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TW Watches The Outer Limits: The Zanti Misfits

By Owen Quinn Photos copyright United Artists Television

Sometimes you realise that you know an episode of something but when asked what the plot was, you have no idea.

This was the case for me with The Outer Limits episode The Zanti Misfits. Everyone knows the creatures themselves, ant-like wasps with a humanoid face. They were bigger than a wasp, more like a small rat, but their image was burned into my young head years ago in repeats.

So I recently watched it just to remember what it was about and why it has stayed in my head for all these yearts. All these years…..Now there’s a phrase that makes me old even with repeats. Well, I couldn’t have watched it when it was first aired as it was 1963, December 30th to be precise. In 1997, it was ranked as number 97 in the 100 greatest television episodes of all time. But all I could recall was that face on the wasp body crawling up someone’s arm.

So sixty two years after it was first broadcast, I settled down to watch it. Outer Limits was a counterpart to The Twilight Zone. Both were anthology shows where different stories set against a sci-fi background commenting on the human condition. Many still hold relevance today. Each episode of both shows had an opening and closing monologue.

As the episode opens, we learn that the human race has been contacted by an alien race. It is summed up in the opening monologue.

Throughout history, compassionate minds have pondered this dark and disturbing question: what is society to do with those members who are a threat to society, those malcontents and misfits whose behavior undermines and destroys the foundations of civilization? Different ages have found different answers. Misfits have been burned, branded and banished. Today, on this planet Earth, the criminal is incarcerated in humane institutions…..or he is executed. Other planets use other methods. This is the story of how the perfectionist rulers of the planet Zanti attempted to solve the problem of the Zanti misfits.

We learn that the military have sealed off a ghost town called Morgue (of all things). The alien planet called Zanti have issued specific and potentially devastating orders to the humsna to expect a ship of their miscreants. Their orders are to seal off the area and maintain Zanti privacy. Otherwise, the Earth will face terrible consequences and with the Zanti seemingly more technologically advanced, it is a threat they take seriously. Earth will not be able to survive a war with the aliens if their demands are not met. Cooperate and the Earth will benenfit from great advances in technology.

Knowing human nature, it does not like to be held over a barrel or be dictated to but it all depends on who’s doing the threatening. The Zanti have determined that this is the perfect place to exile their criminals to as long as humans maintain the required conditions.

However, a bank robber, Ben Garth played by Bruce Dern, father of Jurassic Park actress, Laura Dern and his damaged girlfriend, Lisa, who witness the Zanti ship’s arrival. Garth goes to check it oput while the military deploy Steve Grave to be their emissary to repaoir any damage done.

The Zanti ship is smaller than we as an audience expects. The shape of the Zanti is teased through one of the open vents with the sight of an antennae and a strange noise.

We get the full effect when seeing their privacy has been compromised, the Regent chases Garth who falls into a crevice. The sight of the Zanti creature racing up his body with that buzzing sound. It plays on the primal fear of insects crawling up your skin and boiting you. Something like a wasp’s sting hurts and can kill, similarly, a spider. It’s the human mind’s incapability to comprehend what they are seeing that contributes to the death. This thing has almost cartoon eyes, a nose and a mouth. Their shape is so familiar yet incomprehensible that it adds to the terror and paralysis. Garth’s screams are those of a man knowing he is going to die. And when Lisa goes to find him, the creature gives chase. Lisa’s wreck of a life plays into her half hearted flight and non resposnse top Grave. As she says , she has always ripped away at the seams of everything and it fell apart. Her self destructive behaviour makes a change from the usual damsel in distress.

Grave kills the Regent but the prisoners take advantage of this to flee in the ship. We get an all out fight between the Zanti swarms, who march off the ship to attack the humans. The final battle is impressive as the Zanti swarm down the windows, soldiers fall screaming, their bodies covered in Zanti. The use of stop motion for the Zanti is great and well realised. It’d a trick used for years of repeating shots. Doctor Who did it to make you think there were armies of Daleks and Cybermen flooding from their ships. I often talk about how imagination forces production teams to come up with clever ways to realise what the writer sees on screen for the audience. With clever direction and lower points of view shots, we get a real battle with guns and flame throwers.

