If you can take your eyes off the action in the foreground when you watch our new animated short film A Fish Out of Water (or its trailer), you may notice some playbills on the walls of The Wild Rover beer house.

These posters are not just for decoration – they give some insight into the nature of this place and its customers, and into the interests of the film-makers too.

The film takes place in a West Country coastal town in an imagined version of the 1890s, so some of the playbills offer work to potential sea crew or (in a nod to Jules Verne) to divers, or they publicise a lecture on the dangers of devil worship and witchcraft.

There’s also a painting of Baskerville Hall – the nearby Dartmoor setting for the Sherlock Holmes story The Hound of the Baskervilles.

Others are a little more esoteric –

One invites players to try out for the new Torquay United Association Football Club (which, in the real world, was founded in 1899 and is my favourite soccer team).

Another advertises a cricket match between Torquay Cricket Club (a real-life thriving team in the late 19th century) and Brent Park CC – the fictional amateur club from the 1990s TV series Outside Edge, whose captain Roger Dervish was played by Robert Daws, who provides the voice of our main character, Henry Godliman.

Acknowledging the film’s hints at steampunk, there’s a playbill advertising fictional ‘steam automobile’ races featuring the world’s champion, Mr W. Batten, at Newton Abbot Racecourse – a venue which, in real life, would later host stock car races involving the real world champ Bill Batten.

Did you spot the posters and wonder what they were about? Now you know what to look out for when you see the film or the trailer (which you can also watch on IMDb here).

Described as ‘a Victorian tale of the fantastical and bizarre’ and set in an alternative version of the 1890s, the film follows the events which unfold when Henry Godliman – a ‘chronicler of the extraordinary’ – arranges to hear the tales of three sailors, just returned from a long sea voyage. Already unsettled by his surroundings, he has more surprises in store.

Directed by Matthew Creed, the screenplay is by Robert Lancey and me (from my flash fiction story). And I produced it – under the banner of this blog (Piece of Pink Pie‘s first film credit) and my little business, Weltch Media.

Having had a preview screening for cast, crew, and supporters in July and its first public screening in August, it’s now (I write this in late August 2026) on the festival circuit, so we’re hoping for news of more screenings in the coming months. Keep an eye on Weltch Media’s news section for updates.

If you’re involved in arts and entertainment, please check out Weltch Media to see how we could help.