This year's top choice is something I have already written about before in another medium...
1992:
The trivia:
The memory:
Virtual Murder
Back at the end of 2015, I wrote this post about the interesting journey which lead to me finally become a published writer - through an essay about the short-lived BBC series "Virtual Murder" appearing in the "You And Who Else" charity anthology about 50 years of British telefantasy. Now 18 or so months later, I have reached the point in this series of look-back posts where the TV show was first transmitted, so it seems right that I should reproduce that essay here.
What you will read below is exactly the essay as it was published in "You And Who Else". I have just added a few pictures to break up the text.
------------------
Footfalls Echo In The Memory
Memory is what defines us. It makes us who we are as human beings. The man I am today has been shaped by the last 48 years of experiences. As much as I recall the morals and virtues instilled in me by my parents and the fun times I had as a child, I also recollect the harsh words from bullies at school or the rows with my ex-wife. They are all part of me.
Who I am now has also been heavily influenced by the television I watched. I have this reputation at work (from my participation in numerous pub quizzes) for being a repository for minor trivia about TV. It’s not really justified – it’s just that I can name all of the 'Fingerbobs' and sing the theme song to "Fraggle Rock" and tell you who played Will Scarlett in "Robin of Sherwood" – which my colleagues can’t. I think it’s because I have always tended to associate the different periods in my life with the SF and fantasy TV series of the times. A kind of tele-visual shorthand if you will – one informs the other and vice versa. As much as music or smells can be a mnemonic spark, fantastical TV (the odder the better) has been a trigger for me.
Ask me about being four or five years old and it will be as much about "Catweazle" or "Crystal Tipps and Alistair" as the birthday party I had or the holiday to the Isle of Wight. At ten my year was defined by "King of the Castle" and" Children of the Stones" – and something about a fancy dress street party for the Silver Jubilee. When I reflect on turning twenty in 1987, it’s "Star Cops" and "Max Headroom" that I think of. And through it all like a seam of gold in a layer of quartz is "Doctor Who". **
In 1992 I was 25 years old, had been at work in a steady job for several years and lived in a shared house with two friends (although that was about to come to a messy end – we had bought the place together, what were we thinking?). The following year I would meet the woman who would become my first wife. But right then, I was still (marginally) more interested in fiction than reality.
Comics and "Doctor Who" have always been my twin passions, but the Timelord had been off of the TV screens for three years and I’d sadly drifted away from being a fan – even disposing of all my Target novelisations (what a terrible mistake that turned out to be). Apart from the sublime "Twin Peaks" a year earlier, there was a not a whole lot of genre TV out there at this time - this was pre the "X-File"s / "Babylon 5" explosion. I’d gravitated towards "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and "Quantum Leap" – transmitted in that famous BBC2 6.00pm slot – but although both were great programmes, they just weren’t “special” to me in the way that "Doctor Who" had been. Something was about to come along to change all that…
In a TV landscape somewhat dominated by fly-on-the-wall documentaries, "Virtual Murder" was an attempt by the BBC to break the pattern and go back to what it has always done best – original drama, this time with a SF / fantasy leaning. It was also to be for adults – transmitted at 9.30pm in the evening. So what would this new series be like? Take the 60’s camp oddness of "The Avengers" or "Department S". Add in a dash of Holmesian detective skills and genius intellect. Toss in a soupcon of the eccentricities of "Doctor Who". Stir well with a pinch of modern technological innovations. Voila! A recipe for success? Maybe.
The show concerned the adventures of the square jawed Dr John Cornelius (JC), a psychology lecturer, played by the late Nicholas Clay. Assisted by glamorous girlfriend Samantha Valentine (Kim Thompson), he helped the police in tracking down macabre criminals.
In my personal world, bereft of my favourite kind of quirky escapist drama, I seized it with both hands. This was the kind of thing I wanted to watch – not endless episodes of police on the beat or conference meetings on starships in a supposedly perfect future society! The cases the eccentric Doctor Cornelius investigated were as equally bizarre as the criminals. Paintings suddenly melting, a trail of bodies linked by strange knot clues, the brother of Santa Claus in a tale of two skeletons, a modern-day vampire, and deadly corporate espionage in a virtual environment. "Next Gen" couldn’t offer that kind of uniquely British nuttiness. The series had a knowing awareness of its own overblown unreality - and I loved it. It was the little show that tried to be something different.
