British Science Fiction Series

[Lord Fellatio Nelson 6,218]

I can remember a Blue Peter episode where they made a "Dalek" out of egg boxes. It was utterly shite and nothing at all like a Dalek.

 

I also remember that they got complaints about it on "Junior Points Of View", enough for one of the presenters (Christopher Trace, if memory serves) to be quite defensive about it. "We spoke to the man who invented them, and he said that's how he made them."

 

Even at my very youthful age, I knew that was bullshit.

Jesus!!!

If my calculations are correct, you must be one of the very few left on Planet Earth that will remember when Petra was a just a Pup!!!!!

Respect to you Toastie!!!

[Toast 16,140]

I can remember a Blue Peter episode where they made a "Dalek" out of egg boxes. It was utterly shite and nothing at all like a Dalek.

 

I also remember that they got complaints about it on "Junior Points Of View", enough for one of the presenters (Christopher Trace, if memory serves) to be quite defensive about it. "We spoke to the man who invented them, and he said that's how he made them."

 

Even at my very youthful age, I knew that was bullshit.

Jesus!!!

If my calculations are correct, you must be one of the very few left on Planet Earth that will remember when Petra was a just a Pup!!!!!

Respect to you Toastie!!!

 

I remember the very first episode of Doctor Who!!!

My Granny died on the same day, and I remember that too, but it was many years before I realised that they had happened on the same day ....

[Davey Jones' Locker 1,324]

I can remember a Blue Peter episode where they made a "Dalek" out of egg boxes. It was utterly shite and nothing at all like a Dalek.

 

I also remember that they got complaints about it on "Junior Points Of View", enough for one of the presenters (Christopher Trace, if memory serves) to be quite defensive about it. "We spoke to the man who invented them, and he said that's how he made them."

 

Even at my very youthful age, I knew that was bullshit.

Jesus!!!

If my calculations are correct, you must be one of the very few left on Planet Earth that will remember when Petra was a just a Pup!!!!!

Respect to you Toastie!!!

 

I remember the very first episode of Doctor Who!!!

My Granny died on the same day, and I remember that too, but it was many years before I realised that they had happened on the same day ....

 

I understand that JFK, C. S. Lewis and Aldous Huxley all died that weekend as well. The reaper went mad that weekend.

[Toast 16,140]

It goes without saying that Granny was much more important than any of those people.

[Bibliogryphon 9,581]

Richard Briers is the 3rd guest actor from Doctor Who to die in as many week following Bernard Horsfall and Peter Gilmores passing. .He was of course the chief caretaker on Paradise Towers.I'll be honest it may not have been his best work ever but for us Dr Who fans he will always be fondly rememebred for it. He was also a good friend of Tom Baker who succeeded him on Monarch of the Glen. RIP Richard.

 

6 days older than Baker don't you know. It's sad that Briers has passed away but the day Baker goes, you'd have to times that by 1,000,000...

 

To suggest that Baker is more loved than Briers would be an intersting claim. I think the people who post here will make a lot more noise when Baker goes but overall more people watched The Good Life and Ever Decreasing Circles than Doctor Who.

Everyone is mentioning the Good Life but the thing I know him from (besides Dr Who) is the Monarch of the Glen. Since that is a more recent show, I am surprised the media (at least over here) aren't mentioning that.

 

And I knew about Briers from his voice work on the Watership Down movie, where I thought he did a great job of capturing Fiver's personality. Watership Down fits the broader category of speculative fiction rather than science fiction, of course, but it's interesting that even though it came out in 1978, more recent than a lot of movies and TV shows we discuss here, only four of the fifteen actors who voiced the major characters are still alive as far as I know: John Hurt (Hazel), Richard O'Callaghan (Dandelion), Hannah Gordon (Hyzenthlay), and Clifton Jones (Blackavar).

 

Joss Ackland was the Black Rabbit.

[Guest American Sports Fan]

And I knew about Briers from his voice work on the Watership Down movie, where I thought he did a great job of capturing Fiver's personality. Watership Down fits the broader category of speculative fiction rather than science fiction, of course, but it's interesting that even though it came out in 1978, more recent than a lot of movies and TV shows we discuss here, only four of the fifteen actors who voiced the major characters are still alive as far as I know: John Hurt (Hazel), Richard O'Callaghan (Dandelion), Hannah Gordon (Hyzenthlay), and Clifton Jones (Blackavar).

