Celebrating Brad Dourif: X Files’ Luther Lee Boggs

By Owen Quinn author

Photos copyright Fox

Beyond The Sea is an episode from the first season of the X Files and one that scared me at the time. Even watching it today, it unnerves me.

It is one of the best Scully episodes and sets the scene for future seasons for the Scully family template. Her dad is played by the late, great Don S Davis, better known to fans as General Hammond from Stargate SG1. It opens at Christmas time where Scully has had her mother and father over for dinner. before they elave, her father asks her if work is good and Scully says yes. She calls him Ahab and he calls her Starbuck. From this brief moment, we see that Scully is close to her parents and has a good relationship with them.

Scully dozes off on the couch and wakes up to see her father sitting in an armchair. His mouth is moving but there is no sound coming out. Her phone rings and it is her mother to tell her that her father died from a massive heart attack an hour before. When Scully looks back at the chair, it is empty.

This is one powerful opening as it places super sceptic Scully right in the middle of her own paranormal event. It is also incredib,y spooky to me especially since the same thing has happened to me.

SScully is back to work much earlier than Mulder would have liked as the funeral won’t take place until noon that day . there’s a nice touch here when he calls her Dana rather than Scully. Scully picks up on it but they are plunged into a double kidnapping case which they only have days to solve. A criminal on Death Row, Luther Lee Boggs, has told the FBI that since he was almost put to death in the gas chamber, it has awakened psychic powers in him. He wants to deal if he can help save the two kidnapped people then his sentence is reduced to life. This time, Mulder is sceptic because it was him who put Boggs in to death row and this sudden claim of being able to see things doesn’t wash with him. It isn’t the power that is in question for Mulder; it is the person delivering it.

The song played at Scully’s Dad’s funeral is restricted to family. Beyond The Sea is played in French. Scully wonders if her father was proud of her since she took a career with the FBI rather than fully pursue medicine. All her mother says when asked was he proud of his daughter is, he was your father.

All of this is vital to setting up the character of Boggs. The first shot we get of him is in an orange jumpsuit, handcuffed with tattooed knuckles. he is in a room talkign to Mulder and Scully, slumpoed in a chair and sweating. he appears to be channelling some rntity that spouts things at them and how Boggs must atone for his sins. He wants to dela but Mulder insists he save the victims first.

When handed a piece of cloth from one of the victims, he cries about terrible pain and how the boy Jim is tied with twine. He convulses as if someone is hitting him with a wire coat hanger demonstrating real theatrics. The location is a condemned warehouse cellar and there is a stone angel with a waterfall that is not water. But Mulder reveals that the cloth is from a T shirt of his and not connected to the case. As they leave, Boggs begins to sing Beyond The Sea which catches Scully’s attention. She looks bakc and her father is there sitting in Bogg’s place. he switches back to Boggs who then asks “

Did you get my message, Starbuck?”

In this scene alone, the audience is not sure if Boggs is telling the truth or not. he has already planted the seed in Scully’s head and this is compounded when she drives home and sees a stone angel and a waterfall that is not water. It is a street sign nd she stops at the abandoned warehouse where she finds a charm owned by the kidnap victim.

it’s a nice switch in perspectives as Scully is now leading towards believing to which Mulder reacts badly. Her is afraid her judgement is clouded and she is putting herself in danger. Is Boggs playing them, orchestrating the kidnap with a accomplice from outside? They have three days left.

When Boggs gives them a location and warns Mulder not to go near the white cross because Boggs sees his blood on it, weas an audience are torn. We see what he sees when he describes the kidnapper, his emotions and more attacks with the coat hanger.

The greatest trick that fake mediums pull is they feed on that slight hope fo grieving people that they will hear a whisper of something from the other side that will give them comfort their loved ones are still here. People will pay thousands just for that. And while I know there are genuine mediums out there, there a hundred charlatans on top of that again. But is Boggs real or is he getting his information about Scully from outside somehow? He isn’t getting it from his weekly phone calls because he uses that to taunt Mulder that Scully beleives him so why doesn’t he? He has no visitors so could it be Boggs really is getting these visions from beyond?

His credibility is further cemented when they find one of the victims exactly where Boggs said. Mulder is shot and to Scully’s horror, his blood is on a white cross just as Bogg’s said. When the kidnapper is identified as Lucas Henry who was but never proven to be Bogg’s partner.

