Penda’s Fen was a hallucinogenic TV film examining identity, sexuality, and suffocating nationalism that was broadcast on the BBC in 1974 to an unsuspecting audience. It had no trouble lodging itself in the public’s imagination, and even though rebroadcasts have been rare, it has garnered cult status, with many of the people involved in its creation going on to have interesting careers.
All of this is revisited in the new book from Strange Attractor Press, Of Mud & Flame: A Penda’s Fen Sourcebook, which features reflections from the weiter and cast, and contributions from scholars across a range of disciplines including television history, literature, theatre, and medieval studies.
We will have an exclusive extract from Of Mud & Flame on tQ next week, and you can order the book from here.
There will also be a launch event for Of Mud & Flame at Whitechapel Gallery on Saturday February 29, which will see the main members of the cast in the same place for the first time since filming. The event includes a screening of Penda’s Fen followed by writer David Rudkin in conversation with the film’s star Spencer Banks, chaired by fellow cast-member Christopher Douglas. Details and tickets for that are here.