 

Joss Ackland was the Black Rabbit.

 

He was, and his notability is obviously beyond question, but for the movie that was pretty much a cameo, at best - only about two lines of dialogue at the very end, and I'll bet half the audience didn't even "get" who his character was supposed to be.

[Bibliogryphon 9,581]

Elspet Grey was discussed on The Last Word (01 March). They interviewed Lord Rix and Honor Blackman. I know voices can be deceptive but Honor Blackman sounded quite frail.

[Guest Guest]

Ronnie Marsh has died at 92.As head of BBC drama in the 1970s he was largely responsible for the scheduling and success of shows like Doctor Who Blakes Seven and the Onedin Line http://www.guardian....-marsh-obituary

[Bibliogryphon 9,581]

For those of you who can get UK Radio 4 on Sunday they have an edition of The Reunion which deals with the early years of Doctor Who. Listen to William Russel, Peter Purvis and Carole Ann Ford discuss working on the show and try to decide if any of them sound like croaking in the near future.

[Guest Guest]

Blakes Seven is back! http://www.bbc.co.uk...t-arts-22079232

[Bibliogryphon 9,581]

Blakes Seven is back! http://www.bbc.co.uk...t-arts-22079232

 

Been here before methinks.

[time 8,599]

Blakes Seven is back! http://www.bbc.co.uk...t-arts-22079232

 

Been here before methinks.

 

USAmerican Channel, USAmerican writer, New Zealand Director - it certainly won't be a British series that's coming back.

[Bibliogryphon 9,581]

Blakes Seven is back! http://www.bbc.co.uk...t-arts-22079232

 

Been here before methinks.

 

USAmerican Channel, USAmerican writer, New Zealand Director - it certainly won't be a British series that's coming back.

 

Katie Price to play Servalan!

[themaninblack 2,112]

Blakes Seven is back! http://www.bbc.co.uk...t-arts-22079232

 

Been here before methinks.

 

USAmerican Channel, USAmerican writer, New Zealand Director - it certainly won't be a British series that's coming back.

 

Doctor Who was co-created by a Canadian, first story was directed by an Indian and written by an Australian as was it's theme tune...

[time 8,599]

Blakes Seven is back! http://www.bbc.co.uk...t-arts-22079232

 

Been here before methinks.

 

USAmerican Channel, USAmerican writer, New Zealand Director - it certainly won't be a British series that's coming back.

 

Doctor Who was co-created by a Canadian, first story was directed by an Indian and written by an Australian as was it's theme tune...

God bless the Empire!

[Bibliogryphon 9,581]

Blakes Seven is back! http://www.bbc.co.uk...t-arts-22079232

 

It is odd this announcement being made this week because I think that the development of the character of Servalan was influenced by the career of Margaret Thatcher.

[Davey Jones' Locker 1,324]

Given how awful the new Star Trek film sounds (lots of heavy-handed war on terror analogies and Khan bringing Kirk back to life with his "magic blood'), I have started turning my attention to watching Space 1999 (which I have never seen in its entirety). Here is a list of the cast members:

 

Barry Morse 1918-2008

Martin Landau 1928-

Barbara Bain 1931-

Tony Anholt 1941-2002

Prentis Hancock 1942-

Clifton Jones 1942-

Nick Tate 1942-

Anton Phillips 1943-

Yasuko Nagazumi 1943-

Catherine Schell 1944-

Zienia Merton 1945-

Alibe Parsons 1945-

Jeffrey Kissoon 1947-

 

Gerry Anderson and Fred Freiburger are also obviously gone. I can't seem to find any health info for Bain or Landau.

