By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
Copyright John Bishop
Hot on the heels of Revolution of the Daleks, the BBC have run a quick trailer introducing new companion Dan played by actor and comedian John Bishop. Entitled Welcome to the Tardis it shows Dan and a work mat who is telling an what his horoscope says lies in wait for him. In the eight part series it’s not clear how many episodes he will appear in but I can’t wait to see what he brings. Head honcho Chris Chibnall says the role was specifically built for John who will star alongside Jodie Whittaker and Mandip Gill in the new series. With the Weeping Angels and Sontarans returning Dan will have his hands full alongside the Doctor and Yaz.
Posted by Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
Copyright Derek Power
People are showing up without any personal memories in their head. They don’t know their family, where they are, or even their own name. It is a strange problem, one that those in the medical profession cannot explain.
Luckily Ireland happens to have a detective who investigates strange problems that others are unable to explain. Filthy Henry is on the case…or at least he would be if the fairy detective was not missing in action.
Meaning Shelly, the fairy detective’s closest friend, suddenly has two cases on her plate. Figure out what is happening to everyone’s memories and find where the fairy detective is.
Posted by Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
Filthy Henry created and written by Derek Power
Copyright Derek Power
Some legends are born. Others are made. Sometimes they happen by accident.
According to legend, Queen Medb once tried to steal the magical Brown Bull of Ulster in order to become a god. Cú Chulainn, the powerful warrior, stopped her by single handedly defeating her entire army.
Somehow Medb has returned to modern-day Ireland and is trying to get the bull once again. This time it is up to Cú Chulainn’s descendant, Cathal Cullen, to stop her. The problem is Cathal does not know about his heroic lineage. Luckily someone has been drafted in from the fairy world to help him. Unluckily, that someone is Filthy Henry.
Posted by Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
Copyright Derek Power
By Derek Power
New Clients. Impossible case. Same fairy detective.
Once again the Fairy World requires the services of Filthy Henry, Ireland’s one and only fairy detective. Filthy Henry, as usual, wants nothing to do with the inhabitants of the magical world. But Shelly, his new partner despite never actually being hired for the job, has other plans.
After all when a Celtic God hires you to solve one of their problems you cannot let a little thing like the bad manners of a fairy detective get in the way.
Even if Filthy Henry does not exactly agree with such an assessment.
By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
Copyright Derek Power
Filthy Henry is Dublin’s first and foremost fairy detective. Something of a niche job since most people do not know that fairies are even real, let alone need a detective. But when The King of the Leprechauns has his crock of gold stolen by some humans he requires the services of a detective. Lucky for him Filthy Henry is just the man he needs. The only problem is nobody in the world can stand him. Which does not really bother Filthy Henry as he is not too fond of the world either…
The 13th (actually 14th) Doctor’s first Dalek encounter was a shambles with a terrible design and here we meet the metal dustbins all over again. The last two seasons have been poorly written with as a life long fan it’s been a shaame to see the show sink. Argue all you want but the facts are in the figures as is current marketing where the 13th Doctor has been teamed up with the eternally popular Tenth Doctor to sell comics. The last time I looked at Doctor Who Magazine its comic strip was showcasing Christopher Eccleston instead of the current Doctor and crew. If having to use the past to raise the profile and bring those who have faded away from the poor stories then it’s hardly a good sign. Curiously that is exactly what has happened here in this episode.
Captain Jack Harkness is back to help the current team fight the Daleks once again. We also see the return of crooked American businessman Jack Robertson played by Chris Noth (Yep, that Mister Big.) Stealing the remnants of a Dalek shell thanks to an equally crooked Prime Minister to be Jo Patterson played by Harriet Walter, Robertson builds a new drone to keep Britain secure. Unknown to him a Dalek mutant has regrown thanks to his assistant Leo and created a Dalek clone factory allowing all the new drones to be occupied. Only Yaz, Graham and Ryan know the danger but ten months without the Doctor and a Tardis they cannot pilot, they are limited until the Doctor arrives with Jack Harkness in tow. The whole Doctor in prison thing seems like a filler to be honest serving no purpose other than keeping her from her companions. It was nice to see some old faces in the prison but we are left with a weak explanation of why the Judoon actually imprisoned her and why she didn’t attempt to escape sooner.
It’s also kind of strange how UNIT or Torchwood didn’t react to the Daleks sudden appearance. We know the crack in time erased a lot of people’s memories of the Dalek invasion in The Stolen Earth as seen in Victory of thee Daleks. Amy Pond, to the Eleventh Doctor’s surprise, doesn’t recognise the Daleks.
