Memory is a funny thing.
As I mentioned in my first post, I have a very vivid memory of watching Jon Pertwee regenerate into Tom Baker at the end of "Planet of the Spiders" and of watching the following story "Robot" - but later stories are just blank spots.
Maybe mum thought Dr. Who was too scary for me?
Anyway - memory.
A funny thing happened last night. I was just getting ready to go to bed, when a song came on the radio - "The Big Area" by 80's Brit rockers Then Jericho. I honestly can't remember the last time I heard it played on the radio, and as I sat there listening the ol' neurons began firing...
I remembered the song featuring on the soundtrack of a late-80's sci-fi movie called "Slipstream" which starred Mark Hamill, Bob Peck and Robbie Coltraine (among others).
If memory serves, the song was about the best part of the movie. However, as one thing leads to another, more memories leapt to the surface...
There was a rather peculiar aircraft featured in "Slipstream" - the Edgely Optica. A curious looking plane that look like someone had stuck the bubble canopy of a helicopter onto a set of wings then bolted an engine onto the back.
I can remember seeing an Optica on the news, the story saying that several police forces were showing interest in the aircraft.
But then some fatal accidents grounded the entire fleet. Which was a bit of a shame I always thought, because it was a fantastic looking piece of machinery.
I hadn't thought about the movie, or the aircraft in donkeys years - and just hearing a song on the radio brought it all flooding back.
Think I'll hunt the movie down on DVD, see if it's as bad I remember... :)
Tuesday, 1 September 2009
Wednesday, 26 August 2009
Crispy creatures!
*Blows dust off blog*
It's been a while since I last made a blog entry, hasn't it? My apologies, real life (in particular work) kept getting in the way.
Anyway, the collection of Classic Dr. Who DVDs continues to grow - I must be somewhere near the 40 mark now.
Among the recent purchases, was "Spearhead from Space". Notable for being the first story to be transmitted in colour, the first of Jon Pertwee's era as the Doctor, and the first to feature the Autons.
The Autons lead me nicely to my point.
In the latter part of the story, we have scenes of the Brigadier and the brave chaps from UNIT engaged in a battle with some nasty Autons. One hapless UNIT trooper utters the line "Bullets don't work sir!" as the plastic invaders advance towards the soldiers, weapons blazing.
Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong here, but - Autons are made of plastic. Plastic melts when you set light to it.
Why didn't the Brig order up a couple of flamethrowers and barbecue the feckers?
Or better yet, call in an airstrike and drop some napalm on them?
I sometimes wonder if perhaps I've watched too many war movies...
It's been a while since I last made a blog entry, hasn't it? My apologies, real life (in particular work) kept getting in the way.
Anyway, the collection of Classic Dr. Who DVDs continues to grow - I must be somewhere near the 40 mark now.
Among the recent purchases, was "Spearhead from Space". Notable for being the first story to be transmitted in colour, the first of Jon Pertwee's era as the Doctor, and the first to feature the Autons.
The Autons lead me nicely to my point.
In the latter part of the story, we have scenes of the Brigadier and the brave chaps from UNIT engaged in a battle with some nasty Autons. One hapless UNIT trooper utters the line "Bullets don't work sir!" as the plastic invaders advance towards the soldiers, weapons blazing.
Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong here, but - Autons are made of plastic. Plastic melts when you set light to it.
Why didn't the Brig order up a couple of flamethrowers and barbecue the feckers?
Or better yet, call in an airstrike and drop some napalm on them?
I sometimes wonder if perhaps I've watched too many war movies...
Wednesday, 3 June 2009
The end of an era...
I suppose the big news for Dr. Who fans today is, that effective from the 31st of July, the Doctor Who Forum will be shut down. Permanently.
This is particularly sad news for me, as I've been a member there for just over four year and made a lot of good friends.
This is particularly sad news for me, as I've been a member there for just over four year and made a lot of good friends.
Saturday, 30 May 2009
Torchwood: Children of Earth extended trailer.
The new, extended, trailer for series three of Torchwood (subtitled "Children of Earth") is no on line at the BBC website - http://www.bbc.co.uk/torchwood/
It's bloody good! :)
The best line - "A man who cannot die has nothing to fear."
No word on a transmission time or date yet, but probably sometime in July.
Can't wait!!!!! :D
It's bloody good! :)
The best line - "A man who cannot die has nothing to fear."
No word on a transmission time or date yet, but probably sometime in July.
Can't wait!!!!! :D
Friday, 29 May 2009
A New Companion.
So, Matt Smith's 11th Doctor now has a companion/assistant (the two terms are pretty much interchangeable as far as I'm concerned).