Furious, sje storms into Bogg’s cell and screams at him that she will gas him out of this world if Mulder dies. All of this has been a revenge plot to get Mulder for convicting him. But Boggs plays mind games and she asks him to let her speak to her father.

This is the most pivotal scene in the show as Boggs seemingly forces the spirit of her father back until he gets the deal he wants. Boggs’ hell is going to the death chamber over and over for all eternity. He revelas his family were there when he went to die; the family he murdered. He claims he left his body and souls flooded his body giving him his powers.

There is almost a childlike delivery to Boggs’ as he manipulates and plays mind games with Scully. Scully foghts against it saying for Mulder and her father, where they are is not cold. Up against the clock and the wall, Scully lies that she has gotten his deal. Tearfully, Boggs tries to locate the last victim. he tells her where to find him but admits he knows she is lying but that she tried. He warns her not to follow the blue devil. Scully stops Henry and is finally forced to admit that Boggs is in fact telling the truth. If he had been in cahoots then he would have warned him of the same danger’ a rotten strut on a briidge before a picture of a blue devil.

He promises her the final mesage when he is put in the chair. We see all the people he murdered lining the corridor as he is led to the chair. But Scully is not there to get her message.

We finish off with Scully visiting Mulder in hospital and she ois trying to logically explain how Boggs knew those things about her. She admits she is afraid of beleiving and she always knew what her father left unsaid because as he mother said, he was her father.

Grief can do things to us that we don’t expect and that includes seeing things that may or may not be there. It also makes us victim to other parties preying on our grief. Luthor Boggs turned out to be genuine in the end. Turning the Mulder and Scully dynamic on its head this early was brilliant and really deepened the connection between the two. Dourif’s performance is flawless and the tears on his face when Scully tells him she got him a deal are misleading. They are not tears of joy but of sorrow because he knows that she tried but failed. He is afraid of the cold place he is going to and has seen the light too late for redemption. Yet he still saves two people even though he is going to die. Perhaps this was to help him make peace with himself in the hope that where he is going may not be so cold after all.

In the hands of a lesser actor, this episode would not be as powerful and as enduring since it debuted in 1994. beyond The Sea is simply a masterclass in how to do it right on every level.

When Jodie Whittaker Nailed Being The Doctor:1

By Owen Quinn author Photos copyright BBC

1: Refusing to let Shelley die in The Haunting of Villa Diodati

Captain Jack Harkness has warned the Doctor not to give the lone Cyberman what he wants, no matter what the cost. However, the Doctor doesn’t bargain on Storyteller, Percy Shelley, being that cost. He has the Cyberium in his mind. Trapped in a shifting house under relentless pursuit, Graham, Yaz and Ryan are all for sacrificing Shelley’s life to prevent the rebirth of the Cyber Empire. If that happens, billions will die.

“Save the poet, save the universe. Watch people burn now or tomorrow. Sometimes, even I can’t win.” The Doctor.

When given the right writing, Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor can burn from the screen and in this scene, she does exactly that. Her speech is something that would come from any Doctor and one of those rare times when she turns on her companions for their short-sighted-ness. Ryan was never a favourite companion of mine. I saw no purpose in his inclusion as part of the Tardis crew. It is his declaration that Shelley is only one life against billions. When the Doctor looks at him, it is with horror.

She asks him, “Is he Ryan? She tells him that his thoughts, his words will inspire and influence thousands for centuries. If he dies now then who knows what the damage will be on the future. Words matter! One death, one ripple and history will change in a blink. The future will not be the world you know. the world you were created in won’t exist and neither will you. It’s not just his life at stake, it’s yours. Do you want to sacrifice yourself for this? You want me to sacrifice you? You want to call it? Do it now. All of you. “

They all look at the Doctor in silence as she stares at them.

“Yeah because sometimes, this team structure isn’t flat. It’s mountainous, with me at the summit, in the stratosphere. Alone. Left to choose. Save the poet, save the universe. Watch people burn now or tomorrow. Sometimes, even I can’t win.”

This speech reminds us just who the Doctor is. The loner that walks through eternity. Despite what Yaz and the others think, they don’t know her at all. They are barely seeing one tiny facet of who the Doctor is. They cannot ever hope to see the universe through the Doctor’s eyes and while his companions are the best of her, they are ephemeral, a means for the Doctor to see the universe through their eyes. time is not a question of going back in time and killing Hitler as a baby. The consequences of that would be unimaginable. Her companions see it as an easy choice. Let Shelley die and then the future will be safe. One word can cause mayhem around the world , one misheard word caan destroiy a life and let’s face it, if they let Shelley die, do they really think Ashad will simply turn on his heel and go home. He will destroy everything and everyone making the sacrifice of Shelley pointless.