The first twenty minutes or so seems to drag but things quickly pick up. Jack and Yaz make a good team while Graham gets lost in favour of Harkness. Ryan finally gets to show some acting chops and ironically and as with many of these shows when he is about to leave. It’s a shame because Graham has been very much the heart of the team on the same level as Bernard Cribbin’s Wilfred Mott.
So far so familiar using past elements to make a story that actually entertains and tis up loose ends like the additional Tardis and scout Dalek. The mutant Dalek octopoid creatures are very well done and reminded me of the old movie Tarantula when in their cases. This is a trend began back in Resurrection of the Daleks. Another nod to the past was summoning pure Daleks to destroy impure ones as in Revelation of the Daleks. This was spectacular. I also have to say I like the new Dalek design with the red and the black. It’s a huge improvement on the previous one. Even Yaz’s conversation of how not being with the Doctor gives both her and Jack new depths. She knows the Doctor will disappear one day but doesn’t care. the pain is worth it. Again this harks back to the Tenth Doctor’s School Reunion with Sarah Jane and Rose echoing the same themes.
How the Doctor gets rid of them is a nice trick and well done. This was on the same scale as the Stolen Earth with the Daleks flying through the air slaughtering people all over the planet. But with every victory comes a price.
Anyone that knows me is well aware I hate goodbyes and we here we get a double whammy. For me Ryan has been criminally underused with his illness seemingly a tick measure. here he shines and his quiet moment with the Doctor about who they re is priceless. Bradley Walsh has had some nice moments so their goodbyes and reasons for staying echo true for me. What is more important to a person? Seeing th universe on a journey that can end any time or using that time to see what your grandson will achieve in life? it’s always been about family and there is no better reason to leave the Tardis. Speaking of family, it was great to hear Jack had met up again with Gwen Cooper and that she now had a son.
Overall an enjoyable episode that only succeeds on using old elements in a new way. When the show returns in 20211 we already know the Weeping Angels and Sontarans are back so maybe this is the show finally turning around.
By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
Copyright BBC
Once again we take our weekly look back at characters who have helped make The Doctor the Timelordwe love today, be they big or small, every person in his life has helped create him…
Two for one here as Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright are, to this day in Doctor Who lore, the couple that were bound together forever as man and wife from their Tardis adventures.
In the beginning, Doctor Who was intended as an educational programme for kids. The Tardis was originally supposed to travel throughout earth history at landmark events and viewers would be educated about them through the eyes of Ian and Barbara. There was to be no bug-eyed monsters, just historical people and places. Ironic in the end that the historical adventures proved the least popular, slowly being outed by the science fiction element.
Ian and Barbara were school teachers at Coal Hill, Ian a man of science and Barbara a history teacher and both their attentions were caught by the super brilliant pupil Susan Foreman, in reality the Doctor’s granddaughter. Her behaviour at seemingly brilliant leaps of logic and a knowledge of things she couldn’t possibly know intrigued them.
Following her home, they come across an old police box in a junkyard and a crotchety old man whom they believe is keeping Susan against her will.
Forcing their way into the box, they find themselves inside the Tardis and discover Susan and her grandfather are time travellers from another world.
Russell T Davies always said Earth companions work best because they act as the door for ordinary viewers to explore the Doctor’s world by asking questions the viewer would and reacting similarly.
Indeed, their first adventure took them to the era of the cavemen seeking the secret of fire. Originally, the Doctor was very much the anti-hero, prepared to murder a man to save themselves and get back to the Tardis. He resented the two newcomers’ invasion of his home and wanted to get rid of them asap but without being able to control where the Tardis travelled, getting them home was all hit and miss. Ian and Barbara that showed the Doctor the value of humanity and, I believe, brought him to realize he was not alone and the importance of family. Indeed, he was devastated by their departure after battling the Daleks in the Chase, the first time we saw how lonely the Doctor truly was.
Throughout their adventures, Ian and Barbara’s talents were put to the test. Ian was the action hero in the tradition of the Hollywood beacons of goodness. He was fiercely protective of his friends and frequently argued with the Doctor but they had a grudging respect which evolved to the point where the Doctor trusted Ian to get them home on more than one occasion and take the lead, especially in their trek with Marco Polo and Richard the Lionheart. Barbara wasn’t afraid to tackle the Doctor either when he behaved badly, forcing the Time Lord to look at himself and actually think about the consequences of his actions on others. They forced him to be human and the more time they spent together the more the Doctor enjoyed showing them the wonders of the universe without being condescending.
