The Time Warriors and Beyond

Heroes of Doctor Who: Turlough

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

We once again look through the back catalogue of characters who helped make The Doctor the Timelord she is today…

Never before has a companion come aboard the Tardis with the express purpose of murdering the Doctor in order to secure passage home.

Revealed as a prisoner at a boarding school on Earth, Turlough is kept in check by a mysterious solicitor in London but is bored and hates Earth so does nothing but cause trouble. But this boy is devious and cunning and would blame his mother if it gets him out of mischief.

But as the fates would have it, he is at a school where the Brigadier, now retired from defending the planet with UNIT, is teaching maths and it is the ex UNIT man’s vintage car that Turlough steals and crashes. In a limbo – unconscious due to the crash – he is contacted by the Black Guardian, whom the Doctor defeated in his fourth incarnation in the Key to Time season. He has finally tracked the Doctor down but, unable to act himself, uses Turlough as his agent.

But time and again the boy has a crisis of conscience but is locked into the deal and must play it out. It’s certain the Doctor knows something is wrong so the old adage “Keep your enemies closer” comes into force and over the next two stories, Terminus and Enlightenment, sees the mission come to a conclusion. Trapped on a fleet of space ships that look like old Earth sailing ships with every type of crew including pirates, the Tardis crew find this is a race run by Eternals who need human minds to fuel themselves. The prize is Enlightenment and when Turlough betrays the pirate captain, who is also an agent of the Black Guardian, he finds himself the winner and the Doctor’s life is in his hands. Torn between the Black and White Guardians he chooses to save the Doctor. Enlightenment was his choice all along and the real prize which frees him from the Guardian’s agreement. Despite his constant arguing with Tegan who has never trusted him, even she must give him a second chance when he asks the Doctor to take him home.

Unfortunately for the character, there was no thought beyond the trilogy and Turlough spent most of his time locked up or just running around for no purpose. He is part of the twentieth anniversary and in the Five Doctors, he is paired with the Doctor’s granddaughter, Susan, and trapped in the Tardis, it is Turlough who manages to save it from being destroyed by a Cyber bomb.

In Warriors of the Deep, the third Doctor’s old enemies the Sea Devils and the Silurians, reptilian cousins and the original inhabitants of Earth, are out to start another world war. Turlough’s cowardice is seen again but he comes up trumps in the end, but I feel this was sloppy writing. It regresses the character instead of progressing him and, at this stage of his travels with the Doctor, he should have grown in confidence and not been so cowardly. He tried to rally the troops against the Master in the King’s Demons yet here all that is forgotten.

The Awakening is another ‘Turlough gets locked up’ story but Frontios tries to give him some dignity when an Earth colony at the end of time is threatened by the deadly Tractators, underground insects that can control gravity. As the story unfolds, Turlough had flashbacks to a racial memory when his home was invaded by the aliens and gives the Doctor the answer to stop them in the end.

He is side-lined in Resurrection of the Daleks because this is Tegan’s farewell story but his final story, Planet of Fire, sees him find a tribe from his homeworld and his past is revealed. Turlough is a political prisoner, his solicitoris actually his prison officer and his brother and father were sent into exile but their ship crashed, killing his father and leaving his brother a God in the eyes of the religion that had built up on the planet. Turlough always had a selfish streak and he almost doesn’t rescue Peri because he recognises the signal from his home world. But his conscience, no doubt influenced by his time with the Doctor, overcomes all and he takes charge to defeat the Master and save his people. In the end their political status is revoked and they are pardoned. Turlough almost doesn’t go home but he has a brother to care for now so he leaves the Tardis, telling Peri to look after the Doctor.

Of course, we meet again in novels and the fabulous Big Finish range where Turlough has so far had solo adventures, travelled alone with the fifth Doctor and rejoined his old team of Nyssa and Tegan for a new series of adventures. He has had a love interest and the character has deepened with every adventure. Mark Strickson is on record as saying how proud and delighted he is to have been part of the show and how he is great friends with his co-stars. He can talk for ages about the show and made a point of clearing his schedule so he could rejoin his old friends to record the new series of Big Finish all the way from Australia.

And not only that, he is only one of two companions to have his own novel along with Harry Sullivan in a story called Turlough and the Earthlink Dilemma.

He was involved in some big stories and the ginger-haired boy will never be forgotten.

Chris Sheerin’s Whore’s Power Book of Hoetry out now!

Posted by Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

Whore’s Power is a collection of poems that are very similar to the most famous works of Dr Seuss, Lewis Carroll, Edgar Allan Poe, Julia Donaldson, and Edward Lear. Any similarities, however, are nearly coincidental. Whore’s Power is the sixth of eight books in the Hoetry series. The other books are Whore Moans, Whore Nets, Whore’s Sense, Whore’s Play, Whore’s Flesh, Whore’s Back, and Whore’s Trading.

