Comfort Blanket

THE THING! (1951) A preview of the limited run exclusive Comfort Blanket series on The Top Ten Sci Fi Movies (as chosen by 2000AD comic in 1980). A celebration of a fondly remembered series from my childhood, where the guys behind Judge Dredd listed the science fiction films that you simply must see, and a generation of kids - or maybe just me - followed their advice. Ten classic films that defined the genre, rewatched, enjoyed and reconsidered in the Comfort Blanket style. The journey from Metropolis to Star Wars, in ten (sometimes quirky) choices. This series is available in full on the Gralefrit Substack and the Comfort Blanket Patreon. https://joelmorris.substack.com https://patreon.com/comfortblanketpod Support us making these podcasts by becoming a paid subscriber at: https://joelmorris.substack.com/ or: https://www.patreon.com/c/comfortblanketpod or donate via ko-fi at: https://ko-fi.com/gralefrit Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Writer, comedian and YouTube star Jay Foreman ( Map Men ) returns to talk about another vivid and unique cartoon world: Cosgrove Hall’s wild and crazy Dangermouse offshoot Count Duckula , and celebrates the subversive joys of children’s television on the (gasp) commercial channels… Goodness! Support us making these podcasts by becoming a paid subscriber at: https://joelmorris.substack.com/ or: https://www.patreon.com/c/comfortblanketpod or donate via ko-fi at: https://ko-fi.com/gralefrit Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Writer and comedian Madeleine Brettingham ( Harry Hill's TV Burp, Have I Got News For You ) talks about the cyclical comforts of wicker-basket obsessed hedgehogs-and-pumpkins glossy Country Living Magazine, and becomes the first Comfort Blanket guest to bring on something that is actually mainly *about* blankets. Support us making these podcasts by becoming a paid subscriber at: https://joelmorris.substack.com/ or: https://www.patreon.com/c/comfortblanketpod or donate via ko-fi at: https://ko-fi.com/gralefrit Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Writer and comedian Athena Kugblenu ( Frankie Boyle’s New World Order, Horrible Histories ) talks about the family-all-together-on-the-sofa comforts of 90s sitcom Keeping Up Appearances, the comedy of class, the thorny issue of fitting in, and recognition humour as high art. Support us making these podcasts by becoming a paid subscriber at: https://joelmorris.substack.com/ or: https://www.patreon.com/c/comfortblanketpod or donate via ko-fi at: https://ko-fi.com/gralefrit Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Author Hattie Williams ( Bitter Sweet ) talks about Nick Park’s lovable Oscar-smashing plasticene cheesepunk technologists, the joy of vegetable puns, silent villains and doomed romances, and the comforts of slow, careful, human craft. Support us making these podcasts by becoming a paid subscriber at: https://joelmorris.substack.com/ or: https://www.patreon.com/c/comfortblanketpod or donate via ko-fi at: https://ko-fi.com/gralefrit Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Writer Gabby Hutchinson-Crouch ( Horrible Histories, Cursed Under London, Darkwood ) talks about Hayao Miyazaki’s 2004 beautiful animated adaptation of Diana Wynne Jones’ Howl’s Moving Castle, and how the Studio Ghibli masterpiece subverts fairytale tropes and flips hackneyed gender roles, while remembering to include sufficient wisecracking fireplaces and hot emo wizards. Support us making these podcasts by becoming a paid subscriber at: https://joelmorris.substack.com/ or: https://www.patreon.com/c/comfortblanketpod or donate via ko-fi at: https://ko-fi.com/gralefrit Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Actor Geoffrey McGivern ( Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, Ghosts, Back ) talks about the bittersweet Viennese comforts of Graham Greene and Carol Reed's blackly comic thriller 'The Third Man'. Support us making these podcasts by becoming a paid subscriber at: https://joelmorris.substack.com/ or: https://www.patreon.com/c/comfortblanketpod or donate via ko-fi at: https://ko-fi.com/gralefrit Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Writer John Finnemore ( Cabin Pressure, Souvenir Programme ) talks about the comforts of Alexander Mackendrick's classic 1955 Ealing comedy 'The Ladykillers' , and explains how the film cleverly subverts the audience's expectations, while satisfying them at the same time. Support us making these podcasts by becoming a paid subscriber at: https://joelmorris.substack.com/ or: https://www.patreon.com/c/comfortblanketpod or donate via ko-fi at: https://ko-fi.com/gralefrit Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Comedian John-Luke Roberts picks the 1990 LP by They Might Be Giants (the one that contains their hit single Birdhouse In Your Soul, and 18 other wildly inventive songs) and talks about the idea of ‘too much’, of overwhelm, of an invigorating deluge of ideas, and how that connects the worlds of music and comedy. Support us making these podcasts by becoming a paid subscriber at: https://joelmorris.substack.com/ or: https://www.patreon.com/c/comfortblanketpod or donate via ko-fi at: https://ko-fi.com/gralefrit Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Writer and comedian Robin Ince ( The Infinite Monkey Cage, Cosmic Shambles Network ) talks about the comforts of Carol Reed’s masterpiece The Fallen Idol, the beautiful film he made between Odd Man Out and The Third Man , and touches on the links between film and our memories of loved ones. Support us making these podcasts by becoming a paid subscriber at: https://joelmorris.substack.com/ or: https://www.patreon.com/c/comfortblanketpod