Shane might be away this week, but the (Sunday) show must go on - and John Fardy was in studio as always for this week's Cultural Toolbox.

Chatting with guest host David Harvey, John's choice this week was a pretty much undisputed cinema classic: the 1949 thriller The Third Man.

Directed by Carol Reed and with a cast led by Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Trevor Howard and an unforgettable turn from Orson Welles, The Third Man is iconic on almost every level - from the incredible cinematography to Graham Greene's script to the soundtrack that manages to be jolly, dark and eerie at the very same time.

After a brief reminder of what exactly the Cultural Toolbox is, John said this week's choice is "occasionally called the greatest British film of all time - and I'd almost go along with it."

Calling back to another recent Cultural Toolbox entry, he explained "in a way The Third Man is the hangover to Casablanca. [That] was a movie that took place during World War II - this distinctly takes place after World War II in Vienna.

"Vienna was always a crossroads city... It's a great place for a movie to be set, particularly at this time because it was a weird place. You see it being bombed out, but you also see these Viennese buildings," he added.

David agreed, saying "what's interesting about this movie is that it's made in '49, and Vienna in '49 [was] like this."

From Orson Welles' belated appearance around halfway through the film, John said, "you think you're watching this kind of classic film noir movie set in bombed Vienna, and then it turns into this other weird thing. And it's truly epic. Orson Welles is magnificent in it."

John also went through some trivia about the film's production, and even made a valiant attempt at singing the memorable musical theme of the film. Suffice to say, there was little disagreement about this week's Cultural Toolbox choice.