The Splendid Chaps Christmas Special

On Sunday 15th December 2013 was the final Splendid Chaps podcast;

The Splendid Chaps Christmas Special. I didn’t want them to go, but I'll keep warm, there may be a tear, it'll hurt, but the moment has been prepared for.

It all began with a girl in a red dress. Except she wasn't inside a Dalek, she was singing next to one. And her dress was more Christmas party than junior entertainment manager. There was a 1960s Dalek movie Dalek on stage and Petra Elliot singing the "ill-conceived" hit from 1964 by The Go-Go’s; "I'm Gonna Spend My Christmas With A Dalek". I happen to know the words to this song quite well, as I listened to it many times to write the lyrics our for the Tardis Wiki, it's for the same reason I also know the lyrics to “Who is the Doctor?" a spoken word song by Jon Pertwee.

Following on from the song John and Ben came out on stage. John in a fetching Barbara-wear inspired cardigan and Ben in a Tenth Doctor-influenced dressing gown.

Each of the guests brought a 'gift' of a Doctor/main character to the podcast, with information and observations.

The people / shows that were covered were; Peter Cushing and the 1960s Dalek movies, Trevor Martin and the Seven Keys to Doomsday, The Curse of Fatal Death, Big Finish's Doctor Who Unbound series, Scream of the Shalka, K9 & Company and The Sarah Jane Adventures, plus Torchwood.

Alexandra Tynan who designed the Cybermen also made a return appearance, and mentioned of 'An Adventure in Space and Time' that the scene at the start with her Cyberman design and the bloke smoking in the suit didn't happen and wouldn't've happened back then, but the theme and style was spot on. And also the look of all the people in it they got spot on. She also said in the regeneration scene, where Patrick Troughton is standing there with William Hartnell, she was there, but in '

Scream of the Shalka

loading screen

An Adventure in Space and Time' there were "two blokes there!". Of Scream of the Shalka it was mentioned by Fee Plumley that technology and where the BBC saw it going played a part in it. Both in its production and being at the forefront of media on the net at a time before YouTube and everything, at the moment the site needs Flash 4.0 to run the webcast which is still up on the site.

But in 2003 when it was released most people were still on dial-up. Though like Ben McKenzie, I was excited to be able to watch Doctor Who at the same time as everyone else, something that wouldn't really happen again until The Day of the Doctor. Yes there are broadcasts practically after the UK ones, but that's only been happening in the past year or three. It was, I seem to recall painfully slow on dial-up. I remember letting it load and just waiting, a bar very slowly moving along the screen as it loaded up on my 56k modem. But it was amazing to be able to see that story.

You can still relive the experience of watching it now, follow this link and click play all on any of the episodes. You’ll get a box that says “You will need Flash to see the animations. Get help here”, don’t do that, instead click Full Screen, and after a particularly long loading screen it will play. Or follow this link to episode one. It also had interesting bits of technology, as was pointed out in the live show by Fee Plumley. The mobile phone in the TARDIS, replacing the phone inside the panel of the exterior police box shell, and the Doctor being able to use it to escape falling into a blackhole by "reminding it that it's part of the TARDIS". In the webcast it unfolds in spectacular fashion and he escapes.

Adam Richards who presented the K9 & Company and The Sarah Jane Adventures

portion made an interesting observation, or relayed the observation that when The Sarah Jane Adventures was on TV, it allowed Doctor Who to be a bit more dramatic and gritty. Because The Sarah Jane Adventures could have farting aliens and useless Sontarans and, basically do the light hearted and occasionally comical stories that Doctor Who couldn't or didn't want to do. It did get me thinking though, why don't we have alternate series anymore for Doctor Who. It has if anything gotten darker and more complex, but has held its audience.

But back in the 2007-11 we had 3 Doctor Who-based series going at once; Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures. Elisabeth Sladen passed away and Torchwood reached a few crescendos. With series 3 of Torchwood it reached epic levels of grittiness. With as Djoymi Baker saying they're left with 2 very bad choices, give 10% of children to the aliens to use as drugs or say goodbye to the human race. The American Torchwood still had that grittiness but as Djoymi Baker pointed out, taking it away from Wales and bringing it to sunny beaches and whatever just doesn't work. The grittiness, the cold, grim Welsh landscape is what made Torchwood different and unique.The BBC could easily generate another spin-off series using what people have been introduced thus far, to create other marketable programmes. There's the Eighth Doctor series that everyone's now clamouring to have, now that they've seen him in The Night of the Doctor and seen what great acting chops Paul McGann has. He's been doing great work in Big Finish audios. Actually that reminds me when Myke Bartlett was talking about the Big Finish Doctor Who Unbounds he mentioned something I'd not thought about before.

When Big Finish got Paul McGann in originally to do the audios, they defaulted to the 25 minute and episode format, something his Doctor never did as he debuted in the 85 minute TV movie and he debuted with a fairly "classical" companion an character with an RP sort of accent (Charley Pollard), an Edwardian companion for Paul McGann's Byronic Eighth Doctor.

It was only much later that they went for single episode stories that fit onto 1 CD.