Actress Karen Gillan will play the - as yet unnamed - character in next year's series of episodes.
The full story can be read here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8073734.stm
Now, for the sake of argument, and just for something to call the poor girl (until the character 's name is revealed) - let's call her Miss X.
Suppose, just for a change, Miss X's "family member" (in the style of Jackie Tyler, Francine Jones and the Jones gang, Sylvia Noble and dear ol' Wilf Mott) was her father. Maybe a widower? Maybe divorced? Maybe Miss X was adopted?
We don't know yet.
Only time will tell...
Actress Karen Gillan will play the - as yet unnamed - character in next year's series of episodes.
The full story can be read here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8073734.stm
Now, for the sake of argument, and just for something to call the poor girl (until the character 's name is revealed) - let's call her Miss X.
Suppose, just for a change, Miss X's "family member" (in the style of Jackie Tyler, Francine Jones and the Jones gang, Sylvia Noble and dear ol' Wilf Mott) was her father. Maybe a widower? Maybe divorced? Maybe Miss X was adopted?
We don't know yet.
Only time will tell...
Tuesday, 26 May 2009
Two more for the collection
Bought a couple more DVDs while I was out on Sunday afternoon, "The Deadly Assassin" and "Black Orchid" (Fourth and Fifth Doctors respectively).
Like I said in a previous post, it's addictive...
I quite fancy getting the "Key To Time" boxed set, but it's kind of hard to come by, and those on-line retailers who do have it are selling it for huge amounts of money.
Still, it's fun reliving my childhood. Even if I don't remember a complete story, quite often I'll recognise a bit here and a bit there, and go "Ooh, I remember that."
For example, the Fifth Doctor story "Four To Doomsday" I have no recollection of at all, except for the bit where the Doctor (in space, in zero gravity) bowls a cricket ball onto the alien spaceship in order to use its return momentum to propel himself back to the TARDIS.
Hmm, "Return momentum" is that actually a phrase? Does it make sense?
Anyway, "Black Orchid" is of interest because it's the last time (to date) that there's been a purely historical Dr. Who story. I.E. one set in the past with no sc-fi elements. No evil aliens trying to take over the world/change history etc.
Kind of a shame really, sometime I'd like to see the Doctor face a purely human threat - and if the story is somewhat educational, historically speaking, then so much the better.
After all, the orignal purpose of Dr. Who was to teach kid about history, whilst telling a rattling good yarn at the same time.
In these days of the Credit Crunch, it makes sense to me that the BBC would want to save money. So, if a new historical drama series is comissioned - some piece of Jane Austen nonsense or something of that ilk (not to my personal tastes, but they sell well overseas - apparently) - then surely it would make sense to film a historical Dr. Who on the same sets?
Yes? No? Am I talking rubbish?
Probably...
Like I said in a previous post, it's addictive...
I quite fancy getting the "Key To Time" boxed set, but it's kind of hard to come by, and those on-line retailers who do have it are selling it for huge amounts of money.
Still, it's fun reliving my childhood. Even if I don't remember a complete story, quite often I'll recognise a bit here and a bit there, and go "Ooh, I remember that."
For example, the Fifth Doctor story "Four To Doomsday" I have no recollection of at all, except for the bit where the Doctor (in space, in zero gravity) bowls a cricket ball onto the alien spaceship in order to use its return momentum to propel himself back to the TARDIS.
Hmm, "Return momentum" is that actually a phrase? Does it make sense?
Anyway, "Black Orchid" is of interest because it's the last time (to date) that there's been a purely historical Dr. Who story. I.E. one set in the past with no sc-fi elements. No evil aliens trying to take over the world/change history etc.
Kind of a shame really, sometime I'd like to see the Doctor face a purely human threat - and if the story is somewhat educational, historically speaking, then so much the better.
After all, the orignal purpose of Dr. Who was to teach kid about history, whilst telling a rattling good yarn at the same time.
In these days of the Credit Crunch, it makes sense to me that the BBC would want to save money. So, if a new historical drama series is comissioned - some piece of Jane Austen nonsense or something of that ilk (not to my personal tastes, but they sell well overseas - apparently) - then surely it would make sense to film a historical Dr. Who on the same sets?
Yes? No? Am I talking rubbish?
Probably...
Saturday, 23 May 2009
Getting the habit, or do I mean Who-bit?
I blame Davie. It's all his fault.
There, I'vc said it. :)
Up until a year ago, the only Dr. Who DVDs I had were the new series box sets.
