The Midwich Cuckoos

Jan 17, 2025 10:42 PM

Author:John Wyndham,Bill Nighy,Sarah Parish,Full Cast

The Midwich Cuckoos

Driving back from a weekend in London, Richard and Janet Gayford are surprised to find the village of Midwich sealed off because of ‘army manoeuvres’. There are no birds singing, the air seems thick and there is a strange sort of music in the air. It soon becomes clear that there is an invisible wall around the village, and everyone within the perimeter is unconscious. When the barrier lifts, the strange occurrence is put down to a gas leak. The villagers seem to have suffered no adverse effects from their ‘day out’ - until, some months later, there is an epidemic of pregnancies among the women. All the babies are born on the same day, all have golden eyes - and they can all communicate with each other telepathically. As they grow older and their powers grow stronger, the people of Midwich begin to feel threatened...

Reviews

Julia Blackburn's book gives a far more complete idea of Holiday as an artist than anything else I have read

—— Guardian

This is a raw, true book that evokes not just the life of the great singer Billie Holiday but an entire jazz era.... Blackburn's compelling tale is of whores, drug-pushers, bent policemen and crooked lawyers as well as brilliant musicians, and she brings alive everything she touches

—— Mail on Sunday

This addition to the tide of Billie Holiday books is extremely welcome. Nowhere else is the context of her life and work so vividly captured

—— Toni Morrison

Full of vigour and colour...Ms Blackburn's portrait of a unique artist is moving, revealing and quite unforgettable

—— Economist

Julia Blackburn...has contributed much to the legacy of a remarkable human being

—— New Statesman

With her assured touch, she has transcribed and framed the verbatim accounts into a resonant piece of social history, never losing sight of the woman who enthralled everyone with whom she came into contact

—— Financial Times

Often books about jazz musicians make the mistake of over-focusing on the music. Blackburn is more interested in Billie as a person

—— Mike Figgis , Guardian

This is a really marvellous book, the most uninhibitedly intimate portrayal ever of the short, hard life and overall musical triumph of Lady Day...With Billie vividly reflects the chaos that Billie Holiday was born into and only rarely escaped from

—— Spectator

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