The Sea Devils

 

I remember when a continuity announcer said that the next story would be called `The Sea Devils` and I had no idea if this was some sort of monster or period pirate piece. Since then I’ve always loved `The Sea Devils` and now I can't quite believe its fifty years since I first saw it. Inevitably it can’t thrill me like it did as a child but yet it still has a magic. Many parts of it fizz with energy and even if from this distance it can look ramshackle at times the overall effect is still strong. Part of the reason why its endured is the very experimental incidental music by Malcolm Clarke and the design of the Sea Devils themselves. Even if their eyes don’t move! So forgive if this is less a review and more notes. 

 

Earthshock

 It is forty years since Doctor Who fans got two big shocks with `Earthshock`. I was lucky enough not to know what was coming up in this story so I was able to be shocked indeed.  Anyone who watched the episode live back then will tell you what a big impact it had- the latest DWM has some examples- and all this time later it remains one of those stories that you watch with anticipation. The edge is still there- this is not a cosy watch like for example `Revenge of the Cybermen`, it’s a thriller with bite. It wasn’t just fans who were affected by `Earthshock`. It proved to be a hugely influential story on this period of the series which turned out to be a good and a bad thing. On the positive side it’s style led to a number of subsequent stories pushing the envelope when it came to both scripts and presentation such as `Caves of Androzani,` `Revelation of the Daleks` and `Vengeance on Varos`. However it also started a trend for a more violent streak in the show which ultimately was a contributing factor to the 1985 hiatus.

 

The Curse of Peladon

 

Peladon is as rich a planet as was ever created for Doctor Who. Its murky passageways lit by flickering torches seem so far from the studio environment in which they were constructed. Its almost as if the stories were filmed on location on Peladon itself! Its pagan tradition seems rooted down the centuries rather than scribbled out at a script meeting the other week. Perhaps because the series at that time was mostly set on present day Earth, those stories which are not resonate particularly strongly. One of the best aspects of the two Peladon stories is a strong sense of time and place. A feeling- still rare in the series to this day- that these people were here long before the Doctor and will still have lives afterwards. Moreover, writer Brian Hayles invents an entire history, structure and society not just for the planet Peladon but the Galactic Federation as well. It is quite intricate in detail and sounds convincingly believable as well

 

Day of the Daleks

 

In 2011 Doctor Who fandom was divided about the merits of the Special Edition of `Day of the Daleks` but I loved it and over a decade later I still do. Fact is I actually-gasp- prefer it to the original. This is only because it really is the original as the production team and viewers would love to have seen it. I suspect many viewers actually think this is what they saw! The story hasn't been changed in any way simply enhanced visually to better support the narrative. Plus if you don't like it, the original transmitted version is still around of course. This story was an event and a half in 1972. The Daleks back for their first story in seven years, heralded by a stunning Radio Times cover from the pen of Frank Bellamy. Alongside the comic strip cover for the 1971 season the previous year it remains one of the best RT covers ever.

Terror of the Autons

 

“I am usually referred to as The Master”. With just eight words a new classic tv villain made his debut appearance fifty years ago yet nobody could know just how defining a performance Roger Delgado would give and how enduring the character would become. The Master has re-appeared in many guises over the subsequent half century yet the benchmarks are all laid out from the start. Generously afforded the role of (increasingly un-surprising) enemy in each of 1971’s stories enabled both character and actor to develop a popularity to rival that of the Doctor. Yet there was nothing complicated about The Master really. Clad in black and sporting a Mephistophelian trimmed beard the only way he could look more evil would be to sprout a couple of horns. In another actor’s hands it could have been unimpressive but gifted a role he was totally suited to Roger Delgado makes it his own, so much so that every Master since has used it as a template either to copy or develop. As an example of how in thrall the Eighties version of Doctor Who was to its past when they recast the part they made the actor look as similar as possible to Delgado. Nowadays writers like to pry into the psyche of the main characters but this version of the series never went too deep. They didn’t need to. The Doctor versus The Master is clear good versus evil and kids at that time were happy with such escapist adventure.

 

Chris Achilleos

 

Growing up in the Seventies we only got to see each episode of Doctor Who once (or maybe twice if it was repeated) so the Target novelisations were our equivalent of how you can now watch any existing episode whenever you want. Crucial to those books were the covers especially the earlier ones which were the work of Chris Achilleos who sadly died this week. His artwork created a heightened, stylised version of Doctor Who with a grander and more exciting visual aesthetic than the reality of the series. Yet he was also able to home in on the elements that made each story tick. Finding a new book and a new cover was like discovering new treasure and those covers somehow became synonymous with the stories they depicted.

