The Time Warriors and Beyond

From The Archives: TW interviews Simon Bamford

By Robert Nesbitt creator and writer of RhynX

How did you get started in acting? Where did it all begin for you?

Harry Frost, the headteacher at my primary school in Market Bosworth was a keen drama enthusiast. He encouraged all of his students to perform in the plays which he would both write and direct. The long suffering parents would then have to sit and watch proudly.

I became addicted and worked my way through several local drama groups before finally getting a backstage job at the Haymarket theatre in Leicester.

A professional theatre which produced many pre-West End shows, the Haymarket was my introduction to a whole new way of viewing drama and acting in general.

How did the role of Butterball come about?

The director Robin Midgeley encouraged me to apply for drama school and I went from Leicester to London and a three year course at Mountview; a North London drama college.

Whilst there I was cast as ‘The Fool’ in King Lear. Clive Barker was in the audience for one of the performances and asked to meet me.

After an initial meeting he invited me to join his fringe theatre company ‘The Dog Company’ on graduation. His plays were fantastical and intelligent and I was quite overawed by the cast which included a young Douglas Bradley (Pinhead) and an even younger Oliver Parker (director of ‘Dorian Grey’, ‘St Trinians’ and many other films.

After a couple of years the company disbanded as we all needed to earn some money and fringe rarely pays. I didn’t see Clive for a year or two and rang him to see how he was getting on.

The timing was perfect as he a couple of screenplays he had written had been made into movies but rather unsuccesfully and he had just persuaded the producers to let him write and direct the next project which was ‘Hellraiser’. As he asked me over the phone if i would be interested in being a monster.

Were you a fan of Clive Barker’s work?

A huge fan. Even in his early work you could tell that he was someone with a great insight into the human condition. His love of William Blake and knowledge of the classics generally, mixed with a mind that was capable of enormous leaps of imagination was addictive.

How did they initially describe the character to you?

A high priest of Hell. Butterball was the groups torturer, hence his belt of blood encrusted surgical instruments. Underneath the dark glasses he had removed his own eyeballs and gained great pleasure from fondling his innards through the gash in his stomach.

How complicated was the costume? What sort of time scale did it take to get you kitted up?

Jane Wildgoose’s costumes were a mixture of leather and fabric. skin tight around the arms mine then included a fibreglass frame which hang on my shoulders and which was home to a naked prosthetic stomach and deep gash which was filled with blood on each take to allow it to drip.

I had a skirt with material that glistened and Jesus sandals which i don’t think are ever visible.

The costume took around 45 minutes to get on.

For the actual mask, how did they go about creating that for you? Was it a head mould?

We were all invited to the home of SFX prosthtic company ‘Image Animation’ at Pinewood Studios to have a life mask cast. This meant having a couple of straws placed up the nose to allow you to breath and then the whole head covered in a substance which gradually set solid.

Once cut out they made a model of our heads on which they could sculpt their creations.

A few weeks later we went back to have the prosthetics fitted and to try out the masks and costumes in a screen test.

How much vision had you got when in complete costume?

None. Because of the sewn shut eyes in the characters past there were no eye holes and I was blind throughout the shoot which caused a few challenges especially early on. There were also no ear holes and I had a set of false dentures glued on top of my own teeth so communication was difficult.

As part of the Cenobite group, how did you try and make him stand out when on screen with the rest?

Because the makeups were so extraordinary Clive realised early on from the rushes that the less we did the more powerful the creatures became. So the direction was usually ‘less is best’. We did find a few character traits we could add such Nick”s chattering teeth and my licking my lips whilst playing with my innards. Sadly the latter was one of the few things the censor drew the line at. The 80’s were a time of increased creative freedom in the UK and we benefitted from being allowed to go much further than horror cinema had been before, but fondling ones intestines crossed the line.

There seems to be a group fluidity between the Cenobites when they move as a group. Am I wrong in that or did you guys work it out between you to accommodate the different costumes?

The costumes certainly created a style of movement. The leather was thick and ungiving but that lead to a kind of Royal glide which we all enveloped and seemed fitting to their postions.

It also resembled the type of movement Doug and I used in Clive’s play Paradise Street years before so may well have been influenced by that.

Are you surprised at his continuing appeal?

Flattered at Butterball’s longevity. We celebrated 25 years recently and if you had told me that when we filmed it I would have been incredulous. No surprise at Clive’s appeal though in fact a little disappointed that he isn’t more widely respected especially in Hollywood.

What for you defines Hellraiser?

Being blind, deaf and dumb was an experience that takes great courage and patience and an inner peace, none of which I possess. So personally I remember the filming process with a mixture of claustrophobia and terror. The end results however more than justify the pain.

How would you rate each movie?

Pass. Too close to them to be objective.

You appeared in another Clive Barker movie, Nightbreed, a great favourite of mine as Ohnaka. This time round there wasn’t as much prosthetics needed. Does being a normal looking human in a horror movie make you strive to make your character stand out among the monsters?

Normally I would say yes but as Nightbreed was packed full of creatures (the most individual monsters of any movie) it actually was in my favour that Ohnaka seemed so human.

It also helped to gain the audiences sympathies which was crucial to his storyline.

It made for a much happier experience on set being able to see and talk to the cast and crew. Also not having to get up at 3am to drive to Pinewood because of hours of makeup meant I was far happier. The tattoos took a while to apply but apart from them my only prosthetics were a pair of nipples.

Of all you appearances in these, what’s been the stand out moment for you?

Watching myself explode and meeting one of my heroes David Cronenberg.

What sums up Clive’s work for you?

Genius…yet to be fully discovered, but when he is expect some extraordinary movies.

How did you become involved in Books of Blood?

When we were in the ‘Dog Company’ Clive was just starting to write ‘The Books of Blood’.

At the launch party for their publication he admitted that the first character in the first story of the first book, Simon McNeal was based around me. The boy who has all the rest of the stories written into his flesh.

A few years ago I heard that they were about to start filming ‘Books of Blood’ in Edinburgh so contacted the production company and casting director. There was no response so I emailed Clive and the next day I was offered the role of Derek. sadly I was 30 years too old to play Simon but it was fascinating watching Jonas Armstrong play me. I decided not to tell him as he had enough on his plate. In fact I didn’t tell any of the cast of my previous film roles.

What can you tell us about the 4th Reich movie you’re involved in. How hard is it to make zombies different?

It has gone very quiet. I was asked to play Underscarfuhrer Kraus back in 2009 since then the cast list has grown and it received a green light in 2012 but then nothing.

I can tell you that my character escapes becoming a zombie which is a shame. I’d love to play a Zombie. They were filming ‘World War Z’ in Glasgow when I was working there and the temptation to gatecrash was overwhelming.

