The Book Tower 7 - Planet Story by Harry Harrison

There are some books which make you question the world and your place in it - that have a profound and fundamental effect on you. There are some books which make you laugh uproariously or cry real tears of joy or sadness. There are some books which are just rollicking good adventures and there are some which are just so infused with a memory of a time and place that simply looking at the cover brings a smile to your face. This book is all of those things. This is:

Planet Story

I can clearly remember when I first came across this most unusual book. I was twelve years old and on a trip to Sudbury, Suffolk for the weekend....

It's fair to say that Sudbury was my second childhood home. My maternal grandparents black & white 450-year-old terraced cottage is still there on Church Street (although the front door is now red, which seems very odd). We went there very regularly and when I was younger my brother and I stayed with my grandparents for two weeks of the summer holidays in between school terms. We had days out to local places of interest, trips hiking across the lush green water meadows full of cows and fun exploring the towns many narrow alleyways and disused railway lines. Plus we visited every bookshop, newsagent, "jumble" sale and  second-hand book seller in the quest for any comics and books to read. It was a peaceful, idyllic time with memories that I cherish. I knew Sudbury almost as well as the village in which I grew up. Even now I just have to think back to that time and I can recall the smell of the papers as I entered the newsagent on Friar Street. My grandfather passed away when I was nine, but we continued to visit my grandmother once a month.

As I said, it was on one of these monthly trips when I was browsing through the science fiction section of my favourite shop that I first spotted a new book by American author Harry Harrison. I've mentioned very briefly before about my love of his work, especially his long sequence of  "Stainless Steel Rat" novels featuring master criminal 'Slippery' Jim DiGriz -  the first of which was released in 1961, six years before I was born. To be honest I think the first six or so are the best, but then again I might be influenced by the excellent adaptions of books one, three and five that appeared in 2000 AD in the early to mid-1980s.

I'll probably write more about the man himself at some point, but Harrison also published many other novels (both humorous and serious) in his extensive and successful career. The hard-hitting "Deathworld" trilogy, the Hollywood SF satire "The Technicolor Time Machine", the space opera parody "Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers" (which is even more fun if you are familiar with the 'Lensman' books by EE 'Doc' Smith), the alternative history "Eden" series and of course "Make Room! Make Room!", which explored the consequences of unchecked population growth and famously was (loosely) adapted into the film "Soylent Green" starring Chartlon Heston. However in 1979, Harrison released something different - a tongue in cheek, innuendo laden short story, accompanied by lavish full colour illustrations from an up-and-coming artist.

His name? Jim Burns.

Even if the name doesn’t ring any bells, there is a good chance that any SF fan over the last few decades, will have encountered more of his art than they realise. Burns has worked on movies (including Blade Runner), games, and books and his shelves are full of trophies, including multiple Hugo Awards and numerous British Science Fiction Awards.

Burns had been preoccupied with drawing science fiction imagery every since he was a child in South Wales in the 1950s, growing up with the inspirations of the technological marvel of early television and those first SF themed productions on radio - plus the burgeoning space race as Sputnik 1 and Yuri Gagarin expanded man's horizons into the cosmos. Comics fed into the mix too, especially the classic "Eagle" and the character of Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future.

In fact Britain's premier space hero kind-of led to the young Jim deciding to join the Royal Air Force in 1966 instead of going to art school . However, space pilot Burns was not meant to be as despite getting to fly solo in 'Chipmunk' and 'Provost' jet planes, his RAF career only lasted a brief 18 months. Returning to his first love, Burns spent four years studying, first at Newport College of Art in South Wales and then St. Martin's School of Art in London.

Somewhere along that journey, amongst all the student parties, he succeeded in turning a passionate hobby into a burgeoning career and in 1972 got his first professional science fiction commission for an anthology called "Towards Infinity". His hyper-detailed style of advanced machinery and spaceships, exotic life forms and somewhat erotically-charged humanoids became popular with certain publishers and numerous book covers for authors like Jack Vance and Robert Silverberg followed during the early 1970s. But big-time success and recognition alluded him, until a certain Mr Harry Harrison came on the scene.

But "Planet Story" wasn't the first time that Harrison had used paintings by Jim Burns. In 1978 he published "Mechanismo" - a look at possible (and improbable) technologies that may one day exist. This wasn't a prose story, more a collection of images, engineers technical drawings and detailed specifications of things that might come to be. The book postulated a century where inter-galactic space travel had arrived, "biotic" robots were the norm and cities in space existed alongside vast troop carriers and time machines.

Burns was only one of many artists represented, although he did have fifteen pages including the front cover. The large format book also included excellent work from SF stalwarts such as Bob Layzell, Alan Daniels, Chris Achilleos, Angus McKie, Ralph McQuarrie and even H.R.Giger. It was a visual treat for the eyes for any SF fan . I actually didn't get a copy until a few years after I discovered Jim's work in "Planet Story", but it's still a treasured possession.

But let's get back to that bookshop in Sudbury in 1979. Dominating the science fiction shelves was a very large softcover book This thing was BIG (11 inches or 28cm square) - far bigger than anything I'd bought before, even my treasured "Visual Encyclopedia of Science Fiction". Glaring up at me from the front cover was a severe-looking man in a black military uniform, clutching a wicked looking riding crop, while a massive spaceship hovered in the background. The back cover blurb promised an "...epic tale of a doughty bank of space pioneers who forge a railroad across Strabismus, the frontier of space..." (no, at the time I didn't know what the name of the planet really meant - it just sounded really alien - like...Slartibartfast).

Cracking open the pages I was confronted with some of the most spectacular SF-themed illustrations I had ever seen - green scaled  monster lizards, giant crustaceans, exotic vistas, what looked like an airship and a steam train -  and very attractive voluptuous women. There were chapter headings such as " Enter RRARG" or "Styreen and the Big Boy". I *had* to have this book !

The problems was that it was an eye -watering £ 5.50, which was a lot of money to a youngster in the late 1970s, when paperback novels were generally only around  the £ 1.50 mark at most (less if you bought them second hand as I often did). Undaunted, I poured out my saved "pocket money" and any cash I had been given by my grandmother onto the counter. There was enough - just. Clutching my prize I scooted back to the cottage and settled into a deckchair in the tiny walled sunlit garden. Marvelling at the unbelievable detail on the opening double page image of a dilapidated looking spaceship, I began to read. Chapter One: "Exile To Strabismus"...

