Behind the Sofa - The Collaborative Doctor Who Blog

Torchwood: Another Life - Invasion of the Welsh Pod People - or - It's Raining Welsh!

Oh, Doctor Who, what a cruel mistress you are, that I find myself gazing at the cover sheet of a Torchwood audio book. Not a radio drama, like I am ever so fond of, but an actual, by the numbers, audio book. I turn the first CD over in my hand, and remind myself that I wasn't all that fond of the show, but it had its moments.  These are the thoughts in my head as I ready myself for Peter Anghelides's Torchwood: Another Life.

Audio books have a three-fold goal in my mind.  Narration, action, and continuity. Does the narrator keep your attention?  Does he have a distinctive voice that you can listen to all day, or does he tire you after the first chapter?  Personally, in an ideal world all audio books would be narrated by Stephen Fry or Lisa Bowerman, but I'll bite. John Barrowman narrates Another Life, and I was surprisingly pleased by hearing Captain Jack's dulcet tones pumped into my brain for three straight hours, which is doubly surprising considering I tire easily of the defrocked Captain's hokey accent (made puzzling by the fact that it's a REAL accent, not a cowboy colonial affected by a Big Finish recruitee). Something that could be either a plus or minus is the fact that he didn't even attempt to ape the accents of the other team, be it Owen's strange drawling mockney or Gwen's charming uber-Welsh lilt. David Tennant did accents in the three audio books he did, and he pulled it off well.  Nailed Rose's slurred mockney, Mickey's authentic brainless addle, along with various other accents.  Then again, Tennant's quite experienced with vocal work, and despite any other differences I might hold with him, his voice is gold.

I actually found myself anticipating the next scenes in this, something that several episodes of Torchwood (stand up, Cyberwoman) failed to do.  This really felt like a story that Torchwood should have had, despite being almost another tired bodysnatcher story.  The narrative moved along quickly, with a very strong opening scene involving Jack and Gwen chasing a crazed man projectile-vomiting sea slugs into a building scaffolding. The atmosphere was continually reinforced by the story as well, with a massive storm building over Cardiff, blocking out the sun and causing non-stop rain and flooding. The only thing that bothered me was, if Roald Dahl Plass was flooded, how was the Hub still dry? Still, the scene with the slab-o-vator opening and Jack getting drenched was frightfully funny.

Characterization was good, better so than most of the episodes themselves, with Owen actually acting like an adult, none of the slightly icky sexual flirtation between Gwen and Owen, Tosh actually getting some action (not like that!), and Ianto having some choice lines. The characters really feel like they're being fleshed out more than the episodes provided us, and I'm actually really starting to believe that if I can get my hands on the other two audio books, I may just end up enjoying series 2 (and retrospectively enjoying series 1 much more the next time around).

In closing?  Torchwood: Another Life was a success, rarely putting a foot wrong, and (surprisingly) minimizing the supposed adult content that plagued the series to ill effect. I think Torchwood might have stronger success in spin-off media than it would in the visual media. Can we get Torchwood: The Comic, or perhaps Torchwood: The Animated Series in the style of Batman: TAS? I think I'm going to further investigate this, with Border Princes (with a zombie-making mcguffin) and Slow Decay (Weevil fun).  The good news? Eve Myles narrates Slow Decay.  The bad news? Burn Gorman narrates Border Princes.  Despite having an infinitely cooler name, I'll probably pass on Border Princes for now and do Slow Decay next.

The Facebook of Evil

Tachyon TV has just got with it, and is previewing material via Facebook.  What?  It's a social networking site, Grandad.  Get with it Daddio!

Joining Facebook is easy, but if you're over thirty it can be confusing.  Just get to www.facebook.com, register and then search for Tachyon TV.  We're here and we want you to be our friend. 

Come poke us!

I just hope I'm not posting a big target..

Now everyone, let's be nice. I know we aren't all big fans of Colin Baker, especially those here who are most closely affiliated with Tachyon TV, but I know I can expect the best behaviour from all of you here.