You also have a long and distinguished theatre career for which you’ve won awards. Aside from audience presence, what for you as an actor are the main differences between theatre and movies? Does theatre give you a more immediate buzz?

Absolutely. Three weeks of rehearsal in theatre. Three minutes in film. Immediate audience reaction versus none Long term legacy in films. None in theatre.

What are you working on at the moment?

Just finished voicing ‘Commander Elgin’ for an animated feature called ‘The 11th hour’. I played the lead role of a depressed bereaved man in a short film called ‘Riley’ and am currently touring the world promoting the ‘Cabal Cut’ of ‘Nightbreed’ which is due out later this year.

Where can people find out more about you and your career?

My twitter is @simonbamford or you can catch up at imdb.

5 Nov 2023, 15:33

Robert

Thanks I will get reading these while getting a coffee when I get home.

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Robert

Walked the pregnant wife up Belfast zoo think near killed her

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Lol

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12 Nov 2023, 15:41

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https://timewarriors.co.uk/2020/12/09/doctor-who-the-end-of-time-an-open-letter-to-neil-gaiman/

Doctor Who The End of Time: An Open Letter to Neil Gaiman

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Mon 19:12

Robert

Found a email that contained the interview we did with Simon bamford. I forwarded on to you

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Just reading it. Do u want me to put it on the site

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Robert

That would be so cool man. If I find more of the interviews I will forward them onto you.

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Any photos for it

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Robert

i will see what ican find on the email.

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Any photos send them over whatsapp. Easier 07384671987

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Robert

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Mon 21:33

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I need bio about you including details of space rhino

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Robert

No worries. I will write one up for you

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Mon 21:54

Robert

Robert Nesbitt is a father of three with one more on her way to be part of my mad gang. I am the writer and creator for an upcoming graphic novel known as RhynX coming 2024. I am also currently under taking a screenplay writing course and furthering my eduction as I push myself to achieve my dream. I love retro gaming, comics and movies. Also I am a collector of toys from the 80’s and early 90’s.

TV Magic Moments: Walking Dead Amy Turns

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

I fell in love with the Walking Dead from the very first episode and it wasn’t long before I realised nobody is guaranteed to get to the following episode. One case in point is the death of Amy played by Emma Bell. What caught me from the start of this show was that I felt sorry for the zombies especially the one Rick met in the opening episode which has been somehow cut in half. (That zombie’s origin was shown in a mini episode to compliment the new season). This was once a woman living her life and now crawled the world as this abomination.

This was different; this was new and there was no better example of this in the death of Amy. She was the sister of Andrea (Laurie Holden) and seemed destined to be a series regular. However in episode four the camp was attacked by a zombie horde and Amy was bitten. What really made this work for me was the reactions of young actor Chandler Riggs who played Rick’s son, Carl. As a young kid, his terrified screams chilled me to the bone as the dead attacked as he clung to his mother.

Amy dies in Andrea’s arms and it is the first time we see a corpse reanimating. But it is how the director shot it that made the horror even more heartbreaking. When Amy begins to reanimate it is as if she is waking from a sleep. Andrea speaks to her and Amy looks to her sister. Slowly she lifts a hand and touches her hair. It is as if Amy recognises Andrea and is reaching out to comfort her. For a moment you swear Amy is going to speak. Her hand is almost stroking Andrea’s hair as her mouth moves. Amy struggles to sit up, her mannerism not yet that of an aggressive zombie. She seems almost confused until her grip tightens on Andrea’s hair and it is clear she is trying to bite her. Yet you cannot help but get the feeling that it is a younger sibling trying to find comfort and reassurance from her big sister in all this horror. Even up to the famous guttural snarls that end with a bullet through the head, Amy seems to be struggling to talk to her sister one last time. It makes things even more tragic when Andrea has to kill her sister.

This is where the Walking Dead differed from every other show. The tragedy of becoming one of the undead is looked at and played out to heighten the suffering of the main cast as they lose loved ones. Amy’s death remains part of the reason the show resonated with viewers and set them on the path as a phenomenon.

Photo and video copyright AMC

Classic Villains: Misery’s Hammer Swinging Annie Wilkes

By Owen Quinn author

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.

1990 saw the release of the movie adaption of Stephen King’s novel Misery starring James Caan and Kathy Bates.

The plot sees famous author Paul Sheldon played by Caan crashing in deep snow having finished his new novel. He is famopus for the Misery series but tired of the character he has killed her off as he wants to expand to other stories. He is rescued by one Annie Wilkes who as it turns out is Sheldon’s biggest fan. However this is far from the lucky happenstance it appears to be as Sheldon discovers that Annie has a darker side than first appears.

On paper Annie is a dark presence and Kathy Bates took the role on for the big screen winning an Oscar for her performance. Rightly so as she is magnetic. Jason had his machete and Freddy had his five fingered glove claw but the most terrifying person that year was Annie welding a sledge hammer.

Annie lives in the countryside near the town of Silver Creek and at first, realising ahe had her favourite author in her home albeit bed ridden, is a genuine thrill for her. She gushes all over Sheldon displaying her fandom genes. She even introduces him to her pet pig which she named Misery of course. She seems harmless enough and seems to have a knowledge of medication due to his injuries. She tells him she has made calls to the hospital and agent and spoken to the top orthopedic surgeon. He allegedly told her that as long as there is no infection she could keep him there until the snows clear and the roads are accessible again. While there she bought the final book in the Misery series, Misery’s Child. It is clear that she is besotted with Sheldon and Misery. Annie tells him that there are two perfect things in the world, one of which is the Misery’s Child book and the Sistine Chapel. She says he is a great poet. As time passes she opens up to him about her failed marriage something she is not a fan of, and how reading Misery on the night shift as a nurse in the hospital got her through these times.

Even her language is bizarre. She never swears and uses phrases like cock a doodie.

But when she reaches the end of Misery’s Child, Annie freaks out. She is furious at him for killing the character off and beats his damaged legs with the book. Coldly and without emotion she informs him she never called anyone and no one is coming for him. If she dies so does he. Such is her twisted personality, she is nice as pie the following morning when she finds him lying on the floor.

But she has a plan. Forcing him to burn his new non Misery novel, she demands he bring Misery back. Supplied with a typewriter and paper, Sheldon is forced to write for his life to appease his number one fan. When he tells her the paper is the wrong type because it smudges, she unleashes another furious attack on him.

At the prospect of a new Misery book being written in her home, Annie returns to her friendly self but Sheldon is sneaking out of his room and discovers the threat is worse than he thought. Annie is baby killer who was charged over the deaths of several infants. She is a complete fantasist who keeps it all in a scrapbook to read back over at her leisure. The trial collapsed due to lack of evidence but it is clear that she was guilty. Her ego is fragile but Sheldon plies her with compliments to gain her favour and put her off guard.