Get your copy here today https://www.amazon.co.uk/Whores-Power-Hoetry-Chris-Sheerin/dp/1543107761/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1610521980&sr=8-21

TW presents Sons and Broken Noses

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

Written by Damien Aulsberry

Directed and edited by Colin Fleming

Produced by Colin Fleming and Nigel O’Brien

Cast:

Jake (Eric Lalor) Sean (Jason Byrne) Gabriel Ronan (Robert McCormack) Mick Ronan (Frank O’Sullivan) Benny (Paul Doyle) Martin (Kamil Krawczak) Victim (Paddy Farrelly)

Here at the Time Warriors we love to feature other artists and their talents. Today we are showcasing an Irish short film, Sons and Broken Noses which was released to critical acclaim last year. It’s so good we had to show you guys in case you missed it. With the kind permission of the film makers you can watch the film below.

Sons and Broken Noses is a short contemporary Western with a black comedic edge, starring Jason Byrne, Eric Lalor, Frank O’Sullivan and Robert McCormack.
Robert McCormack who played Gabriel in the film also appears as Mel Gibson’s son in The Professor and the Madman. Robert is an amazing talent and was a pleasure to work with. Frank O’Sullivan plays our villain and was part of the Night watch in Game of Thrones. Frank is a long time player in The Druid theatre company and a Broadway veteran. Nigel O’Brien was producer and 2nd Unit Director.

Adam O’Brien presents Star Wars: The Beast of Endor

Posted by Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

There’s nothing we like more here at the Time Warriors than Star Wars and discovering new talent. We are delighted to show you the first movie from a brilliant new young filmmaker from Galway, Adam O’Brien. Adam is the son of the multi talented filmmaker/writer/director/all rounder Nigel O’Brien whose other work you can find here on the site. Using Lego Star Wars figures, Adam directed the mini movie and did the camera work while Dad Nigel edited it for him. I have to say I really enjoyed this; it’s so much fun. What will happen when the Empire comes up against the dreaded Beast of Endor who looks remarkably like Joey the Pug. Will even Vader flee in terror? Can our heroes persuade the Beast to help them defeat Count Dooku and his armies?

This just shows you what you can do with a small budget and a wealth of imagination. Adam has a great future ahead of him and Disney, if you need writers and directors that actually know how to make Star Wars well, myself, Nigel and Adam are waiting patiently for the call.

Book Excerpt: The Time Warriors The Voalox Horror: Emily’s Death

By Owen Quinn Author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

The Time Warriors are drawn to Victorian London gripped in terror by the return of Jack the Ripper. Women are being murdered again and the police are helpless. Varran realises it’s all wrong because this history never happened. What lies within the walls of an insane asylum? Who is Wainwright? What is the link between the future and Varran’s own past?

London was becoming a symbol for prosperity and a brave new world as more and more immigrants arrived to carve a niche in London society. No one realised what a wonderful time this was and how it would shape the entire face of the city for decades to come.

Not that Emily Baxter was aware of this as she stumbled from the Ram and the Bull tavern.

She shivered at the chill in the air and allowed herself a quick look at the night sky with its spray of silent stars before the black veil of night.

She snorted at the fog, her alcohol breath solidifying with each breath. Emily was a lady of the night who worked the Whitechapel area. Some nights business was good and she was able to adorn her rented room with pretty laces and cloths she had never seen growing up.

Her parents were dead, leaving her an orphan who had lived on the streets until she had fallen into the employ of old Mister Porter whom she had served as a maid for many years until he died from consumption.

When that happened his lecherous son had sold the house and its entire contents to immigrate to the Americas where apparently wealth guaranteed a life of luxury among the elite of which there were many there.

Emily had often wondered what her life would have been like if young Mister Porter had loved her as she did him and whisked her away from a life of servitude to where she would be waited on hand and foot and drink tea on a balcony in the Havanas.

She’d always liked the sound of the Havanas, a place she had first read about in one of the many books in the Porter library.

Mister Porter encouraged his staff to read and educate themselves. He was a rare breed indeed.

He would beguile his staff with wonderful stories from all over the world, transporting them night after night to places they had never imagined but had heard existed somewhere where the ships sailed.

It seemed a virile world, full of opportunity and excitement. Life was good in the Porter household but Emily couldn’t help but wonder.

While serving dinner, young Mister Porter never noticed Emily’s coy, bashful glances, stolen when the servants weren’t being watched.

But in the early hours, she didn’t resist his dark advances when he stole into her room to satisfy his lust.

And poor, poor Emily had thought it was love because the books said so.

She could scarcely believe it when he departed with his new wife, leaving her all alone, the house, their home, sold from underneath them.

Unfortunately, her severance pay hadn’t lasted that long and Emily had found herself drawn into the world of prostitution. If she closed her eyes, she could imagine being on that balcony basking in a glorious pink and red sunset. And there she stayed until her customers had finished and paid her for her time.

With no lover or suitable courtier, Emily had fallen heavily into drink and smoking. Her cackling laugh attracted many of the wrong type.