Colin Baker's got his own blog up.  Only one post so far, but as per Outpost Gallifrey..

"Baker has agreed to post regular blogs under the title Thoughts of a Timelord. The first one, posted Sunday, talks about his current UK tour of Bedroom Farce along with previous companion Louise Jameson"

Read (and post nice comments) further at Colin Baker Online .

Speak of the Devils!

This isn't the best Doctor Who story.  It might not even be the best Jon Pertwee story - which is fairly damning.  But it remains a great favourite of mine because apart from being the earliest real Doctor Who memory that I have, it also happened to be shown at one of those moments when I couldn't believe my luck. 

Imagine the scene:  Spring Bank Holiday Monday 27th May 1974.  I'm 5.5 years old (aaah!) and I'm enjoying the fact that for once my dad is not at work, and I'm able to maraud around the house mucking about with him.  One problem - telly isn't much cop.  There's the Galloping Gourmet on ATV, Play School on BBC2, but at least The Pink Panther is on BBC1.  Wonder what's on next?  And then came the twelve most beautiful words I have ever heard from a BBC continuity announcer:  "In place of the scheduled cricket...Doctor Who faces The Sea Devils!".  How many times does that happen in a lifetime?  Faced with nothing but the prospect of Larry the Lamb and Inigo Pipkin at midday, and suddenly Doctor Who crops up.  And the monster that really scares the crap out of me as well.  Result!

I'm intrigued now as to just how young I was when I first saw The Sea Devils, as I can so distinctly remember knowing I'd seen them before when this repeat turned up.  Old listings demonstrate that I either saw the original transmission in early 1972 (when I was three and a bit) or the Christmas 1972 repeat when I was a tender four year old.  Just when does the memory kick-in?  My brother liked the show so I would have been plonked in front of it regardless - maybe I became a fan by osmosis.  But if I had to choose the magical moment that made me a devotee, it was when a grave-voiced continuity man made an announcement because of industrial action.

The programme itself was full of great stuff.  Minefields, sea forts, submarines, hovercrafts, diving bells, and, of course, very scary monsters.  These bits still held up strongly when I saw it again on UK Gold recently, but there was so much else I missed when I was younger. Malcolm Clarke's brilliant music, a convincingly malevolent civil servant (unlike Chinn in The Claws of Axos), and a wonderful turn by Roger Delgado.

Whether he's rowing his exercise bike, chatting with the Doctor and Jo (a nice scene), putting up with the exasperating Trenchard, or imitating a Clanger he simply doesn't put a foot wrong.  Rewatching a lot of these Pertwee episodes recently has convinced me more and more that either UNIT should have arranged an "accident" to befall the Doctor, and through force of circumstance taken on the Master as their scientific adviser; or that the Barry Letts/Terrance Dicks gestalt should have simply written a scenario where an alien force puts the Doctor's mind into the Master's body, but the "Master" is then killed off.  Hey presto!  A regeneration without losing a lifecycle, and you end up with a richly ambiguous, dark and charismatic Doctor without the unfortunate tendency to get on everybody's wick.  Oh well.

I'll never forget my first proper look at a Sea Devil.  Lots of programmes have changed my life over the years, but this was the first.  Nice and simple - childish terror at the sight of a froggy eyed ghoul creeping out of the surf.  The complex bit is why on earth I'm still hooked into this stuff thirty-two years later.  Anal retentive angry loner with OCD, or still filled with a child-like capacity for wonder?  Or both?  Roll on New Earth, but it will never quite be the same again.

City of Heaven

I’ve been really looking forward to this review, and not only because it means we’re close to season 28. It’ll be interesting to see what people choose – there’s bound to be a lot of firsts & favourites. Unfortunately, my first, and last until 2^nd April*, glimpse into Doctor Who was the 1996 TV Movie and there are only so many ways of asking ‘Why?! Why make it like this? Why do they kiss? Why, why, why?’ So instead, it’s my favourite to date: the sublime City of Death.