It also shows just how little literature means to her companions and the world in general. I am not a poetry fan but maybe I should be. Maybe once in a while, I should read something I haven’t before. We all find something personal in things we read and when you think of it, how many times a day hurt or inpsire people?

This speech is a clear reminder that the Doctor sees things on a univeral level and is disappointed when those that travel with her fail to do so. When Ryan suggest letting Shelley die, the Doctor takes a personal inference that she has somehow filed to help them open their minds. Not even the we love Bradley Walsh club we all belong to can smooth over this one.

But here we see the Doctor, the lonely Doctor that trips sometimes and is reminded that no matter how long she travels with someone or thinks she has helped them see a bigger universe, she will always be alone.

TW Watches Scoobynatural! The Crossover We Always Needed

By Owen Quinn author Photos copyright Warner Bros

I love crossovers especially when they are done right and don’t promise a Spock two parter and he arrives ten seconds at the end of episode one. Yes, you Star Trek The Next Generation.

March 29th 2018 was the date and something arrived that fans had only dreamed of…..

Now the stars of Supernatural have always wanted to do a crossover. They would have loved to do a Vampire Diaries one but it never came to pass. The closest they ever came up to that point was Negan’s famous barbed wire covered baseball bat, Lucille, at the start of an episode claiming it was their dad’s favourite weapon.

But the crossover they got was a fan favourite and one that took great patience which was rewarded in spades. Doctor Who briefly became a cartoon in the episode Lux but when Sam and Dean are given a haunted television set, they find themselves as cartoons. But not just any cartoon. Sam and Dean Winchester come face to face with Scooby Doo and the gang. This isn’t Scooby’s first crossover. He has previously teamed up with Batman, the Harlem Globetrotters, Mark Hamill, George Takei, WWE and Sonny and Cher. The Winchesters episode surpassed everything that had come before.

The episode opens in live action with Sam and Dean battling a green dinosaur top evoke Barney with viewers. It has sparkly purple eyes but they defeat it with fire. So grateful is the shop owner that he tells them they can have anything from the store. Dean picks a big screen tv. On the scene too is Jay who literally owns all the shops in the area.

But as Dean shows of his Fortress of Deanitude or Dean cave, the brothers are plunged into the world of Scooby Doo along with the Impala. At first they think it may be an angel thing or the Trickster and it isn’t the first time they have been part of a TV show. They discover a malt shop where Dean flips when he sees the Mystery Machine and meets the Scooby gang.

As kids, Dean and Sam were left by their father for weeks and months at a time and everywhere they went was a television and on those televisions was Scooby Doo. It became a comfort blanket for them, apparently Dean more than Sam. We also get a lovely parallel as Dean compares them to the Scooby gang except Fred who’s a wad. They travel, solve ghost mysteries and technically, Castiel is their talking dog. This is a celebration of all of our childhoods as we all grew up on Scooby.

This fusion of shows works perfectly as Dean and Sam recognise that this was a real episode of Scooby Doo so they know what is going to happen. Scooby has been summoned to a will reading where he has been left money from a millionaire for saving his life years before from drowning in a fishpond. They will each get a share of the money if they can survive one night in his haunted house. Dean revels in it. He gets to create a giant sandwich just like Shaggy and Scooby where his mouth opens impossibly wide as in a cartoon. As the ladies man, Dean wants to get together with Daphne who Sam points out is clearly with Fred. Dean replies that she is settling. Dean hates Fred because he has great hair, his can-do attitude and his ascot. It doesn’t help that the Mystery Machine leaves the Impala for dust. This script is brimming with great dialoge and one liners as the brothers realise that the harsh reality of their world is spilling over into Scoobyverse and ruining it.

Dean scolds Sam for almost telling Thelma about their real world and ghosts are real. To Dean, the Scooby gang are innocent, unspoiled from the life the Winchesters lead. Ghosts here are conmen in masks. This innocence is shown when Daphne tells a horny Dean that boys and girls don’t sleep in the same room and that Fred is not a jerk. Sam on the other hand finds himself lusted after by Thelma much to Dean’s chagrin. Dean is trying to protect the good memories he has as it is a good part of his childhood; a safe part that wipes out all the monsters.

