The Book Tower 1 - The Monster Show by J.R. Southall

Before anyone asks - yes that "The Book Tower" title is a direct lift from the Yorkshire Television series that ran from 1979 to 1989.

The first three years were presented by Tom Baker, so since this blog contains a lot of stuff about Doctor Who - and as this first post is reviewing a book *about* the show, it seemed quite apt.

It's only proper at this juncture that  I post the obligatory picture of Mr Baker:

Podcasts have become a big part of my life in recent years. The first Doctor Who podcast I ever listened to was in July 2012 - Episode 17 of the Blue Box Podcast, hosted by the author of today's book - J.R. Southall.

Before becoming internationally famous as a podcaster and writer for Starburst magazine, J.R. had already written a significant number of reviews and articles for the Doctor Who Magazine Facebook group, the fan forum Gallifrey Base and various fanzines. "The Monster Show" collects those pieces, along with several new ones.

The book is sub-titled "Essays and reviews on a theme of Doctor Who" and it's a very varied collection - therein lies it's strength to my mind. A large portion of the book is taking up with 'capsule' reviews of every story from An Unearthly Child through to The End of Time, all written in J.R.'s entertaining relaxed style - full of side digressions and parentheses. Interspersed between these at the end of every Doctor's era are longer themed essays on a variety of subjects.

Each review is between one and two pages long and encapsulates J.R.'s personal feelings on the story along with some key information on why it did or did not work as well as it could have. There are a few repeated phrases that crop up in the reviews - four Tom Baker one's in a row begin with an "Ah!", which made me laugh (I guess that's an effect of them being written out of sequence over a longer period of time) - but this doesn't grate, and each one has something interesting - and more importantly positive - to say about each story.

As enjoyable as the reviews are (and trust me they are *very* enjoyable - reading or listening to anything from J.R. is never dull), it's the longer pieces that are the real highlight for me.

'The Monster Show' examines why Doctor Who has become synonymous with fighting bug-eyed creatures from outer space.

'Regeneration' looks at the craziest concept in SF - changing your lead actor every few years.

'The Good, The Bad and the Meglos' asks why are story titles so important to attracting viewers.

'Nothing New Under the Sun' suggests that story arcs and series finales existed long before the series came back in 2005.

There are many others, but my personal favourite is 'Canonicity and the Literary Agent Hypothesis', in which J.R. not only dives into the shark-infested waters of the "what is canon?" question (or 'canonical' as Mark Gatiss would insist on) *and* manages to emerge with his brain cells intact, but also illustrates how you can explain away all the inconsistencies using a theory developed by Sherlock Holmes fans! It's a fascinating piece of writing. As he rightly says "..we should never apologise for which bits of Doctor Who we like..."

J.R. has an infectious love (no, we never call it an obsession) of Doctor Who and that coupled with his encyclopaedic knowledge means that these in-depth essays are always engaging and informative.

These days it seems you can't move for fans writing reviews and blogs about Doctor Who. It's a tradition, or an old charter, or something. Ahem. 1

But as much as this is a book of reviews and personal opinion, it's also a great insight into one fan's love for the show, it's ups and downs, successes and failures -  and what makes it so special for so many.

"The Monster Show" is available from Amazon in paperback and for Kindle. It's also worth noting that this is the first title published under J.R.'s new "Watching Books" self publishing imprint. I can only hope that they are all this well put together.

1 Sorry Al, I couldn't resist !

The 800 Day Project Day 401 - 413 - The Scare

Revenge of the Cybermen through to Pyramids of Mars

So there have been a couple of big milestones in this project over the last few weeks. But now it's the big one. It's time to really go "behind the sofa".

That phrase has been attached to Doctor Who for so long now that it always gets trotted out along with all the other tired old lazy journalist clichés about wobbly sets, sink plungers, jelly babies and falling ratings. It's been the title of essays, museum exhibitions and fan blogs. So I guess it's apt  that we are now at the point in the show's history where the producers and writers specifically set out to scare their audience.

The Robert Holmes / Philip Hinchcliffe era of the show is universally considered to be one of the best. Certainly the change in tone they introduced, with the series becoming darker with "gothic horror" influences, was immensely popular and produced a host of memorable new monsters and villains.

Just look at the creatures that first appeared just during the early part of their tenure: the Wirrn, Davros, the Zygons. Creatures that have become part of Doctor Who legend. All very scary, and certainly I hid behind my hands and peeked out between my fingers on occasions, but it wasn't enough to make me scurry out of my chair.

To be honest I am not sure how many fans really did (or still do) hide behind the sofa, but in 1975 Robert Holmes wrote a story that would make me do just that. The strange thing is, it wasn't a bug-eyed monster that caused me to be so frightened - it was a man...

Planet of Evil is a mix of influences from Forbidden Planet to Jekyll and Hyde. Invisible Anti-Matter monsters and transformations caused / restrained by smoking potions. It's an excellent story with some marvellous acting (no Prentis I'm not looking at you) and movie quality jungle sets. But it was one single scene that terrified me, perhaps just one image really -

 

Silly isn't it? It's just a man in pain with glowing red eyes. But for some reason this simple effect absolutely terrified me. Like a shot I was behind that sofa, peering out to check if it had gone yet.

Maybe it was something about the loss of humanity those malevolent orbs signified - the eyes are the window to the soul the saying goes. Maybe it was the accompanying soundscape. All I know was that I found it too horrible to look at. Even watching it now 40-odd years later I still feel odd looking at Sorenson and his anti matter eyes.

What's even odder is that I was fine with the invisible Anti-Matter creature or Anti-Man himself. Those didn't scare me half as much. After all those were just "monsters". I was brave enough to cope with monsters any day of the week (although that Target book cover is still pretty horrible).

