TW talks to the legend Phil Davis

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

He defends the streets of Whitechapel; has battled the Alien beside Sigourney Weaver, tried to bring hell on Earth in Being Human, fought the tenth Doctor and Donna in Pompeii and is part of the cult that is Quadrophenia. Today in the wake of the end of Being Human we talk to the legend that is Phil Davis on his career, Whitechapel and what it was really like behind the scenes of Alien3.

TW: Phil, first of all thanks so much for taking the time to chat to us, it’s truly an honour. Let’s go back to the beginning. How did you get into acting?

PD: Oh that’s a long story. I come from an ordinary working class family and was bought up on a council estate in Essex. Somehow by the age of nine or ten I had got it into my head that I was going to be an actor. We didn’t go to the theatre or the cinema, so this was before I had ever seen a play. I could read out loud comfortably and I liked showing off so maybe that was the beginning of it. This idea of ‘being an actor’ stuck in my head and became a sort of obsession.

At Secondary school I started doing the school plays and joined all the Amateur Dramatic societies. The more I did it the more I fell in love with it. But it was very complicated. I was aware of course that most theatricals did not come from backgrounds like mine and I was not a prodigy. I didn’t bag all the best parts in the school plays or the local youth theatre. I struggled through my teens with the idea that maybe I was kidding myself. With a few exceptions, my teachers at school did their best to discourage me. My parents didn’t discourage me but couldn’t help really, it was outside of their scope. I think they were worried that I was going to end up terribly disappointed. So it was a tortuous few years. I did get into the National Youth Theatre which was encouraging, along with two other boys from our local youth theatre group but my first two seasons I didn’t shine, I was keen as mustard but not given anything much to do.

In my third and last season with the NYT I was given a good part in a Peter Terson play called Good Lads at Heart. I got a couple of good notices in the London papers and foolishly left school when I should have been studying for A levels, got a job in the coffee bar of the Shaw theatre where a new professional theatre company was being formed by the NYT management. I hung around waiting to be snapped up. It didn’t happen. Also I’d burned my boats. Grants were available for Drama school students back then in the early 70s but they did require academic qualifications to bag one. So drama school was out. Then one day I answered an advert in the Stage newspaper and got myself an audition at the theatre Royal in Stratford E15, run by the legendary director Joan Littlewood. I got the job. I was off. Terrific luck, she worked in such an idiosyncratic way that my lack of training was a positive advantage. She liked me. I stayed for a year. My first professional job as an actor.

On his early days: “I didn’t bag all the best parts in the school plays or the local youth theatre. I struggled through my teens with the idea that maybe I was kidding myself.”

TW: You’ve done several historical roles, Nicholas Nickleby and Bleak House, have you a passion for these types of dramas?

PD: Not particularly. I am a Dickens fan, I love the novels, but for me it’s all about the characters, Dickens wrote brilliant characters. Even the small supporting cast in Dickens provide with th reader with specific characteristics and individuality so they are great to play. Smallweed in Bleak House was a gift from heaven. Incidentally I think the reason Bleak House was so successful was that they gave it time, fifteen half hour episodes, it’s a huge and complex novel, you can’t dramatise it into a two or three hour mini series without filleting out what is special about it in my opinion. But I wouldn’t claim to have a special passion for dramas set in the past. I wish contemporary dramas were as rich and interesting.

TW: You appeared in Alien3, were you a fan of the previous movies. Was it a hard shoot or did you have a blast doing it?

PD: I did enjoy the previous movies, especially the first but I had mixed feelings about taking it on. It’s always a frustration playing a small part in a big budget American film, it’s rarely fun. I had spent several months doing a fringe theatre production in London, it was a great success but there was no money. I needed to earn some dosh and Alien 3 coming along was perfect in that respect so it would be churlish to complain. Our band of convicts were called in to Pinewood studios every shooting day, about whether we were likely to get on camera or not, we went mad with boredom, there were card schools, chess clubs, scrabble competitions. The atmosphere on set was fractious and unpleasant, a lot of money was at stake and Fincher was making it up as he went along, story changes, script changes, every day. One character found out, (having shot all his best scenes) that he was supposed to be educationally sub-normal. It was difficult not to laugh. So not much fun, but lucrative.

On Alien 3:”The atmosphere on set was fractious and unpleasant and [David] Fincher was making it up as he went along”

TW: What sort of things influenced you growing up?

PD: It was so long ago it’s difficult to remember. In truth the major influences were not theatrical. I was a Beatles fan (obviously), I liked The Stones, The Animals, The Pretty Things and American Blues Bands Some jazz artists. Lots of different kinds of contemporary music spoke to me. I remember discovering the ‘Mersybeat’ poets Roger Mcgough, Adrian Henri and Brian Patten and finding these opened the door to other poets, I found and loved Ionesco along with some Pinter sketches. US films of the 70s, actors De Niro, Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman. And the British New Wave, Albert Finney, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, early Ken Loach. Casting around. Whatever we could get. I was desperate to be an actor and I knew I would not be a traditional ‘actor laddie’ type, so I was always drawn to anything new or avant garde, the offbeat, but in working class Essex in the late 60s it seemed like everything interesting was happening elsewhere.

TW: Have there been parts or shows you would love to have been in but never had the chance?

PD: Oh, yes. Of course. I’ve had a great career but there’s a lot I’ve not done, never got near. I’ve never been in a Shakespeare play, or Chekhov, Ibsen, nothing classical at all. I wonder sometimes how I might have measured up against a couple of ‘great’ roles. The grass is always greener. A couple of film roles floated towards me then went elsewhere. One of the things I learned though, when I’d got going as an actor, was to let things go. I never got bitter and twisted about the stuff I missed out on. I got on with the stuff that came my way and determined to make the very best of every opportunity. I wish, in a way, that I’d done more theatre over the last twenty years, there offers and opportunities but I chose a different route.I think of myself primarily as a screen actor. I still love it.

TW: Lucius in Dr. Who, did you visit the Tardis, was it a happy set?

PD: Yes. It was a happy set. Nice people, very welcoming, David and Catherine were very nice. I looked at the Tardis. Good fun but hard work. The climax was shot in a quarry in Swansea, in the middle of the night, in October and I was wearing a toga, no thermal underwear possible, freezing! My kids were very impressed that I was in a Dr Who, gained a lot of cred, they don’t usually take much notice so that was nice. Actually I found it quite difficult. I had to be very serious, earnest, bashing on with cryptic dialogue while David quipped and gagged around it. Did my best to make it work but not my finest hour I fear. Tried my best.

On influences: “I was a Beatles fan (obviously)”

TW: You’re also a writer and director…

PD: Well I haven’t directed anything for nearly 12 years. In the mid 80s I wrote a stage play and put it on myself at The Old Red Lion pub theatre in Islington, North London. It did well and I started to wonder if there might be a film in it and so I wrote a screenplay. Eventually the BBC picked it up for its Screen 1 strand of one off films (this doesn’t exist anymore – great shame) and much to my surprise they let me direct it. It was well recieved and played at the London and Sydney film festivals before it screened on the TV. Suddenly I had another career. I spent most of the 90s juggling my acting work with directing assignments. I never found the time to write. It was stressful and complicated. A film or TV mini-series can take up almost a year if you’re directing it and about six weeks if you’re acting in it. But it was a heady and exciting time. I loved the directing but the politics of raising money for a project and dealing with financiers is never easy. On ID, one of my feature films, we had seven different sources of finance, seven different sets of executives all wanting a say in the final cut. One of the things I found was that when I went on to an acting job after directing something it was with a sense of profound relief, all I have to do is play my part, to take responsibility for that part of it. It freed me up. I became a better actor for having directed. I had a clearer idea of what the camera was doing but it was more than that. I was more relaxed. More confident.

I feel that the directing part of my career is probably over but I do have one project, a film, I’m trying to raise some money for. But I’m primarily, first and foremost an actor.

TW: How did Whitechapel come about?

PD: No big story. They offered me the part. I’d worked with Rupert Penry Jones some years before on North Square, the legal series for (UK channel) Channel 4 set in Leeds and we had become friends. When he read it he reccommended me to the producers and they told him I was already top of the list. So we were off.

I didn’t think it would lead to a long-running series. It was a one off-mini series about a psychopath replicating the crimes of Jack the Ripper. I didn’t see how you could sustain a series of this kind and of course we couldn’t. We had to change the format. We would have run out of copycats. I think it’s found a form now that could run and run. The two-hour stories, all with some link to the past. Whitechapel is a strange beast. It’s where the cop show and the horror movie meet. An interesting place to be. Pull the curtains, double lock the doors and have Whitechapel scare the pants off you. Lovely! We are shooting series four now and it keeps developing. Even more Gothic and scary this new one!

On Doctor Who: “The climax was shot in a quarry in Swansea, in the middle of the night, in October and I was wearing a toga”

TW: What, for you makes, Whitechapel work so well?

PD: I’m not sure that I know really. Some things catch people’s imagination and some don’t. I think the horror movie part of it gives it an edge, it’s sort of preposterous but that doesn’t matter, people like to be scared. I think also, from speaking to people, that the relationship between Miles and Chandler is key, chalk and cheese, very different but a good combination, a good chemistry. The new series will be more of the same, but hopefully bigger and better.

TW: How do you find meeting fans face to face? Are they a bit wary of you in case you do a Miles on them?