She was lonely but the money she could save and intended to get enough to go to the Havanas and live there, maybe meet up again with Mister Porter.

It was a dream that cuddled her to sleep many a night and would again tonight for she had had no takers and with the influx of sailors from the docks, it was rare for there to be no takers.

But then Emily had aged badly, drink having given her a face old before her time, her chestnut locks now singed with white and grey, hanging like greasy rat tails. She was a woman of forty two who looked fifteen years older. Her once perfect teeth had yellowed and rotted. Her lungs were raked with tobacco abuse.

Yet in her mind she was young and beautiful and still in her prime. Her little room was her world, a haven of hopes and dreams, a mere stepping stone to a new world.

There she would die of old age bathed in the warmth of perfect sunsets and maybe children. Oh, how she longed for a child to love and care for and to give it the life she never had.

A mischievous chill brought her back to the cobbled street beneath a street light, its gas flame a melted glow in the dank fog. She could hear the steady chatter of night life as horses bore their passengers to their varied destinations, respites from the cold air.

Checking her torn handbag with its broken clasp had not been emptied by one of the more scurrilous clients of the inn, Emily pulled her green frayed knitted scarf tighter around her neck. With a hopeful breath, she set off at a slow pace homeward, humming a tune to herself.

She saw a deformed shadow emerge from the grey walls before her, making her jump only to realise it was a drunken group of sailors, merry on shore leave and loyal servants of her majesty.

She called out to them, desperate for a last minute client but they laughed at her, pulling at her like a rag.

“No love, I’d rather spend my money on something a bit fresher,” one guffawed cruelly as they vanished into the night.

Giving them the fingers, Emily fired some unlady like language after them. She steadied her trembling lips and ignored the burning of her cheeks.

“I’m a lady, ya buggers!” she yelled before going on her way. I’ll show you, she cursed, when I’m sitting in the Americas and you’re throwing your guts up on the high seas, scratching your bits and praying the sores don’t make ‘em fall off. Bloody sailors, lepers the lot of ‘em!

Still cursing their lack of taste, she turned up into an alley. It was a shortcut home. She would soon be safe in her own bed, nestled among the hand stitched quilt with its panorama of pink roses which she picked up on the market for six pence from a grubby old sod.

The alley was flanked on either side by tall buildings which made it seem darker than it should. The fog squeezed into the narrow passage way in veils of shifting shadow.

The walls seemed moist both with urine and the damp night. Emily kept looking to make sure she didn’t step in anything untoward and soil her laced black shoes that had seen more repair than the Tower itself.

Dizzy from a mix of alcohol and fatigue, Emily stumbled, cursing those that used the alley to relieve themselves, falling roughly against a water barrel. It was worn and held together by two thick black metal bands and filled with green sloshing water. Jumping back as her fingers broke the surface, Emily wiped them on a dirty handkerchief she whipped from her pocket.

“God knows what diseases I can catch from that,” she muttered frustrated. As if to make sure, she looked into the water in case there was a dead dog or worse stuffed into the barrel.

The dark rippling surface betrayed nothing as the water shook from the effects of her hand breaking the surface. The barrel seemed to reflect only blackness. Emily stuffed the hanky back into her pocket, germs suddenly forgotten as something caught her eye.

As the water calmed, two lights appeared from the surface. For a second, Emily stood mesmerised thinking it was two of the most brilliant stars she had ever seen trapped in the murky surface of the water.

She cocked her head slightly as she leaned forward, her wrinkled hand lifting as if to scoop them away.

She stopped as the lights blinked.

Stars don’t blink, she thought bemused.

It took a moment for her to realise the twin stars were a reflection. Screwing up her face, she looked up. Her face froze in pure terror.

She choked on her scream as the huge black shape fell on her. The only witness to the sound of her flesh being ripped apart was the coiling fog which settled around the horror silently.

Get your copy to read the rest of this thrilling adventure here https://www.amazon.co.uk/Time-Warriors-Voalox-Horror/dp/1461154502/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=owen+quinn+the+voalox+horror+time+warriors&qid=1610488316&sr=8-1

Book Excerpt: The Time Warriors:The Voalox Horror: Soul Scream

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

When Varran offers to help with an alien colony in need, Jacke is struck by crippling nightmares. Something is wrong and the deed of a Good Samaritan may be the cause of the Time Warriors’ destruction. Who are the angels? What is Veloris hiding? What links Jacke to an alien world?

SOUL SCREAM PART 1

The corridor closed in around her as she fled barefoot down the riveted metal floor. She could hear it breathing, its stench that of rotting meat.

Her white nightdress clung to her figure. It was hot, the treacle air clawing at her, making her sweat profusely. Yet she could see her breath fogging as if she were running on a winter’s morning.

It was close behind and she felt the ceiling pressing down.

The corridor was long, a dull grey colour with sickly jaundice light from the inbuilt overhead junctions. The hexagonal shape reminded her of a bee hive. Always had but the Juggernaught had been built by the military for war. A hive mind at best.