Annie is clearly disturbed and suffers from depression triggered by the rain. She admits she once loved the writer but now loves him as a person. She admits she knows he doesn’t love her and that he will never know the pain of unrequited love. She is not a movie star type so he would not look at her twice. She flashes a gun admitting she thinks about using it sometimes on herself. She says she might put bullets in it leaving Sheldon with no illusion he is running out of time.

But Sheldon underestimates her attention to detail indicating she has OCD. She notices one of penguins is facing the wrong direction and that he has been out of his room. To prevent it from happening again and to ensure the book is finished, comes one of the most horrible scenes in movie history. This is the one that cemented Misery’s place in the audience’s minds and still makes us wince to this day.

Bates is so matter of fact about what she is about to do as she gives her speech. It is as if this is the most normal thing in the world and necessary to write the book. She gives him a history lesson on hobbling, something done to thieves in the Kimberley diamond mines. If you smashed their ankles they could still work but not be able to steal and run. You know what is coming and the tension makes everyone cringe even before the hammer swings. Director Rob Reiner does not hold back as Annie swings and both ankles twist inhumanly leaving the strapped down Caan screaming in agony. Once done the camera goes to close up on Annie. It is almost as if she has just had an orgasm as she breathes, “God,I love you.”

He is desperate to escape especially when Annie murders the local Sheriff who discovers her secret. She guns him down and is about to commit murder suicide on her and Sheldon. He desperately pleads with her to let him finish the book so at least the world will have Misery back after they’re gone. But he turns the tables when he burns the book in front of her robbing her of reading it. They fight and Sheldon stuffs burnt paper in her mouth before battering her to death with his typewriter. However Sheldon is forever haunted by the ghost of Annie Wilkes.

Mental illness is more prevalent these days than ever before and with Annie any sympathy you may have after the gun scene is lost when you remember she is a baby killer. Her behaviour stems back to her childhood as she felt cheated by the old classic serials where each epsiode ended with the hero dying then at the start of the following one showed them surviving. Annie hated the fakeness and screamed it out in the middle of the cinema. Does her equating Liberace to romance mean her concept of love was determined by something when she was younger? Did she enter marriage on a fairytale notion of how it would be?

She used a position of love and trust to murder and went off the grid when the trial collapsed so never received any treatment or help. We never learned why her marriage ended so it may be the charges ended it. If it wasn’t that then maybe Annie was displaying symptoms of irrational behaviour like her temper tantrums so her husband left. Having moved to the outskirts of Silver Creek, Annie’s isolation would only have amplified her thought processes making something like Misery her reason to live. You see it all the time with obsessed fans who spend every minute watching their favourite shows and spending money that they don’t have on memorabilia. They don’t have healthy relationships and the boundaries between fact and fiction erode away to nothing. I once remeber going to a Star Trek convention where a fan stood up and said he lived and breathed the show every day. I’ve seen people take on the very body language and traits of a fictional character.

Annie Wilkes is a timeless lesson that fantasy has its place but should never take the place of people or love. While real life can sometimes send us there, we must fight to keep it separate.

Doctor Who The Candle

An original Doctor Who sstory by Owen Quinn author

Photo copyright Owen Quinn and BBC

The Doctor closed his eyes as the Tardis began its familiar materialisation procedure. He shut the wheezing, groaning crescendo from his senses, letting the temporal vibrations wash through him. He had heard her a million times before but had never taken the time to try and feel how she felt when the time machine slipped through the depth of the time vortex, choosing its destination and pushing though into a new reality like a newborn coming into the world. Ever since he’d met the Tardis’ soul in the body of Idris out there in House’s domain, the Doctor had seen her in a different light. At times, he could still see her out of the corner of his eye, flitting round the console room like a fairy at the bottom of a garden in that golden trial like a billion gold stars at the end of a rainbow.

He took his hands off the console and raised his bowed head in an instant as if he’d been electrocuted. He frowned as his eyes darted over the place as he seemed like a kid that had just been caught dipping his finger in the strawberry jam after he’d handled worms.

“We’ve never done that before. I’m so sorry, old girl,” he said out loud. “All these centuries and we’ve never been to the end of the rainbow.” His voice was tinged with disbelieving regret.

“Still, maybe that’s a good thing. Imagine what the leprechauns would say if we spilt their pot of gold. They’re such fussy people; I never had that trouble with the Oompa Loompas.” He shook away thoughts of complaining short people as he raced around the console, fingers dancing like seasoned ballerinas. No, he decided, holding his hands in the air. Let’s live a little. Bounding to the Tardis doors, the Doctor took a deep breath, wishing for a second that he had gone to pick up Amy and Rory. It seemed like an eternity since he’d seen either them or River Song but then, in the life of a Time Lord, it could well have been an eternity. A small grin played about his face. Timey, wimey, spacey, wacey… oh, I really need a new phrase.

A damp chill clamped to his skin the minute he stepped outside, the beginnings of a thin mist forming in the early autumn night air. He licked the mist and smacked his lips.

“Hmm, five fifteen in the afternoon, November 23rd 1963, not a bad year,” he muttered wishing he’d worn his Stetson and that super scarf he used to sport back in the day. Super scarves were cool, but now bowties were even cooler, he thought wryly, spinning slowly on his heel to look around. He made a mild cooing sound of delight as he saw the familiar sight of a hospital. There’s bound to be a shop he almost clapped and it would still be open. As thoughts of jelly babies and brandy balls swirled in his head, he began rifling through his pockets and found some pound coins. With an enthusiastic rub of his hands, he set off, doffing an imaginary hat to a passing ambulance. He stopped, briefly watching it disappear, wondering if they needed his help. Thoughts of Rory came to him, so he made a mental note to go collect them when he had his bag of sweets. He went to walk when a shape in the mist caught his eye. It looked like a Rutan. It seemed to twist and twirl upwards and it was then something caught his eye.

In the greying veiled world of fog he could see a solitary light above him. Despite the darkness and shrouding fog, the light seemed almost smeared like a jaundice smudge. It reminded the Doctor of a single child staring into the darkness pleading for help. The Doctor stood staring at it for a few seconds oblivious to everything else. It called to him, sending out waves that it was calling to him. He threw the silhouetted Tardis a withering look.

“You’ve done it again, sexy,” he chided sweetly. Drawn like the proverbial moth, the Doctor set off towards it.

When he discovered that not only was there no shop but his pound coins were useless, sometimes the time zones blurred into one for him, making him forget that each had their own particular means and protocols, he grumped. He worked out where the light he had seen was coming from and slipped through the warren corridors like a ghost on a mission. The Doctor waved his psychic paper to a ward sister who stood blocking his way like a Zygon in a Skaresen nursery. She gave him a Sil like glare but melted upon reading his paper.

“You seem very young for a Sir,” she purred uncertainly, grey eyes flicking from the paper to meet his. He gave her his most disarming smile.

