What came before Star Wars in 1970s science fiction?

George Lucas directing Star Wars

It's true to say no one, in 1977, had ever seen a film quite like Star Wars. But that doesn’t mean no one had been trying to get big budget, old fashioned entertainment off the ground.

Today, Episode Nothing looks at film makers who were trying to make science fiction and fantasy, or to revive old movie genres, in the 1970s.

A 1977 interview with Mark Hamill from Blue Peter - and what it reveals about Star Wars

 

Mark Hamill interviewed on the BBC's Blue Peter in December 1977

Millions of children will have seen it in December 1977, but a fascinating clip of Mark Hamill on the British children's show Blue Peter has only recently reappeared. 

Episode Nothing considers what it tells us about the 1970s and the early days of Star Wars fandom.

40 years on: Shooting on Star Wars ends with the film's opening scenes

Darth Vader arrives on the Rebel
blockade runner in Star Wars 

Forty years ago this Saturday – on July 16 1976 – George Lucas was able to call "It's a wrap" as principal photography on Star Wars finally finished. The final days of filming had been hurried, with multiple camera crews working under huge pressure. Yet they turned out to be some of the most memorable moments of the film. Episode Nothing looks at the scenes which were the last to be shot, but first in the film. 

Star Wars on TV: how Britain's TV Times celebrated its arrival on the small screen

A chance to win Empire Strikes Back toys in
TV Times as Star Wars came to television

When Star Wars reached British television in 1982, the listings magazine TV Times gave it an unprecedented amount of space. It even commissioned short comic strip telling us something of how the Rebel Alliance stole the plans to the Death Star – and almost certainly contradicting the forthcoming film Rogue One. Episode Nothing takes a trip back to October 24 1982.

A day long remembered: Star Wars comes to television

The UK's TV Times heralds the 

arrival of Star Wars on television

Several years after it changed film-going forever, Star Wars came to television. 

George Lucas was angry about it, we were told. But for the young fan, the arrival of Star Wars on the small screen was a huge event. Today, Episode Nothing takes a look at the very different experiences in the US and the UK as Star Wars made its TV premiere on HBO, CBS and ITV.