Soothing the senses was not a high priority. The heavy bulkhead door reared before her like a metal sentry. She screamed in frustration as she slapped the controls on the left side but although the light turned green, it refused to budge as if it was working with the thing pursuing her.

It couldn’t be seen yet but its presence carved the air with a deep dread. Its evil seeped up through the very pores of the station as it sought out its prey, without remorse, without conscience. A thick fog oozed into the passage as the temperature rose, sweat blinding her.

Its breathing intensified, calling her by name now.

She screamed at it to go away but it gurgled mockingly, telling her to be afraid as it tasted her fear and drank it like water. It would take great pleasure in ripping her flesh and gnawing on her bones.

She could feel the darkness surge closer as the light dipped to a deep red. The fog thickened, dragging at her bare feet as the heat increased with the hissing.

It grated her ear drums and crept into her mind through every pore. It was close, getting closer. She threw herself back against the wall. She’d face it head on, knowing there was no chance of surviving. Better that than running forever. Her hair stuck to her face as she blindly wiped it back. She felt something warm and sticky on her hands.

Jumping, she looked at them in the hazy mist filled light and saw blood running like a tap down her arms. She screamed as the bulk head door exploded into a million molten flaming shards and the thing roared in excitement.

It was seven feet tall, draped in a hooded black gown, torn and splattered with bits of flesh and blood. Its face was in blackness but she could glimpse the flash of fangs curled back in a sadistic grin.

Long, slender hands covered in pale flaky parchment skin flexed slivery talons as she fell to her knees, covered in blood and sweat.

There was no escape.

The air screamed, the walls flowed with blood and the thing raised its arms triumphantly. It threw back its cowl and opened a maw filled with dagger fangs, ready to tear her apart. It leapt….

And Jacke jumped straight up in bed with a scream sweating. Her chest heaved fearfully. Her eyes darted round her dimly lit room checking for monsters. There were none. Lying back down, she pulled the lilac quilt tightly round her shaking body, frightened tears running onto her pillow.

Get your copy today and read the rest of this thrilling adventure here in The Time Warriors The Voalox Horror https://www.amazon.co.uk/Time-Warriors-Voalox-Horror/dp/1461154502/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=owen+quinn+the+voalox+horror+time+warriors&qid=1610488316&sr=8-1

TW celebrates Chief Miles O’Brien

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

Irish people in space are far and few between so thank God for one Miles O’Brien. Played by the wonderful Colm Meaney, O’Brien began life as literally a background extra in Star Trek The Next Generation’s pilot episode Encounter at Farpoint before progressing to the main transporter chief.

He is only one of three actors to appear in more than one Star Trek pilot episode, the others being Patrick Stewart, Picard (Next Gen and DS9) and Armin Shimmerman, Quark (DS9 then Voyager).

He was there when Picard was assimilated by the Borg and slowly became an integral part of the show as Star Trek’s everyman. And he was exactly that. He got married (Data’ Day) and became a father (Disaster). His character went some way to addressing the question as to why Starfleet allowed entire families on starships. The eloquence of the character was to be found in the fact that the marriage wasn’t perfect. He and wife Keiko, played by the under-rated Rosalind Chao, had fights and arguments as bad as any married couple but he was her soulmate even when they were separated for months at a time either by the Dominion War or because he left to study botany on Bajor.

O’Brien sort of slipped in under the radar and became as much a part of the Enterprise crew as the main characters, so it’s no surprise that his character was chosen to join the crew of new spin-off Deep Space 9 as chief of operations on the battered space station.

Colm brought a reality to O’Brien that suited DS9 much better as here was a family fighting to stay together and keep their love alive in the harshest of environments. He loved Keiko completely and their scenes together are some of the most heart-warming of the series. Keiko had shown she could stand on her own as a character and bring a comedy element just like her husband as seen in the birth scene in Disaster. In that episode, the Enterprise is crippled by a quantum filament. The crew are separated all over the ship and Keiko is trapped in Ten Forward along with Worf when she goes into labour. The startled Klingon has to deliver her baby while Miles is trapped on the bridge desperately trying to stop the warp core from exploding. Her scenes with Worf are comedy gold especially when Worf tells her she is now fully dilated and can now push thinking the baby will just pop out. Again, in Power Play when Troi, Data and O’Brien are possessed by aliens she stands up to them, willingly ready to sacrifice herself to protect her baby. Neither of them gushed like love sick puppies, but rather brought heart to their performances where you truly believed these characters were husband and wife.