Originally I set about it like an over-zealous terrier: examining character, dialogue, plot, direction, costume and sets – nothing was safe. At least ten pages were full before I realized my mistake. Needless to say, everything came out of the ordeal spotless but in ripping it apart so ruthlessly I missed the subtle joy which makes it such a unique piece of DW.

That’s not to say I won’t have a prod, only that I’m not intending to examine the nuts and bolts, more the structure as a whole.

Central to this story, and so many others, is the energy and delight with which Tom Baker goes about the role. In a way which was never matched, (except possibly by McCoy and hopefully David Tennant) he loses himself in the character, which is surely the aim of every actor. Either that or it’s him being himself and the character was built around him. But down to the tiniest details it’s flawless – ‘you’re a very beautiful woman, probably...’ so much is summed up in that last word. It’s the Doctor at his best – acting the fool, but saving the day against all the odds.

Then there’s Romana Mk II. Beyond the usual role the companion plays, she is the Doctor’s equal and doesn’t need the fine points of time-travel etc explaining, meaning their delightful banter isn’t ruined. Importantly, though, she still lacks the sense of the Doctor and needs his help in the end. It’s horrible when the dynamic is messed around – Grace knowing everything suddenly toward the end of the TV Movie - ! – but Lalla Ward is the perfect compliment to Tom’s bounciness and they make a formidable double act.

Even though there are relatively few other characters, they are all perfectly realised. Julian Glover was born to play the Bond villain style Count/Scaroth, simply oozing charming suavity and menace. Catherine Schell manages to convince as the ambitious Countess and she boasts the best costume. Of them all, Tom Chadbon's Duggan is the most developed – I love the way he opens a bottle of wine by smashing it off the side-board. Professor Kerensky, blissfully unaware of the truth behind his work poses one of the story’s big themes, (more of later).

It would be a crime to write a review without noting how good it looks. Because the amount shot on film and on location it has a very polished feel but the studio material blend in nicely.

Padding, because padding it undoubtedly is, had never been so good – Tom Baker and Lalla Ward cavorting around Paris, showing off all the monuments and teaching children how to risk their lives crossing busy roads.

What City of Death has, is an ethos...

The sets, however, deserve an award. The sheer level of detail in the chateau’s salon and cellar is astounding. Down to the cobwebs downstairs and the ornaments upstairs it’s every inch a mad scientist’s cave or collector’s display room. Even the equipment looks more credible than usual, although there is a passing resemblance to some super-sized Lego hooked up to a ghetto blaster.

No matter, though, because this is still one of the most beautiful pieces of DW I’ve ever seen – the new series has the gloss but there’s still nothing to match this, yet.

The use of the Mona Lisa as a central plot device is a brilliant stroke and she acts as a barometer for every character – how they view her, and art as a whole, defines what they value. Along with Kerensky she poses the other theme.

Both ideas deal with the brilliant – genius, and its shortcomings; art and how we see it. As I’m avoiding the nuts and/or bolts, I won’t go into exhaustive detail but what City does is examine the two subjects, always drawing it back to the characters and, ultimately, the Doctor. The others’ views on the themes and their reactions show up their weaknesses and so their behaviour later on, when the drama comes to a head, it comes as no surprise what they do, only seamlessly realistic.

It’s a beautifully appropriate fact that this is a story about genius and art, which manages to be a work of both. Because of the wonderful characters, it never has to stoop to the obvious and its message is subtly explored and resolved.

In truth, I’m not a skilled enough writer to sum up in less than 2000 words what makes this so amazing. It’s one of those that I wouldn’t be at all ashamed to watch with people who don’t generally like the series. The DVD extras alone are worth buying it for – much wittier than any others I’ve seen and downright hilarious in parts. It’s also chock-a-block with Easter eggs – I love the one where Douglas Adams talks about his night out in Paris.