PD: The Whitechapel fans may be nervous but I get recognized from quite a wide variety of work. There are the Quadrophenia freaks, even though it was hundreds of years ago, the Mike Leigh fans, followers of Silk etc etc. Actually, I don’t get bothered very much, people say ‘hello’ and ‘well done’ and that’s gratifying. It’s nice when people seem pleased to see you but it has never been a problem. I’m not shy, I don’t mind stopping for a brief chat. Every so often people seemed shocked to see me, ‘you’re off the telly’ they say, as if I live in the TV and have escaped into real life, but mostly it’s very nice to be appreciated.

TW: Right now you’re The Devil in Being Human. Did you have to audition for that role and how does one play Satan without slipping into cliche?

PD: I didn’t audition. It was a straight offer. Toby Whithouse, the writer, was familiar with my work and wanted me to do it. He’s not quite the Devil in all his glory at the beginning of the series. He’s reduced, trapped in the failing body of an old man (what made them think of me?) only when he sets the vampire and the werewolf against each other does he begin to regain his power. He is vicious, spiteful, with a sort of distilled contempt for the world and everyone in it. I didn’t worry about cliche. I didn’t seek out and watch any other screen devils. I just got on with my version. I made him as disgusting as I could, make-up painted veins in my face, blackened my teeth, put wax in my ears. It was fun. Then when he rises he sort of gets younger, turns into a dapper and mischievous imp. He is funny. Except that he’s set on destroying everything that is good in the world. Enormous fun. I tried to play him with relish.

On life: ‘Every so often people seemed shocked to see me, ‘you’re off the telly’ they say, as if I live in the TV and have escaped into real life, but mostly it’s very nice to be appreciated.’

TW: Do you enjoy the horror roles?

PD: I’ve played more bad guys than good ones. Something about my face perhaps. But of course I enjoy them. There have been some nice characters. Stan in Vera Drake, Graham in Births, Marriages and Deaths, Maloney in Rose and Maloney. But the monsters, the pyschopaths that come my way are very enjoyable.

TW: Aside from Whitechapel what else is coming up?

PD: There’s a film called Borrowed Time due for release this year. I’m very pleased with it. Google it online and find out about it. It’s worth a look. Tiny budget, made under very difficult circumstances but done with love and a good piece of work. One of the ironies of my work is that often it’s the less populist stuff that I am fondest of. I did a monologue last year called Double Lesson. It went out without much fanfare in a documentary strand called First Cut and rather disappeared without trace. It’s about a schoolteacher coming up to retirement who loses his restraint and attacks a pupil. It may well be the best thing I’ve ever done. You might find it on Youtube. Keep trying. Double Lesson with Phil Davis Ch4. My other favourites are 20,000 streets under the sky adapted from Patrick Hamilton’s novels which was on BBC4 and garnered a small audience but is a nice piece and the Curse of Steptoe in which I play Wilfred Bamble the actor from the famous sitcom. Some of these roles break the mould for me, they are characters you would not normally assume that I would play, and I love them all the more for it.

TW: Phil, thank you very much!

Heroes of Doctor Who: Peri Brown

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

Once again we scour the Doctor Who universe for those you may know or may not but all of which helped make the Doctor the Timelord he is today…

Perpugillian Brown, Peri for short, was the first American to travel in the Tardis and one of the few companions to oversee a Doctor’s regeneration.

With the growing success of the show in the States, then producer John Nathan Turner saw an opportunity to appeal to the American audiences and would-be investors by adding an international flavour to the Tardis for the first time ever.

In reality, in over twenty years, the Doctor’s companions had all been Scottish, English, an alien that spoke with an English accent or a robot. Ok, we know it was made in the UK and was on a budget but it was a natural progression and did the programme’s profile no harm at all. However, Nicola Bryant, the beautiful actress chose to play Peri, was actually English and had to pretend to be an American for the public eye.

A botany student, Peri was introduced in Planet of Fire, both Turlough and Kamelions’ final stories (bar hallucinations in the impending regeneration) so she had to make an impact and who better to put her up against than the Master? Her stepfather was an archaeologist diving for relics off the coast of Lanzarote. He disapproved of Peri’s plans to go off travelling with two boys she had met, so he trapped her on his boat. Unknown to him, she was not to be stopped and taking something that she thought was valuable from his treasures – little did she know she had just taken an alien artefact, one that was sending a signal.

That signal had brought the Tardis to Lanzarote. Turlough saved Peri from drowning bringing her aboard the Tardis. At the same time, the Master had taken control of the robotic shape shifter, Kamelion, who was living aboard the Tardis. Suddenly finding herself kidnapped, Peri was alone on an alien world chased by a mad robot that kept changing form until she discovered the Master had been shrunk and needed the healing flames to return to normal.

But the gritty murderous people of Androzani and her fatal poisoning left its mark as the Doctor gave up his life for Peri. She watched as he regenerated right before her into someone a lot more brazen than the mild mannered fifth Doctor.

Confused by this new face, back stage mismanagement caused her and the sixth Doctor to have a tumultuous relationship, something both Colin Baker and Nicola were unhappy with. Why would you travel with someone rude, arrogant and who had tried to kill you?

But there was a definite chemistry between the two and despite what critics said, I feel there are several classics in the first season. After the Attack of the Cybermen, Vengeance on Varos saw the introduction of the slug-like Sil who became an instant hit with his penchant for marshminnows and ruthless business streak. Peri more than stood up for herself despite being turned into a bird hybrid and almost becoming lunch for the cannibalistic Androgums (although they aren’t really cannibals; they only look human).

Peri was often reduced to the screaming companion via poor writing and again the Borad tried to turn her into a half human and half Morlock to breed with. Even though she was constantly dressed in shorts and tight tops – there was no doubt Peri was eye candy for the dads, emphasised by that famous bikini scene in Planet of Fire where the camera for some reason seemed to stick on her, em, boobs. Strange that.

But by Revelation of the Daleks, Peri had covered up. But the resulting cancellation of the show, or suspension, as the official line goes, plans to pit Peri against the ice Warriors and the Celestial Toymaker went up in smoke. However Big Finish changed all that and the adventures finally took place last year. Peri was also one of the few companions at that time to do an actual radio play outside of the Big Finish range.

By the time Trial of a Time Lord returned, Peri and the Doctor were best buddies, happy to travel together where she was his number one priority. But it was in the next story that Peri’s finest moment was to come and sadly her final one.

In Mindwarp, Peri was murdered, her body possessed by Kiv, another of Sil’s kind. His body was dying and Peri became his host. Her head was shaved and brain wiped to sustain this new personality. Too late to save her, the Doctor was sucked out of time by the Time Lords and she is shot to death by Brian Blessed’s Lord Yrcanos who had fallen in love with her. It was by far the best exit ever for a companion but in the final episode, it is revealed her death was a trick to secure the Doctor’s guilty verdict by the Valeyard. In reality, she married Yrcanos and became his queen. Yet strangely the Doctor never went back to see if this was the life she really wanted or was she just making the best of things? Colin addressed this in a graphic novel he wrote and the New Adventures series saw her finally meet the seventh Doctor and return home under a cloud disliking the Doctor for abandoning her.

However as is the trend these days, Big Finish took up the story and Peri had extended adventures with both the fifth and sixth Doctor which, as with every surviving character, explored and deepened the character of Peri including another possible ending for her adventure after Mindwarp.

Having been part of one of the most turbulent eras of Doctor Who, it is a credit to Nicola that she still loves the show and is immensely proud of her time in it. Having met her a couple of times, I can tell you Nicola is as beautiful and graceful in real life as she was on the Tardis. She is honest and proud about her time on the show and she and Colin have proved that, with proper writing, the two of them soar and things could have been a whole lot different.

TW talks to Stargate and Arrow star David Nkyl

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

How did you first become interested in acting?

I loved the idea of being a different person every day I go to work.

Where did you train?

University of BC, in Los Angeles privately and in Vancouver privately.

Is being bilingual an advantage to you in your career?

It is in my life, so it is in my career. Language is a great way to provide perspective.

What defines acting for you?

Courage, will, and smart choices.

What’s been the biggest lesson you’ve learned over the years in your craft?

That truth is multi-faceted and infinitely expandable. You corner of it is only a piece, so don’t be too precious with it.

You have an impressive theatre background.What is it about acting in front of a live audience that appeals to you?

The instant feedback.

Is theatre the best training ground an actor can have?

I think it is. You learn the basics in a much more robust setting. It forces you to have a stronger voice and a stronger voice means a stronger position.

Can you tell us how and why you cofounded the Misery Loves Company Theatre?

I met some terrific people when I was in Prague who had various levels of experience in theatre. We put together an english language theatre to keep us busy, but mainly to do work we would not normally get a chance to do onstage back in North America.

How do you go about choosing which productions you stage?

It’s a collaborative process. We look for entertainment value and also logistics. Casting is crucial too.

Do you find that theatre can often be neglected in a day and age that relies so much on digital technology where everything is given at the touch of a button?

Yes, and that will soon change – it already is I believe. The more our machines isolate us, the more we need a forum for common truths. It’s entirely different watching a comedy in a room full of strangers than it is watching it alone on a flickering screen. We are only now beginning to come around to the idea that we need each other physically – even if it is just sitting there – and not just virtually.

How did you break into television?