 

Fan Scene CT 1980 Oct- Dec

 

October

“The latest Doctor Who news supplied by the production office and society members” it says under an Update headline. I wonder if there was some issue with news in CT or perhaps the notoriously finnicky JNT just wanted credit. Anyway, the subsequent story does have a whiff of press release about it with the plucked from thin air suggestion that the new season “looks like being the biggest success for some time”. “The brilliant, imaginative Leisure Hive,” it continues and later on we’re told “we are being treated to one of Emrys James’ performances.” Why you can almost hear John Nathan Turner’s voice! Romana is going – “but K9 will go on.”  You can buy the theme music too with a b side called `Astronauts` though it’ll never match the legendary b side `Reg`.  Chris Dunk rather cheekily prints a picture of a press review of `Leisure Hive` underneath all this sunny promotional banter and its not a favourable one referring to “very cheap camera effects” and concluding “no-one seems to have any faith in this geriatric juvenilia”. Hardly “brilliant, imaginative.” Other news includes a Madame Tussaud’s display and a Doctor Who war game called `The Key of Kronos` in which players take on the character of one of the Doctors to search for a key that is in six segments. Sounds familiar. It doesn’t say if they have to dangle from the ceiling dressed as Kronos though.

Fan Scene- CT 1980 Jul - Sep

 July

`Decay in Studio` is the headline this month though rather than a story of dry rot it’s actually referring to the news that the unmade story formerly known as `The Vampire Mutations` or `The Witch Lords` and more recently dubbed `The Wasting` is now to be titled `State of Decay` and broadcast fourth in the new season. The news item reminds us that this Terrance Dicks tale was originally penned three years back but pulled due to the series being instructed not to `send up` a lavish BBC2 version of Dracula. At the time this raised hopes that `Shada` might also be resurrected but it was not to be. The issue also reveals the title of the second story as `The Last Zolphathoron` and that Jacqueline Hill is returning to the series. Of course we all thought this meant Barbara was going to appear.

Fan Scene - CT 1980 Apr - Jun

 

April

This issue leads with the sad news of the death of David Whitaker who was only 51. As well as his Doctor Who work the obituary mentions his involvement in the Australian film industry and also the Writers Guild of Great Britain. Other programmes he wrote for included Paul Temple, Private Eye and Mr Rose. He had lately agreed to novelise `Enemy of the World` for Target but it remained unfinished.

Meanwhile its reported that next season will be the longest for ten years with seven 4 part stories and that K9’s role will be “considerably restructured”. There’s also talk of a new male companion “a kind of cosmic Artful Dodger”. The DWAS too is looking for new blood as Stephen Payne relinquishes control of the Society fanzine `Tardis`. Requesting volunteers who might like to take over, Chris Dunk says “Applicants should be able to type with reasonable accuracy”! There is also news of the 1981 Annual – oddly Annuals are published in August even though most people associate them with Xmas. Story titles already known include `The Voton Terror`, `Colony of Death` and `Every Dog Has His Day`. 

Fan Scene - CT1980 Jan - Mar

 

The world of Doctor Who as it was reported in the Doctor Who Appreciation Society newsletter Celestial Toyroom aka CT.
1980 was a momentous year both for the programme and the Society. By the year’s end Tom Baker’s lengthy tenure in the Tardis would be coming to a finish while some of the founder members of the DWAS would depart during the summer. CT at this time was edited by Chris Dunk who largely eschewed the personality led style and chose to present a busy, fact based edition each month reflecting the myriad of series news and fan activity that was happening.

January
41 years is a long time of course and there’s an instant reminder of that when you see a small ad for what was then the recently launched Doctor Who Weekly “on sale now.” The cost? Just 12p. A magazine for 12p!! The main news is that industrial action at the BBC has affected production of the last story of the then current season, `Shada`. The story hits a positive note given that all the location work has been filmed. The DWAS policy is not to mention plot details for at least a year in case the incoming new production team decide to re-mount it.  Other news includes Target looking for someone to write a novelisation of `Evil of the Daleks` and the fact that initial ratings for the season’s first story were poor. It then reports that `City of Death` did better though neglects to say why that was  - industrial action at ITV this time! Inside Jan Vincent-Rudzki’s President’s Column takes a school masterly tone with Doctor Who Weekly picking up on errors that it included despite being “full of good intentions”. He generously suggests that the mistakes were due to the tight schedule but can barely hide his irritation and takes a large dollop of the page to correct them.