I think I saw Cornelius as a kind of a proto-Timelord. Perhaps my Who fandom was trying to reassert itself? I could almost imagine a future incarnation of the Doctor being exiled to Earth like his predecessor and setting up in a university as a consultant psychologist / detective. Except this regeneration had a full romantic relationship with his “assistant”! There were already hints of both Baker’s in Nicholas Clay’s performance, so it wasn’t too much of a stretch. I’d always identified with the Doctor as the odd-one-out (which was exactly how I had felt during my formative years). With Who off the air, perhaps I latched onto JC as a role model. Being intelligent and well read *could* get you the girl. I’m not ashamed to say that I was still trying to “find” myself, even at 25.
Whatever the underlying reasons, every Friday night I would be sitting there watching - enjoying the banter between JC and Samantha, the skulduggery of the villains and the sheer style, fun and inventiveness on display. I tried talking about it with friends and family and work colleagues, but while those that weren’t down the pub on a Friday night enjoyed it well enough, they just didn’t seem to “get” it to quite the extent I did. In a way I liked that. "Virtual Murder" had become “my” show. Arguments had started between my friends and I, and despite living in the same house we weren’t socialising together anymore. I really felt quite unhappy and trapped in a situation of my own making, so I retreated into the things that gave me the most pleasure. Comic books and this strange serial had become my escape.
Even with all the Doctor-ish qualities I was probably projecting onto the programme, it was genuinely a who's-who of Who both in front of and behind the camera. Bernard Bresslaw, Philip Martin, Richard Todd, Bernard Horsfall, Peggy Mount - the list went on. Best of all, episode four had Jon Pertwee as Luis Silverado, a retired brothel keeper (and chef). Pertwee quite obviously had a ball in the role – dodgy Spanish accent, twirling Mario-like grey moustache and pyromaniacal tendencies. It was "Doctor Who" seen through Star Trek's mirror universe. His character died all too soon, and the episode is the poorer for it, but his brief appearance was fantastic.
There were a plethora of other well known guest artistes too. Hywel Bennett was cast against type for the first time as a villain. Plus Ronald Fraser, Tessa Wyatt, Sean Pertwee, Tony Robinson, Jill Gascoine – Julian Clary as an undertaker even – bulked out an impressive cast list for a serial lasting only a few short weeks. The BBC had put a lot of effort into this.
Looking back now, "Virtual Murder" might also have contained the seed of a lot of elements in popular BBC detective series to come. Is there the kernel of the central relationship between Jonathan Creek and Maddie Magellan in the sparky rapport between JC and Samantha? Maybe a glint of the modern day Sherlock, twenty years before Steven Moffat’s triumphant reboot? Yes, I think about the show that much, even all this time later.
Sadly it wasn’t to last. Six weeks of madness and magic and then it was gone. John Cornelius disappeared off into the sunset, never to be seen by anyone ever again. You see, the real crime JC and Samantha should investigate is why "Virtual Murder" wasn’t an instant gigantic success – and more importantly why is it that this wonderful offbeat set of six episodes has never been repeated on TV or released on any version of home media. The only reason I still have copies to watch now is because I luckily captured them on VHS at the time. The tapes are long gone (victim of a move to a smaller house) but I still have the digital copies I made. Okay, by today’s standards it’s moderately dated in that 1990’s ‘over the top staging / everything’s on videotape / someone’s discovered the funky scene transition effects button’ kind of way, but I didn’t care then and I don’t care now.
What is even worse though is that as marvellous as it was, it seems I’m one of only a handful of people who even remember it existed at all. Go on - do an internet search for Virtual Murder. I’ll wait here for you…
See? Excluding the obvious sites like Wikipedia and IMDB, there are less than half a dozen entries. Even something as obscure as 1977’s American SF sitcom “Quark” has more pages devoted to it and a DVD release. Virtual Murder has been consigned to oblivion – and that’s a damn shame.
I mentioned earlier that I link TV shows with memories of specific times in my life. Virtual Murder is lodged in there deep and will always bring to mind a transitional and rather difficult period – after becoming independent from my parents, but before the highs (and lows) of what was to become a serious long term relationship. Maybe the rest of the world has forgotten about this odd and unique drama, but me? - I will continue to remember it with great affection.