In Prague the production that came needed english speaking actors who were local and didn’t need hotels and flights to be there. We were cheap and cheerful.

How does the television industry in Vancouver differ to that of say Los Angeles?

Volume only – there’s more in LA. Vancouver is at the top of the game though – so professionally it’s the same.

How did you get the role of Doctor Zelenka? He was meant to be a one off character wasn’t he?

Yeah. Just a day player that they decided to keep.

What was the brief for the character? Was your Czech background an advantage for the multinational element?

Yeah it was. They wanted an eastern european physicist. He was originally going to be Russian. They made the character Czech when they learned of my background.

He and Rodney built up a great onscreen relationship. Was that in the original script or did you and David build on that as you went along?

David and I put that together, the writers then picked up on it and rolled with it.

The first season was spectacular television with many great stories. What was the stand out one for you?

Honestly, It’s been so long ago and such a while that I don’t remember what episode goes where. Especially season one. I remember the one about the storm….?

How much of a collaboration was it between the cast and the writers to help the characters expand?

Not much, from my end. There was a divide there – they wrote and we acted. They knew what they wanted and it was my job to do it.

Zelenka was instrumental in several stories including getting Atlantis back to Earth in minutes in Enemy of the Gate. You also had the chance to appear on SG1 on the Pegasus Project.What do you think Zelenka would be doing now?

Sitting in a swim up bar in the Caribbean. It was a lot of work saving that place week in week out.

Everyone was outraged when the series ended, somewhat prematurely in a lot of eyes including my own. Were you surprized when they cancelled it and what was the reasons?

Shocked. We thought we had a winner.

How has being Zelenka changed your life and benefitted you as an actor?

Tremendously. The recognition is nice – but what I really enjoy about it is the travel and the chance to meet fans the world over. That has been the biggest change since pre-SGA days.

You’ve appeared in crime dramas and period pieces like the Scarlet Pimpernel and Human Target. Given you theater background is the period stuff something you love and would like to do more?

Sure. I don’t choose projects based on genre though. I choose them based on role, availability, and general project enthusiasm. Genre is a category for the audience, not for thew actor.

What do you think is the universal appeal of the sci fi genre?

It’s fairy tales for adults. It’s a reflection of us and how we good (or bad) we can be. It can be moralistic tales, like Aesop’s fables, or just escapism, like comic book movies. Sci Fi is the world of ‘what if’ and there is no greater attraction to us than the possibility of what might be.

How has your perception of fans changed having attended several conventions? Did you know what to expect?

Sort of. The conventions themselves are well and good, but it is the fans the constantly surprise me – not just how much they know, but also how creative they are. It’s a myth that they’re whackos. They’re just regular people being enthusiastic. Ain’t nothin’ wrong with that.

What has been your biggest lesson since starting acting as a career?

That it’s a long run and not a quick sprint.

What advice would you give to any budding actor thinking of doing this as a career?

Be patient and be curious. And never stop working.

What are you currently working on?

Arrow, season II and a little sci-fi pic called Air.

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

www.davidnykl.com – with the caveat that I don’t think I’ve updated my website in about 5 years – and IMDB I guess.

-Dn
Davidnykl.com

TW talks to actor Douglas Tait

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

Was acting something you’d always wanted to pursue or was it stunt work?

My passion has always been acting. I started as an actor many years ago and never intended to get into stunts. I auditioned for Jason in Freddy Vs Jason and I was being considered for the role. They shot in Canada and they ended up hiring Ken Kirzinger, and when they did reshoots in Los Angeles they hired me to play Jason. They credited me as Jason Stunt Double and that was my first stunt credit. Most all of my other stunt credits have been from creature or acting roles that have required a fight or something physical. I stay away from anything that can get me seriously injured, but I enjoy playing physical characters.

What influenced you to pursue that goal?

I enjoyed performing in High School. I was an athlete so I didn’t do theater, but anytime the school was shooting a video, I was the go to guy. I liked making people laugh and I would dress up in wigs and costumes. I got a thrill from this and started considering a career as an actor. I did extra work in High School, and loved being on movie sets. It helped that I grew up in Los Angeles, the business was right in my backyard.

Is it true you played Frankenstein in the live shows at Universal Studios Hollywood? How did that part come about?

When I was 13 I saw Frankenstein performing at Universal Studios and I couldn’t take my eyes off him. I was tall so I said to myself, “when I am old enough I’m going to get a job here playing Frankenstein”. Sure enough when I turned 17 I did just that. I worked there for several years playing multiple characters while I was pursuing my acting career. It was the beginning of me getting paid to act behind makeup and masks.

Where did the leap then come to movie sets?

I did bit parts on television shows and commercials. I played Frankenstein on a Halloween episode of Sabrina The Teenage Witch. Freddy Vs. Jason was the first time I worked on a big movie set. After F vs J, I slowly started to build my film resume.

What’s your Irish connection?

My grandmothers last name was Kanaly. Her parents were from Dublin. They immigrated to Falls City, Nebraska in the 1920’s.

Your role of the long faced alien in Star Trek won an Academy Award. While that is great for the make up artists, how does that help you as an actor? Does it open doors for you?

It absolutely opened doors for me. Barney Burman won the Academy Award and featured me in all of his press and articles. We traveled to conventions and panels together and a lot of people started to request me for shows and articles on my own. It helped get my name mentioned and people saw that I had played other recognizable characters. It was the first time in my career that people took an interest in me as an actor. Star Trek was a great experience and has done a lot for me.

What’s been the hardest creature for you to wear?

There have been a lot of them that are extremely difficult, but my character Abominog from Knights Of Badassdom was the hardest. It was a 130 pound animatronic Creature on stilts. I couldn’t see well, I couldn’t breathe well and every time I fought someone it would take me off balance. It was a grueling character to play.

Is a prosthetic mask like that claustrophobic or do the make up artists design them to make them as comfortable as possible for you?

Prosthetics can feel claustrophobic if they are bulky and cover your eyes, nose, or mouth, but animatronic heads are much more claustrophobic. They are big, heavy, and usually filled with mechanics which gives the face lifelike expressions. When you are performing in one of these heads and you get out of breath, it can be very scary. It can take over 5 minutes to get out of it, and there have been times I have had to mentally put my mind in a better place.

The people making them are the best in the business, and they try there best to make them as comfortable as possible.

Can you tell us about Firefall?

Firefall was a Live Action Trailer I shot for the video game Firefall. I played Rico, and these amazing suits were designed by the FX legend Steve Wang.

You’ve appeared in several shows including Sleepy Hollow. What do you think is the appeal of horror and sci fi in your eyes?

I think that horror scares people.

You’ve been in several exotic locations eg The Legend of the Yeren. Does your athletic instincts kick in when out on location when dressed as a monster?

Most definitely it does. When I was in China shooting The Legend Of The Yeren, I was in harsh weather and had to do very physical things. They had me scaling a snowy mountain in a full Bigfoot suit in freezing conditions. The training I do to prepare for these roles gets me through the day. The guy who designed “The Yeren” was Academy Award winner Chris Walas, who designed the Gremlins.

You appeared in one of my favorites stories in Deep Space 9 Children of Time. Was that an enjoyable shoot and how does appearing as a background character help you as an actor?

That was a very fun shoot, I was right out of high school when I did that. I was doing background work to learn more about acting, and to earn extra money. I think it is a good place to start as an actor. The problem is you need to get away from it after a couple years. I have seen so many people stay doing it that want to become actors, and they end up bcoming background actors.

Jericho was another great show and monsterless. What was it like to work on that show?

Jericho was a blast to work on, the show was shot in Van Nuys California. It was supposed to be freezing cold in the episodes I did, and Van Nuys is in the the San Fernando Valley which gets over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. It was so hot and we were wearing big jackets and sweating. The makeup artist had to wipe our sweat off between takes, that’s movie magic!

You’ve done so many creatures and villains including Jason Voorhees. What has been your favorite one to do?

My personal favorite has not aired yet. It is a television show called The Quest, it aires July 31st on ABC in the United States. I play the Lead Villain in the series and two other characters. We shot in Austria, and I have lots of dialogue which I enjoy the most. It was a great experience and hopefully it will air outside of the U.S.

For the likes of the Sleestak which is a full body suit, does that require a full body cast?

It helps to have a body cast for a full body suit like the Sleestak, but since there were several Sleestak’s they made the suit off a body cast that was already existing at the shop, and then they adjusted the suit to our measurements. It is something they do to save money, but it will never fit the way it would if your body was cast.

Being completely closed in like that, can it be claustrophobic?

It can get very claustrophobic. When I am playing a character that is closed in and I know that I won’t be able to breath well, I train by doing intense cardiovascular exercises inside a mask so it helps me to perform better. It is not fun, but it helps me last longer without having to take a break on set.

In regards movement and character of a particular creature, how much of that character do you input and how much is in the script?

It all starts with the script, and then the design of the character also helps me get an idea of how it should move. I usually have several fittings at the creature shop that is building the character. These fittings are great because you get an even better idea of how the creature moves. It helps me work on certain muscles that will make the character move easier and look better. Some directors also have a strong vision on how the creature should move, and others leave it up to my interpretation.

You have been ranked in the top three creature performers in the world. Did you ever expect to be recognized for such a honor?

