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Competition Time! Your chance to win Invasion Planet Earth on DVD!

British sci-fi film Invasion Planet Earth comes to DVD on 30 December, and I have three copies to give away. Entering is really easy – see below for details and T&Cs (this is a UK-only competition).

The movie has been a 20-year labour of love for writer-director Simon Cox, who ended up crowdfunding some of its budget. In the film, our planet, already on the brink of a world war, is faced with an alien invasion. Cox has big ideas and he’s painting them on a huge canvas, with the action moving from London streets to Manhattan to space.

• Continue reading/Enter the competition at Caution Spoilers.

Quadrophenia – Our Generation: Sky Arts: Friday 20th December: 0.00am
Quadrophenia – Our Generation: Sky Arts: New Year’s Day: 10pm
Celebrity fans and cast members come together to shed light on the making of Quadrophenia and explore the legacy that the cult film has left behind, 40 years after its release. (Photo © Sky Arts)

Invasion Planet Earth is now available to buy as a download across all digital platforms, including Sky Store, Amazon, iTunes, Virgin Media. The DVD is released on 30th December.

As recently posted, and following this year’s Quadrophenia screening/Q&A + Gig, Toyah will return to Square Chapel Arts Centre in early 2020 for a Jubilee screening/Q&A and a new full-band electric concert.

As well as this, Square Chapel Arts Centre are also screening The Tempest, along with a Q&A with Christopher Biggins.

All of these events are taking place in February 2020 as part of LGBT History Month – We are delighted to be celebrating LGBT History Month with a series of live events and special film screenings.

• Browse details of the Jubilee and The Tempest screening events, as well as the full diary for LGBT History Month, at the Square Chapel Arts Centre website.

Quadrophenia Reunited – 40 Years On: Sky Arts: Saturday 21st December: 1.15am
Quadrophenia Reunited – 40 Years On: Sky Arts: Christmas Eve: 3,30am
Lauren Laverne hosts a one-off special bringing the stars of Quadrophenia together. Featuring reminiscing, interviews, a table-read of the script and plenty of other surprises.

2019 has been an amazing 40th Anniversary year for Quadrophenia, with documentaries, reunion events, special screenings and more to celebrate. Rounding off the year is a revised “Complete Guide” book:

Quadrophenia (At 40) The Complete Guide by Layne Patterson | Specially revised & updated film only edition | Foreword by Franc Roddam. Afterword by Gary Shail

A percentage of royalties are being donated to the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Following on from the book’s previous incarnation two years ago a new (film only) edition is now available to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the iconic film!

The new larger format is packed with many new pictures and newly gleaned information about the film that refuses to grow old gracefully! Following on from the previous book a further donation from the author’s royalties will be donated to the Teenage Cancer Trust.

The author: Layne Patterson is based in Norfolk, having relocated from London in 2001, and is married to Liz, with three grown up sons and six grandchildren. This is Layne’s second solo book although he has previously contributed to two titles on his beloved Wealdstone FC.

• See further info/Buy the book at Amazon.

A selection from the numerous Invasion Planet Earth press clips, interviews and reviews published over the last few days. Stay updated by following Simon Cox at Twitter.

• Flatpack Festival: Interview – Simon Cox: Two decades ago, Nuneaton based filmmaker Simon Cox had an idea for a science fiction film called Kaleidoscope Man. Filmed on a shoestring budget with limited resources at locations across the Midlands, what ultimately became Invasion Planet Earth finally screens to audiences this month. We talked to Simon about an epic twenty year journey to pay homage to the sci-fi films he loved as a child – Continue reading…

• Britflicks Reviews: BritFlicks Reviews Simon Cox’s Imaginative Sci-Fi Invasion Planet Earth: A true one off from a very wide imagination… Coming from the mind of writer/director, Simon Cox, Invasion Planet Earth, is one of those films that is a true original. It was also made over 17 years, which by anyone’s standards is a long production line! However, the film is set very much in the here and now, but of course, the question does arise, ‘how much’ of it dates from 17 years ago – Continue reading…

• Midlands Movies: Invasion Planet Earth: A number of children in the 1980s recreating their favourite TV show ‘Kaleidoscope Man’ (this film’s previous title in fact) opens new sci-fi feature Invasion Planet Earth from Midlands director Simon Cox. This clever parody is a fun way to start a feature that contains more than its fair share of disaster and peril – Continue reading…

• Nevermore: Invasion Planet Earth – Review: Reading the history of this film made me more apprehensive than it did excited – Continue reading…

• Film Stories: Invasion Planet Earth review: Invasion Planet Earth review is a sci-fi movie made in the UK over the course of a decade – and it’s worth seeking out too – Continue reading…

• Dark Eyes Of London: Invasion Planet Earth (UK 2019: Dir Simon Cox): Imagine. You’re a filmmaker, maybe not in the first flush of youth. You’ve had one not very well publicised feature made years ago, but you have a project within you so ambitious in scope that it becomes an all consuming passion. But you have little resources, financially or technically, at your disposal, to realise the vision. So what do you do – Continue reading…

• Filmuforia: Invasion Planet Earth (2019): Director Simon Cox (Driven) has spent seventeen bringing this labour of love to the big screen, and his perseverance has paid off – Continue reading…

Toyah with Simon Cox at the screening of Invasion Planet Earth last night at The Electric Cinema, Birmingham. She tweeted “can’t wait to see Invasion Planet Earth“. (Photo © Electric Cinema)

Toyah chats about Halifax gig and Jubilee Q&A – Featuring a live on stage Q&A with Toyah Willcox, hosted by BBC Radio 6 Music presenter, Chris Hawkins. See our previous post on this here.

