Old British sci-fi/horror. Last night watched The Trollenberg Terror (1958), an unusual alien invasion film set in the Swiss Alps, with a rare role for Warren Mitchell (Alf Garnett) as an eccentric Swiss scientist. Thought I’d find it boring but it was quite absorbing.

Tonight I’ll be watching The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961) a well-regarded Val Guest film starring Edward Judd* as well as Janet Munro (who was also in last night’s film) and Leo McKern (Rumpole). In this classic apocalyptic film, simultaneous US and Soviet nuclear tests throw the Earth’s axial tilt and orbit out of kilter, with disastrous results.

*who later starred in the atmospheric Invasion (1966) based on a story by Dr Who writer Robert Holmes.