To celebrate Film Stories turning 500 episodes old (and then some!), a very special live recording took place in London in November 2025. Long-time Film Stories supporter Romesh Ranganathan joined Simon Brew on stage to go through his, er, 'storied' cinema career and talk movies.

This show is rated 15 for language. You probably could have guessed that.

A video version of this show is available on YouTube: www.youtube.com/filmstories

Please subscribe. Please leave a nice review. And thank you for all your help and support in getting us to episode 500!

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In a very special episode of Film Stories, writer/producer/showrunner/novelist Chris Chibnall joins Simon for a long chat about his work and career.

Topics covered? Glad you asked. They chat about Death At The White Hart, Chris' first novel, that's now available in paperback, and also heading towards televison. They talk about Agatha Christie's Seven Dials, heading to Netflix in January. And other topics? Old computer games, Jasper Carrott LPs, and a good chunk of Doctor Who as well...

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You want a Christmas movie? Look no further than Rocky IV, surely the raging highlight of the Rocky saga. Written and directed by Sylvester Stallone, and with montages coming out of its armpits, the movie was not without a few challenges (and injuries.) Not least: how do you follow up the relentlessness of Mr T's Clubber Lang from Rocky III?

The answer arrived in the sizeable shape of Dolph Lundgren, a one-time guest on this very show. But then, decades later, Sylvester Stallone decided that he had problems with Rocky IV. And a very different cut was born...

The stories are told in this very episode....

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Now in UK cinemas is the spoof movie Fackham Hall, which crosses the likes of Airplane! with Downton Abbey.

But how do you write a spoof movie? And what are the challenges? We've brought together 66.6% of the writing team The Dawson Brothers to tell us more, and explain why a CG house was required to make a sex scene involving pigs...

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There was originally a plan to bring the much-loved Christmas book The Polar Express to the big screen in live action, with Rob Reiner potentially directing. But eventually, the project ended up with Robert Zemeckis. Looking for something between live action and animation, a different kind of technology was to be used for the film - but would audiences respond to it? Especially when they tried to look the characters in the eye...

The second part of this episode is a return to the podcast for writer/producer/director James L Brooks, chatting about his new film, Ella McCay. Plus, getting films for grown-ups made, Mike Nichols, previewing his movies and a whole lot more.

Ella McCay is in UK cinemas from 12th December 2025.

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Dan Cadan may not be a name familiar to too many, but he's had quite the career. In this special Film Stories episode, he tells his tale of how the lad growing up in Huddersfield went on to work with Guy Ritchie (including writing a remake of The Wild Geese), Stephen Graham, Madonna and more.

Then, getting a film made, the sole UK release from the Fox International label, Walk Like A Panther. He takes us into the highs and lows of that, his letter about it to Kermode & Mayo, and what mischief he's up to now. Quite the story this...

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Go down the box office charts for 1992, and you need to look a long way before you find The Muppet Christmas Carol. Directed by Brian Henson, the movie was in 45th place at the box office that year, with surprisingly few choosing to check it out on its initial cinema release.

The film had come together following the death of Muppets creator Jim Henson, and there'd been some difficulty cracking what the next Muppet film should be. Even when they settled on an adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, there were a few different choices that were nearly made.

The story of the film is told in this episode...

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In a very special episode of the Film Stories podcast, Simon is joined by two of the team behind Disney's new animated movie, Zootropolis.

There's producer Yvett Merino, an Oscar-winner for Encanto, who came to Zootropolis 2 hot off the heels of Moana 2. And then writer/director Jared Bush returns to the podcast, for what's becoming a very welcome annual check in with the chief creative officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios.

The conversation covers the new Zootropolis/Zootopia film, a four minute sequence that got cut out of the film, a dog with a dodgy tummy, and a whole lot more...

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After the, cough, 'underwhelming' A Good Day To Die Hard in 2013, the assumption was that the Die Hard saga had run aground. But for a while, that wasn't the case, and by 2015, there was a plan hatched for one final movie in the series.

Bruce Willis was set to return as John McClane, Len Wiseman - after Die Hard 4.0 - was coming back to direct. And this time, we were going to be told the origin story of John McClane too.

The film was active for nearly half a decade. And this is the story of the Die Hard that never was.

Plus, a small update too on the Film Stories podcast...

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In a special episode of the Film Stories podcast, Simon is joined by Oscar-winning production designer Nathan Crowley. He won his Oscar for Wicked, and you can now see his work in Wicked For Good on the big screen.

This chat takes in those films, as well as Christopher Nolan's garage, nine seconds with Ridley Scott, early work with Francis Ford Coppola, and a whole lot more...

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In a special episode of the Film Stories podcast, Simon brought Mark Kermode and Jenny Nelson to his home town of Birmingham in the UK. There, Mark and Jenny were on stage to talk about movie music, as they talked about their new book, Mark Kermode's Surround Sound.

You're getting the full, lively conversation here, complete with audience questions at the end. With huge thanks to the team at the Midlands Arts Centre in Birmingham.

Mark Kermode's Surround Sound is available now, published by Picador. Please buy it from an independent bookshop if you can!

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