Is that the rousing sound of Carl Orff’s O Fortuna assaulting our ears? Yes, it’s time for a genuine “round table” discussion: this episode we look back at Excalibur, John Boorman’s 1981 whirlwind tour of Arthurian legend.

Based on the 15th-century prose work Le Morte d'Arthur by Thomas Malory, which collected together many popular legends about King Arthur and his knights, Boorman’s film takes us from Arthur’s conception through to his death, taking in the rise and fall of Camelot and the quest for the Holy Grail. It stars Nicol Williamson, Helen Mirren, Liam Neeson, Gabriel Byrne, Patrick Stewart and other top Thespians.

We’re joined for this magical mosey into the misty middle ages by Joe Abercrombie, bestselling fantasy author of the First Law series, The Shattered Sea books, the Age Of Madness trilogy and more. His latest novel, The Wisdom Of Crowds, drops on 14 September 2021 from Gollancz (Orbit in the US). Joe is a Locus Award winner, an avid gamer, and a social media master with the moniker Lord Grimdark. You can find out more about him at his official site https://joeabercrombie.com/.

Looking for more recent TV and film recommendations? We’re happy to help there too. First up: The Suicide Squad, and a moment so funny that our Dave laughs the cat off his desk. True story. Yes, we hitch a ride with DC’s worst of the worst – and silliest of the silliest – to see if it trumps 2016’s definite-article-free Suicide Squad. Then it’s a show so good that NBC pulled the plug – only for it to become a big hit on Netflix. We get Lost with mystery drama Manifest. 

There’s all this plus Marvel’s What If…?, BBC’s Ghosts and more “requels”, in Robby The Robot’s Waiting, the podcast that is a dream to some – a nightmare to others!

NB There’s no news section this time – we’ve stopped doing that, but we’ll be introducing a monthly news round-up podcast you can hear separately! See our new website www.robbyscifi.com for details. 

Episode highlights:

0:01:00 – WHAT WE’VE BEEN WATCHING: The Suicide Squad, Manifest, Ghosts, and Marvel’s What If…?

0:31:19 – Meet guest Joe Abercrombie! What has he been enjoying on his 72 streaming services? Includes Marvel on Disney Plus and Dark on Netflix.

0:38:01 – Joe Abercrombie introduces his new book The Wisdom Of Crowds, the third novel in his Age Of Madness trilogy.

0:47:07 – REWIND! We rewatch John Boorman 1981 swords-and-sorcery epic Excalibur.

Who do we think we are?

Richard Edwards: film and TV journalist and a former editor of SFX https://twitter.com/RichDEdwards

Tanavi Patel: entertainment reporter for SFX magazine and Digital Spy, panel moderator for MCM, FanExpo and more https://twitter.com/tanavip

Dave Bradley: writer, gamer, book reviewer and another former editor of SFX, who reveals here that he studied medieval literature back in the day https://twitter.com/BoxDaveB

SPECIAL GUEST! Joe Abercrombie is an acclaimed fantasy author. His first book, The Blade Itself, was published in 2006 and began the celebrated First Law series. His latest novel, The Wisdom Of Crowds, is published on 14 September 2021 https://twitter.com/LordGrimdark

We’ve received a premonition of the future and we predict that you’re about to listen to an hour and a bit of sci-fi and fantasy chat. Thanks to our pre-cog mates, we’ve also learned that we’ll be talking about Steven Spielberg’s remarkably prescient Philip K Dick adaptation, Minority Report. We’ll be joined this episode by author, futuregazer and games industry expert Kelly Vero. 

Join us on a trip back 19 years to Steven Spielberg’s thriller Minority Report, in which a troubled cop played by Tom Cruise goes on the run after his psychic pre-crime division predicts he’ll be the next guy to commit a murder. It’s a juicy conspiracy plot in the tradition of the best noir mysteries, but it also touches upon themes of free will and ethical policing, as well as building a vision of 2054 where personalised advertising and driverless cars are everywhere. 

Meanwhile, fabulous secret powers were revealed to us the day we held aloft our magic sword and said “By the power of Grayskull!” Yes, we’ve been watching Kevin Smith’s Masters Of The Universe reboot, as well as Trollhunters, Wellington Paranormal, Old, American Gods and more. Plus: Space Sweepers, Memories Of The Alhambra and more – our guest this week is Kelly Vero, who shares Tanavi’s love of Korean sci-fi. So if you’re in need of recommendations for new sci-fi films and shows to watch, enjoy their dive into the best Korean entertainment you can find on services like Netflix.

