Garrick Hagon

A visual essay by writer and filmmaker Jon Spira exploring the evolution of Silent Running's screenplay

A team of American parapsychologists travel to Wales to conduct a study of Margam Castle, one of the UK's most haunted buildings.

2.6/10

Wallander grapples with dementia and a Cold War mystery in his final adventure.

7.7/10

A documentary about ten very different lives connected by having appeared onscreen wearing masks or helmets in Star Wars.

5.9/10
8.1%

Back in January 2015 I had the pleasure of talking to Garrick Hagon aka Biggs about his role in Star Wars.

Retired C.I.A. agent Frank Moses reunites his unlikely team of elite operatives for a global quest to track down a missing portable nuclear device.

6.6/10
4.4%

A former agent of the CIA and his estranged daughter go on the run after his employers target them for assassination.

6.1/10
2.8%

Two investigators of paranormal hoaxes, the veteran Dr. Margaret Matheson and her young assistant, Tom Buckley, study the most varied metaphysical phenomena with the aim of proving their fraudulent origins. Simon Silver, a legendary blind psychic, reappears after an enigmatic absence of 30 years to become the greatest international challenge to both orthodox science and professional sceptics. Tom starts to develop an intense obsession with Silver, whose magnetism becomes stronger with each new manifestation of inexplicable events. As Tom gets closer to Silver, tension mounts, and his worldview is threatened to its core.

6.2/10
3%

A modern take on the classic fairytale, Alice in Wonderland, set in South East England.An American law student in London. Knocked down by a black cab, she wakes with amnesia in a world that's a million miles from home - Wonderland. We follow her adventures as she's dragged through an underworld filled with twisted individuals and the lowest low-lifers, by the enigmatic cab driver, Whitey. She needs to find out who she is, where she's from and use what wits she has left to get back home in one piece. As her journey progresses she discovers nothing is what it seems, realizes that fate and life are terminally entwined, and finds true love lurking in the unlikeliest place.

6/10
1%

A westerner named Casey, studying Ninjutsu in Japan, is asked by the Sensei to return to New York to protect the legendary Yoroi Bitsu, an armored chest that contains the weapons of the last Koga Ninja.

5.5/10

A young boy who lives in an old folks' home strikes up a friendship with a retired magician.

6.7/10
6.5%

Nathan becomes a super hero style of character in people's dreams to rescue them from their nightmares, only to realize he's not the only one. Not only that, but he has been manipulated to become one by them in order to help these good guys defeat a new foe, the Nemesis. Nathan is reluctant at first but comes around to figure out exactly where the Nemesis is coming from, and why, and how they might be able to stop it.

4/10

The true story of the legendary German Shepherd who was found by American pilot Lee Duncun in France during World War I, and later became the most famous animal star in Hollywood history.

5.1/10

An escort who caters to Washington D.C.'s society ladies becomes involved in a murder case.

5.8/10
5.2%

In the Nazi-occupied Netherlands during World War II, a Jewish singer infiltrates the regional Gestapo headquarters for the Dutch resistance.

7.7/10
7.5%

An intelligence operative discovers that no one is what they seem in the shadowy world of espionage.

4.1/10

A young boy wins a tour through the most magnificent chocolate factory in the world, led by the world's most unusual candy maker.

6.6/10
8.3%

On the day of his retirement, a veteran CIA agent learns that his former protégé has been arrested in China, is sentenced to die the next morning in Beijing, and that the CIA is considering letting that happen to avoid an international scandal.

7.1/10
6.6%

Workaholic reporter, Jack Elgin takes his family on a working trip to India, but their aircraft is hijacked in Cyprus by a previously-unknown terrorist movement, and his wife and daughter are among the slaughtered. With western governments suppressing key facts and unwilling to go after the terrorists, Jack uses his contacts and snooping skill to seek the truth himself.

5.3/10

The story of the Opium War between China, in the waning days of the Qing Dynasty, and the British Empire, in the 1830s, and the subsequent takeover of Hong Kong by Britain; through the eyes of the key figures, fiercely nationalistic Lin Zexu, and opportunistic British naval diplomat Charles Elliot.

6.5/10

When Ethan Hunt, the leader of a crack espionage team whose perilous operation has gone awry with no explanation, discovers that a mole has penetrated the CIA, he's surprised to learn that he's the No. 1 suspect. To clear his name, Hunt now must ferret out the real double agent and, in the process, even the score.

7.1/10
6.3%

Two young children are brought to Janet Hinton, a social worker in the Scottish Highlands. When both she and an independent expert become convinced that the children are part of a ritual child abuse network, the small community is thrown into disarray.

Fictional account of what might have happened if Hitler had won the war. It is now the 1960s and Germany's war crimes have so far been kept a secret. Hitler wants to talk peace with the US president. An American journalist and a German homicide cop stumble into a plot to destroy all evidence of the genocide.

6.5/10
5%

The US Army has decided to modernize its cavalry, so Colonel James E. Devers is ordered by a general to convert a horse unit to motorcycles, but his men are easily outclassed as riders by a pack of rowdies, especially Grady Westfall; when he is arrested risking a long jail term, he's given one way out: enlisting as Corporal, assigned as driving instructor. Unit commander Captain Jack Hassler reviles his unorthodox boyish methods as undermining discipline and tradition, not to mention flirting with the Colonels daughter Beryl Ann, but he's needed, especially when his unit is deployed on a secret mission in Spain.