“Appearances can be deceiving Matron but we are making huge bounds in the medical world,” he assured her. Leaning forward, he picked his paper from her hands and grinned. “And before you know it, we’ll even have a little shop at the front as you come in. Medicine is more than needles and popping pills after all. Think of all those patients lying bored senseless all day and dreaming of sucking on a strawberry bonbon.” He gave her a stern look.

“Matron Billings, it will change the face of medicine as we know it. Trust me, I’m the Doctor.” He took her hand and kissed the back of it gallantly with a playful wink. “Carry on matron.”

Blushing, she went on her way.

The Doctor made his way down the corridor, artificial lighting making his eyes hurt. He disliked artificial lights; it reminded him of the Capitol on Gallifrey. He was five floors up and he had worked out in ten seconds exactly where the light was coming from. He paused for a moment, calculating his approach through every possible obstacle or outcome. Even to the Time Lord brain, hospital corridors could seem like a maze, the monotony, the sterility, the sameness, all reasons that contributed to his leaving his homeworld. He rarely mentioned it these days. He never needed to. There were bigger issues now. He whipped out his sonic screwdriver, its familiar ping the only sound as he waved it like some great wizard weaving magic. Hospitals were places where even time was distorted. Minutes seemed like hours and days were robbed of their very names. Wards were battlegrounds that saw the strong fight to return to their own lives while others lost the struggle. The Doctor could feel death sliding along the walls like an oil slick seeking his next victim. He checked the shadows; not Vashta Nerada then. He was fresh out of chicken legs anyway. The Doctor then looked sideways to a blue door, the green from the tip of his sonic reflecting in his narrowed eyes. Flicking it off he pushed the door opened and strode in like he owned the place. An elderly woman of around seventy looked at him in puzzlement. He stood there beaming, sonic screwdriver hidden up his sleeve as eyes shot round the room. She stared at him, pulling her neck high nightie even tighter around her neck not knowing what to expect. There it was. The light source he had seen from the grounds; the reason the Tardis had brought him here.

A lit candle. But why?

“Hello, don’t mind me. Carry on what you were doing!” he said cheerfully as he moved cross the room towards the simple candle on the window sill. As deftly as the best magician on the planet, his sonic reappeared, whirring again as he waved it over the candle. It was about six inches high sitting on a small circular glass plate, caked with melted wax in little mountain ranges and emitting a waxy smell. He could see beads of condensation on the window catching the flickering yellow flame and casting its reflection across the glass like a hundred tiny candles straining at the night. He flicked his sonic again and took in the readings, frowning at the result. He turned when the old lady made an exaggerated clearing of her throat. She had white curly hair, piercing green eyes that reminded him of ones he had when he was in his sixth incarnation and a demanding look on her face that made him squirm.

“You’re not a Plasmavore then,” he muttered before slipping cross legged into the chair by her bed. He extended his hand and she took it awkwardly. “Hello, I’m the Doctor, you’re looking well, Mrs….” He dipped to the side to look at her chart. “Bush.” The name dropped from his mouth like a stone as he looked at her. She stared back expectantly. The Doctor stared at her, words locked in his throat.

“I knew it,” she croaked. “I knew you’d come in my last hours.” She reached a wrinkled hand for him and he moved forward to take it, more to reassure himself this was real and not some trick of an Eternal or the Celestial Toymaker. He continued to stare at her, unable to find the words.

“Did you regenerate without a tongue? But at least you don’t have to drink any carrot juice with that waistline,” she teased. He bowed his head, almost in shame.

“Hello Mel. I’m sorry, but how? It’s 1963.” He could still see the curly red haired computer genius that had travelled with his sixth incarnation with her hyer-personality and determination to get his rather ample waisted persona fit and healthy. Funny enough he had never drank carrot juice since. Then again, it would probably have taken a couple of weeks stranded in a jungle to shift the pounds in those days.

Mel squeezed his hand and sighed as if a lifetime of stress had just been lifted from her. “Ever hear of the Weeping Angels?” she asked. His eyes flared at her with horror and disgust.

“They got you,” he said simply.

She nodded in answer, hiding the regret and sorrow of the decades. “It was after I left you. I got back to Earth and settled back into life, but one night I found myself being chased by a stone statue. At first I thought I was imaging things. It didn’t seem normal for the things that happened to us in the Tardis would ever follow me back home, but they did. I found myself alone back in the past. I had to survive on my own, using my skills without becoming obvious.”

“I’m so sorry Mel. I didn’t know. I checked on all my companions a couple of years back when things were not good with me and you were fine. I’m so sorry.”

She tried to hold back a vengeful glare. She pulled her hand away, “I thought you would come back and rescue me. There was no UNIT for me to call, but I did work for Winston during the Second World War. I was his favourite code cracker but could I get him to stop those cigars?” She laughed at the memory.

“And before you ask, I was there when he used those Daleks as a new weapon. He kept me a secret from you because of the timelines at my request. I assumed you had a good reason for not coming for me so I thought it best not to upset history.”

The Doctor leaned forward fixing her with his eyes: “You always were the clever one, at times more clever than me. The Angels consume their victim’s future lives so they have to live their remaining lives in the past. Not even the Tardis can bring them back. I am so sorry.”

“I knew it. I knew you wouldn’t just abandon me, but then again I felt like you did.”

“I never knew Mel. But then that’s me, I suppose. I check once and think that’s it. Everyone’s sorted; life after the Tardis is great. Were you happy?”

She waved away his concern breaking into a burst of excitable energy before suddenly deflating again. She pulled at her blanket, her emotions stirring.

“I made do,” she admitted, “no point in filling you full of waffle, not at my age. I resented you for not finding me. I was so tempted to grab you in Churchill’s war room and run back into the Tardis.” She fixed him with a stare filled with regret.

“I did meet someone but he was killed in the Blitz. I never had children. I always wanted children. There was a group called Torchwood who were set against you.”

“I know. I met them, It didn’t end well… for anyone.”

“Well, I kept removing any talk or reports of you from any archives. Churchill agreed. It was better they knew as little about you as possible.”

“Thank you,” the Doctor muttered sincerely as he held her hand tightly.

“Watch the circulation Doctor; it’s not as good as it was. Not that I expect it to be at ninety six.”

“You’re ninety six!” he cried disbelievingly. “I’d swear you were late sixties at most.” Mel chuckled.

“I told you to drink carrot juice. We can’t all regenerate when the going gets tough.”

“But what did you mean ‘your last hours’?” he asked, tucking her blanket in just to do something as guilt overran him.

She patted his hand feeling how young it was beneath her wrinkled skin.

“The old ticker is on its way out. I won’t last til the morning, apparently,” she explained. “But that’s fine. You’re here to see me on my way.”