Every last Zanti is dead but this is no victory. With all the Zanti rules broken, the Earth will now face their full retaliation and be destroyed.

But this is the good thing about the Outer Limits and Twilight Zone; everything is not always what you think or see. The Zanti announce there will be no retaliation; the Earth is safe. The Zanti plan was for the humans to kill the Zanti prisoners. Zanti do not and are incapable of killing their own but humans will kill anything including their own people. It is something when an alien race makes us look at each other and see what we really are. We pride ourselves that we kill mostly for honour, to protect what we beleive in and all in the name of good. But the simple truth is, kiling comes easy to us. Even those of us that think we would never do it, will in the right circumstance. We will kill anything that looks different from us to preseve our way of life. Shoot first, ask questions later as they say.

But when that part of us is highlighted through an alien lens, then this is why The Outer Limits and The Twilight Zone endure over sixty years later. Times change but we as a species, still have a long way to go.

TW Meets Stranger Things’ Vecna himself, Jamie Campbell Bower

By and copyright of Owen Quinn

So, the 9th August 2025 will be marked as the day I met my very first Stranger Things actor. When a show is in full flight, it’s rare to get the actors due to commitments and scheduling.

By the time you read this, the final season of Stranger Things will have just started and I was delighted and lucky enough to meet Vecna himself, actor Jamie Campbell Bower in Dublin.

So, when Dublin Comic Con announced that they had gotten actor Jamie Campbell Bower, I was ecstatic. Jamie plays the big bad, Vecna who created such a storm in season four. He is due to return for the fifth and final season for the big bad final showdown. Everything is top secret so he was giving away no secrets when we met; believe me, I asked!

Jamie was in Dublin for one day only so tickets for autopgraph and photoshoots were preordered and thankfully, Dublin Comic Con offer a payment plan given it was the middle of the month and people can’t pay out £100 quid in the middle of the month. It didn’t matter in the end because people were able to pay on the day. But I liked to have things arranged as much as possible beforehand.

So, the day arrived and like my mother used to say, you could hear him before you see him. If you’ve seen any of his videos with Stranger Things’ co-star Joe Quinn or being interviewed you’ll know what I mean.

All I can say is Jamie Campbell Bower is nothing but a complete gentleman who has time for everyone. You know when talking to someone if they are interested in the conversation especially a celebrity at a convention. Jamie is certainly that and more.

We discussed Stranger Things of course and my condition. When I had my leg amputated, I was stuck in an upstairs room for 144 days. Watching movies and tv shows helped get me through that. I told him just how important work as good as Stranger Things is to people in situations like that and to never forget they have a positive impact even when gthe actor leaves set exhausted.

At the photoshoot, he remembered me and I joked I was too underdressed to get my photo taken with him. He was so stylish and I was like a lovechild between Primark and Matalan. As you can see above, the photo turned out really well.

He signed my Stranger Things No. 1 for me and I left Dublin that day a very happy man. Jamie Campbell Bower is not only an exceptional performer but an exceptional person. I am delighted I ticked him off my bucket list.

TW Watches Buck Rogers: The Plot To Kill A City S01E06

By Owen Quinn author photos copyright Universal

In this episode, we really get to see what it means to be a part of the Earth Defence Directorate. When a huge threat emerges and Buck sees for himself a terrorist attack which nearly destroys Twikki, he signs up to help. Buck must assume the identity of Raphael Argus, a reknowned assassin in order to infiltrate the Legion of Death, a group that intends to wipe out an entire city with a matter/antimatter explosion as a final retribution. Argus was on his way to be initiated into the Legion but none of them know what he looks like, he is that devious. The stakes are high. Buck and Wilma are assigned to go undercover and Doctor Huer admits one of them is unlikely to survive this mission.

