Ray Winstone ( Robin of Sherwood ) is a muscle-bound cockney version of Edwardian Science Fiction writer HG Wells . He narrates and bookends a series of thirty-minute short films based on stories by Wells himself.
Season 1
Nightmare Worlds of HG Wells [Season 1, Episode 1]
The Late Mr Elvesham
Shown 27th January 2016 [Wednesday]
A young medical student makes a deal to become the heir of Mr Elvesham (Michael Gambon - Harry Potter ), an aging philosopher. But is the deal too good to be true? What is Dumbledore really plotting?
Nightmare Worlds of HG Wells [Season 1, Episode 2]
The Devotee of Art
Shown 3rd February 2016 [Wednesday]
A young artist needs a muse for inspiration. He needs to paint an original portrait of St Catherine so he can get into Art College. His girlfriend ( Antonia Fraser , a person of colour) is neglected and unhappy about his inability to earn a living. St Catherine, on the other hand, offers to help him create a masterpiece at the mere cost of his soul. Which one will he pick?
For the second week running, a woman of colour is included in the cast. This is remarkably Polically Correct for a story set a hundred years ago. However, one suspects that this will never be good enough for the PC Brigade because the characters are both defined by their relationship with a white heterosexual male!
Nightmare Worlds of HG Wells [Season 1, Episode 3]
The Moth
Shown 10th February 2016 [Wednesday]
Professor Porkins of the Royal Society of Entomologists has an arch-rivalry with Professor Appsley (Rupert Graves - ). This boils over when Porkins publishes sub-standard work about a moth, and Appsley writes a damning review of it. Then Porkins drops dead from the shame.
Appsley finds himself haunted by a strange moth. However, only he can see it.
Nightmare Worlds of HG Wells [Season 1, Episode 4]
Purple Pileus
Shown 17th February 2016 [Wednesday]
A shopkeeper (Shaun Parkes - ) is unhappy with his nagging wife and her carefree friends. He attempts suicide by overdosing on Magic Mushrooms.
The author HG Wells must have been familiar with the work of his fellow Victorian, Lewis Carroll . It seems that the use of halucination-inducing substances must have been more open prior to the Twentieth Century. Ironic indeed that we refer to modern draconian anti-drug laws as Victorian!