“Where there’s life…” The Doctor encouraged her.

“You were my life, Doctor. Even when you were gone and I fell foul for those bloody angels, you were still my life. I fought the good fight all the way in honour of you.”

He held her hand and brought it to his forehead. She could see him welling up, something that she never expected to see. She could hardly imagine her Doctor being so emotional.

“Tears, Doctor? The older you get, the softer you get,” she commented. “It seems that applies to Time Lords too.” She took her hand back and wiped a tear from his cheek with her thumb.

“I’m sorry,” he repeated.

“Stop apologising,” she chastised, giving him a slight slap on the arm. “The good times out-weighed the regret and resentment, believe me.”

A wave of fatigue came over her, making her lay back against her pillow. Concerned, the Doctor waved his sonic over her and checked the readings. Her breathing was becoming shallower and he fluffed her pillow, making her comfortable. Mel managed a smile at him.

“I can still see you in there no matter how many times you change your face, you know.”

“Only those I let into my hearts have ever said that. I never did thank you Mel for trying to help me. You were a calming force for me back then. Although I never really cared for all that exercise stuff; Time Lords aren’t made for it. There has never been a track suit on Gallifrey never mind a pair of shorts.” Her laughter made him smile.

“You have a beautiful eyes,” she sighed. “I never really noticed that before. They light up when you smile.”

“You were always beautiful. Even more beautiful than a Vervoid or the Rani, especially when she impersonated you.” He cocked his head as he rested his elbows on the edge of her bed. He was barely containing his emotion and hoped the guilt consuming him wasn’t evident.

“Why the candle?” he asked. “Is it religious?”

She blinked at him.

“No,” she said simply, “there’s a tradition that if you put a light in a window it will draw lost souls home once more. So I figured since I was lost, it would draw me to you one last time.”

“You lit it for me?” His voice almost cracked, but he held it together.

She asked for a sip of water which he gave her gratefully. With a smile, her old eyes glanced at the candle.

“It’s been lit for eleven days,” she admitted. “I had never given up, even when the doctors told me the bad news; although ninety six years can hardly be called a bad run. My will is set and everything has been arranged and paid for.”

“Ninety six; pretty good for a human,” the Doctor nodded. He settled in his chair. “It worked Mel. Your candle brought me to you in your hour of need. And I won’t leave your side, I promise.” She blinked back tears.

“Promise me one thing Doctor; promise me you’ll always fight things like the Angels. Fight the good fight, no matter who you lose or what comes to test you. Don’t let them take any more like me.”

“Easy words Mel, but I will try.” She gripped his hand tightly.

“No!” she snapped. “You’ll do it. You are so lucky to live life again and again but we get only one shot. You will never know how hard it was watching the Tardis disappear from Churchill’s chambers that night, but I resisted.” She bit her lower lip as she felt her life ebbing away. “You are the Doctor, you always will be. You give people like me hope. My time with you was all I had when the Angels took me so please don’t ever give up or look back. Continue the fight, not only in my name but for all the others who’ve travelled in that beautiful, big, blue magic box. I’m not the first and I won’t be the last but I’ll live on in the hearts of a Time Lord.”

He stroked her hair sadly, nodding, the words caught in his throat. She put a frail hand on his cheek where he held it to his skin as if trying to give her some of his regenerative energy.

“What more could I ask for Doctor? What more could I need?”

The Doctor nodded. “You will forever be here.” He touched the left hand side of his chest, “and here.” He touched the right.

“I will not leave until the last grains of the sands of your time run out.” He brushed a stray wisp of hair from her fringe drinking in every moment of her. “Now sleep Melanie Bush. Move on, knowing the candle worked and brought this lost soul back to you. And know I will forever be proud to have known you and to call you friend.”

He sat there not moving, struggling to fight the slow pass of time. Mel slept peacefully and he checked her over, knowing the end was near. When she took her final breath, he offered a Tibetan prayer for her soul and gently kissed her forehead. He stood, limbs stiff, and turned to the candle. He stared at the flame for a few seconds. He had never watched death like this, not up close and personal. He watched the morning dew run down the window and, like the morning, was weeping for his lost friend. He vowed to Mel that he would fight on, cutting the head of evil as it rose, no matter where it was and he would protect his friends with his life, even the ones he hadn’t met yet. The Doctor wiped tears from his eyes before using his thumb to extinguish the flame. He walked to the door before giving Mel one final look. He lifted the melted candle deciding he had a nice spot for it in the Tardis. He whispered goodbye before fetching the nurse.

He stood by the Tardis door. He ran his hand down her panel.

“Thank you old girl,” he muttered. His breath fogged on the dawn air. His looked back at her room five floors up and smiled. Time to honour her and make sure nothing like that ever happened again.

“Heads up Ponds,” he said. “Here we go again.”

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters S01 E03 Spoilers

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

Photos copyright Warner bros

We hit the ground running this episode as Shaw, the Randas and May flee the Monarch compound as fugitves.

Again we are teased with droplets of backstory. Monarch once stood for good as was inended by Shaw and mon and dad Randa. But something went wrong leaving Shaw a prisoner and with few allies, one of which helps him and the others escape from Tokyo. A nice touch that the audience might miss is that he has been a prisoner so long he does not know how to start a modern car.

Jumping back to the fifties we see young Shaw and Bill and Keiko Randa try to get funding and back up from the government via the military. And this leads nicely into the much anticipated appearance of our favourite lizard, Godzilla. Those shots of him ploughing through the ocean and rising from the water in all his glory are great, attracted to the radiation from the nuclear bomb. Even when it goes off in his face seemingly killing him is a shock even though we know he will survive or is this just another member of the Godzilla species?

Immediately we see the conflict start between the Randas and the immediate military as they trip the trap to kill Godzilla with a nuclear bomb much to Keiko;s anger. She wants to tell the world about these creatures but the brass want it kept secret. We get mention of the hollow world and a surprising new mystery as to Shaw’s age which he dismisses as good genes. But in the wake of Godzilla’s apparent death, Shaw and the Rands get a blank cheque to do whatever they want to find others like Godzilla but even then they intend to be selective about what to tell their benefactors.

The Randa siblings conflict is becoming a bit tiring now especially Cate’s bad attitude towards the others. While it is good to have conflict between allies, it needs some softening or it becomes eye rolling. Come on Cate, your dad screwed everyone not just you and all for Monarch. Shaw knows their father so well, he knows where he was really going where the mystery deepens. A crashed plane and camp with documents with their father’s handwriting lead Cate and Kentaro to embrace for the first time. Their father did indeed survive his fake death and ended up here in Barrow, Alaska.

But the road leads them to deep trouble as a new monster bursts from the snow and ice, a monster that can kill you in a heartbeat. Their plane andally destroyed and dead, stuck in the open, our heroes watch in horror as the beast swings in their direction.