Back to The Night of the Doctor, those 7 minutes really showed to everyone the potential for an Eighth Doctor series, but I'm not sure if the BBC would green light a series like that considering they're launching a new Doctor with Capaldi's 12 or 13th Doctor depending on who you ask (Moffat lies). Having two properties like that on the same time for similar audiences is something they'd probably want to avoid. There's the potential for a "science leads" UNIT, with Jemma Redgrave's Kate Lethbridge-Stewart. UNIT could be the new Torchwood, and as Torchwood's been destroyed (or maybe living on in America), it'd be the perfect sort of thing to create. There's always the alien hunter route with Mickey and Martha. Except both actors are off doing other things.

Maybe they could just do a spin off series with the Curator introducing tales from the Under-Gallery and then stories leading off from that. I’m sure Tom Baker would love to do some acting straight to camera. Returning back to the Splendid Chaps Christmas Special live podcast recording. There were songs. Several. There was the aforementioned “I’m Gonna Spend My Christmas With A Dalek” at the start of the show, then Ben McKenzie sang a very solemn version of “Song for Ten” from The Christmas Invasion just before the interval.

Then at the start of the second segment after the interval was the whole song with its many verses from Ghost Light “That’s The Way To The Zoo”. Then finally from The Gunfighters “The Ballad of the Last Chance Saloon (Splendid Chaps Edit)", all five verses, with a lyric sheet provided to the audience (although many had to share, but I was on the end of the isle with no one next to me so I have one, which I shall cherish, or more likely lose). According to John Richards he got the sheet music and lyrics for “That’s The Way To the Zoo” from Mark Ayers and there were many more verses than appeared in Ghost Light. All up it was a great end to the podcast series. I was there for the first episode, and well due to life getting in the way had missed a few here and there. I am sad that it’s finished, and wish there was more, it was great to actually be able to go to a live podcast recording, monthly about Doctor Who. Although it won’t be the end, it can’t be, this is Doctor Who. They’ve already announced a spin-off web series.

Plus, it can always come back, maybe for a special show in November next year...or something. Doctor Who doesn’t die, it just changes formats, is kept alive in different formats, it endures the wilderness, it lives on, being reinterpreted and rewritten. So I hope the podcast will return in the same incarnation but a new outfit and new venue. Or maybe return in a new, different incarnation, with vague descriptions of where it’s been, it’ll have odd ears and a modern jacket, but one day... One day it will come back, until there must be no tears, no carrot juice, just go forward and make the spin-off of your desires.

Thank you. It’s good. Keep warm.

Cinema rants

When I was younger I would, occasionally buy some popcorn when seeing a movie. But usually I’d eat the popcorn during the trailers, during the stuff that doesn’t matter, where you can watch or eat or whatever.

The Day of the Doctor was 75 minutes long. Most movies are at least 100 plus minutes long.

Recently (fine, in the last 5+ years) if I’ve wanted to see a movie in the cinemas I’ve been waiting until it’s on its last few weeks of release, so I could go to the cinema and have space around me, so I’m not next to people chewing like a cow munches grass in the field or rustling around in a bucket of chaff and grains getting the last few bits out of the bucket.

The woman next to me in the cinema was younger than me (I found out through engaging in friendly conversation), though over 18 and also...I don’t know how to say this without sounding critical, but significantly larger than me and only just within the dimensions of the cinema seat.
I, at first engaged her in conversation and didn’t really pay attention to her bucket of popcorn, 2 bags of Maltesers and another packet of something that I couldn’t see or immediately identify. And a Vitamin Water.
Then, whilst chatting to me she started to eat, and then asked me a question (about Doctor Who) with a mouthful of Maltesers.
That’s when I wanted to quit on reality. Instead I did the next best thing and pulled out my phone and retreated to twitter.

People vomiting in front of me and people talking to me with a mouth full of something. Two things I cannot deal with.
Actually even the latter, if they’re at least a table’s width away from me I think I could deal with it. She was less than 20 centimetres away from me.

A bucket of popcorn, I’m not being deliberately facetious, it was a bucket size of popcorn. There were other sizes, I saw other people carrying other sizes of popcorn.
Two bags of Maltesers and something else unidentified.

I admit, I was glad that when I booked my ticket I decided to err on the side of caution and get an isle seat. This was in part because I thought it’d be busy but also because I have long legs and like to stretch out down the isle.

If I had been trapped next to the bucket of popcorn I think I may have screamed.
The talking to me with a mouthful of Maltesers almost sent me over the edge.

I would, I think have preferred to sit next to a child waving a sonic screwdriver about, they would have had more decorum.

75 minutes is not long enough to need a bucket of popcorn, 2 bags of Maltesers, an unidentified bag of something else and a Vitamin Water.

If it’s a normal length of movie, 100 plus minutes then maybe, understand going with one of those things.

But if you were watching The Day of the Doctor or indeed any 75 minute show at home, would you need or want that much stuff?

Favourite Doctors

As we barrel towards the 23rd November with the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who, the question of ‘who’s your favourite Doctor’ will always come up when talking with people. Those who are fans or even those who have mild interest. Everyone will have a favourite.