But beyond the bits I’ve tried and failed to avoid, it’s the wider principle of what our funny old show can be when it’s given a little more budget and the care in production it deserves. What City of Death has, is an ethos – and it’s one the new series’ team have taken to heart. It’s too soon to see whether David Tennant is going to be on a par with Tom, but certainly he’s thrown himself into it. Little things like, being interviewed on location for the Christmas Invasion, he say ‘I,’ talking about the Doctor rather than ‘he,’ which Eccleston invariably did.

In the end, there’s only one thing to say about it: exquisite. Absolutely exquisite.

*Not a mistake – I forgot Rose was on and only tuned in for The End of the World. Looking back, that was no bad thing.

2 weeks to go!

This time in a fortnight I'll have seen the Christmas Invasion for, I don't know... the 3rd time? No! Only once. Due to over-riding anti-Whoism in my family I'll have to tape it and wait. The screen-grab of the Doctor swordfighting with Santa is probably one of the weirder releases.

Did anyone hear Shada on BBC7? I heard it was very good but I've yet to catch up with it.

"I'm happy to help..."

For the first time in nearly a decade, Doctor Who Magazine's comic strip has changed shape.  Writer Scott Gray's epic run of Eighth Doctor adventures came to a necessary end a few months ago with an excellent story featuring an invasion of London by the Cybermen and a regeneration-skirting finale in the flames of the time vortex.  It was vintage stuff, Gray being one of the unsung heroes of the wilderness years bringing exciting, touching, gut wrenching stories month after month.

After an extended period when the strip could find its own way and develop into something entirely distinctive from the other forms in production (in sound and text) it would have to fulfill the expectations of new readers and return to pastiching whatever's happening on screen.  This would have to be a recognisable Ninth Doctor and Rose, and more importantly, the rich continuity which had built up over the years would be out of the window.  It had been rumoured that Russell himself would be writing the first story, but in the event, Scott Gray takes a breather and lets general franchise stallwart Gareth Roberts take the strain.

This new story began in March with the three part The Love Invasion.  It's London in the swinging 60s and a group of shapely girls in pink t-shirts from something called 'Lend-A-Hand' are passing through the crowd doing random acts of kindness.  The Doctor's immediately suspicious ("She didn't smell human") and is even more intrigued when they find that a luxury complex of flats is being built on the site of what should be the estate that in the future Rose calls home.  So far, so Adam Adamant Lives!.  But as the story progresses it becomes clear that 'Lend-A-Hand' is a front for Igrix, a Kustollon, a time travelling alien who wants to blow up the moon as part of a plan which would mean humanity doesn't reach the stars and start a war with his people.

Much like the novels, it's initially strange seeing and 'hearing' The Doctor and Rose in this new media.  After the initial 'teaser' featuring a 'Lend-A-Hand' girl being apparently murdered there's the TARDIS and already The Doctor's quipping that the 60s are the only decade when his timeship is a good disguise.  The first thing the reader notices is how close the ensuing banter between him and Rose is to that heard on screen.  Already there is a great rationalisation as to why this TARDIS crew seem to spend most of their time on Earth around the 20th century.  (Doctor: "Humans just aren't very curious people.  Like you, choosing to come here.  We could have gone and seen the warriors of Sun Tzu, or the Ottoman Empire, or the Oligocene era -- you'd love the first porcupines ... but nah, it was 'Let's Go Somewhere Different ...' " Rose:  "I just don't wanna go too far back.  Nowhere before electricity, OK?  I'm always reaching for light switches that ain't there...")  Importantly it passes the test of sounding like the actors something which isn't very easy to do.

Like the tv series, and cleverly for a medium in which space is a premium, there are very few featured characters.  Charlotte Cobb is a scientist who designed a serum to fight against the incidious alien 'Lend-A- Hand' girls after they did away with her husband.  Shirley Gilbert is effectively Rose's companion during the adventure, asking for the plot to be explained to her while she tries to grasp all the futuristic phrases which are thrown into the mix.  Mr Love is Igrix's human relation on Earth.  Charlotte makes the biggest impression, coming across the strongest, even if as the story progresses she becomes more of a bystander as The Doctor and Rose complete their self-engineered mission.