Barbara was a strong-willed lady, years ahead of her time and when presented with the chance to change history and stop Aztec human sacrifices, she willingly took on the persona of a god to stop these barbaric practices. Despite the Doctor’s warnings that certain things cannot be changed, Barbara tried anyway. In the end she failed and learned a little of the world of the Doctor, forever travelling but destined to be unable to stop horrors from time to time.
The historical stories were prevalent in their time, cleverly using Barbara and Ian’s talents without diminishing the characters. This Tardis team were all equal and faced death in the French Revolution, the burning of Rome, a journey with Marco Polo, the Crusades, as well as Daleks, Voorrd, Mechanoids, Mire beasts and they even returned to their right time except they had been miniaturised. But they faced it together, becoming the family the Doctor and Susan had lost.
For many this original team was the best, fitting their roles perfectly aboard the ship without just being there to make up numbers or demographics like today’s show or the fifth Doctor’s first team.
Their return home was celebrated with a montage of shots showing them doing normal things like taking a bus. It was widely believed they married after leaving the Tardis and it was further explored in the BBC novel series. Their team featured in more Missing Adventures, another book series showcasing stories set in between the televised shows. These remain some of the strongest tales and perfectly recapture the team sending us back to the beginning of this incredible 50 year journey.
William Russell, who played Ian, has done several plays for the Big Finish companion chronicles as well as narrating audios of old Target novels. With most of the missing episodes from the Troughton era, the majority of Hartnell shows still exist though there will be a DVD release of the Reign of Terror with missing episodes completed via animation. Once again Ian and Barbara will grace our screen in another adventure just as they did all those years ago. Jacqueline Hill, who played Barbara, passed away to cancer some years back but not before she starred opposite Tom Baker in the fourth Doctor’s story Meglos where she played a high priestess. Although it wasn’t the character of Barbara, fans were delighted to see her back.
There is something ageless about this team and in the recent Sarah Jane Adventures story Death of the Doctor they are name-checked as still fighting the good fight as seemingly ageless people. It is a touching line that evokes memories and you really can believe they are married, still out there and carrying on everything they learned from the Doctor.
So in the anniversary celebrations, here’s to Ian and Barbara, the original and the best.
By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
One of my favourite shows growing up was the New Avengers and, like Doctor Who, I was aware it had started in the sixties, so the seventies version was my first exposure to it and now that I have seen the earlier Mrs Peel, Tara King and Cathy Gale episodes, the seventies version with Purdey, Gambit and Steed is as much Avengers as its predecessors. Anything could happen and often did.
Between 1976 and 1977 larger than life villains, bizarre situations and even monster rats were every day life for our heroes. In one episode there was even a Pied Piper who controlled birds rather than rats. In Gnaws, a lovely spin on Jaws, the Spielberg great white shark movie, they fought a giant rat, grown to elephant size by means of a top secret government formula that accelerates growth. It was aimed to end world hunger but as always with these things, some was stolen. They would face one odd situation after another with some of the action transferring to Canada who had partly funded some of the 25 episode run.
Only in the Avengers could a fishing rod become a deadly weapon on an island where the body of Hitler is being kept in suspended animation and a gang of monks are actually Nazis that have stopped aging. They faced mad Chinese Mandarins and old school friends with a grudge as well as criminals that could put half of London to sleep to pull off the ultimate robbery and plastic surgeons that could take people, change their faces and replace people like the Prime Minister were ten a penny. There was nothing that Steed, Purdey and Gambit couldn’t handle. Watching them back now I think they are great stories, some have a logic problem, but it’s all done with such energy and enthusiasm. Gambit is in love with Purdey and constantly tries to get her into bed but she is a lady that has the deadliest high kick in the world and can take down anyone that got in her way.
Played by Joanna Lumley who is a national icon, let’s be honest, Purdey fitted the quintessential Avenger girl; beautiful, deadly and fun. For the first time ever, Steed had a male side kick in the form of Gareth Hunt’s Gambit who was a super spy and a martial arts expert though he could pull off a mean Irish accent. Steed, as played by Patrick Macnee, was…well, Steed. An English gent who enjoyed the finer things in life, loved the ladies and he was still lethal with an umbrella. Week after week these three acted as a team to keep the world safe and there were times they came close to failing but triumphed in the end.
One such battle was the Last of the Cybernauts…? which brought back an old enemy from the sixties series, the titular robotic Cybernauts. First encountered twice by Steed and Mrs Peel, played by Diana Rigg. It seemed they were gone forever but not so. It was this battle almost saw the end of all three of the Avengers.