No not at all, it’s a great honor to be seen as someone good in a field that I love. I have been doing this for a long time and I have worked hard at it. I still feel I have a lot to learn, and I know I can do better. It’s a constant learning experience on every role that I play. I’m excited about the future.

How did you decide on the movement and characteristics of the Frost Giants in Thor?

Kenneth Branagh, the director of Thor was very specific on how he wanted the Frost Giants to move. He is a great actor and director, and he knew what he wanted out of me. He would act out the movements and I would basically copy him. I didn’t decide on anything, it was all Kenneth.

Out of all the monsters in tv and movies, is there one you would like to play?

I have played Frankenstein on TV, but I would like to play him in a Feature Film directed by Guillermo Del Toro. It would also be fun to play Michael Myers from the Halloween movies because I grew up liking them. I want to continue playing Practical monsters, I am not a fan of CGI characters.

You have also worked behind the camera as producer for several features and shorts including Jack The Reaper with Tony Todd. How did those come about?

When I was attached to the film I brought crew and talent aboard. I brought Oscar winner Barney Burman on and he designed the special fx. I also attached Sally Kirkland to the film. They gave me a producer credit for bringing more value to the film, and I played the main Villain “Railroad Jack”.

Is the label of the Monster Man make it harder for you to get projects like that off the ground or does it bring a level of respect and confidence because of your body of work?

I think it all depends on the project. If it’s a horror or monster movie, then it can only help and people are more interested in having me. If it’s a family drama then my body of work wouldn’t mean much to the film.

What are you currently working on?

Currently, I am finishing a role on the television show Grimm, and soon I will be doing an episode of Sleepy Hollow. I am also attached to a couple of Horror films shooting this summer.

You’ve done conventions alongside the likes of Doug Jones. What was your first convention and were fans what you expected?

My first convention was Horrorhound in Cincinnati. It was a lot of fun to meet people that really appreciated the work I did. I really enjoyed talking to the fans and I never expected them to be so excited to meet me, It is such a nice feeling. BTW, Doug Jones is a friend of mine and he is such a talented, great person.

Why do you think that monsters are so universal loved and have generational appeal?

I think that people love monsters because they are so cool to look at and they are very mysterious. Also, sometimes they have qualities that we have, like being an outcast because of the way we look or dress. I think that there will always be a need for a good monster movie.

What has been your greatest lesson over the years in the industry in general?

My greatest lesson was to never give up on my dream. I struggled for so many years, and I wondered at times if I would I ever get consistent work. It is hard when you are constantly rejected, but those hard times make me grateful to be working. The years of struggle has been humbling to me.

Where can people find out more about your career and monsters you’ve played?

My IMDB page is a good way to see the projects I have done, but the best way to keep updated on my career is by following me on my

Facebook , Twitter, and Instagram pages.

Have you a message for your Irish fans?

Thank you so much for reading, I hope to make it to Ireland someday. Remember to LIVE YOUR DREAMS! It will never be easy at first to do something you love, but eventually hard work and persistence pays off. I am living proof of that!

Facebook Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/Thecreatureman Twitter: https://twitter.com/DouglasTait Instagram: http://instagram.com/thecreatureman You Tube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/douglastait Douglas Tait http://www.imdb.me/douglastait http://www.youtube.com/douglastait https://www.facebook.com/Thecreatureman

Did the Borg ensure Star Trek’s success?

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

This made the Borg even more frightening. They were voiceless vampires that could swoop from the sky at any time and take you away, chopping off limbs and organs to make you like them. Only the battle had been won, the war continued.

It’s no secret that the first couple of years of the newly launched Star Trek the Next Generation were muddled to say the least. Many plots were sub standard with only a few glimmers of brilliance such as Conspiracy and Where No Man has Gone Before. The second season saw temporary cast changes and new positions for some of the crew which would see them through to the end of the movies. Guinan, played by Whoopi Goldberg was introduced in a new set Ten Forward, a bar for the crew to relax in between their adventures and daily routines.

The Romulans had been brought back at the end of season one as the new big bad in lethal war ships and the Klingons were now firm allies with the Federation, at least for now. The parasitic alien thread that started in Conspiracy that saw Federation personnel possessed ended disappointingly there. So many stories were about the Prime Directive, alien ambassadors and exploring each character’s background which saw evil android brothers, fathers and mothers all turning up to resolve outstanding personal issues. The best episodes were undoubtedly the Klingon episodes that explored Worf’s background and position as the sole Klingon in the Federation to serve on a starship. The irrepressible Q, played by John De Lancie, had proved a massive hit with fans as the bane of Picard’s existence but something was missing. The series hadn’t gelled as yet despite having run for two years, with a rather poor season two finale comprising of clips from old adventures.

However one man had an idea for a brand new enemy. The show was called the Next Generation so it needed a new generation of enemies. Maurice Hurley, head writer at the time, devised a race called the Borg. Initially they were to be an insectoid species but this idea was quickly shunted in favour of a cyborg race that listened to no one and took what they wanted when they wanted.

Their seeds were planted in the season finale of series one when the Enterprise plays a game of cat and mouse with a Romulan ship while investigating the disappearance of entire outposts along the Neutral Zone. Nothing remains; neither technology nor personnel but the word is the Romulans, who have shut themselves off from the rest of the galaxy for years, are back with newer and more powerful weapons. When it is revealed that the Romulans have also lost entire bases the burning question is who or what could be powerful enough to rip entire colonies from the ground.

Hurley wrote the episode Q Who for season two which not only saw Q hurl the Enterprise into Borg space as a lesson for Picard’s confidence that he and his crew are ready to face any new threat. We also learn that Guinan is not only an old enemy of Q’s but a survivor from a Borg attack. Her world was destroyed and her people scattered just as we saw in Generations. She was scared and the audience is left in no doubt she thought they should run now. Indeed the first sight of that cube ship is ominous and unlike any ship ever seen in the show. It is simply functional with no personality just like its owners.

The confidence of the crew is shattered as they are attacked by the Borg while Q gloats. They run but are soon worn down as the Borg begins slicing into the stalled Enterprise. It is only Picard’s admission that Q was right that saves them all. But the damage has been done. The Borg now are aware of the Federation and they will be coming. Deemed as the best episode of the first two years the Borg were a cert to come back but no one was prepared for the battle that was to come.

Season three began but again the stories were lacklustre and ultimately forgettable until the show hit its stride mid season with both Sarek, Spock’s father from the original series coming to visit and Yesterday’s Enterprise where the Enterprise C arrives in the 24th century causing history to change for the worse. From here on in the Next Generation was unmissable but it wasn’t until the series finale the Best of Both Worlds that Star Trek Next Generation grew a pair of balls and finally cast aside the shadow of the classic series.

No one could have foreseen what was to come when the Borg returned to take down the Federation. An entire fleet wiped out at Wolf 359, an off screen battle that would be the catalyst for Deep Space 9; the Enterprise chased from a nebula by Borg and kidnapping Picard, the crew failed rescue attempt and that final stunning image where Picard has become Locutus of Borg. He utters the chilling line, “Your life as it has been is now over. From this time forward you will service us!” and Riker gives the order to fire their secret weapon that will wipe out both the Borg ship and his captain.

No one that wasn’t there the first time round can really appreciate how big this cliffhanger was. The Borg were invincible, we had seen them turn babies into Borg, they could withstand any attack and regenerate any battle damage and they were inexhaustible. Amid rumours Patrick Stewart wanted to leave the show, everyone thought this really was the end. On airing in America there was a meltdown, making the news and the population literally freaking out as if Justin Beiber had just walked in; swear to God that was the level of reaction caused by the cliffhanger. It had beaten Who Shot JR as the most talked about end of season cliffhanger ever. There was no doubt it was all down to those mechanical monsters that literally saved the show. Never again would the writers and producers of any of the successor series build a cliffhanger so breathtaking because of the reaction to this one.

No one figured out how it would end or how to bring Picard back so the viewing figures for part two were off the scale.

Voyager tried something similar when not only Captain Janeway but Belanna and Tuvok were assimilated into the Borg collective but in this instance the audience got a wink that the Doctor had pulled a trick from his hat and the assimilation was a trick of some kind. All tension was gone in that misstep.

Picard indeed survived as Data discovered the greatest weapon against the Borg was their own connections and was able to put them all to sleep as Picard’s personality broke through the Borg implants showing being assimilated did not mean you were gone forever. The writers pulled a masterstroke when they showed Picard was suffering post traumatic stress, so much so he returned to his brother on Earth, a brother he didn’t get on with yet held the key to the first step of his recovery.

The world went Borg crazy as they were brought back time and again, each time bringing something new to the table. We had Hugh, the teenage Borg that rediscovered his individuality. He was returned to the Collective in the hope his new found freedom would infect the others and break the hive mind that held them. They returned later as messed up individuals in an army controlled by Lore, Data’s evil brother which gave them a freshness and a new depth of destructiveness. Now they told you their name before killing you. Some have said the Borg were watered down but I don’t think this was true until Voyager added them to their series. Initially the alliance with Captain Janeway against Species 8572 who were kicking the crap out of the Borg was brilliant but although Voyager attempted new stories and angles, the threat for many had been diluted. There was no doubt people looked forward to hearing the Borg were coming back. They were the big enemies of Picard and co’s big screen adventure First Contact when they were able to travel back in time and try to prevent mankind ever achieving warp flight. Redesigned and even more terrifying than before the new breed of Borg proved Picard had not yet recovered from his ordeal; indeed there was something he had forgotten about his assimilation. The Borg Queen; sexy and repulsive and always in the background, issuing orders, controlling everything. She was the snake in the Garden of Eden, luring first Picard then Data with empty promises of power and control.