My answer to the question is a little more in depth than others, probably, because I’ve been a fan for a while, during the 90s when it wasn’t so friendly to be a fan of a show that wasn’t even on any more.

‘My Doctor’, the one who I watched on TV was Sylvester McCoy, the Seventh Doctor. He was all mysterious, teasing Davros about rice pudding and facing evil from the dawn of time. All the while making Ace face her fears and playing spoons.

My favourite Doctor for his on screen portrayal is however Jon Pertwee, the Third Doctor. He’s just got a something, it’s said in various press that Tom Baker believed he was the Doctor and would often do stuff interviews in-character. But Jon Pertwee, as scientific advisor to UNIT and beyond after that had something of the scientist to him. He was a bit eccentric, he’s got the Venusian aikido moves and he had lots of gadgets. He too also acted like the Doctor at interviews and other things.

The Virgin New Adventures, a book series that continued on from the TV series after it finished in 1989 made me a fan of the Seventh Doctor. In prose form his character became more detailed, more interesting. But I would say I am more a fan of that era, rather than that Doctor. It’s not, in this case about the Doctor but the era he’s a part of, and those books published from 1991 to 1997 are some of my favourite stories and the series as a whole was brilliant and made me think of Doctor Who in a different way. They were also the only new long form prose stories being published during the ‘Wilderness Years’ - the time when there wasn’t any Doctor Who being produced for TV.

On audio meanwhile, the stories produced by Big Finish Productions beginning in 1999, my favourite Doctor from their stories is Colin Baker’s Sixth Doctor or ‘old Sixie’ as he refers to his Doctor as.
The Sixth Doctor didn’t get a great run on TV, a fairly grumpy occasionally violent Doctor, he was given a new and fresh perspective in Big Finish’s audio stories. Big Finish and Colin Baker have made me love the Sixth Doctor. It is the Sixth Doctor stories I enjoy the most listening to from Big Finish.

The Eighth Doctor deserves special mention for being my favourite Doctor over multiple mediums, in audio, prose and comic he is a favourite of mine. In the BBC Books, which like the Virgin New Adventures continued the Eighth Doctor’s story after the TV movie in 1996. The audios produced by Big Finish began in 2001 and the comics published by Doctor Who Magazine began shortly after the TV movie.
Considering the writers only had one story to draw inspiration from there is a remarkably strong character of the Doctor in these different mediums. His character gets developed and changed, but there’s still something uniquely Eighth Doctor-y about him, and things that referenced back to the TVM.
In the recent The Night of the Doctor Paul McGann’s Eighth Doctor was very much the Big Finish version and, watching him was like having a Big Finish audio come to life. His tone and performance was very much a Big Finish Eighth Doctor performance.
Which makes sense as that’s the character he’d developed of the Doctor since 2001.

Splendid Chaps - Nine/Women

15th September 2013

A version of Britney Spears' 'Toxic' read William Shatner / Jon Pertwee spoken word-style performance by John Richards with Petra Elliot providing the chorus was much better, funnier than an acapella version that they had planned.

I also hate noisy fans.

Welcome to Nine / Women.

I also don't really like Rose Tyler.

So it was a somewhat relief that not *all* of the podcast recording was devoted to Rose Tyler.

There was some discussion of the gender politics in Doctor Who which I do find interesting. Gender politics in television media interests me full stop.
There's I think it's called the Bechdel test that you can apply to a TV show, which basically looks at a scene with two women in it who talk to each other about something other than a man.

Doctor Who, when there are two women in a scene usually does remarkably well with this test. It would probably do amazingly well if you excluded the Doctor from the definition of a male.

New Who was discussed in this recording a lot more than classic Who. Though Barbara Wright was mentioned and chatted about between Ben and John before the guests came on stage.

I did find it interesting how Celeste Liddle came into Doctor Who - via Torchwood, which is an interesting way to find your way into Doctor Who. Considering that Torchhwood is a pretty gender diverse show. There's pan-sexual Jack Harkness, Ianto Jones apparently straight (he has/had a girlfriend who got Cyber-converted), Owen Harper, Toshiko Sato and Gwen Cooper. Gwen is the only one of the main cast that's firmly straight and has a boyfriend and then also has a wedding to him.
In the first episode Owen is both a possibly rapist and also probably bisexual or at the very least not gender fixed. It depends how you read the first episode, but basically he uses an alien spray to make a woman attracted to him, but she clearly has no interest in him (and has a boyfriend), then he uses the magic spray and she (and her boyfriend) are altered in their attraction and become attracted to him.
Incidentally there's also another reading that suggests rape and that's between the Master and his wife Lucy. It depends on how you read the situation, but there is at the very least assault and very likely sexual, though maybe not penetrative assault. He's clearly hypnotised her, but when she's on the Valiant she also has been physically abused. She also kills him.
Back to Torchwood, Toshiko also has a fluid sexuality and gets into a relationship with a woman who's actually an alien.

Going from the broad Torchwood to Doctor Who is something of a step backwards in many ways.