When they moved to DS9, Miles helped Keiko set up a school which earned her the wrath of religious fanatics led by Kai Winn – played by Oscar winner Louise Fletcher.
During their time, the O’Briens were firebombed, shot at, kidnapped, put on trial on Cardassia, possessed, separated due to their respective careers, lost their daughter in a time warp and gained a son. But their love was strong enough to survive. O’Brien was a stubborn, pig-headed officer who lived by his instincts.
In the first DS9 episode Captive Pursuit he disobeys Sisko’s orders to help an alien called Tosk who has been bred to be hunted and when Q turned up he asked O’Brien “Weren’t you one of the little people?”, a sly dig at his extras beginning. Sisko came to rely on him and O’Brien was fiercely loyal to his new commander. Everyone loved O’Brien as seen when Jadzia Dax, played by the beautiful Terry Farrell, shared a rare quiet moment where they discussed sending letters to their loved ones every time they headed out on what seemed to be a suicide mission. She tells him he will never die in battle but in a bed, of old age, surrounded by his loved ones.

He takes Jake Sisko under his wing to teach him mechanics and is quick to grab Quark by the throat or stand up to Worf at any given time when he thought the Klingon went too far. He was afraid of no-one and nothing because at the back of his head was his love for his family. It gave the writers that something extra for him to fight for as seen in the episode If Wishes were Horses when Rumpelstiltskin appeared on the station seeking to steal young Molly.

There was nothing O’Brien wouldn’t do for people and the most wonderful thing about DS9 was the character arcs. O’Brien drank with anyone, anyone, that is, except eager young doctor Julian Bashir. He hated the man with a passion, rolling his eyes when they were teamed up in episodes like the Storyteller and Armageddon Game where the two men become firm friends. From that episode in Bashir and O’Brien were inseparable playing World War Two pilots on the holosuite and playing with toy soldiers, an iconic image that would bring one of the most poignant moments in the series finale, What We Leave Behind. Again, the marriage thing was made more real by the realization that Bashir knew O’Brien better than Keiko did and they loved each other dearly. Their parting in the finale was heartbreaking as you, the viewer had gone with them on their journey from enemies to the odd couple, although Bashir was miffed his best friend hadn’t realized the doctor had been replaced by a Changeling for several episodes.

O’Brien, because he was the most human of all characters, has some of the most heartbreaking stories in the series run. In Whispers, he becomes paranoid when the entire station seems to have turned against him, in Hard Time Meaney gives the performance of a life-time as he tries to commit suicide and only Bashir can talk him round. In that episode, O’Brien has been implanted with memories that he has spent twenty years in an alien prison and murdered his cell mate in error. He cannot return to normal life and goes to blow his head off with a phaser. It is to Keiko’s credit that she calls upon Bashir to save him as she knows she can’t, again making them real characters and not ciphers. It is performances like this that raise sci-fi shows to drama and should be acknowledged in award ceremonies.

We also saw a different version of O’Brien via the Mirror Universe from the original Star Trek where humanity are slaves thanks to Kirk’s interference. Bashir and Kira become trapped there but inspired by Bashir’s tale of a better life, Meaney puts in another award-winning performance. In the classic Children of Time, O’Brien and crew meet their descendants from a timeline where the Defiant crashlands two hundred years in the past and, despite his initial reaction to ignore them and go home thus condemning the colony to never having existed, he yields, realizing he must give up his family to ensure the survival of this new one. With the arrival of his new son Michael, we saw the first ever surrogacy story in Star Trek when Keiko is injured in a shuttle accident and Kira must carry their baby to full term.

O’Brien has been an undercover agent in Honour Among Thieves, a shy journalist facing racism in the classic Far Beyond the Stars, blackmailed by an evil Pah Wraith in the Reckoning when Keiko is possessed and almost lost his friendship with Bashir under the stress of war in the Sound of Her Voice.

At at the end of it all, Miles Edward O’Brien gave it all up to return to Earth with his family to teach the new generation at Starfleet Academy.

I bang on about sci-fi with a heart and Miles exemplifies this perfectly. Colm Meaney sir, we salute you.

Heroes of Doctor Who: Mel Bush

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

First up I like Bonnie Langford who played the controversial sixth Doctor companion Melanie Bush from Pease Pottage. There. I said it.

She was unfairly dissed by fandom at the time as another example of John Nathan Turner’s predilection for star names in the show. Rumours say JNT wanted a red-haired companion and Bonnie fitted the role.

She was not given a chance at all by fans, which at the time I thought was pathetic and I still do. Actions like this only harm the show and helped executives to end it once and for all (almost). When fandom and certain individuals think their opinion matters in the making of the show it’s time to tell them where to go and that unfortunately was what Bonnie wandered into. I remember the late Barbara Windsor being hurt at the late Leslie Grantham’s comments at her casting as Peggy Mitchell which was not good as it knocked the reality of the show. As Babs said, she’s an actress that needs to earn a crust and Bonnie was the same. By the way, a web cam ended Leslie’s time on EastEnders and Babs went on to leave a successful reign in EastEnders in a blaze of glory and sensational storyline. Not bad for someone that affected the “reality” of the show.