"Planet Story" is the tale of Private Parrts (yes, I know - trust me it's more of the same from here on in so get used to it). Parrts is the lowest of the low, a Trooper on board the warship "Excrable" as it zooms through space on its mission as part of the war between the United States of Earth and well, everything else that's alien. Everyone is included in the imperialistic war effort. His father was drafted seven seconds after Parrts had been conceived and the boy grew up in a Home for Future Troopers, dreaming of a career in exobiology just because it carried the highest military disqualification.

Everything was quiet until Parrts hit puberty and discovered that he had a rather unusual curse - he exuded overpowering sexuality and *everything* loved him - girls, dogs, horses, cattle, the ugliest old man and the sweetest young child all only desired one thing from him. Life becomes a nightmare and when he spurned the affections of the hideous crone running the draft board, Parrts found himself reclassified and immediately spat out into the war -  doomed to spend his life as a button pusher, staying out of sight and avoiding the constant sexual desires of  his fellow Troopers.

This is where our tale begins. Sent to the Over-Sergeant for unknowingly sowing dissension in the ranks, the poor Private has to turn down *his* advances too and in a fit of  pique the toad-like Sergeant assigns him to the mostly-automated resupply base on the planet Strabismus under the command of Colonel Kylling - the most feared man in the military.

Parrts is horrified. The Cro-Magnon Kylling is so evil that his riding crop is actually the mummified and shrunken corpse of a Trooper and he delights in torture, bigotry, flagellation  and sadism. Terror turns to delight however when it turns out that Kylling is so devolved that he is immune to Parrts' pheromones. Our hero is overjoyed - here at last he can find peace...

Leaving the Colonel to brood about new and interesting ways to torture things. Parrts plans a quiet existence - and all is well until a transport capsule drops the seedy-looking Professor Shlek onto Strabismus to carry out a planetary survey. The Trooper fends off the Prof's salacious intentions (the sequined jockstrap, black dress, fake breasts and red wig don't really help matters) and the survey is over in just a few hours. It seems to be a waste of time until a huge deposit of Lortium is discovered - a transplutonic element essential to powering the warships of the U.S.E. fleet (and at this point I'm starting to think that James Cameron stole parts of the plot for "Avatar"...)

Enter RRAGG. The RailRoad And Ground Grader is dropped on the planet to build a track to the north pole location of the Lortium. This gigantic self-aware machine (admittedly with the sense of a three year-old) will cross gorges, ford rivers and drill tunnels through mountain ranges. A demon of destruction spewing out steel track from it's nether regions. it will carve a path through the planet. RRAGG will stop for nothing and no-one - especially as it's control lever has been set to "UNINHABITED".

It's not long before RRAGG's builder - and self-confessed train nut -  Admiral Soddy, arrives to inspect his pet's handiwork and to drive a replica locomotive on the newly laid track. He is accompanied by the voluptuous and desirable exolinguist, Lieutenant Styreen Fome, She is every mans dream - including surprisingly, Private Parrts -  who finds himself passionately attracted to someone else for the first time:-

"My name is Styreen", a husky, sensuous voice sussurated. "What's yours, handsome?"
"Private Parrts, ma'am."
"Yes, I've got them and I hope you have too. You're fast but I like it. Look here."
She slowly opened the closure of her jacket as she spoke and the pink protuberances of her breasts swelled out like twin dirigibles emerging from the same hanger. "Dive in," she husked.

Okay, okay - I'll admit, the above image did have an effect on me. I was a twelve year old boy in 1979 - what did you expect? It certainly wasn't what I had been imagining would be in a science fiction book. I'm still not sure that my mum would have let me buy it had she seen the pictures first! Ahem. Moving swiftly on...

The story continues in a similar humorous tongue-in-cheek vein, as the train and it's passengers discover the extent of RRAGG's destruction of the indigenous people and their towns and cities. As one can imagine, they receive a less than friendly welcome. Luckily the sensuous Ms. Fome speaks 657 languages (via hynpo-injection) and is able to parlay with Kroakr, king of the lizard-like Slimey's. It turns out he's not too bothered about the mess RRAGG caused (it only went through the poor district after all) and is willing to forgive and forget if the humans help them in their war against invading giant lobsters from space - the Gornisthilfen.

What follows though is a a madcap race across the surface of Strabiusmus and a game of cross and double-cross as Parrts and his colleagues discover that the Slimeys want to eat everyone in sight and the Gornisthilfen just want to live in peace (even after the good ole United States of Earth destroyed their planet and turned it into a car park). Meeting ever more outlandish alien creatures on their journey northwards and trying not to make things even worse, all Parrts and Fome want to do is find a quiet corner and...well, you can guess the rest.

As with much of Harrison's less serious work, there are some broad satirical swipes at capitalism, the military and - despite what you might think from that image above and others within the book - sexism. Throw in some slightly mangled Yiddish phrases as alien names and a smattering of his beloved Esperanto (which I'd recommend translating) and you have a fun little story. It's not quite "Hitch Hikers" levels of funny but then very few things are.

What makes it worthwhile compared to other humourous stories of the period is of course the art. To be honest the story is really only there as a vehicle for Jim Burns to go crazy and show off his incredible, consistently inventive talent. It was just mind-blowing to a youngster like me. I poured over every page and memorised every alien species. There are a few instances where an illustration is repeated on a following page in close up  - which gives a great way of examining the Jim's almost obsessional attention to fine detail.

Although I was already into comics, I think this was the book that made me interested in SF artwork in it own right and I began to recognise artists work on the covers of novels. Over the decades I must have purchased dozens of books with covers by Jim - I can see some of them right now as I look over at my bookshelves. Certain pieces of his work have been used repeatedly over the many years of his career.

"Planet Story" is still part of my collection after all these years and I doubt I will ever be able to let go of it. It's too tied up with happy memories of halcyon days spent with people I loved and when I seemed to have all the time in the world to read and read and read. You can pick up a copy of the book for only a few pounds. If you love SF art in any way or want to see the result of an unusual pairing of writer and illustrator, I really do recommend it. I'm off to take another look right now...

The Book Tower 6 - Winterhill Series 4 - The Rise of the Fall by Iain Martin

When you are four books in to a continuing series, it could be easy to get into a familiar pattern and rest on your laurels with more of the same. So how do you keep things fresh? If you are Iain Martin, you do it by completely shaking up your status quo and pulling out the proverbial rug from underneath the feet of both your lead character and your readers...