When one of the cousins die, he does for real with real blood. That means the Scooby gang could die too and Dean vows not to let that happen; he will take a bullet for the dog if he has to.

When Castiel arrives in animated form, he is his usual dry wit self. He is taken aback when the dog starts talking. He is teamed up with them and another gem when he utters, “I once led armies and now I’m paired with a scruffy philistine and a talking dog.” Somehow the ghost is real too and reality is starting to hit hard. They find another cousin decapitated and strung from the ceiling.

When the Scooby gang discover that ghosts are real, it begins to destroy their world. Everything begins to unravel. Thelma believes she is really blind and Fred is aghast that they could have been hunting Dracula instead of real estate fraudsters. Daphne freaks that since the supernatural is real then that means there is a heaven and a hell. She firmly believes she is going to hell. Scooby thinks they are doomed and Shaggy cries they should have believed him all along that ghosts were real. Shaggy gets his arm broken and is nearly killed but Castiel saves him. Reality has hit well and truly with a hammer. Sam and Dean convince the gang that they have done good and fought monsters without a thought for themselves. They go through a list of classic Scooby villains like the Black Knight, Space Kook and Miner 49er. Theese would also turn up in the live action Scooby Doo 2 movie.

Interestingly enough, Matthew Lilliard as the voice of Shggy is the only one to cross from live action to cartoon to this television crossover.

Sam and Dean have to fix everything and restore the innocence of the cartoon. We get all the Scooby classics. The chase scene montage with the theme tune including Sam, Deana and Castiel. Fred’s trap that fails, pure luck that reveals the truth about the ghost and the book in the library that opens a hidden door.

When the ghost is captured, they learn it is the spirit of a child being controlled and forced to haunt. But the Winchesters then lie to convince the gang that they were wrong about ghosts being real. They fall on to the old tropes like projectors, flying on wires and with innocence restored, Shaggy’s arm heals.

I loved Castiel’s goodbye to Scooby and Shaggy who will miss their wise worlds and gentle spirista and the great strength of laughter in the face of danger. Thelma smacks one on Sam’s lips leaving Dean disappointed he never saw it first.

By restoring the world of Scooby, the Winchesters have kept their childhood memories intact. It turns out Jay was the man controlling the kid through a penknife the boy’s late father gave him. They send him to heaven by burning the knife with a torch. Again, this feeds into the innocence of childhood theme as they save oen more soul. And in irony of ironiees, Jay was trying to force all the shop owners to sell so he could make a fortune by selling to a big real estate company.

But the fun ain’t over as Dean dons a ascot and stops the shop owner from selling to Jay. When arrested, he utters the immortal line that he would have ‘gotten way with it too if it hadn’t been for the meddling kids’ much to Dean’s delight. Dean looks into the camera and does a Scooby impression. When Sam asks him what he is doing, he says at the end of every episode, Scooby would look into the camera and say ‘Scooby dooby doo’. Castiel informs Dean that he is not a talking dog.

They are most definitely back in the real world.

Scoobynatural is a flawless crossover episode that works on every level and ticks all the boxes. The dialogue is funny and witty and we get to see what the dark side of our world can do to characters that symnbolise a happy childhood for us. We watched these charatcers, every week and for years after in repeats and some of us still do, so we have a loyalty to them. They represent keeping the dark times away from us. When bullies and the bad dreams come, the Scooby gang were there to make us feel safe again. Even kids in impossible circumstances like the Winchesters needed this comfort blanket and this perfectly celebrates that fact that we have all been Winchesters at one time or another.

Book Excepory: The Time Warriros: When Angels Burn: Magic Box

By and copyright of Owen Quinn

magic bix is part of the collection of stories in The Time Warriors@ When Angels Burn book now on salw on Amazon. This and all the other Time Warriors titles can be ourchad=sed there aloing with Zombie Blkues and Talkes from Bsllinfree.

As a crystalline entity, dear, sweet Dunderram had no weakness of flesh or need to breath air at all. His species looked like someone had built a man out of every jewel known to man.

He regarded the crystalline alien carefully.

“You truly are a beautiful species, one that sets my admiration afloat like a starship floating among the stars,” the man crooned as if admiring a rare, priceless jewel in a museum.