Bonnie was a veteran of stage and screen with an exemplary CV and a victim of one of her roles – which I’m not going to mention as everyone knows it – and it’s not fair to be labelled just for that one role. Fandom can be so blinkered and narrow-minded when it comes to actors because that’s what they are – actors! Thank God that sort of fandom has been pushed to the background by a new generation of open-minded fans. They are still there, licking their wounds, but since Stephen Moffat has stated he would cast anyone if they suited the role, virtually vindicating JNT’s policy of putting well known people in his era. Remember Nicholas Parsons as the vicar in the classic story Curse of Fenric? He was known as a game show host but had a substantial movie resume and he absolutely shone in the Fenric arc. Watch it for yourself. Nuff said!

Bonnie had an unusual entrance for a companion. She was first seen in a future adventure where it was established she had been travelling with the sixth Doctor for a while. Her background was that she was a computer genius who first met the Doctor when the Master tried to commit some scheme and she saved the day with her skills earning her the chance aboard the Tardis. Mel was a health nut trying to help the Doctor get fit which echoed real life as Colin was losing weight to raise money for a cot death charity.

She was pulled out of time by the Master along with Sabalom Glitz to help with the Doctor’s defence to stop the Valeyard. She ended up back on the Tardis but sloppy writing did not make it clear if she continued from that point in time or had returned to her proper place in time so she could meet the Doctor again and let time flow as it should. Thankfully the BBC novels and Missing Adventures series sorted that plot point out for the sake of continuity.

She was also one of the few that oversaw a regeneration when the sixth became the seventh.

Mel was a screamer, the first to have her pitch added to the cliffhanger to tie in with the theme music but she had, pardon the expression, balls. She and the Doctor had a great time together; her fitness element dropped quickly as they battled the Rani, Kroagnon in Paradise Towers – where she was almost eaten by cannibal pensioners – and killed by robot crabs and battled the Bannermen in a 1950s Butlins camp before deciding to leave in Dragonfire to travel with Sabalom Glitz. This strange last-minute departure made no sense character-wise but was necessary to make way for Ace. It had to do with behind the scenes negotiations and Bonnie decided to go.

This was resolved in the novel Head Games where it was revealed that the Doctor, having realised that Ace was part of Fenric’s trap, telepathically made Mel leave to protect her which she wasn’t happy about especially as she later died, shot to death in a future book.

However, like everyone else, she has been redeemed in both books and especially in the Big Finish audio stories where she is portrayed as the companion she should have been, even being tricked into working for Davros and together Mel and the sixth Doctor shine. Now fans love her.

Overall, Mel was a victim of politics, bad writing and full-of-themselves fandom but real fans gave her a chance and have come to adore her as her character was expanded and deepened in the plays.

Over here, Bonnie, this house always loved you.

Book Excerpt: The Time Warriors: First Footsteps

By Owen Quinn author of the the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

They came from a world torn apart in a time experiment gone wrong. Their key to infinity became their death knell. One stray bullet and life changed forever.

The last survivors of Xereba, huddled together in the Juggernaught, a military spacecraft, were led to Earth by the vision of one man. Varran, the man who had unlocked the key to time travel, had seen the future; a darkness was coming to consume creation itself. The last battlefield would be on a blue green planet in a system of nine; Earth.

Now the Xerebans live among us, abiding by our laws since the 19^th century while a solitary Varran watches from the Juggernaught. They could be the lollipop man, your best friend, the banker or the old lady that watches the world sitting in her favourite chair from behind net curtains. When darkness falls they will be waiting. Now Varran, the man who doesn’t age, along with Jacqueline, Jacke for short, Michael and Tyran, descendants of the Xereban race are the guardian angels of Earth.

They don’t know when or what form the darkness will take but they know it is coming. Earth must be protected. They are the Time Warriors. These are their stories.

Book extract from The Time Warriors book : First Footsteps

PROLOGUE FIRST FOOTSTEPS

Space was ablaze with hellish brilliance as the death throes of billions voices choked in flame.

Orange, blue, red and green lightning danced like a kaleidoscope opera across the land as the planet’s atmosphere began to evaporate. Time held its breath as within minutes an eternity of evolution died in the molten oceans that surged up from beneath the surface in great unfeeling geysers, devouring everything.

The planet was breaking up, black infernos blasting glacial chunks into space in halos of fire, whole continents shimmering into ash beneath the onslaught.

The stars were trembling in horror as bubbling wreaths of red hot asteroids were forming, tumbling end over end in brimstone flame that shot through space; a tapestry of tombstones marking the end for Xereba.

Amid the cacophony of destruction a lone vehicle hung limply in space like a frightened puppy, too shocked to move. Shards of planetary debris bounced across its shields in little spots of colour like oil on water, the mere tip of the iceberg.

This was the Juggernaught, the Xereban military’s greatest achievement.

It was the first of a fleet that would never be built, created to stave off any potential invaders. Xereba had faced an invasion once before but the quick thinking of one military leader, General Solos, had averted the disaster, saving the people from being reduced to a life of slavery from a reptilian race called the Swarchek.