A quick recap for those who can't remember my review of book three - "Bad Company" - back in September 2015. Oh and a spoiler warning for the next few sentences. When we last left the adventures of the enigmatic but resourceful Professor Rebecca Winterhill, we were faced with three separate 'cliff-hangers'. Maddy Taliferos has for some reason attempted to pull of the diamond theft of the century, been caught in the act and now awaits to hear if she will spend ten years in the notorious Bloodgate prison. Tareku has been revealed as an imposter sent to spy on Winterhill and keep her alive for an unknown master (although the reader knows it's the Tick-Tock Man). After the ensuing fight he was left drifting in the vacuum of space. As for Rebecca herself - she's lost the time/space machine called the Slider and is set for destinations unknown with the help of her friend The General.

What's quite clear from the start of book four is that we are not going to get a swift reset back to the familiar settings of the previous volumes - in fact the opening scene makes you wonder if you are in the right book series at all. The Slider is still missing and Winterhill is no closer to finding it, even with the loan of a sleek ship from The General and a purchase of a powerful AI wrapped in the skin of an orange that has constant - and vocal -  lustful thoughts about her naked body.

Let's take a look at each of the episodes in turn:

The first story "The Song of the Shriek" reunites Rebecca with an old government friend and an even older enemy. There is a distinct 'Alien" vibe as they creep around the innards of an apparently abandoned artefact drifting in space, just waiting for something horrible and dead and rotting to leap out of the dark. If the Arachana are Winterhill's Daleks, then The Shriek are definitely her Cybermen, with one scene echoing the appearance of the silver monsters in "Tomb of the Cybermen" (although some of you might also be reminded of "Genesis of the Daleks" at another point in the story.).

What's also enjoyable is that with each new appearance of his two key monsters, Iain is drip feeding a little more about their origins and motivations. This time we find out that The Shriek may be much more that just grisly animated cadavers and that the reason for their attacks could be of humanity's own making - we poked them first. I'm sincerely hoping that at some point in future novels we get to visit the home world of The Shriek, as there is a lot more to explore with these creatures. I also appreciated the commentary on needless bureaucracy - the whole universe may be at risk but it still needs to trickle up via line managers. The more the future changes, the more it stays the same.

"The (Second) Clock of the Long Now" is described by Iain on his website as a good old-fashioned heist story - and he's not wrong. It has more twists and double-crosses than "Ocean's Eleven", so I can't reveal much without spoiling the surprises. It also has no Winterhill in it for long stretches, instead focussing on the exploits of slightly ineffectual criminal Jonni Blaid and his lovely but deadly wife Savannah. It's almost a "what if" story, where my favourite literary master criminal, 'Slippery' Jim Di Griz, the Stainless Steel Rat, is instead a hen-pecked bounty hunter completely in thrall to his domineering spouse. You do feel sorry for the little guy as he fumbles his way through the story, narrowly avoiding his own demise.

Talking of master criminals, it's great to see an extended cameo from the deliciously urbane Maxymylyan DeVere - I can't be the only one who wants to read about the Infinity Spoon caper. I'm not sure I'd want to visit Elphick's World though, when it's only positive traits seem to be that it's a good place to take a dump and has genuine ham-fisted bun vendor's.

The most amazing thing about this story (and this is totally down to my own ignorance) is that the "Clock of the Long Now" is a real thing.  I just thought Iain had come up with a really cool SF idea. I'd heard of the concept of "Deep Time" and the building of incredibly accurate atomic clocks, but this project to build a mechanical clock that will last 10,000 years had passed me by.

There are apparently four prototype clocks in existence - three smaller ones in the Science Museum in London and the Long Now centre in San Francisco and a full scale clock in Texas - funded (as Iain says in his novel) by Jeff Bozos, founder of Amazon. Producer and  ambient music innovator Brian Eno was the one who came up with the name. Fantastic stuff!

"There Is Nothing You Could Ever Say To Me Now That I Could Ever Believe" not only wins the prize for longest title in the series so far, but also for completely wrong-footing me. I thought going in that it would be a final conversation between Maddy and her turncoat lover Tareku (of course I assumed he would survive that cliff-hanger) - an emotional character piece that revealed just much the youngest daughter of Old Man Talifero had been affected by things.

While the story does give us another welcome visit to the Taliferos clan, it certainly didn't go in the direction I expected. It's the wedding of the year and the culmination of a lot of the family's simmering plotlines. It feels like a Talifero series finale in it's own right in some ways. In fact, I think Iain had memories of a September 2003 episode of the UK's most famous London based soap opera in his mind when a certain character turns up:

"He had thinning brown hair and eyes that shone with anger, power and controlled ferocity. The skin beneath them was loose, puffy, beginning to sag. He wore a crisp black leather jacket over a grey shirt and dark trousers. 'Hello Princess' he said."

Who does that sound like to you?

"Echelon Red and the River in Space" is the next episode. Despite sounding like a late 90s Marvel superhero (all glowing eyes, spiked shoulder pads and pockets everywhere) it's actually concerned with what appears to be the opening salvo from a secret alien terrorist organisation. It's a new strand to the ongoing saga and much like the very best TV series, Iain seems to be opening different and interesting doors even as he closes off old ones.  Of course the story also features hideous slug creatures, a couple of new alien species and the inevitable meeting of the two current men in Winterhill's life - which doesn't go well. Oh, and a river. In Space.

By the way, "ECHELON" is allegedly a code name for a multi-country global surveillance system for the interception of private and commercial communications. Scary stuff.

As much as the action propels the story forward, it's the dialogue which really sparkles here. There's a playful sarkiness between the three main human characters that I really liked. and as always there are a few Doctor Who quotes thrown in for good measure, including ones from the 10th anniversary story and the first episode of the 2005 revival. If I have any criticism, it's that the way to defeat the bad guy is telegraphed a little to obviously which means there was no real sense of surprise when it is used. Finally, I have to ask - exactly what colour is electric fudge?...