“Silicon beings are so rare and always and forever something to be cherished. But sadly for you, there is only one part of you I wish to cherish. I am sorry but you see, I have plans for a small group that have caused me great distress. So, I have a plan and the literal key to that plan is your good self Dunderram.”

“Please no, Casio. There…”

Casio held up his cane with a warning shush, putting his finger to his lips.

“Please, say nothing. It would spoil the moment and make you so unbecoming.” Casio took a step closer to the trembling Dunderram.

His eyes narrowed as he raised his cane in a four fingered blue scaly hand.

A thick, silver ring glinted in the erratic torchlight. The black cane was long and silver trimmed like the ring. It was engraved with a series of symbols, leading to a cusp like a four leaved clover in which nestled an azure crystal globe that erupted with a bright light, emitting a low pitch.

“And just between us, who do you think funded the Julerian campaigns?”

Immediately, Dunderram stiffened, frozen where he stood. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t speak. The pitch entered every part of him, vibrating with a rising cascade.

Casio stood, any emotion, if he indeed had any, about Dunderram’s fate. His expression was hidden by shadow. His eyes stared, patience dripping from his body language. Casio Candrelor was known for many things but patience was not one of them. But for this, he displayed much.  

Dunderram vibrated on the spot, his body rippling faster and faster, his body helpless before the sonic pitch. It took just over two minutes before Dunderram screamed before shattering into a thousand pieces.

Casio blew on the tip of his cane. It returned to its normal colour. He stepped forward, shifting the crystal shards with his boot.

Bending down, he reached in, sifting through the crystalline mounds that was a living being mere seconds ago. With a soft intake of satisfied breath, Casio lifted out an octagonal red ruby about the size of his fist. He held it up to the light reverently, like he was witness to a lost holy relic revelling in its interior lattices, dancing with life in the torchlight.

Casio crooned. “Your selfless act will not be in vain, my dear, precious one, Dunderram the Delicious.”

A sense of confirmed purpose settled over him as he tapped his cane on the stone floor, crushing shattered pieces of what was left of Dunderram beneath it.

He pressed the double moon gold brooch on his

“Gobien, order clean up in area twelve, section delta two. tell them to bring the hoover, dustpan and brush to get the bits out of the cracks in the floor. Get us out of here. We have a very special show to put on.”

TW Pays Tribute To Sonequa Martin-Green

By Owen Quinn author

Photo copyright Paramount Pictures and AMC

Have you seen how people throw a wake for themselves just to see who would turn up and what they would say about the deceased? Well, I thought, why wait until a celebrity you admire to die before writing how much they have impacted you through their movies or television roles.

Do you know that I met Sonequa Martin-Green in London at a Walker Stalker convention and I didn’t get a photo with her. I met her and got her autograph. In fact the picture above was what we got signed by her.

I had never been aware of her work until she became a regular on The Walking Dead as Tyreese’s sister Sasha.

At that time, she had left the show to take the lead role in the latest incarnation of Star Trek, Discovery. it was a double thrill for me and my son as we were a family of Walking Dead and I was a lifelong Trek fan.

Sasha quickly became a fan favourite in The Walking Dead and I vividly recall her first scenes. Her story arc would take her into Negan’s clutches. She began a relationship with Abraham and in the dream scene, we see her pregnant with his child. But in the classic cliffhnager that introduced Negan to the show, if ever there was a scene that made the actors raise the bar. You could feel the fear and terror as the entire cast were lined up on their knees surrounded by Saviours as Negan makes his debut.

To this day, that entire episode is an example of outstanding writing and drama. It is terrifying knowing that one of our heroes is sbout to get their head bashed in by Lucille the baseball bat as per the comic version that saw Glenn murdered in the most horrific way.

Sacha is bravely but failing to hold her tears as Abraham is chosen to die. He gives her one last gesture that only they share and Sasha is forced to watch her future vanish in blood and brains. Ironic then that when she infiltrates the Saviours, Negan kills a man that tries to rape her. She sacrifices herself to try to stop Negan by zombifying herself and leaping out when Negan opens the crate she is in.

Sonequa is a flawless perfomer and every ounce of her time on The Walking Dead is memorable. Apart from Cafl, Sasah was the only one Negan liked and stood up for.