------------------
** Some of the shows mentioned here will get their own blog posts outside of the "Golden Sunsets" strand at some point in the future. Just in case you wondered...
1992:
The trivia:
- Around 70 members of the French scouting group 'Éclaireuses et Éclaireurs de France ' descended on the Upper Mayriere Cave at the Bruniquel archaeological site with the intention of using wire brushes to remove modern graffiti defacing the cave walls. Unfortunately they got a bit carried away and managed to at least partially remove two 15,000 year old prehistoric paintings of bison before realising what they were.
- In 1633 under threat of torture, the Inquisition of the Roman Catholic Church forced Galileo Galilei, one of the founders of modern science, to recant his theory that the Earth revolved around the Sun. 359 years later Pope John Paul II finally declared that Galileo had been right. However it had taken the committee involved over a decade of research to makes their minds up.
- When the ship "Ever Laurel" hit a storm in the North Pacific in January of 1992, several large containers were washed overboard - one of those those which burst open held a consignment of 28.800 "Friendly Floatee" bath toys in the shape of yellow ducks, red beavers, blue turtles and green frogs. As they were made from durable plastic and sealed watertight, they survived years adrift in the oceans. Some travelled over 17,000 miles and spent years frozen in Arctic ice before washing up on shores as far afield as Hawaii, Ireland and the UK.
The memory:
Virtual Murder
Back at the end of 2015, I wrote this post about the interesting journey which lead to me finally become a published writer - through an essay about the short-lived BBC series "Virtual Murder" appearing in the "You And Who Else" charity anthology about 50 years of British telefantasy. Now 18 or so months later, I have reached the point in this series of look-back posts where the TV show was first transmitted, so it seems right that I should reproduce that essay here.
What you will read below is exactly the essay as it was published in "You And Who Else". I have just added a few pictures to break up the text.
------------------
Footfalls Echo In The Memory
Memory is what defines us. It makes us who we are as human beings. The man I am today has been shaped by the last 48 years of experiences. As much as I recall the morals and virtues instilled in me by my parents and the fun times I had as a child, I also recollect the harsh words from bullies at school or the rows with my ex-wife. They are all part of me.
Who I am now has also been heavily influenced by the television I watched. I have this reputation at work (from my participation in numerous pub quizzes) for being a repository for minor trivia about TV. It’s not really justified – it’s just that I can name all of the 'Fingerbobs' and sing the theme song to "Fraggle Rock" and tell you who played Will Scarlett in "Robin of Sherwood" – which my colleagues can’t. I think it’s because I have always tended to associate the different periods in my life with the SF and fantasy TV series of the times. A kind of tele-visual shorthand if you will – one informs the other and vice versa. As much as music or smells can be a mnemonic spark, fantastical TV (the odder the better) has been a trigger for me.
Ask me about being four or five years old and it will be as much about "Catweazle" or "Crystal Tipps and Alistair" as the birthday party I had or the holiday to the Isle of Wight. At ten my year was defined by "King of the Castle" and" Children of the Stones" – and something about a fancy dress street party for the Silver Jubilee. When I reflect on turning twenty in 1987, it’s "Star Cops" and "Max Headroom" that I think of. And through it all like a seam of gold in a layer of quartz is "Doctor Who". **
In 1992 I was 25 years old, had been at work in a steady job for several years and lived in a shared house with two friends (although that was about to come to a messy end – we had bought the place together, what were we thinking?). The following year I would meet the woman who would become my first wife. But right then, I was still (marginally) more interested in fiction than reality.
Comics and "Doctor Who" have always been my twin passions, but the Timelord had been off of the TV screens for three years and I’d sadly drifted away from being a fan – even disposing of all my Target novelisations (what a terrible mistake that turned out to be). Apart from the sublime "Twin Peaks" a year earlier, there was a not a whole lot of genre TV out there at this time - this was pre the "X-File"s / "Babylon 5" explosion. I’d gravitated towards "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and "Quantum Leap" – transmitted in that famous BBC2 6.00pm slot – but although both were great programmes, they just weren’t “special” to me in the way that "Doctor Who" had been. Something was about to come along to change all that…
In a TV landscape somewhat dominated by fly-on-the-wall documentaries, "Virtual Murder" was an attempt by the BBC to break the pattern and go back to what it has always done best – original drama, this time with a SF / fantasy leaning. It was also to be for adults – transmitted at 9.30pm in the evening. So what would this new series be like? Take the 60’s camp oddness of "The Avengers" or "Department S". Add in a dash of Holmesian detective skills and genius intellect. Toss in a soupcon of the eccentricities of "Doctor Who". Stir well with a pinch of modern technological innovations. Voila! A recipe for success? Maybe.