In "The Last of The First" it's a welcome return for Winterhill's nemesis, the machiavellian Qalqavekkian and this time he really is utterly nuts. Leaving her two male companions to continue their bickering (that missing Empress plot line is going to come to the fore sometime soon isn't it Iain?) Rebecca makes a deal with another kind of devil in her continuing hunt for the Slider craft. Structurally this story really feels like it's the big epic scale season finale. There are new vista's, multiple locations, sudden twists and giant versions of returning monsters. Long-hinted-at backstory is finally revealed and there are losses on all sides. I can't but help continue the Doctor Who analogies and if Qalqavekkian  is the Master, then The First are the Timelords - and we all know what happened when *they* came back.

It's also the longest (and best) story in the book, helped perhaps by the fact that it's broken into numbered parts. I could really imagine a rising crescendo of music and the screen fading to black at the end of each one with a "to be continued next week" flashing up on the screen. Events build towards an exciting climax from which there is no coming back. Things really have changed forever - and I for one am glad to see it, as it can only mean very interesting times are ahead for our heroine.

But there is still one more story to go. It's called "Ngeretha" (which is a Kikuyu word) and I'm going to tell you... absolutely nothing about it - apart from the fact that it's told mostly from a first-person perspective and that it sees Winterhill in a very strange situation and completely out of her depth. I may have figured out what the word means but I've only hesitant guesses as to why. There *are* ties to the other major themes of this fourth series but not in the way you might think. It's a bold experiment and it all ends with... No. I'm not going to say. This story is best experienced completely cold. I've no idea where things will go from here.

In conclusion, it's another rousing set of adventures for our favourite amnesiac. I think Iain has really progressed as a writer with this latest volume, but to be honest I feel that the longer stories work better than the shorter ones. I was just getting into the episode about The Shriek for example, when it stopped. P.T. Barnum may have said, "Always leave them wanting more" and I wanted more, goddammit ! I actually think that Iain should break out of the "episode" format and go for it and write a full length novel next time. There is every indication here that it would be a extremely successful. Let's hope it's not too long before we find out.

Iain Martin is on Twitter @theIainMartin and the Winterhill series website is here. Iain's fantastic podcast (now with added Tudor Beamage) , Five Minute Fiction is here.

The Book Tower Special - You And Who (Else)

So after the highs and lows of Doctor Who series nine (and with the Christmas special still to come), it's should be time to go back to a more varied selection of topics on the blog. The thing is, there is one other Doctor Who related post to come - and this one is a little different and rather special.

Normally I'd use this (somewhat infrequent) 'Book Tower' slot to review a novel I've recently read, talk about what I liked, the themes - you know the kind of stuff. This time that's somewhat harder because I'm part of it.

Yes you read that correctly, I am now a published author. What makes this even more lovely is that it's a project that I only got involved in through Doctor Who fandom and the friends I have made -  plus every penny of proceeds from sales of the book goes to a good cause. Before we get to the tome in question, perhaps I should cover a little bit of background on the "You and Who " brand.

The original concept for "You And Who" came from J.R. Southall (yes he of "Blue Box Podcast" and "Starburst" magazine). Inspired jointly by a purchase he had made on the self-publishing website lulu.com and an unsuccessful submission to Doctor Who Magazine, J.R. developed the idea of a book with a myriad of different voices of all ages revealing how and why they became fans of this very British series about a madman in a blue box that travels across all of time and space.

In a post on the Doctor Who forum 'Gallifrey Base' in early December 2010, J.R. invited fellow fans to contribute personal essays about their relationship with Doctor Who, with all profits from the book going to the "Children in Need" charity. The response was positive and immediate. Within 24 hours he had the first essay (from YouTube superstar 'Babelcolour') *and* had been contacted by small-press publisher Tim Hirst, with an offer to help with some of the more technical aspects of the project.

Over the next few months, submissions came in thick and fast from all over the world (including one from the legendary Dez Skinn, former editor and creator of Doctor Who Weekly) adding up to a total of sixty-six contributors. Seeing the quality of the finished collection, Tim Hirst decided that he wanted to publish the book himself. A release date was provisionally set for December 2011. J.R. did a local radio interview and some other promotion to publicise the book *and* got the official go-ahead for a second volume - things were really on a roll...

Sadly, it wasn't all to be plain sailing. Time marched on and communications with Tim Hurst seemed to break down. As spring 2012 turned into summer, there was still no sign of the book and J.R. began to have doubts about it's release, let alone the possibility of a sequel. It turned out that Tim Hirst had run into significant cashflow problems and was unable to fulfill any orders. Eventually in September 2012, J.R. realised that Tim was never going to be able to get the book out. What to do?

Enter Miwk Publishing. Owned and run by Matthew West and Robert Hammond, Miwk were (and continue to be) specialists in film, TV, music and drama related books and had built up a solid reputation for quality and reliability. The following month J.R. was able to announce that Miwk had stepped in and offered to publish "You And Who" instead. Tim Hirst thankfully paid across all the money he'd taken in pre-orders, so Miwk could fulfil those sales, and down to tireless efforts on everyone's part the book was finally released, albeit a year late, in December 2012.

Reviews were extremely positive. Here was a book that resonated with fans. As one put it "...an absolute and pretty much unswerving devotion to a show which, arguably, hasn’t always deserved it....and I doubt we’ll see a more passionate and enthusiastic book". Spurred on by the enthusiasm and with the stresses of the last twelve months behind him, J.R. pressed forward with activity on volume two, subtitled "Contact Has Been Made".

"Contact Has Been Made" quickly evolved into two books - requiring a second editor in the form of "Chap With Wings" blogger Christopher Bryant. The project became a massive collection of essays covering every story from "An Unearthly" Child" through to "The Snowmen", plus extras on "Torchwood", "The Sarah Jane Adventures" and other elements of the wider 'Whoniverse'. Many of the pieces only tangentially mentioned the specific story -  instead using it as a springboard for a wide mixture of  opinions, reviews, commentary and specific memories - all with that unique slant of what the story meant to each author and how it influenced and affected their lives. Thanks to a hugely swift turnaround, the companion books escaped into the wider world in June 2013. Together they formed a unique trio of collected work -  compositions as much about the fans as they were about Doctor Who.

Despite the popularity of all the books (which went to a second print), Miwk only had a limited run, and by late 2013 "Contact" Volume 1 had become unavailable and only a handful of copies of Volume 2 were for sale into early 2014. The original "You And Who" itself went out of print at around the same time. Faced with the option of reprinting all of them or letting the books go, a sudden personal disaster meant that Matt from Miwk had nowhere to store three hundred books - so sadly they slipped away.