Like a bulldog, the Juggernaught defiantly faced the devastation head on, its hull laden with sensors and weapons, most of which were implanted in its shape, hidden from the naked eye. Its manta shape was reinforced with a self-sustaining skin that gave it an organic look.

Inside the vast curved craft was a stunned silence to match deepest space. The moment the energy waves had begun rippling across the planet, every alarm had triggered, sending the technicians and soldiers to their battle stations.

They had been trained well by General Solos and had acted swiftly. The energies killing their world disrupted the teleport system and so, praying to the winds of hopeful fate, they focused the beams on the surface and randomly scooped up whoever they could, from wherever they could. They could not control it, their hope futilely urging the beams to bring some of their loved ones aboard.

Tears burned their eyes as person after person materialized on board, shaken, nervous and lost. Others screamed like their very souls had been ripped from them, desperate hands reaching for loved ones that were no longer there.

Out of eight billion citizens only 1,243 were saved. The Juggernaught, once the first best defense of all Xereba, was now the last cradle of hope for the Xereban people.

Survivors were materializing all over the station but Solos, in his devious military brilliance, had cleverly made the vehicle two fold. He had stood in its command centre, six months before, beaming proudly as his image was projected across the planet.

“The Juggernaught not only acts as a multipurpose station to house over four thousand troops but it is capable of space flight. After all, what use is a space station that can’t move when attacked or indeed needed to manoeuver in order to fight back?” His pride was justifiable given his achievements.

Some said paranoia made Solos think of every possible outcome regardless of the expense. They were right.

Too traumatized to think, the survivors could only stare about them at strangers’ faces, desperate for a family member or a friendly face. But all they could see was their own grief reflected in each other’s features.

One woman, Neera, had been teaching a class of thirty children, all bright and eager for the future. She had felt the ground tremble, the air gasp in a pinprick of complete silence before the fires came. Unable to move, she watched as tornados of flame consumed her class as she was carried off by the teleport beams, useless hands reaching desperately at ash.

She sat weeping, cradling her head in her hands as the looks on the childrens’ faces played before her. Those innocent wide eyed babies who never even understood what was happening would haunt her forever.

The shaken crew could only mumble empty words of comfort to the distressed. It was as if the universe had opened its dark side and smashed their planet from under them for no good reason.

Even the Xereban philosophy of everything happens for a reason seemed a sad excuse now under this mind wrenching loss.

Read the rest of this thrilling adventure in the Time Warriors:First Footstep availble at this link https://www.amazon.co.uk/Time-Warriors-First-Footsteps/dp/1461080894/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+time+warriors+first+footsteps&qid=1610305631&sr=8-1

TW rewatches Stephen King’s Thinner

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

Thinner directed by Tom Holland and written by Michael McDowell and Holland.

Based on the 11984 Stephen King book and released in the US on October 25th 1996, Thinner dealt with the supernatural aspect of gypsy curses. The book was written by King under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. I don’t know a lot of books about gypsy curses apart from the gypsy aspect of the Wolfman movies and the curse of the werewolf. So when I first read Thinner it was something that intrigued me. I enjoyed the book and when I heard there was going to be a movie version, putting it on my watch list was a no brainer.

Starring Robocop 3’s Robert John Burke as massively overweight lawyer Billy Halleck, the movie tells the story of Halleck mowing down an old gypsy woman while getting a blow job from his wife. The gypsy woman is killed on the spot but as the untouchable high flying lawyer who gets gangster Richie Ginelli (Joe Manteg) off the hook, he is able to use his connections to avoid any charges. Judge Phillips (Howard Erskine) and cop Chief Dunc (Daniel Van Bargen) allow their colleague to escape scott free fully knowing what he has done. Chief Dunc lies that Billy passed a breathalyser test when in fact he never gave him one after the accident. It would have proved Halleck had in fact been over the limit. Even the pharmacist (Stephen King himself) who served the gypsies in his drug store that night gives evidence that the old woman ran out from between two cars that night. However upon further questioning his story is thrown out.

Halleck is met outside the courtroom by the woman’s father, Tadzu Lempke. Lempke is the leader of the gypsy carnival that has now been run out of town. He touches Billy on the face and says ‘Thinner.’ Before long Billy’s wife Heidi (Lucinda Jenney) is delighted her ongoing efforts to get her husband to lose weight are finally working. What they don’t know is that Billy’s sudden weight loss success comes from a gypsy curse. Soon Billy realises something is wrong when he continues to eat as much as he wants but his weight is still dropping. He discovers the judge’s skin is turning him into a lizard and Dunc is covered in putrid sores like accelerated acne, his body becoming deformed. Billy’s only hope lies with tracking down Lempke and getting him to lift the curse. As he grows thinner by the day, Billy is joined by Ginelli to force Lempke to lift the curse; by any means necessary.