The artwork is very -- busy.  Action fills every page and the artists have gone as far away from the rows of frames approach as you can go.  On page two of part two, the top frame is almost pushed off the page by the title.  There is, however, the usual issue of making the characters look like their real counterparts.  One approach is to create artwork so stylised that this doesn't matter (see some issues of the Buffy comic).  The other way is photo-realism, effectively copy frames from the film or tv series (see the recent 24:One Shot).  Perhaps understandably this goes for something in between and ends up looking like Roy of the Rovers.  Oh well.  Eccleston becomes something of a caricature -- big ears, big nose, big forehead.  In some frames during the opening part he looks more like Kenneth Williams.  Piper's rendering is more successful, especially in the final part.  The characters created specially for the strip come across better, especially Charlotte.  I've often wondered were artists who have to draw humans get the image from -- is there a Littlewoods catalogue somewhere with a photo which was the inspiration for her likeness?

What's particularly suprising is how close the strip comes being the tv series.  There is a Bad Wolf reference and The Doctor doesn't quite save the day all by himself.  It also lets the plot resonate with the characters.  There is a moment in part three similar to the scene in The Unquiet Dead were The Doctor and Rose debate the morality of allowing the Gelph to live on in the corpses of humans.  Here, the alien's Igix's plan could mean that humanity would go on leaving a lovely peaceful life on Earth without war.  When they have one of their 'special chats' The Doctor points out 'All the horrors I've seen in the future -- swept away.  So tell me, Rose Tyler -- should I be fighting that?'  Rose says that she doesn't want anyone running her life, she wants to make her own mistakes.  But The Doctor has frequently been guilty of much the same meddling as Igrix, usually on other worlds.

Overall this was more enjoyable that might be expected.  It's interesting to see a Ninth Doctor adventure in a format which is closer to the old series than the new with shorter parts and cliffhangers.  Time and again I found myself grinning at some bit of business or dialogue, some of which is just as quotable as the tv series ("They're humans now -- with basic human instructions.  Eat, sleep, fancy the wrong person, worry, cry a lot, pick fights, that sort of thing...")    Most importantly for me, it doesn't feel dumbed down, and would have made a great tv episode given the money and time.  Can't be better than that.

2 Romanas, 2 K9s and a Leela

Those fans who are grumbling that there isn't enough continuity in the new tv series should pick up a copy of Big Finish's latest Gallifrey play Lies which takes things to the other extreme.  It requires the listener to not have heard the past four plays in the series, but also have a decent knowledge of most of the other audios which have mentioned Gallifrey including the Paul McGann audios, the Eighth Doctor novels, the Tom Baker era on tv and a daresay other stories I've missed completely.  I don't think I've heard anything which relies so heavily on knowing who travelled the galaxy with whom and in what order.  If I mention that one of the central trunks of the plotline is an attempt to explain why Mary Tamm's Romana decided to regenerate into Lalla Ward of her own free will at the start of Destiny of the Daleks, you'll have  some understanding that if you're looking for an entry point into the rest of the universe of the series this is not the best place to start.  I was farely bewildered and I've been a fan for years.

What's clever about the new series is that it's understood the mistakes of the tv movie and only throwing in continuity if it furthers the plot or the emotional core of characters.  The utilisation of UNIT for example in World War III in no way diminishes what's gone before and actually more coherently sets up a future engagement when the new viewer will get the chance to meet this covert organisation in a more fleshed out manner with a story which is worthy (with an appearance by The Brigadier the icing on the cake for fans).  But the difference is you don't actually need to have the Pertwee era locked in your brain for all that to work.  Similarly we know The Doctor is an alien, he's a timelord and that his home planet has been destroyed.  Other than having a time machine, that's really all new viewers need to know about him because we're still discovering him through Rose.  Yet, with all the history, we're still discovering this Doctor and what's been happening to him.  It's a freshing change not to know exactly who our hero is, to look into his eyes and not know what he's thinking -- and without the artificial histrionics of the late McCoy era.