Speed forward to 2015 and demand for "You and Who" was still high. To remedy this, J.R. created the self publishing imprint "Watching Books" with the intention of republishing the three volumes and carrying on with future "You and Who" material and other related projects. The imprints premier release was a bringing together of J.R.'s pre-Starburst Magazine Doctor Who essays and reviews entitled "The Monster Show" - which also became the first book I reviewed on this very blog (you can read that here). "Tales from the Other Side of the Page", a collection of J.R.'s fiction short stories, was next, followed at long last by the "You And Who" books. The two new "Contact Has Been Made" editions (also combined into one massive anthology) featured revised content and sixteen bonus essays which updated things to the end of the 50th anniversary.

Forging ahead with more all-new material, we next got the excellent "Blake's Heaven" (edited by John Davies) a story-by-story look at - what else - Blake's 7. Finally we come to the latest release - "You And Who Else", which is where I enter the picture.

Launching on the evening of the 26th March 2015, the tenth anniversary of Doctor Who's return to our television screens, the book was to be in a similar vein to it's predecessors - as much about the people who watched the programmes as it was the shows themselves -  but this time focussing on British science fiction and fantasy television through the decades. The beneficiary charity was also new - the Terrence Higgins Trust.

I had been a long-time listener to the "Blue Box Podcast" and through chats with J.R. and other podcasters, I became aware of the history of the You And Who franchise and the re-release of the previous books. With an interest in writing re-kindled by the creation of this blog, and having missed out on being part of the other projects, the news that there was to be a new book was music to my ears. Here was my chance to be part of something important  - a 'social and historical record' of British telefantasy. But which series to choose?

There were so many excellent shows. Should I pick "Ivor The Engine" or "The Clangers" from my childhood? What about "Children of the Stones" or "King of the Castle" - which scared me so much that they left a lasting impression to this day. Then there was "A Very Peculiar Practice", or "The Adventure Game" or "Star Cops" or "Life on Mars" or... well you get they idea. The choice was seemingly infinite. In the end it came down to one series: six episodes of a quirky detective drama from mid-1992 titled "Virtual Murder".

So why this one programme above all the others? Well it was really for two main reasons:

Firstly it was a show that very few people had probably even heard of let alone seen. This meant there was an extremely good chance I would have it to myself.

Secondly, apart from the strong memories I had about the show and my life at that time (and I won't repeat those here because they form the core of my essay) it had also been the subject of one of my first e-mails with the original hosts of the "Diddly Dum" podcast back in March 2014. There are a number of Doctor Who connections and one of the episodes of the podcast had dredged "Virtual Murder" from my memory. Those e-mails would be the start of a fundamental change in the way I interacted with fellow fans. Who would have expected that within the next 21 months I would have appeared on a podcast myself, interviewed two authors, developed the blog into something that others actually seemed interested in reading and most importantly, met up and become firm friends with several people who were originally just voices in my ears. My life has changed immeasurably for the better.

So, when it came to picking a show to write about from the hundreds out there, it seemed that there really was only one choice - it was almost fated. Here was a chance to have this strange little show -  mostly unloved and forgotten by the world at large -  preserved forever in the pages of a book alongside essays from fellow telefantasy enthusiasts, many of whose work, both vocal and written, I respected and admired. How could I resist? It was the first time I had done anything like this but the words flowed fairly easily and by late May 2015 I submitted my prose for J.R.'s expert editing. Now I just had to wait...

A quick jump cut to November and here we are - "You And Who Else" is out ! 62 years of British science fiction and fantasy. 150 shows. 175 different essays. 790 pages. There are so many amazing, well written, insightful and personal stories - and there I am on pages 562-565. I can scarcely believe it. You can buy it on Amazon right now !

It's an incredible book and I'm very, very proud to be a tiny part of it. I urge anyone who has the slightest interest in British TV shows to go and buy a copy, either physically or on e-book. Not only is it outstanding value, not only will all the proceeds go to a worthwhile cause but you will also get a fascinating, varied and detailed look at why these programmes mean so much to so many people. There is some amazing, personal and often heart-wrenching writing within these pages. I can't stress enough how happy I am to have been included.


Here's the official blurb from the "Watching Books" website:

Television is the route by which we map our lives. From the day we are old enough to understand words and pictures it is a constant companion, educating and entertaining us, helping us to understand the world around us – and firing our imaginations off into the far reaches of an infinitely varied universe.

From Ace of Wands to Worzel Gummidge, from Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) to Red Dwarf, from the moment Professor Quatermass' rocket ship returned to Earth, to the moment Ian and Barbara entered the Doctor's Ship, fantasy television has had an extraordinary effect on our emotions and our intellect. Whether it be exploring space or travelling through time, surviving the aftermath of some Earthbound disaster or creating new worlds in uncharted territories, the writers and producers of speculative television have used the format to reflect and inform the world in which we live. And whether it be through horror, science fiction or imaginative fantasy – or a combination of all three – we have all been touched in some way by the creativity and insight provided by such visionaries as Gerry Anderson, Nigel Kneale and Douglas Adams. 

You and Who Else is a unique history of  sixty years of British fantasy television, and a definitive record of its place in our lives – as told by the people who saw it: the viewers.

Further information about all the books and where to buy them, can be found at the "Watching Books" website. Their  Facebook page is at facebook.com/watchingbooks.

If you want to stay up to date with future projects in the You and Who series (and maybe feel like contributing yourself), then bookmark the You and Who page here.

For myself, I've already committed to writing another essay for the next book in the series - which is all about the Doctor Who target novelisations - and there is another new project due to start in 2016 (but you can find out about that one in the back of  "Your And Who Else".

All that remains is to say please, please, please buy a copy of this book - no wait - buy a copy of ALL of the books. You won't regret it.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to one and all !

The Book Tower 5 - Winterhill Series 3: Bad Company by Iain Martin

And so after a necessary wait while I devoured "The Republic Of Thieves" by Scott Lynch (along with Joe Abercrombie, probably my favorite author of the last 10 years) we come to the last of my holiday book reviews, and wouldn't you know it, it's volume three of "Winterhill".