The show concerned the adventures of the square jawed Dr John Cornelius (JC), a psychology lecturer, played by the late Nicholas Clay. Assisted by glamorous girlfriend Samantha Valentine (Kim Thompson), he helped the police in tracking down macabre criminals.
In my personal world, bereft of my favourite kind of quirky escapist drama, I seized it with both hands. This was the kind of thing I wanted to watch – not endless episodes of police on the beat or conference meetings on starships in a supposedly perfect future society! The cases the eccentric Doctor Cornelius investigated were as equally bizarre as the criminals. Paintings suddenly melting, a trail of bodies linked by strange knot clues, the brother of Santa Claus in a tale of two skeletons, a modern-day vampire, and deadly corporate espionage in a virtual environment. "Next Gen" couldn’t offer that kind of uniquely British nuttiness. The series had a knowing awareness of its own overblown unreality - and I loved it. It was the little show that tried to be something different.
I think I saw Cornelius as a kind of a proto-Timelord. Perhaps my Who fandom was trying to reassert itself? I could almost imagine a future incarnation of the Doctor being exiled to Earth like his predecessor and setting up in a university as a consultant psychologist / detective. Except this regeneration had a full romantic relationship with his “assistant”! There were already hints of both Baker’s in Nicholas Clay’s performance, so it wasn’t too much of a stretch. I’d always identified with the Doctor as the odd-one-out (which was exactly how I had felt during my formative years). With Who off the air, perhaps I latched onto JC as a role model. Being intelligent and well read *could* get you the girl. I’m not ashamed to say that I was still trying to “find” myself, even at 25.
Whatever the underlying reasons, every Friday night I would be sitting there watching - enjoying the banter between JC and Samantha, the skulduggery of the villains and the sheer style, fun and inventiveness on display. I tried talking about it with friends and family and work colleagues, but while those that weren’t down the pub on a Friday night enjoyed it well enough, they just didn’t seem to “get” it to quite the extent I did. In a way I liked that. "Virtual Murder" had become “my” show. Arguments had started between my friends and I, and despite living in the same house we weren’t socialising together anymore. I really felt quite unhappy and trapped in a situation of my own making, so I retreated into the things that gave me the most pleasure. Comic books and this strange serial had become my escape.
Even with all the Doctor-ish qualities I was probably projecting onto the programme, it was genuinely a who's-who of Who both in front of and behind the camera. Bernard Bresslaw, Philip Martin, Richard Todd, Bernard Horsfall, Peggy Mount - the list went on. Best of all, episode four had Jon Pertwee as Luis Silverado, a retired brothel keeper (and chef). Pertwee quite obviously had a ball in the role – dodgy Spanish accent, twirling Mario-like grey moustache and pyromaniacal tendencies. It was "Doctor Who" seen through Star Trek's mirror universe. His character died all too soon, and the episode is the poorer for it, but his brief appearance was fantastic.
There were a plethora of other well known guest artistes too. Hywel Bennett was cast against type for the first time as a villain. Plus Ronald Fraser, Tessa Wyatt, Sean Pertwee, Tony Robinson, Jill Gascoine – Julian Clary as an undertaker even – bulked out an impressive cast list for a serial lasting only a few short weeks. The BBC had put a lot of effort into this.
Looking back now, "Virtual Murder" might also have contained the seed of a lot of elements in popular BBC detective series to come. Is there the kernel of the central relationship between Jonathan Creek and Maddie Magellan in the sparky rapport between JC and Samantha? Maybe a glint of the modern day Sherlock, twenty years before Steven Moffat’s triumphant reboot? Yes, I think about the show that much, even all this time later.