But in that exit, she switched the apocalypse for outer space and time to end up as captain of the Disscovery. She played Michael Burnham who betrayed her captain and started the war with the Klingons. Events would save her from prison and she would end up 900 years in the future rebuilding the Federation. she played the role to acclaim and took the franchise in a new direction. She was so far removed from Sasha yet both characters shared the same determined and hopeful spirit.

I got the chance to tell what a fan I was and my son equally so. She shook our hands and I can still recall just how soft her hands were with the most beautiful skin. She said we were a beautiful family and was so open and caring that there was no chance of disappointment. But I still have to get that photot so there is still a line to be crossed off on the bucket list.

She may read this but who knows? Either way, this is to say how much we adore her as an actress and will watch anything she is in because she captivated us by her work fighting zombies and Klingons. As for that photo, watch this space.

New Guest for Dublin Comic Con Spring 2027

GUEST ANNOUNCEMENT – SPRING 2027 ✨🎤

We’re thrilled to welcome Michael Kovach to Dublin Comic Con – Spring Edition 2027, taking place March 6th & 7th! 🎮🔥

Michael is one of the most recognisable voices in modern animation and indie animation, best known as:

🎪 Jax in The Amazing Digital Circus

🤖 N in Murder Drones

🕷️ Angel Dust in the pilot episode of Hazbin Hotel

🐱 Rocky Rickaby in Lackadaisy

Michael has also worked across games, streaming, podcasts, and online content creation, becoming a huge favourite among animation and internet culture fans worldwide.

Don’t miss your chance to meet him in Dublin next Spring!

📍 March 6–7, 2027

📸 Photos | ✍️ Autographs | 🎤 Panels

🎫 Tickets coming soon

Brought to you by Comic Con Ireland – Est. 2013

#DublinComicCon#comicconireland#MichaelKovach#TheAmazingDigitalCircus#HazbinHotel#MurderDrones#Lackadaisy#DCCSpring2027

Bokk Excerpts: Tales from Ballinfree: The Terry that Time Forgot

By and copyright of Owen Quinn

“Get out of here, kids! Now!” she shouted to the trio.

Diamond took to the air, her wings catching the bright light as Rose quickly hopped off Lala’s back. Using her tongue, she caught a banister and swung towards a rack of brooms.

Grabbing one, she began hitting the brown scaly claw repeatedly. Diamond swooped up and grabbed a catapult and bag of marbles.

She began firing them at the claw. Between that and the force of Rose’s strikes, the claw flinched. Lala began pummelling the claw with his back feet in rapid succession.

Unexpectedly, the claw snapped out and grabbed the young rabbit by the back legs.

“Aaargh!” he cried as he was dragged into the hole. Rose threw aside her broom. She used her super long tongue to grab Lala’s wrist, digging her heels into the wooden floor.

“Whelp ma!” she said, her tongue muffling her mouth.

“What?” chorused Lily and Diamond.

“Whelp ma!” she repeated.

“Did she hurt her mouth since we last met?” Lily asked Diamond.

“Maybe all that talking has finally taken its toll,” Diamond remarked.

“Aah. Have you noticed how sparkly my wings are in this light? They look awesome.”

A double cry from Lala and Rose snapped her attention back.

“Close the hole!”

It was then Diamond noticed that the light was only focused through the staff. The energy was coming from a tall old fashioned grandfather clock embedded in the wall behind them.

“I can’t break free from the vortex!” Lily cried.

With a yell, she shouted a spell slamming her hand into the air.

There was a sharp implosion and a great burst of wind, throwing them to the floor.

When Diamond and Lily looked up, the hole had closed. In its place was a spinning ball of green and blue lightning which quickly faded.

Rose and Lala were gone.

Behind The Story: The Time Warriors: Magic Box

By and copyright of Owen Quinn

People always ask where a writer gets their inspiration from and the simple answer is…everywhere.

In the case of Magic Box, I was set a challenge. Messing about with an AI the above image came up of the reptilian guy in the top hat. Immediately, I was formulating a story around him in my head. That happens sometimes. The most random things can kickstart a story or an idea in your head that fits. Add to that, a friend of mine’s seven year old came up with a monster for me. She had put such thought into him that I had to work him in. She insisted he was a bad guy so at one point, I had to drop all redeeming features for Gobien. Gobien was described as below.

“He’s eating someone so he’s big, has two horns but one was broken in a fight with another monster. Claw marks from the other monster across its tummy, 4 eyes, slime for hair and its nostrils are on top of its head for breathing. It’s called the Gobien.”