Monarch Legacy of Monsters S01E02 review: Spoilers

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

Photos copyright Warner Bros and others

This episode opens in 1952 with Lee Shaw being summoned sporting a black eye only to be sent to work for Doctor Mira on an undisclosed mission. He meets her and together they meet Bill Randa in the jungle. A disagreement between Shaw and Mira ends up with Shaw being dismissed. Randa’s story of dragons peeks Mira’s scientific curiosity as her readings match what he thinks are migratory patterns like birds. Things take a bizarre twist when they discover a naval battleship in the middle of the jungle. Randa recognizes it as the Lawton lost since 1943. More than that however Lawton was the only survivor when the ship went down and knowing they hit something massive that night, he has been searching ever since following the radiation traces. He believes that there is something very much alive out here that caused the ship to sink.

I love the way the story is being peeled back a bit at a time and Randa’s backstory puts Skull Island into perspective. The Titan story has been going for longer than we thought. We get a taste of true horror here aboard the decaying corridors of the Lawton. Mira and Randa find the bodies of the crew perfectly preserved in some sort of mucus. Worse still, they try to leave and fresh mucus has appeared pushing this into Alien and Predator territory as they are hunted in confined corridors by something unknown. Shaw returns just in time to get them out and they escape. Again the effects are great as the ship tumbles as a huge dragon kaiju bursts free and attacks them.

Meanwhile Kentaro goes through his father’s files discovering Shaw’s dossier. He and his mother are still coming to terms with Cate’s revelations but have more pressing matters when Monarch hits them hard. Cate is kidnapped by Tim and causes their car to crash escaping but trapped in Tokyo. Kentaro and his mother are attacked in their apartment but Kentaro escapes. Tim however now knows who Kentaro’s father is. Cate has turned to May who has seen the files and is now in danger too. Kentaro meets them and knows where to go. They find Shaw who tells them the story about their father’s death is not true. He offers to go with them to help uncover the truth and bring Monarch down. Kurt Russell as always lights up the screen and this older Shaw may not be forgiving as his younger self once was. May realises that this is a prison and Shaw cuts his tracker from his ankle. Now they are all fugitives with Monarch in pursuit.

While we get answers here to the past, all it does is open up new ones. Why is Shaw being electronically tracked as a prisoner and is Tim still a friend or lethal foe acting for Monarch? What happened that they ended up poles apart? Why has nobody seen the dragon kaiju since 1952? We know thre is another world below us, the hollow earth we saw in Godzilla versus KKong so is there breaches in that allowing these creatures access to our world? By no means are Cate and Kentaro loving siblings but will the full truth about their father destroy or unite them?

Within two episodes, we know a lot but have been left with more questions. Again great characterisation and a brand new monster and a story that keeps us here for the ride.

Forgotten Villains: Doctor Who’s The Fendahl

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

Photos copyright of BBC

“The Fendahl is death. How do you kill death itself?”

A chilling description for one of the most unique and terrifying monsters ever in the history of Doctor Who. In this 1977 season 15 story the opening moments firmly set the horror tone of this story which is maintained all the way through.

Scientists have discovered a human skull which will change everything they know about evolution. The skull is 12 million years old and Doctor Maximillian Stael is using a time scanner to test the skull. Itreacts to it and affects fellow scientist Thea Ransom (Wanda Ventham and mother of one Benedict Cumberbatch). In the dark woods of fetch Priory, a lone hiker suffers a horrible death as something consumes him literally sucking the very life force from his body causing it begin decomposing within hours, The Tardis is pulled through a hole on time caused by the scanner. Stael has no idea the power he is tapping into and how it is impacting reality. Tracing the source to Fetch Priory, the Doctor and Leela face a threat so ancient that this could be the Doctor’s final battle.

Fetch Priory has long had a haunted reputation pf ghosts and demons and the woods are to be avoided. The name Fetch itself has satanic links. The Doctor and Leela meet Mrs Martha Tyler and her son Jack. Mrs Tyler has psychic abilities and is well versed in the old ways eg using salt against evil. She is almost killed by the Fendahleen, describing it as a hunger that wanted her. She is a great character, an elderly lady with guts and prepared to fight the Fendahl with everything she has. She also provides some much needed humour when she admits there will come a day when she is too old for adventure. Leela recognises her abilities and wisdom of the old ways, forming a great bond with her.

They discover the skull is somehow merging with Thea to bring about the rise of the Fendahl again. it is revealed Stael’s real family name is Fendleman, literally a child of the Fendahl, influenced over the centuries to bring about the Fendahl again. He has created a cult using locals from the village to help him and gives the helpless Thea to be consumed by the Fendahl. She will become the Fendahl Core controlling her tapeworm like giant Fendahleen. The Fendahleen are brilliantly onceived and their sheer size in the corridors of the Priory make this a very claustrophobic story. The Doctor is almost absorbed by the skull when it compells him to place his hand on it. The Fendahl is so powerful not even a Time Lord can resist it. The Fendahleen freeze people in place as it sucks the life energy from them to feed the Thea Fendahl. The cliffhanger for episode 3 sees the Doctor, Leela, Mrs Tyler and Jack trapped by a Fendahleen in the corridor of the Priory. Frozen to the spot, a sick slurping sound is heard as a Fendahleen bears down on them. As a kid, I freaked out.

The climax of the story sees a fully powered Thea freeze the members of the cult and turn them into Fendahleen. Medusa like in appearance, the Fendahl/Thea version needs 13 people to become Fendahleen in order to unleash her full power. The Doctor realises that even in its inanimate state as the skull, the Fendahl influenced human development to bring it to the point where the Fendahl could return. The Doctor ponders if this accounts for man’s darker side. Personally, I think not as man is just flawed like every other species subject to good and evil.

Before Stael/Fendleman turns into one of the monsters, he kills himself. This means that the Fendahl are weak. The Doctor turns the time scanner to overload. The resulting blast will destroy the Priory and everything in it. Stealing the skull, the Fendahl are trapped as they are consumed by the implosion. To ensure the skull does not wreak havoc again, the Doctor and Leela drop it into a supernova. The universe os safe from the threat of the Fendahl once again.

Part of the reason this story works so well is the fact the Fendahl are so well realised. The Fendahleen have a cobra like outline but those nasty tendrils hanging from their gaping mouths are something out of a nightmare just like the Ood in the new era. Anything hanging from a creature’s mouth is repulsive. They may be the reason behind witchcraft and devil worship as scans show a hexagon embedded in the skull. The night time shooting of the scenes involving the death of the hiker and almost death of the Doctor are well shot. The slurping sound effect of the invisible monster bearing down on the Doctor is terrifying. The director ensures the camera POV is slightly above indicating the height of the Fendahleen monsters. It adds so much atmosphere to the story. It feels at times the Doctor and Leela may die here against such a powerful foe. The design of the Thea/Fendahl is unique and memorable. Actress Wanda Ventham eyes are closed but wide alien eyes are painted on over them giving her a great look with the almost snake like hair.