There was a lot of discussion of Rose Tyler, a character who I’ve never really liked. The panel made the comment that it’s the fault of some writing and even some lines.  Tansy Rayner Roberts especially saying that when she watched episodes she just ‘mentally edited’ out the lines that were particularly bad or negative to the character.
I’m not like that however, for me what’s there on screen (or in print or on audio) is what that character says.
So I can never really shake the ‘clawing eyes out’ scene (as they called it at the podcast recording) between Rose an Sarah Jane Smith in School Reunion. It was just such a selfish scene for Rose. The scene that’s similar when Donna and Martha meet where it’s friendly and fun was how that scene should have happened.
But in School Reunion it just made Rose seem petulant and childish.

Of School Reunion it was also discussed the way that it slightly retconned Sarah Jane Smith’s relationship with the Doctor. That idea that she had put her life on hold, waiting, almost pining for the Doctor to return, which was unnecessary. That she would measure herself against him in that way.
The novels and audios have in any case filled in that, Sarah had a rich and exciting life before and after ‘School Reunion’ so what happens in that story is more the odd one out of how the series has dealt with her character.

The women on the panel did raise something interesting that I’d not considered before and that was that the Ninth Doctor treats Rose much like an abusive partner.
Looking back on how the Ninth Doctor is towards Rose and to a lesser extent Adam Mitchell there is a surprising amount of abuse levelled at them by the Ninth Doctor.

Freema Agyeman and her character of Martha Jones was also discussed. That the decision to have the Tenth Doctor seemingly continuously comparing her to Rose Tyler was a mistake and that it lessened her presence on the show and within the TARDIS.
Additionally the character of Martha Jones was inconsistently written, with her early episodes being quite strong but later in the series, or perhaps in the shooting schedule she was less able to fight to keep more of Martha’s character in the episodes.


Further along the nature of 'companions' was discussed, how that the term 'companion' is somewhat meta-referencing, not just the show itself but the fandom that's arisen. Pre-1989 the term 'companion' wasn't used very often asserted Ben McKenzie. That the Big Finish Productions audios have added to this, often using the term ‘companion’ and that it was was something that’s only really started since Doctor Who’s become more aware of itself and the fans and I suppose its audience.
Before 1989 they were the Doctor's 'friends' or during the 1970s his assistants. Which basically means Liz Shaw and Jo Grant. Sarah Jane Smith didn't really become his assistant in the laboratory work sort of way.

The lack of female writers in New Who was also raised. Even in classic Who there wasn't exactly a huge amount of female writers. Though there were women behind the scenes; Verity Lambert and Delia Derbyshire are two notable names from early in the show's history (right at the start). It seemed back then the BBC were more for experimenting, but now they're somewhat less so. Only Helen Raynor has written for the series and Daleks in Manhattan was one of those stories. The very quite bad Daleks in Manhattan.

Finally the question of a female Doctor was raised. Everyone seemed to think it was a good idea.
I disagree, and slightly agree with their reasoning.
If the show was to be rebooted, go right back to the start and reboot the show with a new lore and whatever, then sure, make the Doctor female. Alternatively when we get to the magical thirteenth incarnation of the Doctor, potentially his last life, depending on which bit of continuity you follow, then sure, do a soft reboot and start the regenerations again as a woman.

But just introducing a female Doctor in because of some wish for a female Doctor...no.
I think just regenerating the Doctor into a woman to have a woman for the sake of it cheapens it and diminishes the role of women in Doctor Who.

The Doctor has had female equals and should continue to have. Many of the companions have been presented as equally capable as the Doctor. Liz Shaw (played by Caroline John) was just as much a scientist as the Doctor was, and was replaced by Jo Grant because in the words of the Brigadier the Doctor doesn’t need a scientist he needs someone ‘to hold test tubes and tell him how brilliant he is’.
Romana (played by Mary Tamm and Lalla Ward) was presented as the Doctor’s equal, quite literally, being a Time Lady.
Sarah Jane Smith illustrates this as being beyond an equal of the Doctor by actually sustaining a whole other series ‘The Sarah Jane Adventures’ spun off from her appearance in ‘School Reunion’.
The Tenth and Eleventh Doctors even appearing in episodes of ‘The Sarah Jane Adventures’.
One argument I've read against the call for a female Doctor is there's no big calls for a female Superman; a female Batman; a female The Hulk or a female equivalent of Thor.
These are all fairly mythic, comic-style characters, that is more or less what the Doctor is. He's been around for 50 years (although an argument from history isn't a justification in and of itself) but the character of the Doctor as a male wanderer in time and space is something that's been established, it is a part of the show's mythos. Changing his gender because 'it's time we had one' isn't enough. The universe in which he exists should change, he should gain equals or even betters rather than have his being, his character be changed to accommodate what we feel should be done or what we should have.

To end, and return to my first point, vocal fans.
This and indeed all the other recordings were *recordings* they’re podcast recordings.
You don’t need to be shining your sonic screwdriver with its sound effect all the time, as Ben McKenzie said there’s already enough sound and feedback on the mics without you adding that in.
Also, talking during the recording. The guy in front of me actually asked the vocal fans (who were seated beside me) during the break half way *not* to talk during it, which was good and something I was close to saying myself, but I mostly just slowly brewed on it rather than acting on it.