I get a kick out of the fact, that the Time Warriors makes kids imagine all sorts. A kid’s imagination is endless. I was and still am, that kid. So I added her in as a character in one of the Tales of Ballinfree book series. It was the least I could do.

So my latest villain duo was born…almost. I had no name for the lizard ringmaster but he had the look of a ringmaster so obviously the concept of a circus came up. But this was space so it could be no ordinary circus. It became a flying fortress that would land on planets and still be broadcasting to subscribers while in space. The fortress would be the Magic Box.

The lizard was exotic looking, almost an anti Willy Wonka. So, Casio Candrelor and chief henchman, Gobien, were born. Running a family circus while maintaining a dark web. He was into alien trafficking, organ harvesting, snuff broadcasts and more.

The next issue was how and why the Time Warriors would be captured by him to fight on the dark web as his prisoners. In an earlier story, Left Unsaid, Michael and Rachel talk about an unseen story. In it, an alien chef, Chef Chemy had installed a hyperspatial biogenetic tracker in a gym. He was sending subliminal messages to users to stay fat and he would kidnap them and serve them up in his restaurant. What if Casio was Chef Chemy’s brother? That would give him motivation and make sense of why the Time Warriros suddenly find themselves in another glaxy and being broadcast to species and worlds, they had never heard of. A plot point there is, have they just painted a target on their backs or made alliances vital to the protection of Earth?

Time will tell, it always does especially when an old enemy makes a cameo at the end kicking off a future book.

The Time Warriors action figure range grows significantly with Magic Box with a host of new aliens and robots introduced to the Time Warrior universe. One day…

I’ll not spoil the story but it leads to a life changing decision for Michael and Rachel.

Magic Box is part of the Time Warriors When Angels Burn & Other Stories available on Amazon and all good book shops.

Book Excerpt: Tales from Ballinfree: Operation Frogspawn

By and copyright of Owen Quinn

Lala wrinkled his nose as the orange heather carpet he was rushing through tickled his nose. He sneezed making Rose jump with fright.

“Are you alright?” she asked, clinging tightly to his fur.

“Yeah, highland heather is a pet hate of mine,” he replied before suddenly stopping inside a large bramble bush.

Rose held her breath as a thick mist swirled all around them like ghosts. She trusted Lala’s senses. His long spotted white ears stood upright, twitching at random in different directions.

“We’re at the top of the mountain,” he whispered.

“I know,” Rose whispered back. “So why is it so foggy up here?”

“Good question and when you ask questions Miss Rose Hoppity, it always means that something isn’t right.”

They peered around them, smelling something in the mist but seeing nothing. Sometimes, their eyes played tricks, mist monsters slipping just out of the corners of their eyes.

All they could hear, were their hearts beating nervously.

Ba bum, ba bum, ba bum, ba bum.

“Gotcha!” snarled something that slipped up behind them. It grabbed Rose by her hind legs and Lala by the white mane round his neck. They kicked and struggled, crying out but their captor only laughed in a gurgled, raspy sound.

It threw them to the ground where another four shapes joined it, the stocky, crooked bodies surrounding the helpless friends. Lala and Rose stared in fear as their eyes adjusted to the slow, treacle mist. With a sharp intake of breath, they recognised their captors.

Dressed in dark brown tunics and leathered shirts with woven trousers tucked into black winklepicker boots.

 The lead one with the warty skin, angular face, big beak nose pointed ears and long red beard, licked his lips. He leaned forward, narrowing his dark eyes.

TW Watches The X-Files; Home S04E02

By Owen Quinn author

Home is by far the most controversial and terrifying episodes of the show. It was the only one that ever needed a viewer discretion alert due to its nature.

It deals with the Peacock family, a family of inbred people living in the community of Home, a quiet town safely off the map and living in its own kind of bubble undisturbed until a body is found by a group of kids playing baseball on the edge of the Peacock property.

That body belongs to a newborn baby that was buried alive in the pouring rain at the episode’s opening scene. The Peacocks are in silhouette yet you know something is not right. It was a brave decision to show a baby being buried alive but it is crucial to the story and understanding the Peacocks. There is no doubt viewers’ collective jaws hit the ground at this scene which immediately lets you know the tone for the rest of the episode.

It is an idylic location, quiet, peaceful and Mulder admits that if he had to settle down somewhere then this would be it. One of the themes of the episode is a staple of horror.