Visually and script wise a fantastic addition to the Borg lore, she went on to face Janeway in Voyager twice, in Dark Frontier and the finale Endgame. Of course without the Borg we would never have had the beautiful Seven of Nine, rescued by Janeway from her assimilation as a child and began teaching her what it was to be human again. Yeah, played by Jeri Ryan, she definitely peaked up Voyager and many a fan with her super skin tight outfits. Again it was the Borg that gave Voyager the kick up the back side it needed to be entertaining and I disagree with the viewpoint the Borg kids were an unnecessary addition to the crew. On the contrary, they fitted in perfectly with the maternal theme that Janeway embedded in her crew. In many ways the Maquis, Neelix, Kes and Seven were strangers given a welcome and a home where they never expected it.

With Deep Space 9 the only show that never pitted Sisko and co against the Borg, they, as I have said, were responsible for the show’s creation. In flashback we see Sisko’s wife killed in the Battle of Wolf 359, leaving him a widower and a single father who finds his loss at the hands of the Borg broken when he takes command of DS9. Facing the now human Picard whom Sisko sees as Locutus is nicely handled and another reminder that Picard wasn’t the only one in need of help after the events of Best of Both Worlds.

In Enterprise, they faced the Borg once. These Borg were found frozen in the aftermath of the battle in First Contact and it isn’t long before they are up and assimnilating again. But fair play, the writers come full circle by tying the events into the Next Generation series. Yes the question remains as to why these records are not in the 24th century records but that’s time travel for you.

So the shadow of the Borg falls large across the Star Trek universe. They have inspired and thrilled and there is no doubt about it; if it hadn’t been for these ruthless cyborgs we may never have had any more seasons of Trek of any kind after Next Gen’s third.

Add to that Doctor Who joins Kirk and Picard to face the Borg again in comic form leaving no doubt that there is still much to explore about the Borg.

Special effects genius Matt irvine interview

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

A long time ago I went to Lisburn’s library for an evening with Matt Irvine. Matt was head fo special effects at the BBC for years and also the creator behind K9. His first job was the monster filled Jon Pertwee story the Curse of Peladon. He has covered so many shows including Blake’s 7, the Tripods and Robot Wars to name a few. I caught up with him then and recently found this video of that interview which was featured on FTN channel. Enjoy.

Doctor Who: The Ice Warriors

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

First introduced in the third story of the fifth season of the show, it has been years since the Doctor faced the Martian Ice Warriors. Fans have asked for their return for a long time and they almost had it several times. Of all the numerous Doctor Who monsters, they under went the best evolution. Now they are back about to battle the eleventh Doctor and Clara in the show’s 50th year in Cold War. They have been redesigned yet retain their classic look. And we look back at their previous four appearances and give you the rundown on the green giants.

The warlord Martians of the Doctor Who universe first appeared opposite the second Doctor, Patrick Troughton in 1967. Created by Brian Hayles in an era where new monsters were literally spewing out of the show, the Ice Warriors are now classed as part of the golden era.

Their first story was aptly named the Ice Warriors. However as fans will know, this is in fact not the name of their species but rather the name given to them by the scientist, Walters, that found them buried in the ice ala the Thing. Jamie, Victoria and the Doctor battled to save a remote research station in a future Earth that has been consumed by a new ice age. The station is working to deal with the problem of massive glaciers when they find an alien frozen deep in the ice. It revives and kidnaps Victoria, played by Deborah Watling. It is revealed to be Varga, the captain of a spaceship still in the ice along with his squad. Mars is dead and they want Earth as their new home.

They made an immediate impact with viewers and fans alike. Huge lumbering reptiles housed themselves in reptilian body armour, the Ice Warriors spoke in a low hiss. Carry On star Bernard Bresslaw played the lead Ice Warrior. Given his height and build he helped burn the Martians into the minds of millions. The cover alone for the Target Novelisation of the story (left) is a pure work of art to this day and one of my personal favourites.

On the cover, their clamp-like hands are alive with energy but on the show they fired sonic guns. But nonetheless they were destined to return and soon. Visually, they were unlike anything that the Doctor had ever encountered. The Ice Warriors weren’t nimble or lithe but they were relentless. You could run but you could not hide. Fans trembled at the sight of Victoria, the innocent Victorian lady, trapped by falling ice, crying out for help as the monsters loomed down on her. This six-part story remains incomplete in the BBC archives but will be released this year on DVD using animation to replace the missing two episodes exclusive clips of which can be found on YouTube.

They soon returned in Seeds of Death, broadcast in 1969, where they again fixed their clamps on taking over the Earth. Again written by Hayles (he would pen all four of their televised adventures), we visit Earth at the end of the 21st century. All forms of transport are now obsolete and replaced by a global teleport system controlled from the moon- the T Mat. The second Doctor, along with Jamie (Fraser Hines) and Zoe (Wendy Padbury), land in a museum. Before long the global system fails and the Doctor goes to the moon in a rocket to solve the problem. There he meets the Ice Warriors again only this time there is a second caste here. The Ice Lords, in this case, Slaar, are more humanoid, faster and the brains of the operation are revealed here. They have almost military-styled helmets and cloaks to give them their place of power. They are more articulate than their foot soldiers and are deadlier in many ways. Like Judge Dredd, no Ice Warrior of either caste has ever been seen without their helmets. Only the lower jaws and chin is visible suggesting they are reptilian beneath the battle armour which may also act as a body temperature regulator. It is in this story that the classic line ‘You can’t kill me, I’m a genius!’ is said by the Doctor to save his life from two Ice Warriors. Their plan this time is to transport seeds all over the planet using the T mat which they now control. The seeds will burst open, releasing foam which sucks the oxygen from the atmosphere. All human life will die, leaving the world open to Ice Warrior population. Indeed the Doctor almost falls victim to the foam but manages to escape. He discovers that the seeds are only part of the plan as a signal is leading a Martian invasion force to Earth. The Doctor manages to divert the signal tricking them into flying into the sun before stopping Slaar and his minions.

They would return to face the third Doctor, Jon Pertwee, in the Curse of Peladon in 1972 and this time they were in colour. But this time the game had changed. The Tardis takes the Doctor and Jo Grant (Katy Manning) to the planet Peladon where the Galactic Federation is working to bring Peladon into its ranks.

However, forces are working against them by resurrecting the legend that is Aggedor, the great beast that will destroy all aliens before letting Peladon slide into alien ways. Lost in the catacombs of the palace, the Doctor and Jo meet an Ice Warrior and the Doctor thinks he knoCwho the enemy is. However this time round the Ice Warriors have given up their warrior ways and are peaceful ambassadors with the Federation. The Doctor must overcome his own prejudice to ally himself with them against forces trying to plunge Peladon back into the dark ages. Here we meet Ice Lord Izlyr played by Alan Bennion. Like the Klingons before them, Izlyr is the equivalent of Worf. He is a peacemaker, wary of their violent past and dedicated to bringing peace to the galaxy. It isn’t hard to imagine them as the Judoon of the Federation. The huge green armour almost like a walking alligator is even more imposing here and it is in Izlyr’s conversations with Jo Grant that we see that the species as a whole has really changed. This immediately elevates them to real characters rather than another monster. The scene where Izlyr sits beside Jo and comforts her when the Doctor is in danger lets the viewer know there is so much more to them than has been seen before. An Ice Warrior being concerned for another’s feelings defines them as people now. But in the subsequent sequel, the Monster of Peladon, this time with Sarah Jane Smith as the companion, the third Doctor meets a rogue splinter group of warriors that want to see a return to the old ways and intend on using the political situation on Peladon to do it. Alan Bennion again plays the Ice Lord called Azaxyr and he makes him completely different to Izlyr although they obviously look alike. Azaxyr has a fire within him that will only be quenched by the fires of war and conquest. It’s easy to see from the beautiful dialogue that there is a whole back story that occurred off screen that we are not privy to but can immediately picture. They have allied themselves with other factions within the Peladon hierarchy to bring about a new Ice Warrior empire. They are defeated as always and this was the last time we would see them.

At least on television screens.

There has been two attempts to bring them back. In the aborted Colin Baker season following the imposed hiatus by Michael Grade, the green giants would have returned in Mission to Magnus. This story would also have brought back the slug like Sil (Nabil Shaban), the Doctor’s enemy from Vengeance on Varos and Mindwarp. The story was almost lost but Target released it as a novel written by Philip Martin. In the aborted season following the show’s cancellation, it would have seen the seventh Doctor battle them once more and climaxed in Ace leaving the show for good. They would be mentioned in Castrovalva and again by the tenth Doctor in Waters of Mars. It seems that the enemy called the Flood, an entity that lives in water, was defeated by the Ice Warriors and sealed away to prevent them from ever rising again. He calls them a fine and noble race that built an empire from snow. It’s clear that the Doctor respects them as a race.