It has always been my intention to read (and review) all three books during my two week stay in the Greek sunshine. This is not because of any tie to Iain Martin (we only vaguely know each other through Twitter and that only really came about via a mutual friend) and I'm certainly not getting any recompense for these reviews, nor would I expect any. No, the important thing is that I genuinely feel that independent authors need and deserve all the exposure that can get, and I want to help in whatever small way I can. If I was to write a review of the latest Stephen King tome, it might be a nice positive review and it might get a couple of people to buy the book, but in the scheme of King's sales figures it would be a teardrop in the Atlantic Ocean. However, spreading the word about an independent new author may help raise their profile and any sales they make will hopefully be of benefit. Now I'm not saying that I consider this blog to be influential enough to turn Iain Martin into a worldwide publishing phenomenon (much as that would please everyone I'm sure) but word of mouth counts for a lot more in the 21st century Internet world -  and if YOU think "You know what, it's only 99p for the first book and it sounds like fun, I'll give it a go" and you enjoy it and you tell your friends and they enjoy it and - well you get the picture. As a certain supermarket chain in the UK keeps telling us, "Every little helps"...

Anyway, enough of that and onto the book itself, and it's the longest of the three so far, with seven rather than the usual six adventures (although the finale is actually split across two parts, so technically it's still six). The stories are even more intertwined than before, with the first being pretty much a scene setting prequel or extended pre-credits sequence, reminding us of the primary players and their situation (there is no "Previously..." page this time round), setting up a new quest and an amoral new bad guy. It's all told in the first person point of view, rotating through the four leads, so we also get a nice window into their heads.

One thing I noticed immediately with this third book is that there seems to be a slightly more adult tone - with quite a bit more swearing and violence and even a mild sex scene. Now I am certainly not being critical of this and these things are always in context within the novel as the characters interact and move through their trials and tribulations - it just surprised me. You might just want to be aware for the younger reader. However, I'm less content with the instance where nurse Kati describes a supporting character as "well gorge". I get that she is meant to be young and attracted to this man but it just seemed less like one of Iain's well written and we'll rounded female protagonists and more like something out of one of those terrible "scripted reality" shows. It's a small quibble though, so maybe I'm just getting old...

If the nature of the stories, their content and their connectivity have evolved, then so have the episode names. I'll admit that I've not always been able to fully work out the meaning of some of the story titles and their relevance to the adventures themselves. Take "The Ethers Tragic" from book one for example. Research revealed to me that it is name of an instrumental version of a Smashing Pumpkins song called "The End Is The Beginning Is The End", which comes from the soundtrack to the fondly-remembered-by-nobody-including-George-Clooney 1997 movie "Batman & Robin". What that has to do with a story of being space shipwrecked on a tropical island, featuring a thinly disguised Tori Amos I'm not entirely sure - although it's true that the tale does start at the end and fills in the blanks as we go along, so maybe it's no more than that. In the same vein, I don't think that "The Quantum Of Justice" in book two in any way relates to the recent foreclosure crisis in America, even though there is a documentary with that name. It could be just that it sounds cool. My point is that I'm a sucker for an odd sounding title. Give me a "Castrovalva" over "Revenge of the Cybermen" or a "Blink" over " Daleks In Manhattan" any day. Something to spark the imagination and keep the mystery of what the story is really about hidden until you actually watch/read it, not lay out all your cards on the contents page. This kind of thing is certainly going on more in book three than in the previous volumes and I'm all for it. Who can fail to be intrigued by titles such as "Elvis Presley and the Monsters of Soul" or "Serum3:Evolution5"? More of this please Mr. Martin.

Elsewhere we have our regular battle with the hideous Arachana (swiftly becoming the Winterhill version of the Daleks, so how long before we meet their Davros? After all, someone or something must be providing them with those cybernetic upgrades...) and a return visit to the home of the Talifero crime syndicate - the latter story importantly moving forward the sub-plots concerning Maddy's family and associates and hinting at the finale to come. The Professor and Blackjack and LadyJane are now interesting characters in their own right and are certainly more shades of grey than out and out black hats (another link back to those beloved 'Stainless Steel Rat' novels I mentioned in my review of book one). What also seems evident from the third story, "The Human Invasion of Earth" (with its sadly familiar human dictator) is that Iain knows his way round Cairo. The descriptions of the locales used seem too accurate to be just from research. Oh, and the final paragraph gives a small nugget of information in the underlying mystery of 'Professor' Winterhill. Once again what seem like incidental characters come to have greater significance down the line and in the name-spotting game we have a comic strip writer, a Superman actor (maybe) and a 1980s Doctor Who script editor. Plus a very clear mention of the 'Battle of Reykjavik.

Significantly, as we are now three books (or nineteen episodes) into the Winterhill series, there are an increasing number of sub-plots being juggled - the Earth Bureau of Investigation work against the Talifero family (plus one of its number on a private revenge mission), the ever-expanding evil influence of UbiCorp (with possibly some employees running their own secret agenda), the unresolved questions around Qalqavekkian and The First, plus not forgetting the Tick-Tock Man and who is exactly working for (or controlling) whom. Can you trust your friends and family -  and what exactly is Bloodgate?

The double-sided finale is kind of a heist movie crossed with 'Die Hard' with a *great* twist and the (at least partial) resolution to one of the oldest simmering storylines. It also has not one, not two, but three excellent cliffhangers, which leave things in a interesting state for the next installment.  I do wonder though that as much as I praised the use of original episode titles above, how hard it must have been not to call this caper "Rebecca Winterhill and the xxxxx of Death" (it'll make sense when you read it).

If you enjoyed books one and two, then this is more of the same quality fun and adventure. Volume four is due imminently and I'll be getting that as soon as it comes out. I'm also hoping to be able to conduct a Q&A session with Iain Martin for the blog around the time of the book release, which should be something to really look forward to.

A quick reminder that Iain Martin is on Twitter @theIainMartin and the Winterhill series website is here. Iain's lovely podcast, Five Minute Fiction is here.

Time for some Greek mezze and a beer I think...

The Book Tower 4 - Winterhill Series 2: Ghost Requiem by Iain Martin

So after the delights of book one in the SF adventures of Rebecca Winterhill and her friends Madagascar Taliferos and Tareku (the man with no last name), I've dived straight into the second volume. Hey, I'm on holiday - why not live dangerously?...