Splendid Chaps - Eight/Science

11th August 2013

After intending to go to all the Splendid Chaps recordings I've missed a few here and there.
The last one I attended was "Who and Books", and before that the last Doctor-themed one was "Four/Comedy" during the Melbourne Comedy Festival. It all feels like such a long time ago, with so much stuff in between.
So it was nice to get out, laugh and see Doctor Who-based stuff.
   
As with previous podcast recordings I've been to I wished this one went on longer.
I also wish that they, (John Richards and Ben McKenzie) hadn't waffled as long about the 1996 TV movie (the only TV-based appearance of the Eighth Doctor), and yet also that they'd covered more different parts of it.

I also wish they'd spend more time on their guests; science communicator, MScGenetics student at the University of Melbourne and head editor of the Young Australian Skeptics Jack Scanlan, astrophysicist Dr Alan Duffy and science communicator Allie Ford. Scanlan, also being a podcaster at least knew how to hold himself in front of the mic of a podcast, but the others seemed to need direct questions asking of them to prompt them into speaking.

I also found the lack of attention or coverage of the "homework" (the stories they say we should watch, read of listen to prior to attending the podcast recording) somewhat disappointing, given the theme for this episode was ‘Science’. I had wanted to hear some in depth discussion about science in Doctor Who, considering how much it’s used (and abused) in the series. I was maybe expecting coverage of The Daleks, how the Daleks originally ran on static electricity perhaps. Terror of the Autons was mentioned and briefly dealt with. Four to Doomsday and its illustration of Newtonian physics was coverage quite well and I was surprised that it was seen to be accurate. Well not the Fifth Doctor being in space without a space suit, but the cricket ball action in space was accurate. The Masque of Mandragora wasn't mentioned at all, It seemed like an odd choice of story, perhaps to spark discussion of dimensions and other stuff like that. The Lazarus Experiment was also discussed from a genetics point of view. All of its science pretty wrong, to paraphrase Scanlan, what should have happened when Lazarus got into the machine was that he'd step, well flop out of the machine as a big cancerous blob.

Some people left before the musical portion at the end of the podcast could begin, and I was tempted to join them. The musical bit at end of the podcast feels a bit like a tax dodge. That it's there to fulfil some obscure piece of renting the venue or getting some tax concession or something. I think almost all the people who have gone to these podcast recordings would be totally happy if there wasn't a musical bit at the end and instead was a little more podcast recording.
The musical bit at the end of this was a performance of “In a Dream”, the music that was playing on the record player at the start and end of the TVM. The music that skips on "time". Disappointingly they didn't have a music-only version with only static / record static to play through the speakers whilst singer Hannah Pelka-Caven sang the song. It was nice, although not better than the music in the movie.

Dalek films at The Astor Theatre

On Saturday night (3rd August, 2013) I saw at The Astor Theatre the two 1960s Dalek films; Dr. Who and the Daleks and Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. Both I’ve seen multiple, closer to countless times on both VHS and DVD.

I went to see them again, in part because I have never seen them ' the big screen' before and also because, as part of my 'be more social' self-motivation thing have gotten onto meetup.com and found some people who share similar fascinations, thoughts and cultural touchstones that I do.

One of them ‘The Melbourne Sci-Fi and Fantasy Meetup Group’ had a meet for this screening of this double feature. Although several people RSVPed on the site only three actually attended, well 4 including myself.

Screenshot: Dr. Who and the Daleks (used under fair use)

It was an absolutely squally night for it with a lot of rain coming down leading up to the start and at the end of the night. I don't know about during, I was in the cinema. The rain paused long enough for me to talk to the theatre and back to my car between the downpours.

Even with only 4 people I had a good chat with the others who'd come along.

Watching the movie in a cinema with other people who also appreciate it is a new experience for me and my appreciation of these two films.

Screenshot: Dr. Who and the Daleks (used under fair use)

It was interesting to look at Dr. Who and the Daleks with a fresh perspective, as it’s a film I’ve not seen for at least 5 years, probably more than though, though the DVD has been sitting on my shelf, so I could watch it if I wished to.

With Dr. Who and the Daleks, I never really appreciated its comedy. I just mostly saw it as an adaption of the TV story upon which it's based. Even later on having read about it and knowing that the “Ian” character in the movie is there as more of a comedy role than that of a 'hero' character that the TV series Ian was.

But watching it alone the humour isn't really there for me, or rather I saw it but didn't recognise it as comedy humour.

There is a lot of slapstick humour to Ian's performance, in almost all of his scenes he is doing some simple physical comedy, usually falling over/into/onto/sitting down onto something. It seems obvious thinking on it now, but it took watching it with a group of people in a cinema to really appreciate the comedy of it, or the intended comedy.

It’s something I just didn’t really notice watching it alone and away from other people who notice (and laugh) at the comedy.

There’s also unintentional comedy in the movie that simply comes from it being a very 1960s movie. The opening titles and music is very incredibly 1960s.