An agent of the Directorate killed a member of the Legion in self-defence and so they are willing to murder millions to make a point. Their target is the capital city, New Chicago. This episode is a high quality one and one that could have shaped the entire future of the show as Buck becomes a 24th century secret agent.

Indeed, we will later discover in the second season episode Testimony of a Traitor that Buck was actually an undercover agent at one point. He was sent by the President to infiltrate a terrorist group intent on triggering World War 3. His memories were messed with so he couldn’t remember and narrowly avoids the death penalty. So his disguise in this episode is old hat to him, even if he doesn’t realise it.

This episode feels very comic book too given the assorted array of super villains that make up the Legion. The cast is impressive amd none take a camp tone. It is all played straight down the line. If you want to make the audience believe who these are villains then they have to be scary on screen. The only lightness and humour is from Twikki, Buck and Wilma. It can also be found in Wilma’s battle for Buck between her and his ship’s overzealous female computer. A battle of bitches like you’ve never seen before.

Their leader was played by the Riddler, himself, Frank Gorshin. As Seton Kellogg, he brings a weight to the role. He is callous, calculating and with just one look, there is no doubt he would cut your throat and blame a butterfly’s wings.

Also in the cast is John Quade. Playing Jolen Quince, Quade was a highly respected actor famed for playing loveable thugs and villains. He appeared in the Bionic Woman episode the Night Demon but gained international fame as Cholla, the leader of a bike gang and nemesis to Clint Eastwood’s bare knuckled fighter in Every Which Way You can and its sequel. The gang still stand today as one of the funniest on the big screen with their hapless escapades only to be thwarted by Eastwood and Clyde the orangutan. But here, there is no humour. As the villainous Quince, he is as cold as Kellogg. He comes from a high gravity planet here humans have developed telekinetic powers but falls for the charms of Wilma Deering (Erin Grey).

Aside from the deadly empath Cherice who doesn’t trust Argus, Marcus, Robert Tessier, the man who feels no pain, the other most significant member is the tragic Varek (Anthony James). He comes from a planet that was hit by a nuclear war but wears a mask to hide his deformed face, his species forever changed by the radiation. Varek also has the power to walk through solid matter by altering his molecular density.

Buck and Wilma are up against powerful beings. Buck encounters a rogue called Barney played by James Sloyan. Sloyan is well known to Star Trek fans with the Defector and Odo’s adoptive ‘father’ in Deep Space 9.

When Buck does finally meet the Legion, it’s just as well he is good looking and charming. Cherice has found an old girlfriend of Argus, Joella, whom she invites to meet her old boyfriend. Liking what she sees, Joella pretends that Buck is Argus. She is impressed with his thumbs up. A problem we all share guys.

But after a successful initiation by the Legion, Buck”s cover is blown as Barney appears and rats him out. So ends part one as Buck looks helpless as Wilma is forced to leave him behind.

This episode is Buck’s version of Spiderman’s Sinister Six and X-Men’s Hellfire Club. The episode is taut, moving all the players into position, revealing the story in layers. Frank Gorshin is outstanding as Kellogg. His view of the New Chicago massacre is that it’s a massive experiment as Varek reminds them they have no way of knowing the effects of such a large detonation. His existence is a daily reminder of such devastation which may make him the weak link in the chain. The characters are well rounded bar Cherice who just comes across as slightly insane instead of cool and calculating for an empath.

If ever there as a comic book crossover, this was it. It would have been great to explore the Legion in further seasons but since the producers decided to do a Star Trek make over for season two, this never came to pass as the show was swiftly cancelled. But if you want a good example of enjoyable sci-fi action with a sprinkle of super villains, then the Plot to Kill a City is most definitely it.

Podcast madness. Show us your wing dings.

In this podcast, Stephen puts Owen to the test on his knowledge of people, places and objects from the world of sci fi/fantasy and horror. in this madcap episode, how will he fare especially when he comes up against the dreaded wing dings? Th funniest podcast you’ll hear this year!