In Kelly’s company, we also speculate about the next Doctor Who, watch the new Ghostbusters Afterlife trailer, consider the Battle Of The Planets reboot and loads more. There’s all this plus the Exorcist and fond memories of Ulysses 31 in Robby The Robot’s Waiting, the podcast that knows what you’ve done before you’ve done it.

NB. Please forgive the variable audio quality in the first five minutes, we had a recording issue. 

Episode highlights:

0:01:00: WHAT WE'VE BEEN WATCHING! Featuring Masters Of The Universe, Old and more

0:23:05: Meet our special guest Kelly Vero – and listen in on our introduction to Korean sci-fi!

0:36:42: REWIND! We discuss the 2002 hit Minority Report.

1:05:51: THE NEWS! In which we discuss Doctor Who, Ghostbusters, Superman, Battle Of The Planets, The Exorcist and loads more. You may be interested to know this is the last time we'll cover the news in this format - we're running things slightly more efficiently from next episode.

The voices in your ears:

Richard Edwards: film and TV journalist and a former editor of SFX https://twitter.com/RichDEdwards

Tanavi Patel: entertainment reporter for SFX magazine and Digital Spy, panel moderator for MCM, FanExpo and more https://twitter.com/tanavip

Dave Bradley: writer, gamer, book reviewer and another former editor of SFX https://twitter.com/BoxDaveB

SPECIAL GUEST! Kelly Vero is an author, game maker, podcaster, lecturer, investor, mentor, futuregazer and general “creative badass”. https://twitter.com/electricgeisha

Have you visited our sci-fi podcast website?

Please visit www.robbyscifi.com and leave us feedback and suggestions.

Join us on a trip back 30 years, as we rewatch Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

Rightly regarded as a landmark in movie special effects, James Cameron’s 1991 classic remains a much-loved action film and a high point in the Terminator franchise. The film follows Sarah and John Connor (Linda Hamilton and Edward Furlong) as they are targetted by an advanced, shape-shifting Terminator from the future (Robert Patrick). They are accompanied by a version of the original Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger), sent back in time to protect them. Are we still fans, after all this time? Which of us saw it at the cinema first time around? How does it compare to other action films? We don our shades, dust off our leather jackets and discuss.

Meanwhile, we’ve watched The Watch. But would we watch it again? We give our verdict on TV’s Discworld adaptation, now streaming on BBC iPlayer. We’ve also seen Black Widow at the cinema and The Tomorrow War on Amazon Prime.

This week your podcast pals are joined by Matt Maytum, a journalist, editor and movie reviewer, famous from the pages of Total Film magazine. You can hear Matt regularly on the official Inside Total Film podcast. He shares his recent Disney+ finds (Monsters At Work and Loki).

In his company we also commemorate the passing of Richard Donner, consider what Good Omens 2 might bring, pore over the latest trailers, and lament the cancellation of Lovecraft Country and Cursed. 

There’s all this plus Asimov confessions, Lucasfilm’s lawyers, and Chekhov’s father-in-law, in Robby The Robot’s Waiting, the podcast constructed from a prototype mimetic polyalloy.

Episode highlights:

0:00:51: WHAT WE'VE BEEN WATCHING! Black Widow, The Watch, The Tomorrow War

0:26:48: Meet Matt Maytum, from Total Film in London, who’s been watching Monsters At Work and Loki

0:32:24: REWIND! We discuss the time travelling terrors of Terminator 2

1:00:00: THE NEWS! Featuring Richard Donner RIP, Foundation, Good Omens 2, Star Wars Visions, Zack Snyder’s Star Wars-inspired movie, Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings, Old Guard 2, Lovecraft Country, Cursed, and Simon Pegg’s Galaxy Quest TV show

They absolutely will not stop:

Richard Edwards: a film and TV journalist and a former editor of SFX https://twitter.com/RichDEdwards

Tanavi Patel: entertainment reporter for SFX magazine and Digital Spy, panel moderator for MCM, FanExpo and more https://twitter.com/tanavip

Dave Bradley: writer, gamer, book reviewer and another former editor of SFX https://twitter.com/BoxDaveB

SPECIAL GUEST! Matt Maytum is a writer, movie critic and deputy editor of Total Film magazine https://twitter.com/mattmaytum

Have you bookmarked our website?

Please visit www.robbyscifi.com and leave us feedback and suggestions