[Octopus of Odstock 2,195]

Norman Jones, frequent Dr. Who bit-part actor, has died - http://www.atvtoday.co.uk/p30763-norman-jones/

[Davey Jones' Locker 1,324]

Given how awful the new Star Trek film sounds (lots of heavy-handed war on terror analogies and Khan bringing Kirk back to life with his "magic blood'), I have started turning my attention to watching Space 1999 (which I have never seen in its entirety). Here is a list of the cast members:

 

Barry Morse 1918-2008

Martin Landau 1928-

Barbara Bain 1931-

Tony Anholt 1941-2002

Prentis Hancock 1942-

Clifton Jones 1942-

Nick Tate 1942-

Anton Phillips 1943-

Yasuko Nagazumi 1943-

Catherine Schell 1944-

Zienia Merton 1945-

Alibe Parsons 1945-

Jeffrey Kissoon 1947-

 

Gerry Anderson and Fred Freiburger are also obviously gone. I can't seem to find any health info for Bain or Landau.

Roy Dotrice 1923- is another Space 1999 luminary worth keeping an eye on. (He played the interfering politician, Commissioner Simmons, who ended up "buried alive" when he awoke prematurely and found himself trapped in a suspended animation chamber on a 75 year flight back to Earth...)

 

FWIW, I also actually did end up seeing the new Trek today and it actually wasn't too bad - and a damn side better than the last one. It was heavy handed in its war on terror analogies but the film was ultimately a good smack in the mouth for Rumsfeld and his cronies (the chief villain was clearly modeled on him) and it also critiques Obama's drone-strikes policy and militarisation in general, so finally a relevant film again from the Trek franchise. The stuff about Cumberbatch/Khan/Bin Laden's "magic blood" which has been mocked constantly online since it was leaked was daft but they tried to make it as plausible as they could.

 

The only problem is none of the characters are even remotely likeable apart from Scotty who is the film's moral heart - and even he ends up murdering someone. Having said that, Kirk does grow a little from gung-ho gun waving vengeful idiot cowboy in the first half of the film to speaking out against Starfleet's militarisation and reasserting its original role as a peaceful space exploration organisation at the end.

 

On a DeathList-related note, Nimoy looked shocking in his brief cameo but it was hard to tell how bad he was under his Spock make-up as he only appeared on a view screen for a few minutes of the running time. He was definitely looking a lot worse than he did in the 2009 film though. It would be <b>logical</b> of the DL Committee to consider him for the list in the near future.

[Guest Guest]

Reports coming in that many long lost episodes of Doctor Who thought to have been destroyed have been found.If true thi s is the biggest news in the world of Dr Who in half a century! http://www.bbcameric...des-been-found/

[themaninblack 2,112]

Hmmm. I'm a bit skeptical about this. One or two episodes, maybe an entire serial I can envisage being found, but the reputed 90 or so episodes? Not so sure...

[Dr. Zorders 1,271]

Reports coming in that many long lost episodes of Doctor Who thought to have been destroyed have been found.If true thi s is the biggest news in the world of Dr Who in half a century! http://www.bbcameric...des-been-found/

 

Oh wow. How exciting. Now we can all watch William Hartnell bouncing around in a tiny wardrobe-sized studio, in the grainiest black and white ever, fighting some alien enemies who look like they literally just got their costumes out of a Christmas cracker, with sound quality that makes those tacky talking greeting cards sound like listening to Beethoven's 9th Symphony on a 79-speaker Sony Surround system with 12 different sub-woofers, and camerawork that makes the Zapruder film look like something that Stanley Kubrick and Sergio Leone collaborated on.

 

And just when we were all about to give up on life because we thought this day would never come.

[Davey Jones' Locker 1,324]

Oi! Hartnell is my favourite.

[Dr. Zorders 1,271]

Oi! Hartnell is my favourite.

 

Haha, don't take too much offense. Strangely, I'm only being so ranty because I can't stand the show as it currently is. Somehow I'm conflating the two. I guess I figured that anyone who's enough of a hardcore obsessive to watch the shite "new" show would also get hard at this announcement. I don't mind some of the older episodes too much, really. Although they never repeat them any more.

[Davey Jones' Locker 1,324]

Hmmm. I'm a bit skeptical about this. One or two episodes, maybe an entire serial I can envisage being found, but the reputed 90 or so episodes? Not so sure...

Yes, the BBC may have been hoaxed: http://www.bleedingc...isodes-or-less/