Join the craic. You won’t look back.

Anti-Hero for the People: V’s Ham Tyler

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

Photos copyright Warner Brothers

If there ever is an alien invasion, then you will find that normal people are suddenly thrust into an extraordinary situation where they are fighting against a superior enemy in order to protect what they love.

This was the state of the Los Angeles resistance in V when the Visitors arrived. They were hornets in the lizard’s collective asses but they were poorly organised with Mike Donovan (Marc Singer) and Julie Parris (Faye Grant) cast as leaders.

So you really need someone like Ham Tyler on your side. Gruff, sarcastic, ready to do whatever it takes no matter who it offends, Ham arrives together with his closest friend and fellow mercenary, Chris Farber. However his arrival is not welcomed by all.

He and Donovan have a long standing dislike of each other. Having covered many volatile situations in other countries, Donovan has met Ham several times before and disagreed with his methods. Ham has a nickname for Donovan, Gooder which is short for Do Gooder. Donovan grudgingly admits they need Ham’s help when their base is discovered and destroyed by the Visitors.

Ham and Chris reveal there is a world wide resistance now and Los Angeles must become a part of it but only with his help. He begins to organise their attacks to become more efficient. Ham’s knowledge of weapons and tactics are invaluable. He trains the resistance in stealth attacks so they can get closer to Visitors and their bases. As a result the Los Angeles resistance become a serious threat to Diana and her army.

Ham and Donovan’s feud comes to a head in a brutal fistfight which Ham concedes because he has underestimated Donovan’s resolve.

Ham has no issues killing any Visitor so when they need a subject to test the Red Dust on, he is about to use it on Willy (Robert Englund) before he is stopped by the others. To Ham, all Visitors should be eliminated regardless and it is clear he does not want Willy around.

Ham is a very violent person but he has a righteous part to his nature. He knows right from wrong and while his style is not always acceptable, his motives are based in love and loyalty.

It is revealed that Ham and Chris were in fact CIA operatives. When they were betrayed by their superiors, he they both left to become mercenaries for hire. On a mission for the government Ham met and married a woman with whom he had a daughter. They were to be evacuated during Ham’s mission but they were caught in the bombing raid and presumably killed. Furious, he became said mercenary and never trusted the government again. His grief drove him and still ran deep when Diana tried to programme him and used these memories to mould him into a Manchurian Candidate. This career change led him to cross paths with Donovan. And Ham was not shy about causing any type of inconvenience to the government every chance he got.

He never took credit for his heroics and kept people at arms length. But if Ham liked you then you could count on him for life. Part of his drive was to stop families feeling the pain he felt every day. He was alone. When they died his life was over so perhaps his mercenary career was really a death wish. When he died he would die having done right by people.

His grudging respect for Donovan may have formed part of his personal plan. He organised the hot air balloons to spread the Red Dust right under the Visitor’s noses when in fact he spearheaded the attack on the Visitors headquarters in the final battle. He took great pleasure in emptying a bag of Red Dust into Visitor commander, Steven’s mouth. The only expression on his face as the lizard convulsed in agony, choking to death was…satisfaction.

Steven has destroyed Donovan’s family by manipulating then murdering his mother and being part of taking Donovan’s son to be brainwashed by Diana. So that is justice in Ham’s eyes.

When the Visitors were driven off, we go forward to a year later when the world is recovering from the Visitor invasion. Ham has begun his own private security company. He now wears a suit which is so not Ham. When questioned by Bates about how valuable Diana’s knowledge would be in curing diseases, Ham growls that Diana is the disease. He is offered half a million dollars to do what Bates wants. Ham as lost none of his skills as he fakes Diana’s assassination and transports her to Bates where he gives her a proposal. He even arranges for the ambulance to drive into a pick up lorry and driven away unnoticed. But Ham has a condition to his deal with the devil; once Bates has drained all her knowledge, she is to be given to Ham. He may even make her into a pair of boots. Bates, now in control of, the new neutral city of Los Angeles where both Visitors and humans are welcome, pays Ham to bring Diana to him. But it all goes wrong and she escapes.