In comic strip form they would be the first monsters the seventh Doctor would face in A Cold Day in Hell. Here they are using a holiday planet’s weather control system to create a new home for themselves. Along with the shape-shifting penguin Frobisher and heat vampire Olla, they are once again defeated. Other appearances included an Ice Warrior being a companion to the eighth Doctor in a short-lived Radio Times comic strip written by Gary Russell. Ssard, along with human companion Stacy, would reappear in the BBC book Placebo Effect where they are now married. Long before the Daleks and Cybermen met in Doomsday, the Ice Warriors fought the metal giants in a comic strip in Doctor Who Weekly called Deathworld while a lone warrior, Harma, joined Dalek Killer Abslom Daak’s Star Tigers. The fifth Doctor had double trouble when the Ice Warriors and the Meddling Monk teamed up to create a new super weapon.

In novels they have been mentioned in The Last Resort, Fear Itself and Transit. In the seventh Doctor’s New adventures novel, new companion Benny, an archaeologist and an expert on Mars, joins the Doctor on a return trip to Peladon where the Ice Warriors are stirring up trouble again. Given their size and the diminutive stature of the Doctor, this would have been a great sight on television. Godengine by the late Craig Hinton delved deepest into the Martian history and is one of the most sought after books in the series. The final book in the New Adventures saw the debut of the 8th Doctor as the Ice Warriors invaded Earth. Teamed with companion Benny, it is spectacular with ships over London and a real end of the world adventure. It tied into the 3rd Doctor story Ambassadors of Death when it was revealed that the probe in that story had in fact made first contact with the Ice Warriors but it was all hushed up.

As always Big Finish has featured them in several productions. In the Resurrection of Mars, the eighth Doctor and Lucie witness the mass slaughter of a human colony in preparation for the emergence of the Ice Warriors again who are in suspended animation beneath the surface. The fifth Doctor and Peri in Red Dawn saw the first true first contact between humans and the Martians as they defend an ancient warrior’s tomb. He would then meet them again in the Judgment of Isskar which not only features a search for the Key to time but also acts as their origin story. He he would lose companion Erimem after meeting them again in the Bride of Peladon. They would also feature in the seventh Doctor Frozen Time where, like in their initial television adventure, a group of them are discovered in the ice. Benny would meet them in her own series Dance of the Dead.

It was the eleventh Doctor’s story Cold War where the answer was given as to what lay beneath that armour. The new design has been released and the clamp hands are gone, replaced by four fingers and a thumb. They still retain the classic alligator look though. Showrunner Stephen Moffat was reluctant to bring them back at all but writer Mark Gatiss persuaded him. So on a submarine somewhere in an icy sea, the battle took place. We saw the real Ice Warriors, reptilian beings who could remote control their armour suits.

To keep monsters fresh it’s important to try and bring something new and fresh every time they appear and the Peter capaldi adventure Empress of Mars did exactly that. We got to see out first female Ice Warrior, the Empress of the title. Even the sonic weapons got an upgrade compressing their victims into a ball. But with the new comes the old and Empress of Mars cleverly tied into the Peladon saga by revealing that this is the beginning of the Golden Age of the Ice Warriors when they join the Galactic Federation. Additionally the return of the one eyed Alpha Centauri is a brillaint and welcome surprise.

A true classic monster.

Did The Walking Dead Suffer From Rick’s Departure?

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombi Blues

While many criticise the Walking Dead for not being as good as it used to be, this latest season had many sitting back waiting for the death bell to toll.

Why? Andrew Lincoln and Lauren Cohen both announced they would be leaving the show so many believed that the show would obviously crack forever. No folks, not by a long shot.

While both of them are still very much central characters in the comics (well, at least one definitely is), many speculated that the loss of Rick would be the beginning of the end. While the All Out War didn’t deliver as expected, people only remember the not so good seasons. It’s a bit like working in a call centre. You may have thirty great calls in a day with happy people but that one shit call is the one that spoils your day, cementing itself in your memory.

The previous season had seen the death of his son, Carl Grimes, from the show which was probably the biggest departure from the comics at that time. Carl is still very much alive in the comics indeed he is the focus of the final issue. He is pivotal to the Whisperers storyline as well as the Commonwealth. Many believe the death of Carl prompted Lincoln to give in his notice as they are very much the heart and soul of the show and comics respectively. For me the heart of the show has always been their bond as father and son.

Even Norman Reedus believed that removing key characters would undermine the heart of the show negatising everything they had built over the years.

Let’s face it, we do love these characters even the haters to a degree. If they disliked the show so much then they wouldn’t be so vocal. It shows they care. Well, guys, I’m here to tell you keep caring because these seemingly unfathomable departures have not only reinvigorated the show but made it a much better one.

Believe me when I tell you there is no one that cares about this show as much as me. I put off a kidney transplant just to go to my first Walker Stalker!

In many ways this season has reaffirmed the show at its most horrifying, the most it has been since the Terminus mini arc.

There were a lot of expectations when the first episode aired. We knew Rick and Maggie were going. We knew the new villains the Whisperers were coming amid rumours of time jumps and Negan and Daryl becoming the new show leads in multi million dollar pay cheques. While some watched thinking they were witnessing the death of a show that to them had become rotted, others watched loyal as ever confident and unafraid of the coming changes.

Although to be fair to the haters, some of their objections are completely justified. Some decisions sucked and the loss of Rick just seemed from the outside to viewers that the stars were jumping ship as it sinks from sight right before our eyes.

Wrong guys because this was the best season in ages. Not only did the loss of Rick and Maggie breathe new life into the series but the Whisperers are by far the most terrifying villains ever.

Going in we knew that Rick and Maggie would go within the first five episodes but not how?

We should mention the loss of some other favourites. We bid farewell to Jesus, Jadis, Tara and Enid too in a twist I never saw coming; more on that later.

As we now know Maggie vanished as an afterthought in the time jump having left to work with the mysterious Georgie as far as we know. Rick on the other hand got a send off that not only left the door open for a potential return (and three new television movies) but gave Daryl and Michonne new life.

Wounded and hallucinating, Rick meets the ghosts of characters past like Hershel, Shane and Sacha as he is pursued by a zombie herd. Say what you want but that moment when the cast charged onto the bridge to save Rick showed what the true family was. Every fan’s heart raced at this rare sighting of the cast together on screen in one place. The fact it was part of his hallucinations made the real departure even more heartbreaking.

Rick is stumbling across the bridge, both man and structure symbols of bringing the communities together, followed by too many zombies to fight in his weakened condition. He is about to be bitten when a timely arrow from his brother Daryl saves his life. His family race to save him including the new additions, Magna and co but they are separated. We see the spirit that has kept them all together from the start as they forget their differences to save one of their own even if the odds are stacked against them. They would die for each other for the greater future that both Carl and Rick desperately want to see. This would be beautifully mirrored later when Siddiq gives his emotional speech in the aftermath of the shocking pike scene.

Rick knows they will not succeed against this herd. They will die in the process and there is only one way to stop this herd. That iconic pose as a failing Rick aims his gun at a fallen crate of dynamite to save them all is a highlight that honours both the comics and television show. Destroying the bridge, Rick knows that what they have been building will be delayed but be built once more. They have survived everything this world has thrown against them, the loss so many loved ones and friends but still they fight for a better world. Their collective spirit had been almost lost especially with Negan’s reign but with the head Saviour defeated and imprisoned that future seems assured again.

The remaining unhappy Saviours were swiftly dealt with by the Oceanside dealing justice which shows that this bright future wasn’t perfect but workable. The seemingly now mellow Carol in a relationship with King Ezekiel burns the last problematic Saviours alive to protect Henry, her adopted son and bring back stolen supplies the communities have worked for. There is no room any more for compassion for those who work to undermine what Rick and the others have built. They are no strangers to doing what has to be done to survive.

With life so good now, that fierceness simmers underneath. They have ripped peoples’ throats out with their teeth, left Terminus’ Mary to be eaten alive by zombies, shot psychotic children they cared for and put down mothers who have just given birth.

Similarly with Maggie’s hanging of Gregory, the once head of Hilltop, persistent coward and would be assassin. No one will be tolerated in upsetting the new order. Even being drunk and disorderly earns you a spell in jail as Henry discovers.

In this paradise they have no problem killing serpents the moment they rock the boat. Knowing the herd could destroy all they have built, Rick sacrifices himself to save all.

In what is a breathtaking moment he shoots the dynamite taking pout the bridge and the herd. There cannot be one hater that couldn’t fail to be touched by Daryl breaking down in tears and walking away as he sees his friend dead. You can see he instantly regrets tricking Rick into a pit so Maggie could murder Negan for the deaths of all those he is responsible for especially Glen and Abraham. Her sparing the former Saviour leader is a reflection of Rick’s faith in them all.

There is hope in Rick’s death.

As the bridge burns and the characters react to his ‘death’ we know that they will honour everything the father and son hoped for them. This would be later seen in the signing of the charter that Ezekiel has endlessly campaigned for.

As we know an injured Rick is washed down the river only to found by Jadis who is picked up by a mysterious helicopter for some future storyline.

As far as everyone else is concerned Rick is dead going out as a hero for the people he loved.

Doing another time jump was a great idea as we get to see the legacy of Rick Grimes. Michonne has a son, Rick Junior. Judith wears Carl’s hat and can shoot a gun like her dad and brother. She is also the catalyst for a great storyline for Negan and brings out a new facet of the character. It is Rick’s daughter that brings hope and salvation to the nefarious character in the show.

Similarly the characters are all allowed to breathe and flourish giving us insight like never before.

