s only a quick digression before our pop-cultural main events: Spider-Man: Homecoming (11:04), the latest big-screen Marvel-endorsed outing of Nick’s favourite superhero, and the beginning of the penultimate season of Game of Thrones (26:45).
And then we pop back to revisit Preacher (41:07) as it starts its second season – has it improved since we 
Finally finally, as mentioned during the show, we’re doing a listener survey and one randomly drawn listener will win a £20 Amazon voucher by taking part. 
The big 4-0! For this milestone, time to revisit some old friends, as Nick finally finishes Alan Moore’s Jerusalem and Alastair returns to Ben Aaraovitch’s Rivers of London world in comic form.
Also, another revisitation, as they check back with magical Image Comics series Curse Words (49:22) to see how the first storyline ended, after 
Finally, time for some serious synth-pop of the soul with Alastair’s latest recommendation: You And Me Against The World by Apoptygma Berzerk (58:45).
Our first deleted chunk for a while – turns out we can bang on for hours about Orange Is The New Black, as it’s one of our favourite shows. So here’s a short chunk cut from MFV #39 where we get a bit overly specific about our favourite characters and how they’re used in the fifth season.
Thirty-nine, yet also two! Nick and Alastair cover two TV shows beginning with O and ending in Black for the second time (see also: 
Then it’s down to business with the start of Orange Is The New Black season 5 (9:55), followed by a big look back at the whole of American Gods season 1 (27:18) and a little check-in with the first episode of Orphan Black’s final season (43:26).
Last but definitely not least, Nick recommends Quantum & Woody (55:17) by Christopher Priest and Mark Bright, the mismatched-buddy-superhero comic that influenced much of his style, taste and sense of humour. Will Alastair dig it?
Alastair are back (despite Nick’s laryngitis struggles) to talk about their Team MFV trip to 
Finally, what did Nick think of noted sci-fi classic Blade Runner (50:16)? With his malfunctioning vocal systems, did it hit too close to home?
Thirty seven minutes in heaven! Nick and Alastair begin on a pleasingly literate note, looking back on MR Carey’s The Boy On The Bridge (follow-up to his previously-praised The Girl With All The Gifts) and From Hell, classic Jack The Ripper graphic novel by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell.
But the big story this fortnight is Twin Peaks: The Return (8:59), the much-anticipated new series!And if you want more Peaks-casting, you can 
But our heroes step into the modern world eventually with My Dad Wrote A Porno (52:54), the popular podcast about self-published erotica.
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