Doctor Who Annual 1969

 

I’ve never seen this annual till I bought it online a few months ago. Fronted by a photograph of the second Doctor looking decidedly cheesed off (perhaps yearning for the end of his contract) the 1969 Annual, released in time for the 1968 Xmas market is noticeable in a very distinct way. The artwork is extremely stylised and striking even if some of the artists don’t capture particularly good likenesses of either Jamie or Zoe. Both are often depicted looking at least a decade older than they should be dressed like characters from a serious period drama.  Some of the artwork is surreal- on the inside cover the Doctor is playing his recorder while being fired on by space helmeted aliens. Even more bizarrely on the next page a facially unrecognisable Patrick Troughton is capering about on an alien planet in his stove pipe hat being fired on while under attack from one of the `Mind Robber` robots.

 

Fan Scene CT82 #4

With a different photo cover based on the Radio Times cover that promoted `The Three Doctors` the September issue reveals plans for an anniversary story next year. Jon Pertwee will definitely be in it and Gary hopes Pat and Tom will be too. He does suggest an anniversary special publication is unlikely though. The issue also has the first mention for a planned BBC anniversary event next year. Other news includes the return to the series of the Brigadier as well as actor David Collings. Rumours of the Daleks returning as well though appear to be false. Nyssa is departing and her last story will appropriately be called `Terminus`. 

There have been more thefts reported, this time from the Central Westminster Reference Library with Radio Times cuttings from `The Time Warrior` to `Brain of Morbius` swiped. There’s a clipping of a local newspaper report about Panopticon though it’s been written by a DWAS member David Guest (no, not that one) who turns in an intelligently penned and sometimes amusing account. If only all professional press about fandom were like this. “It never was ascertained how members got home but the sound of unnatural mechanical grindings and the disappearance of all the police boxes in Birmingham give a clue,” he concludes.

 

Fan Scene CT82 #3

With salmon coloured front pages the June issue announces more details of next season including the title of the opening story- `Arc of Infinity`. Sounds great doesn’t it?  Also the worst kept secret of the time was that Janet Fielding hadn’t really left at the end of `Time Flight` and here we learn she will indeed be back next season. Under the heading `Crisis` the issue reveals that someone called Sarah who dealt with fan mail in the programme’s production office has left; possibly the second fact being a reaction to the first!. Additionally because of the World Cup there probably won’t be any repeats this summer. So is this what constituted a Crisis back in 1982? If only that was all we had to concern us now!! The front page also reports the death of Harold Goldblatt who was in `Frontier In Space` and that the marriage between Tom Baker and Lalla Ward has ended after sixteen months. 

 

Season 13: Pyramids of Mars

There is an experience Doctor Who fans will never have again that anyone watching the series in the Seventies did have and that is watching your first episode in colour. After years of various shades of grey there would finally be an episode when the series exploded into bright COLOUR! For some it had started with `Spearhead from Space` when the series itself was first broadcast in colour. Some of us had to wait a while longer. For me it was episode 2 of `Pyramids of Mars` first broadcast on 1 November 1975. Having avidly watched most of the third Doctor’s era in monochrome – and therefore spared the garish colours of the Axons- nothing could prepare me for the experience of seeing the series as it should look. It’s difficult to describe in a world now where black and white material is either ancient or used as a novelty. Somehow watching in monochrome you did have some idea of things being different shades yet whenever a photo turned up it was still a surprise. I think the reason why I loved the Target books covers was because of the vibrant colour of the artwork. Yet Doctor Who was still a black and white series for me. Then in 1975 we got a colour television and suddenly everything was different. 

 

Fan Scene- CT82 #2

The world of Doctor Who in 1982 as seen by the DWAS newsletter Celestial Toyroom (aka CT)
Something that made a comeback in 1982 was the coloured paper which used to be a regular feature of CT. Last issue had a pink cover but for March a sort of lime green was used which had Ref Dept Announcement -Page Two emblazoned across the top even though the actual announcement isn’t really very exciting. They’re going to stop doing detailed synposes as these are now being done in DWM and there is also the Programme Guide.  Elsewhere on the cover comes news of the 1983 Annual which will include some behind the scenes material (Annuals usually confined themselves to new fiction). Those Dalek films posters keep showing up; this time around the rather splendidly named Powerpulse Productions are selling them. There’s even a mention of a Human League concert recently where slides of the Doctor were included in the show; well they did have a song called `Tom Baker`.