or donate via ko-fi at: https://ko-fi.com/gralefrit Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Writer Neil Forsyth ( The Gold, Guilt , Bob Servant ) talks about the comforts of Molly Dineen's 1989 fly-on-the-wall documentary 'Heart Of The Angel', a surprisingly deep study of the people working in a failing London Underground station. The documentary is available on the BBC iPlayer here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0074tkn/40-minutes-heart-of-the-angel Support us making these podcasts by becoming a paid subscriber at: https://joelmorris.substack.com/ or: https://www.patreon.com/c/comfortblanketpod or donate via ko-fi at: https://ko-fi.com/gralefrit Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Writer Will Maclean (The Apparition Phase) talks about John Carpenter's classic 1982 sci-fi horror film The Thing, and why its tale of gruff short-tempered men failing to deal with an impossible situation in a pitiless white landscape is a comforting place to return to again and again. Support us making these podcasts by becoming a paid subscriber at: https://joelmorris.substack.com/ or: https://www.patreon.com/c/comfortblanketpod or donate via ko-fi at: https://ko-fi.com/gralefrit Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sunday Times bestselling author Beth Morrey ( Saving Missy, Lucky Day ) talks about Sue Townsend's definitive comic coming-of-age novel The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4. Support us making these podcasts by becoming a paid subscriber at: https://joelmorris.substack.com/ or: https://www.patreon.com/c/comfortblanketpod or donate via ko-fi at: https://ko-fi.com/gralefrit Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Comedian and writer Sara Barron ( Firecrotch & Normcore, They Like To Watch ) celebrates the comforts of 30 Rock , Tina Fey's sitcom skewering of network TV, and the joy of seeing relatable character Liz Lemon surviving and thriving (even if she has lettuce in her hair). Support us making these podcasts by becoming a paid subscriber at: https://joelmorris.substack.com/ or: https://www.patreon.com/c/comfortblanketpod or donate via ko-fi at: https://ko-fi.com/gralefrit Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Comedy producer Ed Morrish ( Non-Censored, Soundheap, John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme ) brings his personal comfort blanket, Ben Stokes' 2019 Ashes innings at Headingley against Australia (and more broadly "all sport") to try and persuade Comfort Blanket umpire Joel that it's allowed - and makes a case for sport as the perfect improvised long-form narrative. It's all about the story... Support us making these podcasts by becoming a paid subscriber at: https://joelmorris.substack.com/ or: https://www.patreon.com/c/comfortblanketpod or donate via ko-fi at: https://ko-fi.com/gralefrit Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Actor, comedian and broadcaster Tom Price ( Torchwood , Magic FM, My Mate Brought A Toaster ) talks about the lifelong comfort he draws from Allo Allo , Perry & Lloyd's broad and shameless French resistance farce. Listen very carefully, we will say this only once: it's actually brilliant. Support us making these podcasts by becoming a paid subscriber at: https://joelmorris.substack.com/ or: https://www.patreon.com/c/comfortblanketpod or donate via ko-fi at: https://ko-fi.com/gralefrit Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Writer Naomi Alderman ( The Power, The Future ) chooses as her comfort blanket, the 1949 Ealing black comedy 'Kind Hearts And Coronets', with its mixture of revenge (served cold, of course), and vicious social satire, managing to possess, one might say, "all the exuberance of Chaucer, without, happily, any of the concomitant crudities of his period..." Support us making these podcasts by becoming a paid subscriber at: https://joelmorris.substack.com/ or: https://www.patreon.com/c/comfortblanketpod or donate via ko-fi at: https://ko-fi.com/gralefrit Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the second part of our two part look at definitive 1990s sitcom Friends , Larry Rickard (Ghosts, Horrible Histories) talks about how comedy reflects its times, how audiences want (and don't want) things to change for their favourite comedy characters, and when it's time to say goodbye. This is PART TWO of a two part episode. If you haven't heard PART ONE, please go back and start there... Support us making these podcasts by becoming a paid subscriber at: https://joelmorris.substack.com/ or: https://www.patreon.com/c/comfortblanketpod or donate via ko-fi at: https://ko-fi.com/gralefrit Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Writer and actor Larry Rickard ( Ghosts, Horrible Histories ) talks about his love for the smash hit 1990s sitcom Friends , and the craft of making warm, gag-filled, ensemble television comedy with your... er... friends. This is Part ONE of a two part episode. Support us making these podcasts by becoming a paid subscriber at: https://joelmorris.substack.com/ or: https://www.patreon.com/c/comfortblanketpod or donate via ko-fi at: https://ko-fi.com/gralefrit Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Writer and broadcaster Danny Robins ( Uncanny, 2:22 A Ghost Story ) talks about the unexpected comforts of Nic Roeg's classic 1973 supernatural thriller Don't Look Now, a masterful study of how humans try and make sense of life, death and the unexplained. Support us making these podcasts by becoming a paid subscriber at: https://joelmorris.substack.com/ or: https://www.patreon.com/c/comfortblanketpod or donate via ko-fi at: https://ko-fi.com/gralefrit Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.