Then Davie and the guys bought me "Genesis of the Daleks" for my birthday last year. That was that until later in the year when I bought "The Invasion" for myself cos I was curious about how the two missing episodes would look like in FLASH animation (pretty good as it happened).
Then, a month or so ago, I bought "Image of the Fendahl" because I'd such vivid memories of watching it on the TV when I was a kid.
And that was it - addicted. I bought the Sontaran boxed set cos it was going cheap (£20 for four stories). Then I got a couple more, then some more, then...
I think it's getting a wee bit out of hand... ;)
At last count, including the three I bought while I was in Glasgow earlier, I've got twenty.
Three from the First Doctor's (William Hartnell) era - "The Rescue", "The Romans" and "The War Machines".
One each from from the Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) - "The Invasion", and the Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) - "The Time Warrior".
A whopping eleven from the Fourth Doctor's (Tom Baker) time - "Robot", "The Ark in Space", "The Sontaran Experiment", "Genesis of the Dalek", "Planet of Evil", "The Brain of Morbius", "The Hand of Fear", "The Talons of Weng-Chiang", "Image of the Fendahl", "The Invasion of Time", and "Destiny of the Daleks".
Two Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) stories - "Four to Doomsday", and "The Five Doctors".
Three from the Sixth Doctor(Colin Baker) - "Attack of the Cybermen", "The Two Doctors", and "Revelation of the Daleks".
So far, no Seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) and I've not seen the 1996 Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann) TV movie going cheap.
It's a funny thing though, there's some stories I have no memory of - or only fragments.
Possibly that's because when I was young, my folks liked to "go for a run" in the car on a Saturday, taking me with them, getting me out in the fresh air and so on.
Sometimes, we wouldn't get home in time for Dr. Who - which would leave me somewhat grumpy - or the queue in the fish and chip shop would be longer than usual, leading to the same results.
Occasionally though, the tiny wee black and white telly in the chippy would have Dr. Who on, and I'd quite happily watch what I could while mum and I were waiting for the fish suppers. :)
Now, back when I was a kid - this is pre-video - the only way to catch the stories you'd missed (or were before your time) was either to hope that the BBC would repeat it during the "off" season, or read one of the novelisations.
But that's another tale for another day... :)
Oh, and Davie? If you read this, I was kidding... :D
There, I'vc said it. :)
Up until a year ago, the only Dr. Who DVDs I had were the new series box sets.
Then Davie and the guys bought me "Genesis of the Daleks" for my birthday last year. That was that until later in the year when I bought "The Invasion" for myself cos I was curious about how the two missing episodes would look like in FLASH animation (pretty good as it happened).
Then, a month or so ago, I bought "Image of the Fendahl" because I'd such vivid memories of watching it on the TV when I was a kid.
And that was it - addicted. I bought the Sontaran boxed set cos it was going cheap (£20 for four stories). Then I got a couple more, then some more, then...
I think it's getting a wee bit out of hand... ;)
At last count, including the three I bought while I was in Glasgow earlier, I've got twenty.
Three from the First Doctor's (William Hartnell) era - "The Rescue", "The Romans" and "The War Machines".
One each from from the Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) - "The Invasion", and the Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) - "The Time Warrior".
A whopping eleven from the Fourth Doctor's (Tom Baker) time - "Robot", "The Ark in Space", "The Sontaran Experiment", "Genesis of the Dalek", "Planet of Evil", "The Brain of Morbius", "The Hand of Fear", "The Talons of Weng-Chiang", "Image of the Fendahl", "The Invasion of Time", and "Destiny of the Daleks".
Two Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) stories - "Four to Doomsday", and "The Five Doctors".
Three from the Sixth Doctor(Colin Baker) - "Attack of the Cybermen", "The Two Doctors", and "Revelation of the Daleks".
So far, no Seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) and I've not seen the 1996 Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann) TV movie going cheap.
It's a funny thing though, there's some stories I have no memory of - or only fragments.
Possibly that's because when I was young, my folks liked to "go for a run" in the car on a Saturday, taking me with them, getting me out in the fresh air and so on.
Sometimes, we wouldn't get home in time for Dr. Who - which would leave me somewhat grumpy - or the queue in the fish and chip shop would be longer than usual, leading to the same results.
Occasionally though, the tiny wee black and white telly in the chippy would have Dr. Who on, and I'd quite happily watch what I could while mum and I were waiting for the fish suppers. :)
Now, back when I was a kid - this is pre-video - the only way to catch the stories you'd missed (or were before your time) was either to hope that the BBC would repeat it during the "off" season, or read one of the novelisations.
But that's another tale for another day... :)
Oh, and Davie? If you read this, I was kidding... :D
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