The episode begins on Steed’s birthday when they receive a call that a double agent has been identified and they leave to take him down. Felix Kane is his name and in the ensuing car chase he is caught in an explosion. Fast forward a year later and we discover that Kane wasn’t killed and the events still bear heavily on Steed’s mind. Kane is now a wheelchair bound cripple who wears masks to convey his moods and he is hellbent on revenge. He tracks down the Cybernaut technology via the original builder, Frank Goff, now released from prison, and has him reactivate the robot. Killing Goff , he uses the Cybernaut to kidnap a surgeon, Professor Mason, who will be able to complete Kane’s plan. He wants to be augmented using Cybernaut technology so he can kill the Avengers himself. Steed is almost killed by the robot when Kane sends it to steal some technology that Mason needs to complete the surgery.
Gambit also has a run in with the Cybernaut along with Purdey on a staircase where they manage to throw it from the top flight. Mason succeeds in combining Kane with a Cybernaut and he targets Purdey first, knocking Gambit down along the way with a car. Mason manages to warn Steed about Kane’s plan. He intends to leave her in the same state as himself to torture Steed and when he invades her apartment, it seems Purdey is going to die. They really go for it in the fight scene and her flat is trashed. The famous Purdey moves are there but she is worn down by the Kane cyborg and he manages to grab her, ready to smash her body for her friends to find. However, Steed and Gambit burst in and spray Kane with plastic skin which freezes the Cybernaut tech and stops him in his tracks.
A lot works well to make this an unforgettable episode. The Cybernauts themselves are creepy, blank faced silver robots and can kill you by breaking your neck with one blow. Unlike the Cybermen in Doctor Who, the Cybernauts are mindless, controlled by remote using cameras in their eyes to allow the controller to see where they are going. The incidental music makes a huge impact in conveying their menace.
These really are lethal weapons and the fact they have no expression to read means that you never know when they are going to break your neck. And again, when Gambit and Purdey go up against it they might as well be fighting air as nothing they do can stop it or slow it down. Kane himself is a Davros-like villain made even creepier by the false plastic masks which he changes to convey his mood. He is also reminiscent of the John Lumic character in the 21st century Doctor Who’s Rise of the Cybermen and Age of Steel starring David Tennant. But he is much more sinister, living in a place that is covered in pictures of Steed, Purdey and Gambit’s faces as well as life-sized cardboard cut-outs, all the focus for his hate and vengeance making him the quintessential Avengers villain. There was almost an appearance by Diana Rigg but it never happened and the episode works well none the less. A complete classic from a classic show.
By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
Once again we look back at the legacy of Doctor Who and pinpoint the characters that have helped make him the hero he is today…
Copyright BBC
There are few Doctor Who companions that immediately spring to mind if you asked ordinary Joe public but there is one that everyone remembers. Jamie, played by Frazer Hines, later Joe Sugden of Emmerdale Farm fame, was the second Doctor’s constant companion bar one story.
A young highlander from the Battle of Culloden, Jamie was never meant to be a companion but producers were so impressed by Frazer’s performance they signed him up as a regular with the departure of Ben and Polly on the horizon.
This late addition explains his being kept unconscious in the Moonbase where the Cybermen lurked. It was only when the other characters left in the Faceless Ones that Jamie really came into his own.
Frazer had a really close off-screen relationship with Patrick Troughton and this spilled over onscreen. The banter between the second Doctor and Jamie kept audiences entertained right to the end of the era. Jamie’s playful put downs of the Doctor and his abilities were a joy to watch but the young Highlander was resolute and deeply protective of his Doctor. He would face many of the series’ most classic foes in his stories – many of which are missing from the archives – and the battles with the Yeti in the Target novelizations spurred many childrens’ imaginations, including mine.
It was this era that introduced the Ice Warriors, the Yeti, the Seaweed monster, established the Cybermen as the new big baddies and saw the introduction of the Time Lords.
With every encounter, Jamie faced these new creatures head on and was never afraid to disagree with the Doctor, especially in Evil of the Daleks where he left the Doctor over his decision to help Waterfield in his experiments for the deadly pepperpots. But they could never fall out for long and Jamie could also be a hopeless romantic and became the big brother to both Victoria and Zoe who also travelled with the Doctor.
No matter what, Jamie would be at the Doctor’s side ready to fight whatever monsters they encountered. It was only when Troughton decided to leave the role, that Frazer also moved on, even though he was asked to stay to become Pertwee’s companion. It says a lot about their off-screen relationship that Frazer stayed to the War Games to see off the second Doctor. He was returned to Earth by the Time Lords with his memory wiped of his time in the Tardis bar his first encounter with the Doctor.