Next week's episode, which if it was an old New York sitcom would be The One With The Dalek, is going to be the most fun because it's bound to the new approach's greatest extrapolation.  As The Doctor and Rose step through this new space museum, we'll all be sitting there shouting and pointing: 'Cyberman!' 'Mechanoid!' 'Krynoid!' (maybe) 'Kandyman!' (maybe not) while the newb will see the hand from a Slitheen but also marvelling at all these different alien races, each step of our heros adding life to this universe they're just stumbling into.  According to the trailer the Dalek's dropped through time.  Personally I'm hoping it's one of those which went astray in the Big Finish audio Time of the Daleks, but the point is they probably won't tell us -- it'll be up to the viewer, no matter how much they know about the series, to make up their own minds if they want to.  But is probably doesn't matter.

Kenny Bruce is not afraid...

Like a good episode of the series it essayed, tonight's Project Who on Radio 2 was filled with thrills and chills.  All of the talk of a second season and thirds and fourths unless something utterly silly happened (10.5 million.  Do I need to say it again?)  The great moment when Nick Briggs, talking about the essence of the series was interspersed with moments from each Doctor.  All the talk of Gallifreyan colours in the design work.  Dave Golder from SFX name checking a bunch of sci-fi which you're not likely to hear talk of anywhere else on Radio Two (not unless Ken Bruce suddenly reveals a crush on Eliza Dushka anyway).

But oh the chills, chief of which continues to be Chris Eccleston.  Erm, why does he keep referring to the series in the past tense, as though its done and dusted and he's moving on to the next project?  I draw your attention to the moment (I'm paraphrasing) when he says he hasn't quite come to grips with what he's done and he looks forward to sitting down in two or three years and seeing what he's done.  But Chris -- if this is a success, aren't going to still be playing the part in two or three years?  I keep look at the title of the final episode, The Parting of the Ways.  It has a certain funerial feel to it.  Are we hinting at a regeneration this early into the run?  Is that going to be the big series cliffhanger?  Is Chris just playing with us as a kind of misdirection, or is something else going on?

On a lighter note, I was flicking through Damaged Goods, Russell T Davies Virgin New Adventure novel and noticed that one of the main families has the surname Tyler.  This seems to be a popular surname for Russell, as there was a Ruth Tyler in Revelations, Vince Tyler in Queer As Folk and a Johnny Tyler in The Second Coming.  Well, Terry Nation had his Tarrant I suppose ...

The Roof of the World

In the kind of happy coincidence that only a Doctor Who fan could enjoy I'm currently listening to BBC Audio's release of the First Doctor adventure Marco Polo at the same time as catching up on Michael Palin's travelogue Himalaya.  It's struck me, horrifyingly, that if this most famous of lost stories actually turned up in vision that I could only be disappointed, despite the apparently incredible set and costume design.

Even on scratchy bootlegs, as the TARDIS travellers set foot into the wilderness and we hear Ian vocalise the first episode's title 'The Roof Of The World...' I've aways shivered at the thought that they really were in the highest point on earth, as close to space as you can be without resorting to rocketry.  This new spruced up version hasn't dampened the feeling, and in fact William Russell's superb narration has increased the feeling.  Now that I've seen the incredible place on tv, with people dwarfed against the landscape, this adventure is rendered in my imagination in widescreen.  Suddenly, for example, the mongols who previously might have seemed like they'd turned up from equity for their first job are given the face of the native peoples. 

Even more excitingly this how Doctor Who is going to be appearing for real on television at the end of the month, albeit in shorter bursts that the three hours Marco Polo takes to tell its story.  Flicking through this month's DWM and seeing all of the photographs of the set, even more so than the 1996 TV movie this looks like the show we all thought it could be.  I'm disappointed that there aren't to be any pure historicals as they always seem to demonstrate the full range of the premise (there are parts of history that haven't had an attempted alien invasion surely) but just to be able to look at a brick wall and not have to make allowances for it being made of plasterboard is going to be incredible.