It doesn’t take long for the old Ham to jump back into service when he discovers that Bates messed up and Dina is now free again. He quickly ditches the suit for a weapon. He is a man on a mission again. When bates asks how will he know if ham has klilled Diana, he replies that bates will still be alive. And when he tells you he will stand on your neck if he doesn’t get what he wants, Ham says it so casually, it’s almost on a serial killer level. When he says it, you believe him.

With the Red Dust no longer a threat, Diana intends to finish her mission and drain Earth of all its resources and take revenge on those who thwarted her the first time round. Turning on Bates, Ham again joins the struggle as he is partly responsible for the Visitors getting a second chance to destroy humanity.

Now when the series went weekly, the main core of characters suddenly began to dwindle. V works because it is an ensemble show. It doesn’t work if you break that apart. In one episode, Ham and Chris leave to take Robin to Los Angeles…

And that is the last you see of Ham Tyler. It is a disrespectful and lazy exit for one of its most important characters. The rest of the episodes limped to cancellation but I always wondered why they did that.

So when I got the chance to finally meet Michael Ironside at Dublin Comic Con 2024, I asked him. He told me the producers wanted rid of him which just said to me how little the producers of the weekly series understood the show. Ham is one of those characters like Data, Spock or Alexis Carrington. It just doesn’t wok without him. No one else could have played ham bar ironside and he will forever go down as one of best characters in sci fi. But then again, Ironside never gives a poor performance.

Needless to say we can still enjoy the show and those great Ham moments.

TW Reviews The War Between the Land and the Sea S01E04 Spoilers

By Owen Quinn author Photos copyright BBC/Disney

So the sonic bomb devastates the ocean cavern killing Sea Devils and humans alike. Salt grabs Barclay and saves him by propelling them to the surface. Kate is still being shot at and even her UNIT soldiers who come to save her are also targets. The question is, who hired an assassin? Was it one of the people in the war meeting last episode and what exactly is severance?

This kicks off with Barclay going on the run from the government with Salt as a world wide message from Salt is broadcast, claiming they have killed the human delegates as a warning to all humans. We know it’s a fake but Barclay and Salt turn fugitives as she is now a prisoner of war.

Sea Devil ambassador, Tide, arrives, demanding the return of Salt. She will answer for the crime of saving a human while her own kind died all around her. She will be banished and forever swim alone in the oceans as per Sea Devil law.

Now, again, I’m getting a pedestrian vibe and frowning at what exactly has happened. By the way, in the review for episode three, I suggested former companions of the Doctor should have been part of the team to go to the ocean floor. Given everyone died, I take that back.

Tide tells the grieving Kate Stewart that their plans to clean the oceans will be done within five years or else. Wait a minute, didn’t the Sea Devils clean the oceans in episode 2 even returning the Titanic? So that was only a partial demonstration? I’m feeling a little bit of lazy scriptwriting as in how the 14th Doctor managed to regenerate his clothes? Like how did the Rani bigenerate when it was a myth that only has happened to the Doctor? I’m confused now. I shouldn’t be confused this far in. I should be seeing an endgame. Tide also threatens that they have the power to turn everything to rust if Salt is not returned to them to face punishment. Again, if the Sea Devils have such power then why the hell are they making threats and not just crippling humanity so they can reclaim the world as their own? By the way, Tide, Dry is such a crap name for a planet. I’m quite sure that wasn’t the name of it when you guys ruled.

We may have gotten a little glimpse into why Salt is acting as she is. She sees humanity as burning on land but they have mapped the stars and gone to the moon. Neither Silurians nor Sea Devils achieved this. Does she see something more in humanity than her brethren? Is there hidden greatness in normality? And is she looking to make babies with Barclay? A new hybrid species that contains the best of both worlds that will shape the future of Earth? They give in to their passion but I don’t know if they have actually had sex with each other. It’s a dirty warehouse and it’s cold so was it nothing more than a making out session? I had to chuckle at the sentence. “You taste of salt”. Those of you with a similar toilet humour will laugh too. So did Salt put herself into a position where she would get up close and personal with a species that intrigues her and may be the saviour of both species?

