Children of the Stones
(ITV, 1977)
Notable for its eerie music and sustained sense of supernatural peril, this 1970s children’s television classic no doubt terrified many a young viewer. Though well acted, it’s unquestionably a mood piece. The final-episode denouement fails to make sense of much that precedes.
Black Hole
by Charles Burns (Pantheon, 2005) [collecting Black Hole #1-12, Fantagraphics, 1995-2004]
Burns goes all out in this shadowy and grotesque, trippy mix of 70s teen culture, body horror and sexually explicit allegory (self-identity; belonging). The plot is deliberately abstruse, and though the black-and-white artwork is striking, some characters are hard to tell apart.
Life on Mars, Series 2
(BBC, 2007)
Where it could easily have fallen prey to second album syndrome, Life on Mars continues seamlessly from its first season: uniquely, a 70s-style cop show with modern sensibilities—fast and funny—scripted for the brilliance rather than the length of its burn.
Life on Mars, Series 1
(BBC, 2006)
A true classic, pitching the modern policing of DI Sam Tyler (John Simm) against the anarchic 1970s swagger of DCI Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister). Tyler, having been struck by a car, is either in a coma or has slipped back in time.