A small town which harbours a dark secret. This is very much the case. There is an unspoken truce between the Peacockd and everyone else. They haven’t left their house in a decade and no one bothers them. According to the sheriff, the Peacocks built their home during the civil war. It has no modern luxuries like water and electricity. They grow their own food, raise their own livestock and own stock. The implication is that they inbreed. The sheriff calls them feeble, unable to understand what the discovery of this baby actually means. Their parents were killed in a car crash and they keep themselves to themselves. He knew that one day their peaceful world would burst and the day the baby was found, the sheriff knew that day had come.

Such is the peaceful balance in Home, the sheriff never locks his office door, they have no lab or morgue, just a fridge to keep the baby’s body in. It’s all very Pleasantville.

Scully and Mulder discover the child has more than one father which is impossible. They believe that the peacock boys have kidnapped a woman and have been breeding with her against her will. That is a terrifying implication that a town so set in its equilibrium would not bother to investigate that possibility. Better to sacrifice one person than ruin the town of Home. Home it is and Home it will always be.

This is very Wrong Turn and Hills have Eyes in nature. The difference is that the Peacocks are not mad killers hunting humans to eat. They are an isolationist family that really demonstrate the true value of family in the most shocking, horrific way. They are so different to the outside world yet to the residents of Home, they are part of the community they have come to accept.

The ironic thing about the Peacocks is that they are the perfect neighbours. They keep to themselves, they never borrow anything , fight with anyone or owe anyone a single thing. They have deep family values, love each other and look out for one another. They see things very simply and when Mulder and Scully enter their home to see if there really is a girl being held captive, the Peacocks feel their trust has been broken. In their heads, there is only one comeback and that is to break into Sheriff Taylor’s home and beat him and his wife to death. Taylor brought the agents here so he has broken the unspoken treaty between the Peacocks and the townspeople. Their inbreeding has messed with their minds so things are very black and white. Outsiders have come to stick their noses in their business and for the Peacocks they look out for one another and they always do what mother says.

The discovery of their mother on a board under the bed is the most shocking site of the entire show’s history. She did not die in the car crash, only her husband did. She lost all her limbs and her boys have taken care of her since. It is the most grotesque sight and when Mulder and |Scully realise the truth, they are almost killed for the discovery.

The mother lets her sons have sex with her and the baby scene suddenly takes a more tragic slant. The Peaccock man crying was in fact the father being comforted by his brother while the third brother did what they needed to do. They knew the baby was so deformed that it was better for it to die. This is demonstrated when Scully first sees the body. Sheriff Taylor has kept it away from prying eyes ebcause the child is so badly deformed.

In their heads, the Peaccocks have a sense of right and wrong. They are good boys for their mother and she gives them what they need. There’s nothing supernatural here or a genetic monster of the week. It is simply that old saying that you don’t know what goes on behind closed doors. You cannot write anything about this episode without paying tribute to actress Karin Konoval who portrays Mrs peacock who is only looking out for her boys. Her performance is so disturbing along with the makeup, her character is immediately burned into the memory. She would return in a later season in a different role but Mrs Peacock is one to be immensely proud of.

The other policeman, Barney, is killed by a booby trap while entering the Peacock home to take them in for murder. Again, the Peacocks know the consequences of what they have done and they will kill anyone that trespasses on their world. The outside world broke the rules; it is threatening them.

In the battle, the two youngest Peacock boys are killed before they can kill Mulder and Scully. But Mrs Peacock and her eldest son escape in their car to the Johnny Mathis song, Wonderful! Wonderful! This is the same song that they play on the way to murder Taylor and his wife. Behind the scenes, the singer refused to allow it to be used due to the graphic nature of the episode so a cover was used featuring someone who sounded like Mathis.

Indeed actor Tucker Smallwood, fresh off Space Above And Beyond, was shocked by the violence and when he asked were The X-Files always so graphic, he was told; this episode is worse than normal. He found it an unpleasant experience.

However, no one can deny the burning impact this episode has. It elevated the show into Silence of the Lambs territory, not that they hadn’t done it before but not to this level of horror. As I said, Mrs Peacock and her son escaped to begin a new family somewhere else but we never got to meet them again.

However, they would return in The X-Files comic season 11 in Home Again. In part two of this article, we discover what happened to the Peacocks.

But do we really want to given how terrifying they are?