I also got shades of Sound of Drums as Barclay’s ex wife leads troops to capture her former husband and Salt.

Kate shows her strength when she learns Salt is innocent and has been deep faked by shadows unknown. The American General orders Salt to be shot as they only need her body. You can feel her channeling the Doctor as she risks a bloodbath to protect Salt from being murdered. American soldiers are ready to fire on British soldiers and vice versa. While this is exciting, it is Salt that stops this massacre and flees into the Thames, leaving Barclay behind.

I have to say the ending with Barclay shouting he will find her and that she will never swim alone is cringeworthy. Kate stands out here because she is a woman grieving and on the verge of exhaustion but she finds the strength to continue and fight for Salt and the world.

I feel like this is going in a pedestrian direction instead of something new and exciting. All I can think of is the Aquaman joke about him fucking fish. Is that what I’m supposed to think because I really think I should be rooting for Barclay, Kate and Salt. Gemma Redgrave has never been better as Kate but there’s something not sitting right with me. This is the penultimate episode and I feel like I’m at the beginning again, not sure what is going on.

TW Reviews The War Between the Land and the Sea S01E03 Spoilers

By Owen Quinn author Photos copyright BBC/Disney

I have had a week to think about the last two episodes of this show. I have to admit, I still have questions. We have met the Sea Devils in the past and the future and never have they ever shown the power they did last week. If the Sea Devils, I refuse to use Homo Aqua, are that powerful to clean the oceans as they did, why are they engaged in talks with humanity? With that power, they could just conquer and trap humans on land til they died. But this sudden superpower is too convenient somehow. If Sea Devils had such power, this would all have started and ended with the third Doctor. But that aside, let’s look at episode 3 where Barclay faces the Sea Devils on their own turf; the bottom of the ocean.

Just for the record, any Sea Devils out there thinking of appointing me as their ambassador, forget it. Being ever so slightly claustrophobic, there is not a chance in hell of me going dowwn in that metal ball diving bell. Nope, sorry, drop twenty foot of plastic if you want, Quinn ain’t going down.

This week I felt the narrative was a little slow. A team is assembled to go with Barclay to the ocean floor. I understand the need of giving every character some sort of tiny background so the audience can hopefully identify with them. But I felt some it was very pedestrian, cliched. One hasn’t spoken to her brother in twenty years so is going to phone him when this is all over. Good luck with that. They don’t come across as agents that should be better equipped to deal with this mentally. Barclay is better equipped than they are and this is probably the highlight of this episode for me. When Barclay’s daughter berates him and he breaks down following his failure last week, it is a real reaction. The eyes of the world are upon him against this formidable enemy and he is a loser in their eyes. Just as Turlough and especially Mickey Smith were seen as not the bravest or someone you could count on, now Barclay is in that position.

His breakdown in the arms of his ex wife is very human. Indeed, to help one of the team, an Australian older man, Ted Campbell, cope with panic attacks on the way down, Barclay steps up where none of the rest of them have. He is terrified but refuses to let that bring the rest of them down. Ravi especially seems very ill equipped to be part of this mission which, let’s face it, is the only thing standing between humanity and annihilation.

The scenes between Salt and Barclay also shine when they are alone and speak candidly. He feels like he has known Salt forever and she says the tides have brought them together. But why? Is barclay going to create a whole new meaning for sushi? Can humans and Sea Devils actually do the deed? Do they have the parts? Fish sex? Come on, prove me wrong please! The Sea Devil city is beautifully done with the legion of Sea Devils ready for an audience with the human delegation.