No -  it's Professor Sorenson and his eyes of evil that did it.

Thank goodness it was all over quickly. I wouldn't have to look at staring red eyes ever again. Oh look, today it's Pyramid's of Mars Part 2, what's that....?

No! No ! Aaaaagggggghhhh !!!!!!!

The 800 Day Project - Day 371 to Day 400 - Halfway

Planet of the Spiders through to Revenge of the Cybermen

I promised myself that I would post something once a week minimum. I'm still preparing my next larger non-Who piece, so I thought I would acknowledge that I've made it to the halfway point of the 800 Day Project - specifically Revenge of the Cybermen Part 3.

So in the 30 days since "The Moment" what have I been watching?

Planet of the Spiders:
Goodbye Jon. This pretty much sums up the Third Doctor era. A six part story. UNIT. An alien threat to Earth. A multiple vehicle high speed chase as a leaving present for Pertwee...

I've always hated arachnids and *this* is the reason. That spider on Sarah's back terrified me.

One last ride with the Doctor in a velvet smoking jackets and frilly shirt. Hai !


Robot:
Tom is just mesmerising from his first seconds on screen. That manic stare. The toothy grin. Eccentric, bonkers and brilliant. Tom is so obviously enjoying himself he seems hard pressed to contain his excitement and you can almost imagine him thinking "Am I really here?".

My Doctor has arrived.

I'd forgotten that the King Kong references were *that* obvious. Plus Professor Kettlewell's hair is just fantastic.

 

The Ark in Space :
Body horror, the perfect TARDIS triumvirate and great sets. What more could you want?

The Wirrn genuinely scared me as a child (although it's not my first "behind the sofa" moment - that's still to come). The grub version....not so much.

The Sontaran Experiment:

The windswept and wet expanses of Dartmoor really bring this story to life. Sure the robot is a bit crap but I can forgive that when you have a wonderful cold and calculating villain in Field Major Styre.

Short, sweet but very satisfying.

Genesis of the Daleks:

It'd hard to talk about this one without falling into the trap of repeating the superlatives already heaped on it's shoulders. It's the one even the "not-we" remember. The one you put on to show people just how good Classic Doctor Who really is.

And it's all true. It really is that good. The interaction between the Doctor and Davros is terrific. The script doesn't sag at all and Nyder is a suitably slimy henchman. Back when I was small I'm sure a lot of the Nazi parallels were lost on me, but I do wonder if some parents would have found it difficult explaining the scenes of genocide.

Look, you don't need me to tell you how good this is. Just go watch it now !

Revenge of the Cybermen:

This was my first ever Cybermen story. The image of them walking through the caves is one of the most memorable elements from my youth. I haven't seen it for years so I must admit that on re-watch it....hasn't aged well.

Sure, the locations used at Wookey Hole for the interior of Voga are very atmospheric. The main cast are excellent as always. But the Cybermen themselves are rather disappointing. If gold is so bad for them, why do they not collapse the moment they appear on Voga?  The place is covered in the stuff!

I'm also not sure about the gun in their heads. They seem to do a strange nodding whenever the gun fires which is just comical rather than menacing. Plus what's with the Cyberleader giving the Doctor a neck massage?

But it's the Vogans which have fared the worst. As a child they were strange looking aliens. Now ? Those faces are just so unexpressive and plastic. A quality actor like Kevin Stoney is wasted. Such a shame and proof that Doctor Who is often best when viewed through a child's eyes.

Still - first appearance  of  the Seal of Rassilon !!

 400 days down, 400 to go....

The 800 Day Project - Day 370 - The Moment...

It's the 4th of January 2015.

I have stuck with The 800 Day Project (every episode of Doctor Who, one a day) for the last 369 days, and now we have reached a key moment.

What is it about this day that makes it so special I hear no one ask?

Well, today we are going back in time to 23rd March 1974. I am almost seven years old. and on television is Episode 1 of The Monster of Peladon. Today is the day that I started watching Doctor Who.

I have vague memories of other Season 11 stories. A hint of The Time Warrior. A flash of Invasion Of The Dinosaurs. Maybe a soupçon of Death To The Daleks. It's difficult to be sure really - we all know the memory cheats and I've seen a LOT of Doctor Who in the years since.

However I am totally sure about one thing. Monster Of Peladon was the first time I watched every episode of a Doctor Who story - and what a story to start with !

I know that nowadays 'Monster' is somewhat of an unloved child. It's the one doing a commentary on the miner's strike. The one with the 'Badger Heads'. The one that's not as good as Curse of Peladon. The one that's just a bit too long.

But back in 1974, to a six year old becoming obsessed with all things SF and fantasy, it had everything I could possible want. Ice Warriors! One eyed green aliens with six arms! A giant furry creature with tusks!

Plus of course at the centre of it all, The Doctor (plus Sarah Jane). Although Tom Baker is *my* Doctor (and we'll get to that at some point), I've always had a soft spot for dear old Jon, because he was my first Doctor. Here towards the end of his time he displays a great mix of dignity, warmth and authority. He's the kindly old uncle that gives you 50p when you go to visit yet won't hesitate to shout at you if you tread on his prize begonias.

Looking back across Pertwee's run as part of this huge re-watch it's easy to see where the accusations of brusqueness, arrogance and even sexism come from. He's often not a likeable character. But at age six (almost seven) I didn't notice any of that. I didn't notice any of the endless running up and down the same bit of corridor set or the threadbare plot or the how similar it is to Curse of Peladon - after all I hadn't seen that one. This was just a great show with scary monsters and a hero in peril - and I loved it.

This isn't the moment I became a Doctor Who *fan* - that's still to come. But it is the moment I started to watch the show every week. From now on I never missed a single episode until October 1977.