Dr. Who and the Daleks is very efficient with its story telling, another thing that I never really noticed the last time I watched it.

Having somewhat recently watched The Daleks, the TV story upon which the movie is based it seems almost rushed. The TV story is 7 episode long with each running around about 25 minutes giving the story 175 minutes to run.

Dr. Who and the Daleks has a running time of 79 minutes.

Dr. Who and the Daleks is not a continuation of the TV series, instead it’s its own stand alone series, a different universe to the TV series of Doctor Who.

In what seems to be less than 5 minutes all the main characters are presented; Dr Who played by Peter Cushing the scientist who’s a bit childish (and yes his name is “Dr Who”), his granddaughter Barbara who’s probably early to mid-20s, his other graddaughter Susan (sometimes called “Susie) and Ian. Susan and Barbara are established as being quite smart with Dr Who being a bit childish through them each reading science books and Dr Who reading an Eagle comic, commenting to himself “most exciting”.

Screenshot: Dr. Who and the Daleks (used under fair use)

Only Susan really gets to show off her intelligence that’s introduced in the opening moments of the movie, Barbara, who is shown to be pretty tough (more so than Ian) isn’t shown to be quite as smart as Susan or Dr Who.

The wallpaper has owls on it. That was the other thing I noticed when watching it up on the big screen. The Whos (I guess that’s their name) have owl wallpaper.

Why Dr Who has built a time machine within a Police Box isn’t really explained. It seems to be the classic reason of “why not?”.

Nevertheless there’s the establishment of its larger within than without, some good WTF expressions from Ian played by Roy Castle.

The standout performance across both movies and individually in each is Roberta Tovey in the role of Susan.

She has to do a lot of the technical dialogue, Peter Cushing does some of the explanations of Tardis (it’s not in either film “the TARDIS” as it is in the TV series. Whenever it’s mentions it’s “we need to get back to Tardis”.) Given how much younger she is than Carole Ann Ford was in the role it’s fairly commendable what she does. She’s got a lot of dialogue with most of the major players in the first film; the Daleks, the Thals and the main cast and is convincing in it.

Screenshot: Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (used under fair use)

In the second film Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D . Tovey’s Susan is in someways more mature than Ford’s Susan Foreman role in The Dalek Invasion of Earth. Mostly down to her age. There’s one scene in the TV story when Susan meets the rebels of London and Dortmun asks Foreman “and what do you do?” and she replies “I eat” and then giggles. Which would have been fine dialogue for Tovey’s Susan, but not for Ford’s Susan who 6 episodes later gets partnered up and left behind by the Doctor in a post-invasion-apocalyptic London.

Tovey’s Susan in Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. is actually quite mature given what happens to her and what she faces.

Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. wasn’t as much a revelation as the first film was to me.

It still has some humour, though it’s more obvious humour than the first.

It’s also a much darker story, set on a post-invasion Earth with the Daleks ruling it. Although not as grim as the TV version of the story The Dalek Invasion of Earth makes it out to be, it’s still several steps darker than the first film.

Screenshot: Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (used under fair use)

The one thing that I noticed was the music, how much more there was of it in this film. There was music and sound effects in Dr. Who and the Daleks, in that film it was present, though not obvious. In Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. it was present and a member of the narrative; there was an obviousness to its presence in the film. It signalled scenes more so than the previous film did.

There were a few other notable things between the movies I noticed. The plunger control for Tardis, which Ian comedy falls onto in the first film is also present in the second. Not something I realised, mostly because I don’t think I’ve ever watched these films back to back.

The journey in Tardis is momentary in the first film, in keeping with the pace of that film it happens almost, though not quite instantly. In the second there is a sense of movement and travel in Tardis as they journey through time, that camera at an angle shifts from side to side as though on a boat.

At the end of Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. there is also a neat illustration of time travel, while of course the whole film presents time travel, but at the start and its end it shows one outcome – the bank robbery successful and with Tom Campbell being hit over the head seeking help in a Police Box – Tardis. In the second outcome at the end Dr Who puts him back a few minutes earlier before the robbery takes place and Campbell is able to knock out the getaway driver.

Campbell does not encounter himself, despite going back ‘before’ he encountered Tardis the first time. So it’s a little vague on some of the intricacies of time travel, but does neatly illustrate what Tardis can do.

Splendid Chaps - “Who and Books”

4th March 2013

The Northcote Library kept us eager Doctor Who fans, fans of the Splendid Chaps podcast waiting in the 15 degree cold weather outside the library, right up until 4:30 and a bit pm. Why? No idea. They’re probably just into acting like the Master in Castrovalava and we’re all their Adric.

Petra, following up her appearances as/within a Dalek during the MICF walked into the start of this podcast in a spacesuit with the audio of Proper Dave saying “Hey, who turned out the lights?” appropriately from the Doctor Who TV story “Silence in the Library”.

The guests for the podcast were Katie Purvis and Dave Hoskin. Hoskin has written two Doctor Who-universe stories one “iNtRUsioNs” in the Doctor Who short story anthology; Short Trips: Transmissions edited by Richard Salter and one “Writing in Green” in the Bernice Summerfield short story anthology Something Changed edited by Simon Guerrier both are published by Big Finish Productions. Although only ‘Something Changed’ is still in print.