Daryl is a loner and has a dog still searching for Rick. He has never found a body and there is no zombie Rick shambling about. He knows in his gut something is not right. It is also a testament to the faith he has in his brother even in seemingly hopeless circumstances. Daryl will be the protector of all the communities in honour of his late friend.

Tara and Jesus are now the heads of Hilltop in Maggie’s absence. Michonne leads Alexandria with a council consisting of both Aaron and Father Gabriel. She runs an isolationist existence, wary of strangers and as we discover, with very good reason. She doesn’t believe Ezekiel’s community bonding fair is a good idea with the emergence of the Whisperer threat but she goes along with it anyway with disastrous consequences.

We see Michonne as a conflicted leader trying to balance this new life alongside honouring Rick’s beliefs. The flashback to how a friend of hers turned up to Alexandria and turned against her almost killing her and taking the Alexandrian kids is brilliant. This is foreshadowed by the reveal of scars branded into both her and Daryl’s backs. It is a physical reminder of how dangerous the world can be and that sometimes kindness backfires when compassion brings you terror.

This is also reflected in her behaviour towards Angel, Luke and co in should they be allowed citizenship in the communities or fired back to the wilderness.

It is Judith that reminds her of what Rick would do. Sometimes you have to take a chance on people. The future is not built on isolating yourself from the world or refusing to show compassion. It is more than fitting that Judith is the one to make the jaded adults see through the eyes of a Grimes, reminding them of what Carl and Rick stood for.

What this season has done so brilliantly is cheat us.

Once we knew the Whisperers were coming we all thought who would die in an iconic comic moment. We were so certain who was going to end up on the pikes. Henry seemingly fulfilled the role of Carl in the Lydia storyline. Eyes rolled at the seeming easy way out for this story where one of our beloved characters was apparently easily replaced. As his father, Ezekiel would apparently be elevated to the Rick position to maintain a father son core to the series.

What none of us noticed was the amount of children our characters now had to protect in this new world. Aaron had Gracie, Michonne had RJ and Judith, Henry was Carol and Ezekiel’s son. Gerry has a family with Nabila and has another baby on the way. We even got a teenage gang Henry fell in with at the Hilltop. Teenagers being teenagers like any other show and seeing children laughing and playing again is a reflection of Carl and Rick’s vision.

Beautiful touches like the Kingdom’s search for a projector bulb to play a movie is a lovely touch. The wilderness of civilisation is not something they have to be in for survival any more. Now it’s like nipping to the corner shop for a pint of milk. For the first time in a long time people have homes to go to where the zombie world can be left behind.

Rick has proved Negan wrong as they are flourishing. There will never be a threat as terrifying as the Saviours ever again. Or so they think.

Again referencing Michonne’s scary friend turning children into killers her plan is almost small fry compared to something like Terminus, the Governor or the Saviours. Even the new sudden threat of the Highwaymen is quickly resolved by Carol and Ezekiel extending the hand of friendship and making a deal to let them see a movie. This may seem a brief story but it shows that the taste of normality can end a threat quickly. Employing them as the guys to protect the Kingdom’s roads is another progression. In the old days Carol would have shot them all right where they stood. There’s even comedy relief as all Jerry wants is his sword back. The news of his new baby brings such joy you can feel it on screen that the world is good.

All this gave a real sense that there was a future after all and the kids would remind the adults of those that have fallen.

It is these solid family units that would directly affect the future through the capture of a girl called Lydia.

In the mid season finale Jesus is brutally murdered by the Whisperers in a graveyard. The paranoia of the dead now talking through Eugene’s terrified ramblings gives an air of horror we haven’t really seen in a long time. This was the start of our subversion. A zombie attack at night in a graveyard is classic horror with disembodied voices coming from the darkness. The dead surround our heroes with Jesus going out with some beautifully choreographed zombie kills. However the leader of Hilltop is sidestepped by a zombie and stabbed through the heart much earlier than happened in the comics.

Just as an aside, this is one instant where the show did not fully utilise a character’s full potential which is a shame.

This changes everything as we find out people are wearing the skins of the dead and mingling freely among the dead. Later do we discover that they can influence the dead to follow them.

Danger is heightened as we no longer know who is a real zombie and who is a Whisperer. Daryl has a great solution that again shows he will do anything to keep the communities safe because it is what Rick would do; put an arrow in their leg. Although he doesn’t admit it Daryl is a vital part of the communities demonstrated through his interactions with Carol, Tara and new girl, Connie.

But the loss of Rick also propels Daryl to the forefront of the action. He must go up against the deadly leader of the Whisperers, Alpha played by Samantha Morton, in place of Maggie and Rick in the comics.

If ever a serpent was going to overturn the communities joint signing of the charter and wreck the historic fair, then it was going to be Alpha.

Truly, Alpha is nothing like any of the villains we have met so far. At this stage even Negan seems neutered by his incarceration and relationship with young Judith. Negan was many things but he would never harm children or murder without reason. He did protect families even if it was slightly twisted in his head.

With Alpha we have something never seen before. We see a villain, a female villain that cares for nothing of the old world. Her flashback episode and what happens to her husband shows she has a different view to everyone else.

To her the Kingdom is filled with sickness. It will simply drag the world back into what it was before and must be taken out.

To be fair, she does offer a peaceful trade for her daughter and promises to leave the communities alone if Lydia is returned.

Daryl knows that Lydia has been abused by her mother having spoken to her and refuses to give her up. It is morally wrong to return a child to that sort of life. You can feel the spirit of Rick Grimes saying the same thing. No matter what the consequences you must do the right thing.

Alpha shows how motherly she is when one of her followers has a baby that will not stop crying.

In one of the most terrifying moments of the show we see her simply give a gesture and the mother leaves her crying baby for the undead to feast on.

It is shocking and sickening that here we have a mother demanding her child back but ordering another to feed hers to zombies just because it won’t stop crying. Silence is golden to the Whisperers and Alpha rules by it. Again it is a beautiful symmetry by the writers that a deaf woman rescues the infant. The horror is accentuated by Connie’s desperate run through tall grass seen from her perspective. There is no sound and we see silent zombies try and grab her out of nowhere. We know the baby’s cries are drawing them but Connie must run on instinct. This is like something from All Quiet Here or the very best of Hitchcock. Beautifully written, beautifully directed and acted and utterly frightening.

Lydia willingly goes back to her mother and in another twisted mirror moment she thinks for a second her mother has come for her out of lvoe. Poor Lydia is sadly mistaken when she is slapped hard in the face and told she will call her mother Alpha like the others.

This could have been the end of it but Alpha can’t leave it there especially when Henry comes to rescue Lydia who strikes him just as her mother did her. Every family connection we have seen so far is foreign to Alpha. Although the moment where she breaks down in the woods after Lydia chooses to return with Henry to the Hilltop tells a different story. It also reinforces her ruthlessness. She murders one of her own who sees her so no one else will discover her weakness.

She also decapitates another of her followers for daring to question her and allows others to become zombies they can add to her collection.

The communities have taken her daughter from her so she infiltrates Ezekiel’s fair to see for herself. She wants to make a point and show she will tolerate no more interference with her people.

Her giant sidekick, Beta, played by Ryan Hurst is genuinely one of the creepiest villains to grace our screens. He never takes off his zombie mask and he almost kills Daryl in a fight you just can’t imagine Rick doing. Rick and Negan’s punch ups were perfect but this is almost a new level. There is something deranged and psychotic about these new villains. Killing Daryl for Beta will strike a blow to the citizens of Hilltop. You can literally feel the punches as Daryl is smashed against walls like a rag doll. It’s brutal with a reality of pure hatred. Daryl manages to defeat him by the skin of his teeth but Beta’s rage is far from sated. His loyalty to Alpha is fuelled by hatred of anything from the past, a past that has affected the giant as we will see in the future.The make up is fantastic giving him a demonesque appearance as if this thing has come from hell itself.

When Daryl, Carol, Michonne and Yumiko are captured by the Whisperers when they go searching for missing citizens, it is Alpha’s orders that keep them alive despite Beta’s want.

As Daryl faced her down at Hilltop, he is the one she chooses to reveal her secret weapon to. She controls a massive herd of zombies that she will release on the communities if they cross her again. We are the rot in society so Alpha intends to use the remnant citizens of the old world to secure her twisted way of life where it is acceptable to feed an infant to the dead.

Even Daryl knows they don’t stand a chance against something this massive. It’s rare he is shaken but this time even he is helpless.

There is a real sense of doom and the Whisperers holding the power card against which our heroes are helpless. A message has been sent and she declares the borders between their lands has been marked but doesn’t explain. Nothing fazes Daryl but even he is not prepared for what Alpha has done.

It is here we have the rug pulled from under us. We as an audience know the pike scene is coming.

In the comics we know Ezekiel and a pregnant Rosita are part of the line up but the show kicks us in the balls by changing that. The change strikes at the heart of Rick’s vision and the familial heart of the show.

The identities of the victims is revealed very cleverly as other characters are asking for the whereabouts of certain citizens. There is no allusion to something untoward until Lydia runs to Ezekiel to warn him her mother has been at the fair.

In beautiful wide shots the quartet along with a wounded Siddiq we see exactly where the missing citizens are. Siddiq collapses in tears as the camera reveals each victim along with shots of their friends and loved asking where they are.