Continuing the concept of the books being like TV series or seasons, Ghost Requiem opens with a "Previously..." page which quickly brings the reader up to speed on the salient points from series one. However, what's different this time is that although we still get six "episodes", they are far more interlinked and dependant on each other - more a series of events that flow to create a cohesive whole storyline rather than distinct individual adventures with seeding of the arc plot as in book one. It's a nice change and shows that the author is not afraid to vary his storytelling techniques. What's also apparent is that as both author and reader are now comfortable with the major characters, it's time to shake things up a bit and delve deeper into their psyche and motivations. So along with more exciting action, adventure and violence we also get more depth. The dynamic of the Talifero family gets some welcome fleshing out too, with a couple of new players who may start out as background dressing but soon become intrinsic to the series ' finale'.

The crew of the appropriated "Slider" ship that Rebecca and Co use to flit around the galaxy in is also filling out nicely (it's a bit like early episodes of 'Blake's 7', only with less room and no Brian Blessed) Their vessel really could do with a proper name though. Like last time there is more fun to be had spotting the names and places that reference the authors favourite TV shows and interests. I'm sure there was a baroque painter in there too. For me, one of the highlights of these books is the way that Mr Martin is able to really create visualisations of his characters and their foes for the reader with just a few short economical lines of descriptive prose. Just read this excerpt from 'A Cold Day In Hell':

"Dressed in black clothes. Black gauze. Including a smooth black balaclava-like head covering and gloves. The uniform was not clean, or new, but rather durable  - as if the owner had just that set of clothes for life. On his chest winked lights and neons from a small metal box - red, green, blues. Stains and streaks and smears besmirched the outfit. It looked quite damp. Human eyes gazed out from the eye-holes. Dead, lifeless eyes which rolled in their sockets and wobbled like under-cooked eggs".

See what I mean? If I was a designer for a TV programme, those few sentences would be all I needed to get the creative juices flowing. It's the same for the reader (well this one anyway). I can *see* these creatures - they're called The Shriek - in my mind very clearly. It's an important skill for a writer and Iain has certainly got to grips with it (maybe all those years of reading Terrance Dicks has helped).

The various escapades in this volume range from battling gigantic sea creatures, 'zombies' in a mountain top castle (with two supporting characters who could have stepped out of a "Fast Show" sketch - although come to think of it maybe looking behind the scenes on a certain well known British SF show might lead to a different comparison...), the return of a vanquished villain and more about his race, and a trip to a eerily familiar lugubrious, boggly-eyed psychotherapist. Add in a couple of shocking deaths (no I'm not telling you who) and more twists and turns you don't see coming - plus an answer to the title of book one - and it's another recipe for success.

The central premise of Winterhill's amnesia and the mystery of the Tick Tock Man might not be resolved yet but there are clues along the way and to be honest it's too soon to reveal all. It took Earl Dumarest almost thirty novels to find Earth in the series by E.C. Tubb and ten books for the conspiracy to be truly revealed in the 'Family D'Alembert' saga from E.E. Doc Smith & Stephen Goldin. Just as long as it doesn't turn out like 'Lost'. I'm confident it won't.

All in all it's resounding thumbs up for this second set of six adventures. The stories are going from strength to strength and  it will be very interesting to see where Iain Martin takes things next. When it only costs £2.00 it's definitely worth your time and money.

Time for a quick dip in the pool and a siesta. Then it's a short break while I read another anticipated novel saved for my holiday, before moving onto book three!*







*Sorry Mr Martin, Scott Lynch and The Gentleman Bastards are calling me...

The Book Tower 3 - Winterhill Series 1: The Wreath Of Dreams by Iain Martin

So sitting here by the pool on my Greek holiday seems like the ideal opportunity to read and review the "Winterhill" ebook novels by columnist, publishing regional manager and genial host of the 'Five Minute Fiction' podcast, Iain Martin. I also have a very tenuous connection to the books, because good friend and fellow blogger  Al No drew the covers to all three volumes (so far) in the series.

Rebecca Winterhill's life is a mystery - especially to herself, since she woke up in a crate in the cargo hold of a space cruise liner with no memory of who she is or how she got there. Before you can say "Fecky doo-dah" she is thrust into a battle against numerous monsters, psychotic madmen and denizens of the criminal underworld,  alongside party girl, galaxy-class data pirate, information hacker and holder of a degree in Leisure &  Tourism, Madagascar Taliferos. And Maddy has some secrets of her own...

The book is structured like the episodes of a TV series, with six complete adventures told in short bursts, plus prologues/epilogues to fill in some of the history of this universe that Mr. Martin has created and offer glimpses of things to come. The initial few tales might have simple and well trodden ideas at their core (undead space vampires, giant augmented spiders, a long lost jewel in a booby trapped temple) but they rattle along with nary a pause for breath and each one adds a nugget to the underlying narrative. Rebecca seems to have retained some important tactical skills deep in her memory (useful when you are trying to get away from a horde of rampaging Cyber Spiders)  but nothing to give her a clue about where she comes from or why she can do what she can do.

Iain obviously knows his SF stuff. There are elements of some classic genre TV shows woven into the DNA of his stories - especially (as you would expect from a self- confessed fan) Doctor Who.   The character names are also a treat, with several coming from SF film and television and novels. There may be some non genre literary ones in there too, but I'm nowhere near enough well read. Plus there are some nice Easter eggs to pick up on: certain crab-like creatures in an aquarium, an alternative name for a forest world, references to Polar bears and ghosts on a tropical island - it all adds to the fun. I did spot that absolute rotter Maxymylyan DeVere bears more than a passing resemblance to Judge Dredd character Devlin Waugh - although admittedly he himself is based on comedy film legend Terry Thomas so I could be seeing connections that aren't there. Although that bad guy with the goatee and the cylindrical spaceship?......Nah.

The background arc plot seeding throughout the stories is reminiscent of modern Doctor Who or perhaps Babylon 5. Indeed one could also say that there is a soupçon of River Song (or perhaps Lara Croft?) beneath the skins of Professor Rebecca Winterhill and the redoubtable Maddy - ready with a cunning plan or a suggestive quip whatever the situation. But you know what, when the stories are this much fun and the dialogue sparkles like Douglas Adams on a good day, any similarities, deliberate or unintentional are more that allowable. I'm inclined to think that Iain is similar in age to myself (I know we are from the same English county) thanks to some nice references to UK kids TV shows and some vintage school playground banter, especially the classic of "Chinny reckon...Jimmy Hill" to indicate that someone might be telling porkies. That takes me back.