Sadly it wasn’t to last. Six weeks of madness and magic and then it was gone. John Cornelius disappeared off into the sunset, never to be seen by anyone ever again. You see, the real crime JC and Samantha should investigate is why "Virtual Murder" wasn’t an instant gigantic success – and more importantly why is it that this wonderful offbeat set of six episodes has never been repeated on TV or released on any version of home media. The only reason I still have copies to watch now is because I luckily captured them on VHS at the time. The tapes are long gone (victim of a move to a smaller house) but I still have the digital copies I made. Okay, by today’s standards it’s moderately dated in that 1990’s ‘over the top staging / everything’s on videotape / someone’s discovered the funky scene transition effects button’ kind of way, but I didn’t care then and I don’t care now.
What is even worse though is that as marvellous as it was, it seems I’m one of only a handful of people who even remember it existed at all. Go on - do an internet search for Virtual Murder. I’ll wait here for you…
See? Excluding the obvious sites like Wikipedia and IMDB, there are less than half a dozen entries. Even something as obscure as 1977’s American SF sitcom “Quark” has more pages devoted to it and a DVD release. Virtual Murder has been consigned to oblivion – and that’s a damn shame.
I mentioned earlier that I link TV shows with memories of specific times in my life. Virtual Murder is lodged in there deep and will always bring to mind a transitional and rather difficult period – after becoming independent from my parents, but before the highs (and lows) of what was to become a serious long term relationship. Maybe the rest of the world has forgotten about this odd and unique drama, but me? - I will continue to remember it with great affection.
------------------
Honourable mentions:
- The Muppet Christmas Carol - The best version of the Dickens classic story bar none, and I love pretty much every adaptation out there. It was the first Muppet movie made after the death of legendary creator Brian Henson, and I think he would have been very pleased with the results. The key casting of Michael Caine, who plays it completely straight, was genius - but it's the spot on selection of the various Muppets for each of the other roles plus the incredibly catchy songs by Paul Williams that make it such an wonderfully enchanting tale. Watching it has become a Christmas tradition in our household and my kids grew up with it as their favourite film.
- Savage Dragon - Created by Erik Larsen, one of the original Image Comics founders, this is one of only two titles that has been in continuous publication since the company started. Larsen has written, drawn (and in many cases coloured and lettered) the main strip for every single issue over a period of twenty-five years. - in itself an incredible feat. However what is just as important is that the comic passes in real time, with characters growing up, changing, dying and new creations taking their place. The original Dragon was a green skinned man with huge arms and a large fin on his head. He had vast superhuman strength and was almost impossible to kill because his body had the ability to regenerate itself. He starred in the series for the first 192 issues but was then superseded by his son, Malcolm, who has slightly different powers including the ability to generate electrical charges. An unabashed superhero comic in the Jack Kirby tradition, Larsen's willingness to experiment coupled with his exaggerated kinetic artwork and huge cast of heroes and villains has kept me reading long after I have dropped all other mainstream titles.
- Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes - In a year that gave us Right Said Fred (unfortunately), Billy Ray Cyrus and 4 Non Blondes, the stand-out has to be the first album from singer-songwriter Tori Amos. With shades of the quirky, experimental nature of my beloved Kate Bush filtered through an American lens - and some of the darkest and most soul-bearing lyrics I had thus far encountered, I was instantly smitten and could see that this was the debut of a major talent. I played the whole record constantly and immersed myself in Tori's unique world - one which I've yet to tire of in the 13 albums since. There are many standout tracks - the raw emotion of "Me and A Gun" and the lament to lost love of "China" spring to mind - but if I have to pick a favourite it would be Tori's song about her relationship with her minister father..."Winter":
- Toys - When toymaker Kennth Zevo dies and operation of the company is left to his war-minded brother Leland (Michael Gambon) instead of his children Leslie and Alsatia (Robin Williams and Joan Cusack). The factory turns into a military complex, producing war toys and drones, and Leslie is forced to fight for his family legacy and control of the company. Ambitious, surreal and incredibly divisive, this cautionary fable is definitely one of those "love it or loathe it" kind of films and I'm betting you can guess which side of the fence I fall on. I just love the sheet amount of visual imagination on display. The camera work, sets and acting combine to produce something that's very off kilter and and what may seem like a light-hearted movie actually has a pretty serious message at it's heart. It also helps that it has a fantastic soundtrack from the likes of Grace Jones, Thomas Dolby and a certain Tori Amos.
