Looks Unfamiliar: Paul Abbott – So I Started Writing Stories About Gobots Instead

Looks Unfamiliar with Paul Abbott talking to Tim Worthington about The Compleat Beatles, Zeeb And The Martians, Crab E. Crab, Narlies, the Commodore Plus/4, The Late Night Funster Show and more...!

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 musician Paul Abbott, who’s frantically trawling defunct search engines for any mention of VHS-only documentary The Compleat Beatles, the Cadbury’s Smash spin-off Zeeb And The Martians books, short-lived CBBC puppet Crab E. Crab, Rock Lords spin-off action figure range Narlies, high concept home computer the Commodore Plus/4, Signal Radio’s The Late Night Funster Show, and a couple of extra surprises involving Dudley Moore and Paul’s family record collection. Along the way we’ll be finding out what the rare John Lennon Transformer turned into, recalling the only joke ever told on The Comedians, debating the correct pronunciation of ‘Adrian Mole’ and spelling of ‘Compleat’, and definitely not finding out what time Crab E. Crab is on. Plus there’s a live appearance by a Narlie!

Winnie The Pooh and Teddy Bear's Picnic by Kenneth Connor and Cheryl Kennedy/Jim Dale (Music For Pleasure, 1969).

About Paul

Paul Abbott is a musician – you can find Paul’s website here and follow him on Twitter at @Pablovich. Paul also presents Hark! The 8th Precinct Podcast, a show exploring the novels of Ed McBain – you can find out more about it here and follow the show on Twitter at @Hark87Podcast – and (Music For) The Head Ballet, a show about novelty records and the often fascinating stories behind them, which you can follow on Twitter at @HeadBalletPod.

Buy A Book!

The Compleat Beatles doesn’t cover the legendary unreleased 1967 electronic Beatles track Carnival Of Light, but there’s a huge feature on it in my book Can’t Help Thinking About Me, a collection of columns and features with a personal twist. Can’t Help Thinking About Me 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. Please don’t give any more caffeine to Crab E. Crab though.

Further Listening

Paul has also appeared on Tim’s Marvel Cinematic Universe podcast It’s Good, Except It Sucks talking about Thor: The Dark World here and Iron Fist here. You can also hear Paul on the Looks Unfamiliar Selection Box talking about the Christmas Special of The Peter Serafinowicz Show here.

Transformers: Action Masters were covered in all their non-transforming glory in Looks Unfamiliar with Garreth F. Hirons, which you can find here.

Paul also appears in The Best Of Looks Unfamiliar alongside Anna Cale, Jim Sangster, Melanie Williams, Pete Prodge, Chris Hughes, and a hopless attempt by Tim and assorted past guests at successfully playing some TV tie-in DVD games, which you can find here.