This is where I feel former companions should really have been included here. Russell Tovey is doing a great job as everyman Barclay but Tegan, Ace, Mel, Martha or even Donna would have been welcome here. Tegan has fought tthe Sea Devils before in the future where they tried, along with the Silurians, to trigger a war that would wipe out humanity. That’s where I feel this story is lacking.

On the flipside, Kate Stewart is facing hostile opposition which ends in tragedy for her. It is wonderful to see just how she copes with running UNIT and you can feel her father, the Brigadier, very strongly here. She is taking his and the Doctor’s place in protecting humanity but it is taking its toll. UNIT no longer has the punch it once had as she faces a hostile meeting in which corporations rule and foreign states and her own Prime Minister are working against her. They are prepared to launch war on the Sea Devils using all sorts of weaponry. Kate is little more than a nuisance, standing in their way.

But while this is a bit slow, the final twist makes us sit up again. Someone tries to assassinate Kate but her love, Christofer is killed instead. She is helpless to save him as he dies on the floor of her home while at the bottom of the ocean, Ted reveals himself to be an assassin and tries to hand Salt a bomb which detonates.

Overall, I am loving the exploration of Barclay and Kate right now while the mystery of his connection to Salt deepens. However, these 45 minutes felt like a pause with a lot of padding and lame characterisation.

How The Time Warriors Highlighted the Hidden Dangers of Apps

By and copyright of Owen Quinn

Left Unsaid was never meant to be part of the When Angels Burn & Other Stories anthology book.

It wasn’t ever going to be a monsters from space story. Every chance I get I like to add to the characters and their backgrounds. The label Time Warriors sound like the Thundercats or He-Man crew were about to arrive. But that is the point. The Time Warriors are you and me. They are ordinary people thrown into extraordinary situations. Like all of us, they have flaw and weaknesses which are universal. They look like us, they live like us and life treats them just as good and badly as it does everyone who has ever walked this planet.

We all grieve and miss our loved ones. Something I saw on social media disturbed me. You’ve all seen these apps which take photos and bring them to life. I tried one and using a photot of me, I was singing and dancing in it.

I was so disturbed by it I didn’t go any further

There was something totally unnatural about my movements and yes, I know it’s AI but still, it was looking at a stranger. It was like something had taken my body and was using it as a puppet to make me a parody of myself.

I’ve seen so many advert where old pictures are brought to life and know people are flocking to them. I got to thinking what if people were bringing photos of their deceased loved ones to life. Social media is so addictive as it is, without people becoming hooked on this fake slice of life where their loved ones are animated again.

That disturbs me on many levels and I recall David Bowie talking about the arrival in the internet and saying it will impact us in ways we could not even imagine back then.

He was right, so right.

Grief is something that can grip people and keep them down in a dark pit. They may need counselling. They may be alone and no one to speak to. Or they could be surrounded by family and still not have anyone to talk to. But if they had an app in which they could animate old photos of the dead is an incredibly terrifying thing. Addiction can come in many forms and this one is one that can destroy a life.

With advancing technology, how long before these apps become VR environments where the grieving can go and pay to interact with their deceased ones as fully fledged holograms. Privacy laws and their adult status would ensure this isolation would continue. Who knows what the consequences would be if that grief took them to the edge of suicide.

That is not a healthy scenario so I choose Michael to be the one to suffer from untapped grief. I chose him because Michael is the positive person that will keep going when life is shit. He is the one that has lost the most but gained the life he wanted with rachel and his daughter, Sarah. He had lost two father figures in his life, his father and grandfather, so I thought it was time to meet his grandfather whom we learned in the Wolves of Chernobyl & Other Stories had died from leukaemia when Michael was a teenager.

Left Unsaid is not a long story but it is an important one for anyone dealing with grief or mental illness because of people they have lost. It is a dangerously slippery slope at the best of times but when technology gives us a forbidden fruit then the serpent strikes.

If you have issues like discussed in the story please reach out to the likes of Samaritans who will always be there on the other end of the phone for you. Michael is lucky. He has the people round him that know him and love him. So are you; you just don’t realise it becausse grief is eating you up. No matter what you think, there will always be someone there for you. All you need to do is pick up your phone and dial the number. Or if it helps, leave your story below. I wanted the Time Warriors to always be somewhere to inspire and make people feel like they can come any time.

