By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
One thing I love is a What If? scenario. So Star Trek’s Mirror Universe is always and forever a firm favourite for me. Deep Space 9 did it best and Star Trek Discovery continues that tradition in absolute delicious style. Indeed Discovery has grabbed the concept by the throat and made it ripr than ever.
Terra firma parts one and two see Emperor Philippa Georgiou actress Michelle Yeoh who has not only crossed over from the other universe into ours but been transported 900 years into the future along with the rest of the crew. Yeou has delighted audiences with her fiery portrayal of a ruthless dictator whose only vulnerability is her love for ‘daughter’ Michael burnham played by the Walking Dead’s Sonequa Martin- Green. In the Mirror Universe Philippa lost her Michael. In our universe Michael caused her captain’s death when she disobeyed orders. In the battle with Control, Philippa teamed up with Section 31, the dark secret of the Federation to suit her own needs.
To save everyone the Discovery crew travelled 900 years into the future only to find a shattered Federation and an universe very different from what they assumed it would be. Philippa has been suffering convulsions and phasing. It turns out she is being ripped apart because she is out of time and space. Both universes have drifted apart and pulling hr with it. She will die unless they find a cure.
Travelling to a barren world with Michael in hopes of a cure they find a man in a bowler hat reading a newspaper beside a door; a door Philippa must walk through if she has any chance of surviving. To her surprise she finds herself back in the Mirror Universe where she grabs the chance to put right what went wrong. This time she is going to save Michael from death.
Terra Firma beautifully weaves not only Deep Space 9 and the JJ Abrams’ alternative Star Trek universe into the tale to great effect. Yeou gives the performance of a lifetime. Her experiences with the Discovery crew have changed her and this time she tries to set things right with not only Michael but Saru too. The scenes between the two are electric as she gives the Kelpien hope that his life as a slave and food is so much more. Treachery is the currency of the Mirror Universe and here it comes in abundance. The fight scenes are brillaint as Philippa tries to put right what once went wrong. But to say any more would be to spoil it for you. Th episode’s reveal of just who the man in the bowler hat is just blew me away and forever cemented this show as the Trek we all needed. As I said it weaves many Trek threads together and this one is fantastic and also adds to the overall story.
Just watch it and be ready for a what is probably the most satisfying two parter in trek history alongside the Picard showcase Chain of Command.
By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
Sadly the news has come through that actor Jeremy Bulloch has passed away.
He was someone I met several times and have great memories of. We had a great conversation in Dublin about his time on Doctor Who, working with William Hartnell and how he nearly became companion to the third Doctor, Jon Pertwee. He was massively generous with his time to fans of all ages. My prized possession is a signed replica of McQuarrie art signed by Jeremy featuring Boba Fett and the other bounty hunters. I met him in Dublin, Belfast and London and never came away with unpleasant memories. You’ll see a lot of tributes but none will have the video of Jeremy in Belfast playing drums with the cantina aliens. RIP sir. It was a pleasure.
Cavan based writer Stephen Carey has released a brand new scary novel on Kindle entitled Death Must Take You Now! Below is the exciting synopsis. Horror has a new dimension.
How did Sam die?
Samuel Page must figure out how he died before his protector, Death, runs out of bullets! A young musician, Sam, wakes up at his kitchen table with no memory of what happened to him or who he is. It is vital that Sam learns the truth before Death takes him to the afterlife. Moving on with no memory of your own death will have severe consequences. Death is forbidden to say too much. Sam must solve this mystery for himself.
As Sam searches for answers, he is pursued by large creatures made of red stone. These relentless creatures have one weakness—Death’s special bullets. With only six bullets in his revolver, Death must make every shot count!
Can the grim gunslinger help Sam recover all of his memories before it is too late?
On sale now this bumper Christmas edition of Phantasmagoria Magazine is on sale now on Amazon and in Forbidden Planet Belfast. Packed with reviews, interviews and articles including my latest one How the Timeless Children Completely Screws Doctor Who. get your copy and support local talent by clicking here https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=trevor+kennedy+gruesome+grotesques&ref=nb_sb_noss
Complete your Christmas wish list with this hidden gem!
By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
We once again look at the history of Doctor Who and the people that make the character who he is…
Photo copyright Owen Quinn
Now for me growing up, Peter Purves was part of the dream team from Blue Peter along with Shep, Lesley Judd and John Noakes.
Imagine my surprise and delight when I discovered through a new publication called Doctor Who Weekly that he had also travelled in the Tardis and battled Daleks. I was totally in awe that the guy from Blue Peter that showed me how to tie my shoelaces and build an advent crown was a friend of the Doctor’s.
Peter Purves has the distinction of any other companion of playing two different characters in the same story. He was a loud mouth American when the Tardis landed on the Empire State Building to avoid the Daleks (fan fiction would have a ball connecting this with Daleks in Manhattan) but later, when our heroes are captured and taken to the city of the Mechanoids (hoped to be the next big thing with the release of a toy), we discover Steven Taylor, a pilot from the future, the robots’ prisoner.
It isn’t long before the Daleks arrive and a major battle that levels the Mechanoid city allows them all to escape. Thinking Steven died in the inferno, the Doctor and Vicki are surprised to find him injured but alive on the Tardis. Helping him recover, he quickly filled the role of action hero and the Doctor’s right hand man that had previously been filled by Ian.