There was no CGI in those days which could convincingly show the progress of Billy Halleck’s weight loss but despite that the filmmakers successfully made Burke overweight with the use of a fat suit. These type of suits were also used in the Eddie Murphy remake of the Nutty Professor also released in 9996. Burke initially portrays a man who like every other one in that position is nagged by the wife to lose weight. He is 300 pounds and lying that he is following her diet plan. With the success of the Ginelli case Billy indulges in a celebratory feast on a night out and confesses to Heidi he just loves food. We get to see the top half of the naked fat suit in a shower scene where Halleck is teased by his peers about his weight including his doctor, Mike Houston or as Billy calls him Doctor Mikey. There’s also a rear nude shot when Mikey pulls Billy’s towel off him on the scales. This is a source of mirth for the others but impacting the audience that Billy’s weight is a concern. So involved is the doctor in Billy’s life the lawyer is sure he is sleeping with Heidi. When Billy keeps going on about his weight loss being about a curse they move to commit him but he flees to track down Lempke when Dunc shoots himself. We get the full spectrum of weight loss to the point of being almost skeletal. The make up is brilliantly done and Burke is almost unrecognisable when he reaches the final stages of his weight loss. It reminded me of the dessicated zombies from the day and convinces the audience the affliction is very real.

The prejudice against gypsies is right in your face and Judge Phillips orders Dunc to run the gypsy carnival out of town. He sees them as vermin and worries the high school team will get STDs. He passes comment to Billy in the shower scene that he probably got some sort of infection from Lempke touching him; famous last words if I ever heard them. Slider’s star Kari Wuhrer gives a wild performance as Lempke’s granddaughter Gina grieving from the death of her mother. She is the subject of lewd suggestions from one of Billy’s colleagues equating her worth to a mere quarter. Society looks down on them not realising their talk of the old ways is very real. She is filled with hate against Billy and even puts a ball bearing through his hand leaving him wounded. Michael Constantine who plays Tadzu Lempke is great. With his long white hair and cancerous mark on his face he is unsettling to say the least. When he gently brushes Billy’s face to place the curse there is a determined delicacy about it with a layer of satisfied justice. He knows what lies in store for Billy and in his eyes justice has been served.

When Billy tracks him down and begs for the curse to be lifted the confrontation is electric. every bit of his grief and bile over his daughter’s death comes flying out at Billy. The irony is you side with him because it is completely justified. Billy’s apology is empty and falls on deaf ears. So Billy’s promise of the curse of the white man from town initially is met with laughter. Soon there is real nervous tension among the gypsies at the white man’s curse. Billy has a hole blown in his hand by Gina’s lethal catapult but instead of dropping in agony he owns the pain and makes a fist blood pumping from it and curses them. As the blood pours the gypsies pause as they see the fury within the dying lawyer. When Ginelli shows up he launches an all out assault on the carnival by poisoning their dogs and attacking the camp with a machine gun. This results in the gypsies accidentally shooting Gina’s husband thinking he is Ginelli. Each time Ginelli leaves a note telling them to lift the curse. Manteg does a great job as Ginelli. When he impersonates a FBI agent to kidnap GIna and threatens her with acid in the face, the performance is electric. Manteg is coldly brutal in his treatment of Gina especially when he balances a jar of acid on her forehead while he and Billy escape.

The threat to Gina and the fact the white man will always hunt them down finally convinces Lempke to lift the curse through letting Billy’s blood into a pie. Whoever eats the pie will then die quickly from the same curse allowing Billy to live on. Billy’s descent into madness comes to the fore as he is convinced Doctor Houston has been having an affair with Heidi all along. It is clear Heidi hasn’t but it’s a nice gradual crumbling of the perfect marriage with everything to a desperate man who is believes it is only right his wife dies in his place. For me this is also part of the curse as Billy has lost sight of who he is and whatever moral compass he ever had. The woman he married, the woman who bore his child, the woman who from the beginning of the movie has only had Billy’s best interests at heart is little more than a sacrificial lamb.

However the end of the movie either through poor writing or direction left me a little confused. Billy successfully gets Heidi to eat the pie. When he wakes in the morning she is a deformed corpse. So far down has Billy fallen he even kisses her dead body and smacks his lips commenting on how she tastes of strawberries. The curse in reality has taken his soul leaving him what he has always been; corrupt with no morals. The movie makes it appear that Billy’s daughter has also eaten the pie due to the two plates in the sink but she is perfectly fine. Billy then moves to eat it himself so he can die too but Doctor Mikey arrives only to be invited in for pie. The movie ends with Billy closing his front door with a manic grin on his face. He may have stopped his weight loss curse but something else now inhabits his soul. I’m not sure if the daughter is going to die because from what I took from the dialogue between Lempke and Billy, I assumed the first person to eat the pie would be afflicted with the curse. This turns out to be Heidi so is the curse broken or does anyone who eats some of the pie die?

I dislike an uneven ending to a movie and that sadly happens here. Overall Thinner is a very effective movie dealing with an unusual subject. What I do like is there is no easy answer and that only another life will end a curse. It is not simply a matter of rubbing the victim’s cheek again. Performances are solid all round and is a worthy addition to the King movie canon.