Invasion Planet Earth – in which Toyah has a role and also performs the end credits title song, Step Into The New World – available now as a digital single – is showing in numerous cinemas around the UK today. The film project has been a labour of love for its creator, Simon Cox. for many years. Click below for details on where you can see Invasion Planet Earth.

A four star review for Invasion Planet Earth, the film which is showing in cinemas for one day only this Thursday.

Almost a decade from script to screen, the labour of love that is Invasion Planet Earth is bold, ambitious, with tongue in cheek humour that occasionally pops up in an otherwise solid science-fiction drama. It will appeal to fans of the science fiction genre from all eras, particularly. It may be pitched, by marketing people, as a British Independence Day (there’s a nod to that in the dialogue), but it’s far from that as Simon Cox, writer and director, flits between drama, science fiction and action with deft awareness of just how preposterous his story is. The story does deliver a tale that has depth and weight amongst its familiar “aliens attack earth” trope, especially as the truth is revealed.

• Continue reading at Vulture Hound. Browse our Invasion Planet Earth news.

Quadrophenia: Film 4 HD: Friday 13th December: 1.10am
The Who wrote and produced this energetic story of a young man disillusioned with his life in 1960s London. Phil Daniels excels as the alienated anti-hero Jimmy Cooper. Director: Franc Roddam. Starring: Phil Daniels, Leslie Ash, Toyah Willcox, Philip Davis, Mark Wingett, Sting, and Ray Winstone.

A soundtrack album will be released for the British indie sci-fi adventure Invasion Planet Earth. The album features the film’s original music composed by Benjamin Symons. The soundtrack will be released digitally this Friday, November 22 and is now available for pre-order on Amazon, where you can also check out audio clips.

Invasion Planet Earth is co-written and directed by Simon Cox and stars Simon Haycock, Lucy Drive, Julie Hoult, Danny Steele, Toyah Willcox and Michael Bott. The movie follows a couple’s struggle to survive as the UK comes under attack from an alien mothership.

The film will be released in the UK in early December. No word on a domestic distribution deal.

1. This Is Kaleidoscope Man (3:03), 2. Our New Hope (1:31), 3. Vision of the Apocalypse (2:04), 4. Is This God? (1:24), 5. It Wasn’t a Dream (2:18), 6. Russian (2:47), 7. The Crash (1:43), 8. Washed Up (0:43), 9. It’s Beautiful Isn’t It (2:48), 10. I’ve Hated Every Man (1:59), 11. A Heroic Leap (3:20), 12. Point and Shoot (1:11), 13. I Am Kaleidoscope Man (3:14), 14. 20 Minutes (1:12), 15. The ISS (0:57), 16. They Are Attacking (4:03), 17. The Battle of Birmingham (5:32), 18. Nuclear Strike (1:27), 19. The End of the World (1:17), 20. Sending a Message (2:24), 21. I’ll Never Be Alone (8:14)

• Continue reading at Film Music Reporter.

• Invasion Planet Earth – DVD: The DVD includes: The movie in 5:1 surround sound, The Making of Invasion Planet Earth – Documentary, Commentary by writer & director, Simon Cox, Deleted scenes, Step into the New World. Song promo featuring Toyah Willcox – Continue reading…

• Starburst Magazine: Invasion Planet Earth / Release Date: December 5th / DVD: December 30th – Run! The bug-like alien spaceships are raining down on Earth zapping anyone and everyone. What in the name of all that is holy is going on? Yes, we assume it is an alien invasion to suppress humanity and turn us into their slaves. It is the kind of thing we have done for centuries to our own Earthly neighbours – Continue reading…

• All Events: Invasion Planet Earth (12 TBC) + Documentary Short: Starring Simon Haycock, Lucy Drive, Julie Hoult and Toyah Willcox. For ONE NIGHT ONLY, Invasion Planet Earth will be followed by FROM DREAM TO SCREEN, a short documentary ‘making of’ featurette from filmmaker Simon Cox – Continue reading…

• Comicon 2019: Invasion Planet Earth live on stage: Check out this great Q&A hosted by Chris Jones at this years Comicon with the team behind the new British sci-fi movie, Invasion Planet Earth – Continue watching…

• Darlington FC: Come and be an extra in Give them Wings – and then play bingo with Toyah Willcox! – Continue reading…

• Daily Record: Airdrie artist shows unique guitar to cast of cult movie Quadrophenia: David McDonagh, 34, blew the cast of the movie away with his artwork – Continue reading… (Photo © Daily Record)

Toyah is taking part in a special Jubilee event at Square Chapel Arts Centre, Halifax in early 2020.