There were several reading moody readings; from novelisations, short stories (Hoskin’s “iNtRUsioNs”) Virgin New Adventure novels (“Damaged Goods” by Russell T. Davies) and Doctor Who Quiz Books. The podcast closed with a dramatic reading by Lawrence Leung of the the Make Your Own Adventure novel “Crisis in Space” by Michael Holt.

There was much discussion and praise for Terrance Dicks “Uncle Terry” and his novelisations and his many stock phrases that he used to describe the Doctor and how the TARDIS sounds (a wheeze groaning sound).
Personally I’m more a fan of the comics which describe the TARDIS as going ‘Vworp-Vworp’. That at least seems like an attempt to render what the TARDIS’s materialisation sound is in prose.

Aside from being mentioned by Petra in her introduction the BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures and Past Doctor Adventures weren’t mentioned during the podcast. Something of a disappointment as I’m something of a fan of those.

The Virgin New Adventures were mentioned, but weren’t really discussed as much as I’d hoped. These were novels that the publisher (Virgin Books) described as “too broad and deep for the small screen”, these were novels that were written for a then adult (though young, but not “young adult”) audience. These novels included sex, violence and ‘mature language’.
These stories were gone into a little bit, but some of the context for them was missing a little bit.
It was still funny going through the various ways Kate Orman (the only female writer who wrote for the Virgin New Adventures) tortures the Seventh Doctor in each of the stories he appears in written by her. Including the fairly graphic time when in The Room With No Doors he holding a baby, and is then shot with an arrow, with the arrow going through the baby’s head and embedding in between his ribs, putting him in a coma, but his companion thinks him dead so buries him. When he awakens he has to dig out of his own grave.
Not all New Adventures were that graphic, there’s Transit, which has the word “Fuck” in it; 10 times, it was the first novel to use that word.
This wasn’t mentioned during the podcast recording.

They did however mention the planet Dildo, one of many spelling mistakes and factual errors in “The Doctors - 30 Years of Time Travel” by Adrian Rigelsford.

There was some interesting and funny analysis of some of the novels and how they pre-empted the post-2005 TV series. Dave Hoskin’s comments on “Damaged Goods” that it basically has all the elements of RTD’s Doctor Who isn’t new (I’ve read similar things before) but just how he commented on it made me think anew about it.

The Doctor Who Quiz Book of Dinosaurs reading was hilarious, as Hoskin commented it sounded like Tegan was on LSD. It clearly sounds like Michael Holt who wrote it had been given a (very) brief description of the Fifth Doctor, Tegan and Nyssa, then just wrote this quiz book from there. As all the Doctor, Tegan and Nyssa are so very out of character, the internal area of the TARDIS and its control room don’t resemble the TV series and Tegan is very out of character.

It was nice to see at the recording so many people who’re fans of the books, as while I’ve always been a fan of Doctor Who for a long time, like Ben McKenzie (one of the hosts of Splendid Chaps) the New Adventures and Eighth Doctor Adventures are what made me a bigger fan. These are the stories that continued to tell the Doctor Who story after the series finished in 1989 with Survival and then was given a zap with the paddles in 1996 with the TV Movie staring Paul McGann. It was said during the podcast if you read the New Adventures and the Eighth Doctor Adventures there is less of a gap, story development wise between Survival, the TV movie and Rose.
The novels developed so many different ideas and their slightly edgier existence meant that they could explore more mature themes that once stood outside of the TV show, while other concepts like paradoxes, bi-sexual companions and the destruction of Gallifrey was done in the novels as it was thought that was something that would never happen in the TV show.

Again, like previous shows this one seemed too short, despite going for 1 hour 30 minutes or so. There was so much more that could have been covered, the annuals were very briefly skipped over, Bernice Summerfield’s development from companion to main character wasn’t mentioned or how she and Fitz Kreiner are the longest appearing prose-based characters in Doctor Who’s history. I know with so much stuff that’s been published it’s difficult to focus on everything and still keep it relevant to those who’re not as widely read as others. Although, from looking at Ben McKenzie’s twitter feed, he seemed to have read and brought along a lot more books than were actually mentioned in the podcast. Having been to all the previous podcast recordings (except the one in Adelaide) they do seem to prepare a lot of things to talk about and then just run out of time because the guests are very interesting on their own and have interesting things to say. Which is pretty much similar to many other podcasts I listen to.

I am still looking forward to the the next recording Five/Fear and intend to attend all the other podcasts this year (that take place in Victoria). They (John Richards and Ben McKenzie) have said that Splendid Chaps is a series of 11 podcasts that they’re doing this year and this was episode 7, however last episode, episode 6 was actually two shows joined together. They also mentioned a Doctor Who and Food themed episode as well, which might also fall outside of the 11 previously mentioned. They also mentioned it possibly being 26 episodes rather than 11.
We shall, it seems have to wait and see, how many episodes there will actually be of this podcast, whose projected episodes seems to grow each time I see it.