What the adventures of Ms Winterhill and her friends actually remind me of most - and this is a very good thing - is the tales of Slippery Jim DiGriz, the Stainless Steel Rat - who scampered his way through eleven novels from the pen of SF master Harry Harrison between 1961 and 2010. The first four novels are generally considered to be the best (well by me anyway) and Winterhill reads like those - full of capers, mis-haps, miraculous escapes from sudden death and suitably evil and esoteric alien menaces.

The book also doesn't outstay it's welcome - I managed to demolish the whole thing in under two days. It's bright, breezy and a great read. I don't want to say much more about the plot as it's far more enjoyable if you don't know what's coming. Crucially though this first set of Winterhill adventures doesn't resolve all the plot lines. Some important plates are left spinning and there is a humdinger of a cliffhanger to end on. Just who is the Tick Tock Man and what is his role in Rebecca's memory loss? I guess I'll find out (maybe) in book two...

The Book Tower 2 - It's Even Bigger On The Inside

I first remember coming across the cartooning genius of Tim Quinn and Dicky Howett in the Marvel UK titles in the very early 1980's. Titles such as "Marvel Super Adventure", "Super Spider-Man TV Comic" and the fabulous "Future Tense". These weekly magazines were my first real exposure to the world of US superheroes.

The comics reprinted things like Micronauts, Daredevil, Kirby's Black Panther, Defenders, Iron Man and strangely, Dazzler. Usually on the letters or editorial page was a short three panel comedy cartoon called "Earth 33 1/3".

Featuring a host of Marvel characters old and new, the strip was a quick "one-two-three" of corny jokes, puns and satire.

These proved to be so popular that at one point there were up to eight different humorous comics created by the pair and published across the Marvel UK line, including Fantastic 400, Jet Lagg, Bullpen Bedlam and  The Fairly Amazing Spider-Hound. I remember that this culminated in the August 1983 publication of the one-off special "Channel 33 1/3" which reprinted some of the material along with the longer-form "I was Adolf''s Double". I had a copy for many years.

The team also produced another, film influenced, strip called "Flickers" for "Starburst" magazine between 1981 and 1985. I'd not heard of it until browsing the internet for some notes for this blog post (I wasn't a Starburst reader for some reason). I particularly  like film critic Edward P. Sloth...

With issue 64 of Doctor Who Monthly, dated August 1982, Quinn and Howett began what could be argued as their most famous collaboration - "Doctor Who?". This new book from the always excellent Miwk Publishing sees a collection of every cartoon published in DWM, together with the full page comics from the various specials.

It's fascinating to see the evolution of the material. In the early days they were very much in the vein of the Earth 33 1/3 strips - quick little three-panel gags with the current Doctor and companions. For the 1982 and 1983 DWM Specials, Quinn and Howett had full pages to play with, which resulted in "So You Think You'd Make A Good Companion For Dr. Who!" and "Dr Who The Next 20 Years". These were obviously popular, because we then got the ten part "Doctor Who History Tour" which ran sporadically in DWM between issues 108 and 135 alongside the normal cartoons.

Expanding the scope beyond just the current Doctor, no actor, character or monster was safe from the relentless satire of the dynamic duo. Some of it was pretty broad - poor Colin Baker had jokes about his weight and there was stereotypical Scottish dialogue from McCoy. Even the production team came in for some gentle ribbing. JN-T was always depicted as a "hairy gooseberry" wearing a Hawaiian shirt covered in stars and planets and there were jokes about costume limitations and BBC cutbacks. .There was also a hilarious four page "unscreened edition" of An Unearthly Child in the 1983 Winter special.

From issue 146 of DWM onwards (March 1989) , the strips were promoted to full colour, and it's these that are of the most interest to me, as I had stopped buying the magazine regularly by this point. If anything the scripts get even wackier, with Ice Warrior acting classes, the Malus on a tube train, Bruce Forsyth as the Eighth Doctor, Ken Russell directing everyone in the nude and an unfortunate team up between Shockeye and the Kandyman. Oh and don't forget Pater Haining releasing an 'anniversary celebration' book at any opportunity and "Unlikely things to hear whilst viewing Dimension In Time". The last regular three panel comic appeared in DWM issue 225 (May 1995) with a one off reappearance for issue 350 (December 2004).

The middle section of the collection is taken up with complete reprints of the 64-page "Doctor Who Fun Book" and it's sequel "It's Bigger On The Inside" published in 1987 / 1988. These contained all-new material and allowed Quinn and Howett to break free of the usual restrictive format. Looking back, they most remind me of the comics annuals and summer specials I used to devour in my youth - the occasional longer-form story surrounded by jokes, single panel cartoons, illustrated and text features, puzzles, quizzes, fun facts and other assorted nonsense. Although I bought these at the time of release, I had forgotten the sheer inventiveness on display. Don't like a joke? Don't worry, there will be twenty more along on the next page. The double page spreads are just superb. The two magazines were a love-letter to the days of The Beano and The Dandy.

The final part is a real treasure trove of pretty much every other remaining rare scrap of Doctor Who related stuff produced by Quinn and Howett. This includes unused or changed strips, sketches, private commissions for Christmas cards and convention booklets and even work from the BBC staff magazine 'Ariel". Rounding it out is a selection of newspaper cuttings and private photos (I hadn't realised that Dicky played a BBC cameraman in "An Adventure In Space And Time"). The warning letter from Marvel management and the article on "Channel 33 1/3" being accused of breaking obscenity laws are fascinating inclusions.  I really like the picture from the 80s of the two lads with Colin Baker - all three with luxuriant long curly hair! There is also a shot of Dicky on the 1988 ITV Telethon which I remember vividly. The last couple of pages reprints a lovely interview from the exquisite Vworp Vworp magazine of a few years ago.

For me the strips have not aged at all. They are still as relentlessly madcap and anarchic as I remember and captured the joy and love the gents had for the long-running show. The likenesses were not always spot on, but you could always tell who each figure was meant to be (Howett admits in the book that he struggled with some charactisations and was asked to reduce the size of Peri's breasts). The reproduction quality is also uniformly excellent. Pages have been carefully restored and where possible scanned from the original artwork. Miwk Publishing's books are always of high quality and this is no exception.

I have really fond memories of many of the cartoons included in this book and having everything all in one place means I can dip in and out at leisure (which will be often I'm sure). If you have any love for Doctor Who, humour strips or just comics in general, you owe it to yourself to get this book. You can buy it direct from Miwk Publishing here. Hurry because stock is becoming limited.

Can we have an Earth 33 1/3 collection now please?

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 !