Podcast of the Week: Round The Archives

❉ Equidistant between chit-chat and analysis, a journey through the archives of old telly.

We’re big fans of podcasts here at We Are Cult, so if you’re looking for ear candy, we’re here to help. Each week we profile must-hear podcasts by giving podcast creators a platform to tell us about their shows in their own words.

This week: Lisa Parker and Andrew Trowbridge tell us all about Round The Archives.

What’s your podcast about?

As the title implies, our podcast is about archive television. Mostly 1950s to 1980s UK television, though there is some wiggle room. Recently we have covered Callan, Pipkins, 3-2-1 and Cosmos.

If you had to describe your show in 10 words or less, what would you say?

Us sitting on the sofa chatting about telly with friends.

Which episode would you recommend for a first-time listener? Do you have a favourite episode?

Episode Five is a good jumping on point. It’s themed around the ‘Regenerations’ convention but also manages to include lots of Victorian CID info in the piece on Sargeant Cork. Andrew is rather fond of Episode Four as it’s peppered with Christmassy continuity.

What inspired you to create this podcast?

We were inspired by taking part in the ‘Shy Life’ podcast which we were interviewed for last year and also ‘The Doctor Who Hour’ podcast, which featured two American fans watching ‘Doctor Who’ from the start; one was familiar with the series, the other was a novice. Sadly that seems to have stopped after they watched The Romans Episode Four (‘Inferno’).  Maybe The Web Planet was a bit of a shock? We also saw an edition of a BBC 2 TV show called Too Much TV which seemed to be a TV programme about TV that was hosted by people who worked in TV but knew very little about it. We wanted to see something by people who knew what they were talking about. Something along the lines of the Al Murray & Matthew Sweet specials on war films and spy films or the Mark Gatiss & Matthew Sweet special on James Bond.  We thought we could do a pretty good job of talking about archive TV as we seem to watch an awful lot and enjoy it very much. Plus we have far too many DVDs and books, so it was about time they started to earn their keep!

Which guests have you had on your podcast so far?

So far it has mostly been our old friends we have interviewed, as well as the lovely Jenny Shirt. But our most famous guest so far has been that wonderful gentleman Terry Molloy, a very interesting guest, who we never knew pops up in The Ascent Of Man. Though our cats Rose and Martha often make unexpected appearances…

Who would be your dream guest?

We would have loved to be able to interview the late, great Michael Sheard, who we were very lucky to be friends with and miss very much. He’d have chattered away for ages and there’s so much we could have asked him.  And also Russell Hunter and Edward Woodward so we could ask them about Callan.

Which equipment do you use for your podcast set-up?

We use a Tascam DR-05 recorder and a laptop with Audacity on it.

What would you say is the best length of time for a podcast episode?

We aim to make our podcast run for an hour to an hour and a half.  Episode Seven ended up as an hour and forty minutes. We’re trying not to let it hit two hours as that might just be a bit too long.

Which podcasts (other than yours) would you recommend we listen to?

We’d recommend the ‘Shy Life’ podcast, which is made by our good friend Paul Chandler and is a very interesting and fun podcast to listen to.  And also ‘Doctor Who’-wise ‘Bigger On The Inside’.

Where is your podcast available to listen to?

It’s available on Soundcloud.

What is the future of podcasting as a creative medium?

As Ali from Mind Your Language might say ‘Oh Blimey!’…  We think the future of podcasting is that it allows ordinary people a chance to air their views and are given a voice to talk about things that are important to them. As the old saying goes “It’s good to talk!”.

 Round The Archives can be heard here: https://soundcloud.com/user-868590968


 Have you got a podcast? Email wearecultcontent@gmail.com if you would like it to be featured.

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