MICF - Splendid Chaps (2)

Splendid Chaps - “Comedy”
13th April 2013

Walking from the Princess Theatre to the Trades Hall was an eerie experience, there was no foot traffic at all, just myself, and the many cars on the road (along Spring Street and Victoria Street) between the Theatre and the Trades Hall, it was quite odd.

The final show of my night was the second part of Splendid Chaps on the Fourth Doctor and Comedy.

Featuring Adam Richards and Josie Long. The latter of whom has appeared on several Doctor Who DVDs giving her thoughts.
She did look somewhat like she'd just rolled out of bed, but maybe that's just her look.

It was a continuation of the Fourth Doctor and comedy discussion.
And they ran out of time, it felt like they were just getting stuck into the subject when they seemed to run out of time.

It was enjoyable and funny and Adam Richards really knows everything about Doctor Who (well he did dress in a Dalek dress in Outland).
Josie Long somewhat less, though I did like that she said she was a fan of Sylvester McCoy's 7th Doctor. My favourite also.

Petra was again inside the Dalek doing standup at the start, she does a good Dalek.

I would however pick her up on her bit of history. Dimensions in Time was a charity production not really the 40th anniversary, that was intended to be The Dark Dimension that never got off the ground. Dimensions in Time is like Time Crash or The Curse of Fatal Death, except exceptionally more shit.

There was discussions of Prison in Space which was recently produced by Big Finish and which I'll have to listen to, supposedly it's accurate, well produced and completely awful.

Also, I won the door prize, but already had the DVD, I told them to redraw it. I already had it. I could have taken it, had a second copy of the Shada box set, but why do that? I could've eBay it, but would never be bothered and someone who doesn't have it might as well have it rather than me, have it and enjoy it, spread the Doctor Who love.

The song at the end was the same song as last week, from Doctor Poo.
Which was a little odd that they decided to have the same song from last week, maybe it was a continuity issue.

Looking forward to the next Splendid Chaps “Who and Books”. Some of my favourite Doctor Who stories are those in books published during the “Wilderness Years” from 1990 through to 1996 and the second gap from 1996 through to 2005.

MICF - Splendid Chaps (1)

Splendid Chaps the Fourth Doctor Podcast

I saw a Dalek do stand up.
It was Petra Elliott inside the Dalek, but still it was a Dalek doing standup.
A Dalek that looked like it's been around the festival a few times.
But it still looked cool.
And Petra spent the whole show trapped inside the lower half of the Dalek shell. Sort of like a female Davros or a half finished Dalek.

The guests for the Splendid Chaps podcast were Dave Callan and Paul Verhoeven.
Everyone was wearing a scarf, well except for Callan who was wearing a t-shirt that had the Fourth Doctor's costume on it.
They're something I've been tempted by, but have as yet not been tempted all the way to hitting buy.

Some things I did learn about; Paul Verhoeven's "Steam Punks" he asked the set and costume people to build him a console that was like the TARDIS but wasn't and the same for his costume.

Doctor Who-wise no gigantic great insights into Tom Baker's era that most of it was mentioned at some point. the Sarah Jane era, the Leela era (very briefly) and the Romana era.
Also Adric got a mention and Tom Baker's moods.

Next podcast is the comedy podcast, in that it's the one about comedy, rather than being just about the fourth Doctor's era.
It seemed to go past in a flash, it didn’t seem like a hour of podcast being recorded.
I also missed out on the door prize by 2 tickets I was 51 the winner 49.
I’m still not sure about the musical act to end the podcast. I knew of the “Doctor Poo” that they mentioned in this show, it’s a fairly obscure reference. Very in fact and the musical performance while good, I’m still unsure about. I think I would prefer to hear more discussion and things like that than the musical act.

Doctor Who and the passing of time.

Caroline John passed away earlier this month. She played Dr Elizabeth Shaw for four stories in the early 1970s opposite Jon Pertwee and Nicholas Courtney. These were also Jon Pertwee’s first four stories.

Nicholas Courtney and Elisabeth Sladen (who played the Brigadier and Sarah Jane Smith) passed away last year.

I read a comment somewhere that said ‘I like to think that Jon Pertwee, Nicholas Courtney and Caroline John are somewhere doing a Season 7b’.
It made me smile that comment, just before my cynicism about the afterlife kicked in.

Imagination and the continuation of stories is a lovely thing.

I think if we continue to read and write stories about these people, about the characters they played then they’ll continue to live on in our imaginations.

Stories continue to be written about the First, Second and Third Doctor’s adventures, evoking the characters played by William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee. Stories continue to feature Barbra Wright, Ben Jackson, Liz Shaw, Nicholas Courntey, Sarah Jane Smith, bringing to mind the actors who played them.

Doctor Who began in 1963, but the story that started then is still going, and the characters that started there, and the characters who were created, built upon throughout its history continue to be written about. Continue to be recreated in audio, in comic, in prose and in our imaginations.

That’s a brilliant, wonderful thing, that these characters and the people who portrayed them, brought them to life for us will continue to live on. Recreated and remembered, brought to excited life in our imaginations as we read, listen and interact with them.