The event consists of a screening of the film, an onstage Q&A with Toyah – who played pyromaniac Mad in Derek Jarman’s late 1970’s epic – and later, a full band Toyah gig.

GIG, JUBILEE SCREENING + Q&A
1st February 2020
Square Chapel Arts Centre, Halifax

This special evening at Square Chapel Arts Centre includes a special screening of Derek Jarman’s cult classic punk movie Jubilee.

Featuring a live on stage Q&A with Toyah Willcox, hosted by BBC Radio 6 Music presenter, Chris Hawkins.

Toyah will then perform a live gig with her band spanning over 40 years of her music career. Ticket deal available for both screening and the gig.

• Full details of the Jubilee screening + Q&A event here, and details of the Toyah gig which follows it, here.

Toyah’s new single, Step Into The New World, was released last week – 8th November. The song has received much positive feedback over the past couple of weeks.

Step Into The New World is available to buy as a digital single and can also be streamed online. The promo video can be viewed at You Tube.

Toyah performs the end title song for what’s been described as the biggest indie sci-fi movie of all time, Invasion Planet Earth. Toyah also has a role in the film.

Invasion Planet Earth is in selected UK cinemas for one day on 5th December 2019. A digital/ DVD release on 30th December follows, available to pre-order now at Amazon.

• Buy the digital single at iTunes. Stream the song at Tidal. Read more about Step Into The New World and Invasion Planet Earth at toyahwillcox.com.

Flickering Myth: Exclusive trailer and poster for British sci-fi Invasion Planet Earth: Flickering Myth is delighted to exclusively debut the poster and trailer for Invasion Planet Earth, a new sci-fi thriller from British filmmaker Simon Cox, which is set for release this December – Continue reading…

Film Stories: Invasion Planet Earth: trailer for new British sci-fi movie: Heading to the big screen soon is a new British sci-fi thriller by the name of Invasion Planet Earth. The movie looks an ambitious one, too. Directed by Simon Cox, who co-wrote the script with Simon Bovey, it features Simon Haycock, Lucy Drive and Julie Hoult in its cast. And there’s no shortage of special effects on offer too – Continue reading…

Pop Horror: New Trailer and Poster For Sci-Fi Film ‘Invasion Planet Earth’: A new trailer and poster have been released for the new British Sci-Fi thriller directed by Simon Cox (Driven): Invasion Planet Earth. The film stars Simon Haycock (Last Respects), Lucy Drive (Dead End), Julie Hoult (Bundy and the Green River Killer), Danny Steele (Chicken), and Sophie Anderson (Night Bus) – Continue reading…

Seen It: Munro Films and Lightbulb Film Distribution have released the trailer and poster for their latest Sci-Fi thriller, Invasion Planet Earth: After the death of his young daughter, Tom Dunn is a broken man. When his wife falls pregnant again, he cannot believe their luck. However, his joy is short lived, as on the very same day, the people of Earth become plagued with terrifying visions of the end of the world – Continue reading…

English woes – Derek Jarman’s apocalyptic visions of England are as relevant as ever

In The Last of England, a collection of autobiographical sketches, diary entries and script notes published in 1987, Derek Jarman offered a ferocious state of the nation address:

Young bigots flaunting an excess of ignorance. Little England. Criminal behaviour in the police force. Little England. Jingoism at Westminster. Little England. Small town folk gutted by ring roads. Little England. Distressed housing estates cosmeticised in historicism. Little England. The greedy destruction of the countryside. Little England.

It’s a passage that encapsulates many of Jarman’s most persistent concerns: national identity, reactionary politics, the representation of the past, architecture, landscape and ecology.

… Jarman’s shoots were renowned for their sense of camaraderie. Toyah Willcox, who starred in Jubilee, said, ‘the whole thing about Derek was that he allowed everyone to learn. He was the most fantastic teacher. There was no elitism, there were no closed doors.’ The emphasis placed on collaboration, thrift and imagination was partly a matter of necessity. For the majority of his career, his films had tiny budgets, though public money from the BFI and Channel 4 was forthcoming from his fourth feature onwards. Jarman’s cinematic ambitions were, however, constantly hindered by battles with producers and funding bodies. ‘The money required to make a film, let alone a consistent cinematic career, can evaporate like snow in June,’ he noted.

• Continue reading at Apollo Magazine.

Quadrophenia – Our Generation: Sky Arts: Friday 15th November: 10.15pm
Quadrophenia – Our Generation: Sky Arts: Sunday 17th November: 11.45pm
Celebrity fans and cast members come together to shed light on the making of Quadrophenia and explore the legacy that the cult film has left behind, 40 years after its release. (Photo © Sky Arts)

The poster/artwork for, the forthcoming, Invasion Planet Earth.

Toyah performs the end title song for what’s been described as the biggest indie sci-fi movie of all time, Invasion Planet Earth. Toyah also acts in the film. Step Into the New World is released digitally on 8th November. Invasion Planet Earth is in selected UK cinemas for one day on 5th December 2019.