Looks Unfamiliar: Steve O’Brien – E.T. Pretzel Design

KP Sky Divers - listen to Steve O'Brien and Tim Worthington talking about them in Looks Unfamiliar.

Looks Unfamiliar is a podcast in which writer and occasional broadcaster Tim Worthington talks to a guest about some of the things that they remember that nobody else ever seems to.

Joining Tim this time is entertainment journalist Steve O’Brien, who fills us in on his hotly contested recollections of existentially troubling animation Simon In The Land Of Chalk Drawings, high-concept short-lived snack KP Sky Divers, BBC sitcom Health And Efficiency, High Time and Ice Cold Cube by The Stone Roses, the BBC Sunday Classics serial Brat Farrar and the Alfred Hitchcock And The Three Investigators books. Along the way we’ll be finding out who is officially the most punchable Doctor Who alien, what constitutes The Vindaloo Of Corn Snacks, and exactly how many volumes of Michael Winner’s Choose Your Own Adventure were published.

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Simon In The Land Of Chalk Drawings (FilmFair, 1974-76) - listen to Steve O'Brien and Tim Worthington talking about it in Looks Unfamiliar.

Brat Farrar (BBC1, 1986) - listen to Steve O'Brien and Tim Worthington talking about it in Looks Unfamiliar.

Alfred Hitchcock And The Three Investigators In The Mystery Of The Green Ghost by Robert Arthur Jr. (Random House, 1965) - listen to Steve O'Brien and Tim Worthington talking about it in Looks Unfamiliar.

About Steve

Steve O’Brien is an entertainment journalist who writes for SFX, Digital Spy, New Statesman and Doctor Who Magazine amongst other titles. You can find Steve’s website here and follow him on Twitter at @mrsstevemobrien.

Buy A Book

There’s lots more about Simon In The Land Of Chalk Drawings and tons of other much-loved but much forgotten shows from ITV’s lunchtime slot in The Golden Age Of Children’s TV, available in all good bookshops and from Waterstones here, Amazon here and directly from Black And White Publishing here.

You can find a feature on Brat Farrar and the history of the BBC ‘Sunday Classics’ serials in Tim’s book Not On Your Telly, a collection of columns and features focusing on lost, censored or just plain forgotten television. Not On Your Telly is available in paperback here or from the Kindle Store here.

Alternately, if you’re just feeling generous, you can buy me a coffee here. Preferably one as virulently strong as Salt And Vinegar KP Sky Divers.

Further Listening

You can also find Steve talking about Bagpuss on The Golden Age Of Children’s TV here.

Steve also appears in The Best Of Looks Unfamiliar alongside Lisa Parker and Andrew Trowbridge on the Jaws Game, Ben Baker on Mysteries Of Old Peking, Jem Roberts on an advert reuniting Neil and Vyvyan from The Young Ones, Martin Ruddock on Doomlord, Mark Griffiths on The Bloke Who Pulled His Pants Down On Kilroy and Tim on the radio talking about the remake of The Prisoner, which you can find here.