Image of the Fendahl is very much a horror story that uses familiar elements to evoke the old Hammer Horror movies. The gestalt Fendahl terrified me as a kid and it remains a firm favourite of mine. It is doubtful they will return to the show but to celebrate the 60th anniversary I will dig out the DVD and turn into that 10 year old kid once more.

Forgotten Villains: Doctor Who’s Rose Tyler: Turn Left

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriots and Zombie Blues

Rose Tyler a villain??? What? What? What?

Yep, it’s true. As much as you cried and wailed over the doomed love story between her and the Doctor in Doomsday and cheered when she got a duplicate but human Doctor in Journey’s End, it wasn’t a smooth journey. But there was something at times that made me dislike Rose, for example the way she treated Sarah jane Smith and her rolling her eyes when Mickey joined her and the Doctor on their travels. Add to that her flirting with Captain Jack and the fact the Doctor dropped her completely to live a life with Madame de Pompadour which went unmentioned, made her a nasty and unlikeable figure to me at times. If any fella did that to your sister you’d have something to say about it.

The Doctor was all she cared about as her mum Jackie, pointed out in Parting of the Ways. She also pointed out how much Rose had changed and she didn’t recognise her any more. But it wasn’t until Turn Left episode that we saw just how much of a selfish bitch Rose Tyler truly was. Her obsession with the Doctor was way out of control which h shares responsibility for given the speech he gave Sarah Jane in School Reunion and the fact he can regenerate into a woman.

Having been trapped in the parallel universe at the end of Doomsday, it was clear Rose had been working on a way to get back to the love of her life,. But even writing that phrase doesn’t sit well with me. We all do things for love that might seem crazy to others but Rose takes it to a whole new level. If the Doctor really is the love of her life, would ending up with a human version of him really be enough for her? Did she take him because she knew the other version would outlive her and watch her wither and die. It has never sat right with me even now.

In Turn Left, Donna has a world created around her when a time beetle courtesy of Sarah Jane Smith’s enemy the Trickster, attaches itself to her. In this reality, she wasn’t there to save the Doctor when he fought the Racnoss. He died leaving Earth wide open and history began to take a new darker course all because she turned right instead of left on a road thanks to the nagging of her mother, Sylvia.

While Rose has used the alternate universe version of Torchwood to break through to our Earth to find the Doctor. Yes, stakes were high because Davros’ reality bomb was causing entire realities to collapse and the stars were going out in the heavens. However, it is her callousness towards Donna in order to achieve this that is most disturbing. It verges on psychotic. Rose knows Donna is the lodestone upon which everything depends. She must break free of the Trickster’s beetle to restore time to the correct path. The Doctor must survive the flooding of the Thames when he destroyed the arachnid Racnoss. As we learn from Turn Left, the world falls apart without him allowing the reality bomb to destroy everything. All of our heroes die as events from other episodes take a different turn like the Judoon stealing the hospital where everyon dies or Torchwood dying to save the Earth from the Sontaran Atmos weapon.

When Rose first shows up as the Doctor’s body is driven away by UNIT, you can see in her face that Donna is simply someone to be used. When Donna asks what Rose is looking at on her back, Rose’s whole demeanour is one of dismissiveness. As London is destroyed by the falling Titanic from Voyage of the damned, Donna and her family find themselves allocated to housing in Leeds where they are forced to live in shared housing, sleeping on a kitchen floor. Donna is hopeful she will get a job and get them a proper house but her mother Sylvia has a complete breakdown due to the state of the world. While Rose does try to convice Donna she is vital to saving everything, Donna doesn’t want to know. When she refuses, Rose takes a stand and casually and confidently tells her that she will come with her in three weeks and she is going to die. The delivery of this is harsh, almost matter of fact. It isn’t until she witnesses the stars going out that Donna realises that she has to go with Rose.

Using the nearly dead tardis, Rose sends Donna back in time to the moment her life changed. Donna that doing this will result in the whole world getting back to normal. I can’t help but feel that her encouraging Donna to step inside the Tardis and see the wonders for herself is simply Rose’s way of buttering Donna up for what is to come. Rose’s dislike for taking orders from UNIT are obvious for all to see even going so far as to tell them not to salute her just as the Doctor used to do. Is this a sign of some sort of complex?

When Rose uses the Tardis tech to show Donna the beetle on her back, she uses technobabble to explain it confusing Donna. When she asks what that means Rose laughs almost manically saying she doesn’t know, it was something the Doctor would say. Donna’s distress has no effect on her whatsoever which if the Doctor saw that, he would turn away in shame.

As Donna is about to be sent back in time to restore the timeline, she asks how Rose knows this will work. Rose answers she doesn’t as they are just guessing. When Donna babbles that she won’t really die as everything will be returned to normal. She asks that she will not die if things are sorted and she and the Doctor live. Rose stares at her impassively and says sorry. To Rose, Donna is simply a means to an end something to use. This is a trait that the Doctor has been accused of and it seems Jackie’s fears for her daughter are coming true. This Rose is cold, calculating but in her defence she is trying to save reality. This is the only way she can do it but it doesn’t feel right.

Even when Donna kills herslef by stepping out in frnt of a lorry to force her other self to turn left due to the traffic jam, Rose still hovers over her like an angel of death to ensure she delivers two words to the Doctor; two words that will alert him to the danger.

While Rose may seem to have noble intentions here, no pun intended, her execution of it makes for some uncomfortable viewing. This is a Rose that like the Doctor killing the Racnoss. She needs someone to step in and pull her back from the brink. There was another way to get Donna’s help and this cold interaction wasn’t it. It really just hughlighted how selfish Rose could be when she wanted something. Yes she was trying to warn the Doctor but her real focus was getting back with the man she loved. She stepped on and used anyone that could make thaat haappen regardless of the consequences, And that’s what makes Rose of Turn Left, the true villain of the piece.

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters S01 E01 review spoilers

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

Photos and video copyrght Warner Bros and others

The world is now cracked with conspiracy.

How did I never put it together before?

All my life I’ve loved monsters the bigger the better especially Godzilla movies. I love the Matthew Broderick version by the way; it’s great and I’ve followed Kurt Russell’s career since Lost in Space. Kurt battled the Thing, Chinese demons and became Elvis but he never went up against Godzilla or Kong or anything else. In real life he did witness the UFO phenomenon the Phoenix Lights. If he says it was a ship you can believe it especially as he had to report the sighting officially. Now he has a chance at a monster as he takes a lead in the new Monarch Legacy of Monsters show on Apple+ TV. It is set after the events of Godzilla vs Kong and Skull island directly referencing these movies but does it better the poor Godzilla vs Kong?