But as always in sci-fi, nothing is ever permanent and Jamie returned to the Five Doctors as a phantom and later in the Two Doctors where he was paired with the sixth Doctor and Peri losing none of the magic of his onscreen persona. He has even been named in a couple of the Doctor’s post regenerative crisis as his mind recalls past companions.
In the comic strip World Shapers, the sixth Doctor returns to find Jamie remembers his travels after all but is an outcast as a crazy old man from the rest of his clan. They embark on an adventure against the Cybermen which sees Jamie sacrifice his life to save his old friend.
But in the Big Finish world, their reunion was much happier with Jamie returning to the Tardis to travel for three stories with the sixth Doctor but with no memory of his past in time travel. However events soon conspire to change all that.
Having met Frazer at conventions, I can tell you he is as enthusiastic and fun loving as Jamie. He has time for everyone and when he talks of his time on the show there is a real sense of history in his voice. With new Doctor Who rampant and the 50th anniversary coming up, there may be a chance for Jamie to make one final trip in the Tardis with his old friend. Here’s hoping…
By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
Copyright Owen Quinn
When I originally conceived the main characters of the Time Warriors, it was always going to be ordinary people made extraordinary by the situations they are thrown into. Part of the plan was to put young people in Varran’s life to bring him out of his self imposed solitary lifestyle.
When I thought of Tyran i pictured someone like the singer Pink in appearance. Tyran would be very much her own woman even at eighteen. By an act of serendipity someone drew this impression of her thinking I meant she had pink hair. The minute I saw this that was Tyran. Confident, sassy and unafraid to speak her mind, Tyran is the daughter of a multimillionaire technology company. She has two brothers, Robert and Simon, whom she rules with an iron fist. As much as thy both hate to admit it Tyran is usually right with her inbuilt bitch detector when they bring new girlfriends home. Her knack for tech comes second nature to her.
With a thirst for knowledge she annoys Varran with constant questions about their alien heritage. isn’t afraid either of venting her feelings and disagreeing with Varran on a number of occasions as seen in Venom and Summer’s End when she berates his treatment of the Mentara prisoner. She and Michael develop a brother/sister relationship and while she is fiercely protective of them all, Michael in particular she defends. Rachel, Michael’s partner, feels her wrath in particular over the events of the Michael showcas story, the Survivor. They are captured in Victorian london by the mysterious Mister Wainwright and tortured in his asylum.
Tyran is flung into the deep end of this new life with Varran when she is kidnapped by an organic ship sent from the mythical planet Ether. There she gets caught in a planet wide hostage situation where the Egherian, Sril, believes that Tyran is the one that will murder every last invader from their planet. Similarly in Last Will and Testament Tyran is almost killed when her Dagger shuttle crashes onto an alien planet. Restored By the intervention of nanobots, she is chosen by the only human alive to be her successor, Maggie and become mother to her family of robots. The problem is Maggie’s robotic daughter Tina has other ideas plus the contaminated soil has mingled with Tyran’s blood to create Blood Beasts intent on hunting her down and killing her.
The Collector takes a shine to Tyran and because of her unique solution to saving the Etherians he needs to track her down to Earth especially when they meet again on Cavalandria. In Second Best she is possessed by an alien being mistaken for a ghost. Throughout the course of her adventures Tyran is right there by her friends’ side whether it be Homecoming, witnessing a Sasquatch and a Skinwalker fight in Red Water, Summer’s End or Legacy. In Meltdown Tyran becomes a violent psychotic when a nerve gas is released aboard the Juggernaught changing their personalities.
Tyran and her family are targetted by the Family. Her father’s company is destroyed in a bombing while her parents, James and Lisa, are arrested as terrorists. Her brother, Robert, is also duped and hurt in the attack. It is only thanks to Rachel that brother and sister aren’t killed in Area 52. It is this family loyalty that causes a massive row in The Gift threatening her friendships.
When history changes Tyran becomes part of the rebel resistance, a resistance similar to the one she faced when a prisoner of the dimension parasites in Web of Infinity.
The Belbridge Mystery sees the climax of the clash of personalities between Tyran and Varran when they are trapped on the Mentara homeworld. Tyran sees first hand what the Mentara do with the humans they harvest and ends up teamed up with gambler Elijah. She is charged with saving the citizens of Belbridge from their prison which puts enormous pressure on such a young person. It speaks volumes of Varran’s trust in her that he would leave her to find the answer.
The events of the Belbridge Mystery have changed Tyran forever but there is more to come. The past as they say has a way of showing up when you least expect it.
The Time Warriors and Beyond 