I’m not an expert. I’m just someone that has lost too many people and wish every day that I could have just one more minute with them. I was tempted but these apps are too disturbing.

Please don’t be alone.

Who’s Who? It’s Cold outside as we face The Thing

On this podcast, Stephen and Owen go head to head to tentacle with John Carpenter’s the Thing. We look back, check the facts and reveal a few surprising details you may not know including whatever happened to Nauls the roller skating cook?

Join the craic. You won’t look back!

Click here for more the Thing goodness:

The Thing Ending: Who’s Who?
Classic Heroes: The Thing’s MacReady

Forgotten Villains: Doctor Who’s The Borad

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

I was recently made aware of just how many movies and television shows the younger generation have never heard of, never mind seen. So to that end, we look back at some characters you really need to see before you kick the bucket.

Whilst not the greatest story in the history of Doctor Who, season twenty two’s Timelash did offer a striking looking alien that is both evil yet sympathetic. With H.G. Wells along for the ride gaining more than a few ideas for his future books, the Doctor and Peri land on Karfel, visited by the 3rd Dotor in an unseen adventure. Back then he befriended and ultimately reported scientist Megellen for unethical experiments on a species of creature called the Morlox.

Despite this Megellen continued with his work in secret and in a tragic twist became fused with one of the creatures he was working on on a molecular level thanks to mustakozene-80. While he retained his intellect, Megellen now was subject to the base urges of the Morlox. Horrified by his appearance, Megellen became the Borad and his new form gave him greater strength and a longer lifespan than normal but was confined to a chair due to his deformed legs.

He became the dictator ruling from the shadows of the planet, using the Maylin as a mere figurehead to carry out his orders. Maylin Rennis was killed and replaced by Tekker played by Blake’s 7 antihero Avon, Paul Darrow.

When the Borad spoke to the people he used the image of an old man while building an android to be his hands and legs now crippled by his transformation. He was also able to create a weapon attached to his chair that could age a person to death in seconds. All mirrors were subsequently banned as he despised his appearance. He cemented his power by creating the Timelash, a weapon in which problem people were tossed to fall into time lost forever. Borad was plagued by loneliness and manipualted their neighbours, the Bandril, into provoking a war that would devastate Karfel. When that happened, the Borad could repopulate the planet with creatures like himself as Morlox were immune to the Bandril weapons.

However resistance is brewing and the Borad orders Rennis’ son thrown into the Timelash to stop ant retaliation following his faher’s death. But his lover, Vena, grabs the control amulet and falls into the Timelash instead. As the Timeleash is a one way trip the Doctor is forced to go after her in the Tradis when Peri is held hostage. Vena has arrived in Scotland where she has met Wells who stows away on the Tardis.

The Borad holds Peri hostage and intends to use her to repopulate the planet. In order to achieve this he chains her up near Morlox nests and ties a canister of mustakozene-80 round her neck to duplicate the original accident. When the Doctor confronts him, the Borad fires at him with his aging beam but the Doctor has a crystal from the Timelash round his neck that reflects the beam right back and ages the Borad to death in seconds.

But the Borad was not as frail as he seemed and revealed his foresight when he revealed the Doctor had killed a clone put in place to protect him from assassins. He grabs Peri intending to blind her to his ugliness but is shoved into the Timelash where he falls back to 12th century Scotland. Legend says he has been mistaken for the Loch Ness Monster.

Robert Ashby does a great job in a thankless part from his vocal intonation to his movements. Borad is a broken creature it seems more Morlox than human now in motivation. The physical appearance is sunning and there is a truly great villain screaming to be born from underneath the poor story and strange reasoning of the Borad’s ultimate plans. The Borad could so easily have been a classic villain up there with the likes of Davros and Sutekh but poor writing disappointed completely.