Only this time we don’t get Ezekiel and Rosita as two of the dead. All those family ties and loved ones we have witnessed over the season have become things to be ripped apart by Alpha. Tara as leader of the Hilltop has been decapitated and her zombified had put on a spike. Hilltop’s doctor Enid is also there along with some of the teenage gang, two of the Highwaymen, Tammy who just took on a new baby along with her blacksmith husband who was training Henry. Last but not least Daryl grabs Carol as the camera reveals her worst nightmare as Lydia runs to Ezekiel to warn him her mother was in the Kingdom and she can’t find Henry. The would-be Carl replacement is the final victim with his zombified head on a pike.

With that the father/son heart that has existed since the start of the show is dead and buried.

Alpha has murdered Henry for taking her daughter away from her. It is shocking and symbolic that these characters have been chosen to die in this fashion rather than follow the comics. It spins off the characters in new directions eg Carol ending her marriage to Ezekiel because they are living a fairytale. No matter what they do there will always be some sort of threat ready to destroy their happiness.

No offence to Alpha but I’d steer clear of Carol forever. Ask the cannibals of Terminus what she did to them…oh wait, you can’t. They’re all dead. Bummer.

But in the closing scene of this episode we get the ghosts of Carl and Rick once more as Siddiq delivers his speech about what happened. We see the victims join together to fight and protect ach other until the end.

Alpha has underestimated the communities. Instead of delivering the story of fear as she intended, Siddiq gives a speech of hope. The victims were strangers who stood together facing their fate fighting and protecting each other until they died. They fought back and that’s what the communities must do to preserve their way of life against this new threat. No one could have imagined an enemy as twisted as the Whisperers. You can just imagine Carl smiling proudly at Siddiq because he is honouring the memories of all who have fallen by refusing to give in to fear.

Many have said that the final episode was a let down and that they were expecting a cliffhanger to keep them going over the hiatus.

I disagree. I think it was the perfect ending to the season. Winter has come as they say. The communities have fallen back to not only survive the winter but regroup and figure out how they are going to deal with the Whisperers. It is an episode of character moments and sets up season ten. Carol and Ezekiel split. The winter background evokes fairy tales like Frozen where the King and Queen rule but here it gets a dose of Walking Dead. Zombies in a winter wonderland also gives a dark vibe to the fairytale image. Will Carol go to her dark days as the Terminator to avenge the murder of her son? Will Ezekiel die trying to murder Alpha or Beta? How safe is Lydia given she will get the blame for her mother’s actions? Father Gabriel is willing to raise Rosita and Siddiq’s child with Eugene looking on but will happiness prevail? Negan is baiting anyone he can while saving Judith and showing he can be trusted. He has a connection to them now even if he does love to wind them up. His former enemies are now his Saviours, just as Rick said.

Everything is up in the air because we have now deviated from the comics and with Michonne leaving in season ten it leaves another major change to the comics. Again the rug has been pulled out from under us as we can no longer assume anything. That’s what I mean about this season; we thought we knew what was coming but by the end we didn’t. Now we question the future especially if you have read the comics and know how the Whisperer War turns out.

Even Alpha and her giant herd are readying for what is coming. Revenge is burning in her as self mutilating herself again demonstrating she is mad as a hatter. There is no doubt she will go to any lengths to ensure her peoples’ survival.

We don’t need a cliffhanger this season because when you look back we have had a lot happen to us over the weeks. The loss of so many major characters, the introduction of the scariest enemy yet that makes even Daryl afraid. New directions are forged by changing the comic by substituting characters relevant to the overall themes of this season. Themes like community and honouring the memories of those who have fallen by keeping their memories alive in our every day actions.

The last episode of this season was the breather we didn’t know we needed before we get plunged back into the hell that will be the Whisperer War. This season has proved it is time for people to give the show another chance.

Rick Grimes leaving has given it a brand new lease of life no one saw coming. The dead have been resurrected once again in an exciting and original way.

This season ended with a fractured fairytale theme. Get ready for the apocalypse in a way you’ve never seen before in a battle between the living and the dead. Many will die not with a scream but a whisper.

Rick’s departure not only brought new life to the show and the characters. It gave the show the boost it needed. Forget ratings mood hoovers and the naysayers, Walking Dead is back with a vengeance. I for one can’t wait to see how this plays out.

The Venom of the Mentara: General Cade

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

Copyright Owen Quinn Mace wielding Mentara by Stephen Mooney

Every race of bad guys needs a leader. To date we have seen arachnoid Mentara harvesting parties in Celtic times, trapped in a pocket dimension with the Time Warriors and making deals with humans in a twisted version of history. They have made an impact with their ruthless hunt for human food which was made even more horrific by the revelation in Summer’s End.

Such was the horror of their biggest secret that Varran was sent on a path to ensure the Mentara are stopped once and for all by any means necessary. Despite the data gathered from their previous encounters Varran cannot find anything leading to the location of the Mentara homeworld. So when a trip to the old Wild West in the latest book The Belbridge Mystery brings the Time Warriors to the Mentara homeworld Varran is faced with something that will challenge his very morals.

For this story we delve deeper into the Mentara culture than ever before so the Mentara needed a face; a main villain to give Varran someone to go head to head with.

To that end General Cade was born.

With the Mentara being tarantula centaurs the size of racehorses how could I make Cade stand out? Well if you think a Mentara warrior like Spiderman then Cade was going to be Venom.

Copyright Owen Quinn Mentara concept drawn by Stephen Mooney

What the Mentara are, why they do what they do is all down to Cade and his late father Hannon. When their world fell, Cade lost his entire family save for his father.

When a cruiser from the future fell to the surface, Cade and his father were able to scavenge the technology for themselves and begin the slow restoration of Mentar. It was also this ship that brought a life saving food source- human bodies.

From there and to protect this new trophy from the myriad of other rabid survivors the Dead Zone was created. Hannon saw within his son the fire needed to rebuild their world into a newer more secure power base. Hannon swore that never again would Mentar fall so far or the people turn on each other.

Using the new addictive human food source, Hannon was able to enhance its effects on Mentara biology. Using Cade as his test subject, it made the young Mentara bulkier and bigger than any existing Mentara. His muscled exterior reflects his iron will and determination which he utilises to full effect to rally the people into a unified force. The addictive human flesh inadvertently allows Cade to bring the people to his way of thinking.

Ruthless beyond words, Cade will think nothing of ripping the spine from any of his troopers for the slightest slip in protocol. When Hannon dies Cade carries on his father’s work and creating the Conglomerate, hi power base for controlling all Mentar.

Power is everything and that power secures Cade’s way. As long as the people are fed then their loyalty is without question. Cade relies on this but the emergence of the Nasgul, a mutant version of the Mentar along with the arrival of the Time Warriors threatens his entire power structure.

The race is on for Cade to eradicate both threats before they unravel Mentara society. He has guarded what lies in the Dead Zone for very good reason; a reason that not even Varran will discover until they meet again.

Get your copy of The Time Warriors The Belbridge Mystery today here https://www.amazon.co.uk/Time-Warriors-Belbridge-Mystery/dp/B08KHGDZLK/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=the+belbridge+mystery&qid=1609000272&sr=8-1

Zombie Blues: Dog Lover Zombie

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

We meet the various zombies that appear in the Zombie Blues books and learn the story behind their inclusion. This time up Dog Lover Zombie.

The thing about being a zombie is that like all evil, it takes the cocoon of normality and twists it into something the darkness can use against us.

In the first Zombie Blues book Dog Lover Zombie, it takes one of the most normal things in our lives and changes its meaning completely.

Most people have dogs or like dogs. YouTube is filled with dogs being protective of their families or sleeping beside new born babies. We have dogs risking their lives for the police and armed forces and we have guide dogs performing a life giving service. There is no doubt that dogs are part and parcel of our lives to the point where they are seen as family members.

We are a world of dog lovers; indeed the very phrase conjures images of happy families with kids cuddling their pet. No one can question that. However in Zombie Blues land that phrase becomes something quite different.

The zombies in Zombie Blues are programmed to eat anything that moves and that includes our pets. So from the undead perspective being a dog lover becomes something quite unsettling. Now imagine loving dogs was not only your business but part of your very psyche.

In Dog Lover Zombie we meet our first celebrity zombie, Canine Ken. Ken has a successful show dealing with unruly and nasty dogs which is global hit.

He grew up in a home in Kansas where dogs were part and parcel of family life. His mother from an early age saw his gift with dogs which went beyond the norm. Ken had a psychic link with them bar one type in particular. He hates Chihuahuas. They have their own level of thought that goes beyond any other canine and Ken gave up on them after he was attacked by one on his show; his only failure but also his highest rated one ever.

When the apocalypse hits Ken immediately springs to save his animals. His deep love for his animals is returned when he is saved from being bitten by a zombie by Lucy one of his rescue dogs.

In real life Lucy was my son’s dog. She was everything this story projects about dogs; loyal and protective especially of him. It was only right that she feature in this story.

Will the Zombie apocalypse destroy the millennia old bond between humans and their dogs? Has Mother Nature underestimated the strength of something that may well play a part in beating the armies of the undead?

Get your copy today of Zombie Blues here today https://www.amazon.co.uk/Zombie-Blues-Owen-Quinn/dp/1717802257/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=zombie+blues+owen&qid=1608993620&sr=8-1