Well it wastes no time in transporting us back to Skull Island where Kong swats the helicopters out of the sky and Bill Randa (John Goodman) is running for his life from a giant spider. He manages to make a recording apologising for what he has done but hoping he can leave a legacy behind before he is caught at the edge of a cliff in a battle between a giant crab and said spider allowing him to escape. Fans of the movie already know he doesn’t get off the island. He tosses a bag into the ocean which is not found until 2013. Given Skull Island was set in the 70s, what will Monarch do with this information if indeed they have it?

Immediately I was caught up in this unseen monster scene from Skull Island and the effects are flawless. Bringing Goodman back was a great idea as his character was the head of Monarch and he knew the reveal of these giants could destroy everything for humanity. And the events of the movies have certainly had an impact on the world. The show crosses time zones as we see events that Monarch have been investigating for years secretly. In 1959 we find a deserted city where a massive radiation pool should be but has been eaten by Titans, housing something nasty. This Monarch team consists of young Bill Randa (Anders Holm), Lee Shaw (Wyatt Russell, Kurt’s real life son) and Duvall (Elisa Lasowski). We flashback to the Godzilla attack on San Francisco where the Golden Gate bridge is destroyed. So what have these different time zones have to do with the overall story?

The world is a very different place now as seen through the eyes of Cate Randa (Anna Sawai). Following the death of her fther she travels to Tokyo to tidy his affairs, a phrase that takes on a whole new meaning when she discovers her father was living a double life and had another family and she has a brother, Kentaro. The world is very different one. Passengers are sprayed for parasites when landing from another country. Tokyo is now soaked with weapons, drones and missiles with warning signs of Godzilla all over the place. It is all false because nothing can stand against a Titan attack and it is just governments trying to hold on to the illusion that humanity is the dominant force on the planet. Humanity’s time is over if Titans take back the world and no amount of spraying or armed guards at airports is going to change that. The world is cracked with conspiracy as word is that the San Francisco attack was achieved through CGI. However Cate is a survivor of that attack having failed to rescue children from a school bus when they were caught in the Godzilla Golden Gate bridge destruction.

Again these scenes are fantastic as a helpless Cate gets up close and personal with Godzilla amid the death screams of children. It is a stark reminder that no one is safe from the Titan attacks and they really do leave heartbreak and tragedy in their wake. We also see the after effects as Tokyo goes into lockdown at a suspected Titan attack. The populace flee to the subways where Cate has a panic attack again showing that the Titan presence is not just impacting how we live but how we feel too. The world has been traumatised which makes us but wonder what Bill Randa was hoping for out of letting the Titan loose on the world. Cate is not coping at all so she goes with Kentaro shows her their father’s office where the bag that was fished from the sea is hidden in a secret safe. She recognises the Monarch symbol as the same one worn by the soldiers and scientists that appeared on the bridge that day. Joining forces they manage to decode it proving their father’s job was also a lie. Kentaro asks his estranged friend May (Kiersey Clemons) to help them but this triggers Monarch to its presence and they want it back. However Monarch employee Tim makes a call.

This is great writing as the connections between everyone are slowly revealed and the multiple time zones work well to feed our connections to the characters and understanding where they stand in the story. Nothing is contrived and the world is cracked with conspiracy quote of mine is justified as we learn just how connected Cate and Kentaro are to Monarch and its mission. The monsters are perfectly done and the cliffhanger makes you want to come back for more. I like these characters and Cate stands out for me because she is hurt more than anyone else. She cannot understand how the people of Tokyo just simply go back to normal after a Titan scare as she hasn’t been able to move on from her experiences with her father and Godzilla. All of this is normal to Kentaro and his mother who equally don’t understand why Cate is so messed up more than she should be after discovering their father lied.

No story works without a human heart at the centre and Monarch Legacy of monsters certainly does a great job of throwing out the breadcrumbs while making you care about these people. It establishes a world that goes on while holding its breath and looking over its shoulder more than it should.

This I’m looking forward to.

Doctor Who Destination Skaro Children in Need review

By Owen Quinn author

SPOILERS AHEAD!!

With with only a week to go before the Doctor and Donna cross paths again in the 60th anniversary birthday special, we get a most welcome taste of the new Doctor once again standing proudly as part of the annual Children In Need event.

I didn’t realise how much I missed these until last night. While they may be short they give us so much pleasure like Time Crash and Tennant’s regeneration meltdown going into the Christmas Invasion so what would this new era bring given the fourteenth Doctor now has his tenth Doctor face back?

The anticipation was high as we wondered would it link to The Star Beast featuring a prequel featuring the Wraith Warriors, the Meep or Donna herself? No, we got a bonus surprise that like the Tales from the Tardis gives us an unexpected blast from the past. Many have wondered why a tank like a Dalek would have a sink plunger as an appendage which has been the subject of ridicule for years. Well, we writers have an answer for everything.

Enter Davros but not the hate filled wheelchair bound version we know and love. Here he is the scientist he once was before he became the version that has plagued the Doctor for years. The minute he opened his mouth you know who it is and welcome back to Julian Bleach. He is showing off the future of the Kaled race to a subservient Mister Castavillian in the form of his mark 3 travel unit aka a Dalek. The Dalek has a savage looking metal claw. The problem is he cannot think of a good name for it. Within just a few lines we see the Davros we know and his drive to rule with his new invention.

But we also get a new side of Davros as Castavillian tries to come up with a name by scrambling the letters of the word Kaled all of which Davros rejects. Bleach’s comedy timing is great making the Davros character multilayered. He really was human once.

But then the Tardis crashes taking the claw arm off in the process. The 14th Doctor pops out and accidentally gives the name Dalek, gives the exterminate catchphrase and replaces the claw with a sink plunger. Realising this is the genesis of the Daleks, he rushes off. Again a nice nod to the first on screen Davros story. The Doctor here is more exuberant that his tenth persona and reminds me very much of Quantum Leap’s Sam Beckett. He blunders in and accidentally cements part of the future into place. Just as Sam showed Michael Jackson how to moonwalk, gave Stephen King plots for books and inspired Donald Trump to build Trump Tower, so the Doctor christens the Daleks and provides the sink plunger that for years many have laughed at.

It’ a nice loose end to tie up and very Doctor Who as he becomes part of his own history. Davros returns and sees the damage and announes he loves it. With that the battle with the Toymaker and the Meep takes one step closer.

Thid is like getting the present you wanted for your birthday only to find an additional one hidden inside. It takes elements we know and makes them new again. This Doctor will not be a retread of the tenth Doctor but an independent version like all his other selves. This was fun and slotted into the show’s history as if it has always been there.

The 14th Doctor has arrived.