5.2/10

The eerie and charming animated adventures of a creature called Moomin and his friends and family. (Season 1 : 78 episodes, Season 2 aka Delightful Moomin Family: Adventure Diary: 26 episodes; 104 episodes in total)

Adaptation from a novel by Frederick Forsyth.

6/10

Having witnessed his parents' brutal murder as a child, millionaire philanthropist Bruce Wayne fights crime in Gotham City disguised as Batman, a costumed hero who strikes fear into the hearts of villains. But when a deformed madman who calls himself "The Joker" seizes control of Gotham's criminal underworld, Batman must face his most ruthless nemesis ever while protecting both his identity and his love interest, reporter Vicki Vale.

7.5/10
7.1%

Aspiring young novelist Tony Zonis (Alexis Denisof) wants to write the next great suspense thriller, so he decides to study the work of master crime writer, Willard Hope (Christopher Lee). Together, they pick through random newspaper stories, looking for the unusual event that will make a good thriller. What they find is murder. A government cover-up... an international scandal... and the bodies are just beginning to fall into place. Now Tony isn't just writing the next best-seller... he's writing his own obituary.

5.5/10

Political drama about the Gorbachev-Reagan summit at Reykjavik

A famed mystery writer played Angela Lansbury and her doctor ex lover played by Laurence Olivier solve her daughter in law's murder.

6.3/10

Oppenheimer is a television serial about J. Robert Oppenheimer, produced by the BBC. It began broadcast in the United Kingdom on 29 October 1980 and in the United States on 11 May 1982. The series starred Sam Waterston as Oppenheimer. The series was nominated for seven BAFTA Television Awards and won three. It was nominated for two Emmy Awards, for Outstanding Limited Series and for Outstanding Writing in a Limited Series or a Special. It was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV.

8.2/10

The assassination of the would be ruler of Rome at the hands of Brutus and company has tragic consequences for Brutus and the republic.

7.4/10

The life of King Henry the Fifth.

7.7/10

Princess Leia is captured and held hostage by the evil Imperial forces in their effort to take over the galactic Empire. Venturesome Luke Skywalker and dashing captain Han Solo team together with the loveable robot duo R2-D2 and C-3PO to rescue the beautiful princess and restore peace and justice in the Empire.

8.6/10
9.2%

Ever wonder how they ever managed to make a movie like Star Wars? Well, bickering droid duo C-3PO and R2-D2 host this tour of the mind of creator George Lucas and what inspired him to make the movie. Even interviewed are the cast and crew, even features scenes of when C-3PO, R2-D2, and Darth Vader planted their footprints (or in R2's case, tread-prints) into cement. Also discussed is Star Wars mania, how fans loved the movie, collected the merchandise and danced the disco music. Also shown are behind-the-scenes looks at the movie, as well as how difficult each effect was in doing since they didn't have the convenience of computer animation back then.

7.5/10

Operation Market Garden, September 1944. The Allies attempt to capture several strategically important bridges in the Netherlands in the hope of breaking the German lines.

7.4/10
6.4%

Russian and British submarines with nuclear missiles on board both vanish from sight without a trace. England and Russia both blame each other as James Bond tries to solve the riddle of the disappearing ships. But the KGB also has an agent on the case.

7.1/10
8%

Handsomely-mounted historical epic concerns the birth of the Islamic faith and the story of the prophet Mohammed.

8.2/10

Moonbase 3 is a British science fiction television programme that ran for six episodes in 1973. It was a co-production between the BBC, 20th Century Fox and the American ABC network. Created by Doctor Who producer Barry Letts and script editor Terrance Dicks as a realistic alternative strand of TV science-fiction, it was not a commercial or critical success. It starred Donald Houston as Director David Caulder, who is appointed to the position after the previous director was killed while returning to Earth. Ralph Bates was Michel Lebrun, the Deputy Director, who was concerned about keeping to the rules. Fiona Gaunt played Doctor Helen Smith, the base's psychiatrist, and Barry Lowe played Tom Hill, the head of the base technical section. The programme was notable for its combination of realistic spaceflight procedures, ensured by hiring BBC technical adviser James Burke, and its strong character-based writing. Although very dated in terms of its looks and assumptions about the future, it remains well regarded in retrospect.

6.6/10

The Adventurer is an ITC Entertainment TV adventure series created by Dennis Spooner that ran for one season from 1972 to 1973. It premiered in the UK on 29 September 1972. The show starred Gene Barry as Gene Bradley, a government agent of independent means who poses as a glamorous American movie star.

6.7/10

The story of a U.S. deserter who comes in search of English sanctuary and turns out to be something of a negative cause, both for those who attempt to help him directly and those who like to use him politically.

A college professor lectures on the recently published Kinsey Report, as Americans are stunned by the shocking sexual truths revealed by the statistics. Five audience members reflect on their own sex lives, which flesh out the research with real life experience. A young couple ponder the repercussions of pre-marital sex. Returning home from overseas, a man learns that his neglected wife has been unfaithful. Anguish follows a divorcee's romantic fling. Having had sex with no one but his wife in his entire life, a man attempts to sow some belated wild oats. A young girl considering abortion is horrified by the filthy illegal back-door 'clinics' that are her only option.

6.8/10

This unauthorized retrospective and making of features interviews with cast members from the original Star Wars trilogy reflecting on their experience making the films and the cultural phenomenon that ensued after the films release.