Steven had no desire to return home for reasons unexplained and took to life aboard the Tardis like a duck to water. He, along with Vicki, was the first companion to meet another of the Doctor’s species. Neither was his loyalty to the Doctor blind. Indeed it was quite frictional between them at times.
In the massive story the Dalek Masterplan, Steven was the first to endure the unthinkable; the death of a companion, or in this case two. Both Sara and Katarina sacrificed themselves to save the Doctor as he fought to prevent a galaxy-wide invasion by the Daleks and their alien alliances including Mavic Chen. Steven was devastated at their loss and maybe inside his grief made him blame the Doctor a little, a quiet resentment that festered. Maybe Steven’s new home was more important than he let on and losing his loved ones brought back memories he had never shared. He was furious the Doctor allowed Vicki to stay behind at Troy and, at the end of the Massacre, he was so livid at the Doctor’s decision to let Anne Chaplet die in Paris rather than bring her aboard the Tardis, that he actually left, determined to never return. However, he collides with Dodo Chaplet who literally stumbled into the Tardis forcing the Doctor to lift off with them both. This lack of continuity was explained in a future BBC novel but Steven was so sure she was a descendant of Anne he became a big brother to her.
He was the first companion where a real live elephant featured in a story called the Ark with the Beatle hair-styled Monoids. In the Celestial Toymaker, a story with missing episodes, William Hartnell was written out of a couple of episodes by being turned invisible, leaving Steven and Dodo to carry the story on their own as they beat every sick game the Toymaker threw at them. But in the end Steven, maybe still hurt by the Anne situation or still stinging from Sara and Katarina’s deaths, decided to stay to become leader of a society in a story called the Savages. It was a bittersweet departure as the producers wanted hipper companions so decided to clear out Steven and Dodo but more on her in another feature.
The fact that Peter went onto bigger things as one of the most sought after television presenters, installed him in the nation’s heart and he is still a strong feature on TV today. His Tardis team has also frequented both the Missing Adventures range of books and the BBC past Doctor’s range, recalling a mostly forgotten period of the show due to the number of missing episodes.
Although he never returned to acting, he made an exception when Big Finish asked him to reprise the role in their audio range. He has done several companion chronicles that have truly deepened and expanded his character. He has done several DVD commentaries and extras recalling his time on the show which has been honest and from the heart. He was real friends with William Hartnell and admired him greatly.
He has even teamed up with Jean Marsh’s character, Sara Kingdom, in what many regard as simply the best original companion pieces ever. When you think about it that is some accomplishment; to endear a character that has never been mentioned in the programme since to a whole new generation of fans that weren’t even born when he travelled in our favourite police box. Steven had one of the most traumatic times with the Doctor, steeped in death even more than any other companion and for that he should be commended in the halls of Who history.
By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
copyright Owen Quinn
While the Incredible Hulk was enjoying great ratings and success, an attempt was made to bring Spider-man to the small screen as a live-action series. This was a brave move because technology could only do so much in those days; there was none of your CGI enjoyed by Toby Maguire, Andrew Garfield and Tom Hol,land.
Between 1977 and 1979 there were two seasons which, between them, consisted of thirteen episodes, including television movies like the last episode the Chinese Web, a two-hour special. Over the course of the episodes, Spiderman never fought any of his iconic enemies. The closest he got was an evil clone of himself and the telekinetic Mandak in the Curse of Rava. It was the lack of supervillains that brought heavy fan criticism, who also disliked changes to the comic book storylines and a reluctance from the network CBS to be known as the superhero network meant the show didn’t get the support it needed, despite solid ratings.
It probably also didn’t help that Spider-man creator Stan Lee disliked the show and was very vocal about it despite the fact he had a credit as a script consultant. The show was far from a failure and was cancelled at the behest of the CBS executives who cancelled Spider-man and Wonder Woman at the same time. The Incredible Hulk survived due to being so well loved by a broad range of audiences.
They did a great run at keeping Spidey’s powers as close as possible to the comics eg his spider sense and spider tracers which were a fan favourite. Even the webbing looked quite good but it was hard to disguise the fact he was swinging on a rope between buildings or ledges just like a stuntman but what could you do? It remained the only live action Spider-man until the movies.
What a difference the years make; there was superhero shows storming the ratings in the late 70s and the networks were frightened of being labelled like some sort of geek channel Now they are scrambling over themselves for the latest superhero property. Rumours abounded that they were going to amalgamate the cast of the Incredible Hulk and Spiderman for a new show. As I told you in my Hulk article, the Hulk made several TV movies that brought in other Marvel characters such as Thor and Daredevil. Spider-man and She Hulk were due to feature next but it never came to pass.
Did you know that the Spider-man comics were read by 84 million people back then? That is astounding, so putting time and effort into a top notch Spider-man show would have been brilliant but again we have to remember that technology was against the makers back then. There really was only so much you could do especially when the abilities that Spidey had in the comics – the aerial acrobatics – would be difficult, not to mention dangerous, above the streets of New York.
Nicholas Hammond, a child star most famous for being one of the Von Trapps in the Sound of Music, became the first face of Peter Parker. Although he seemed slightly older than the teenage Peter in the comics, he did manage that same life hates me attitude especially when he came up against newspaper boss J. Jonah Jameson played by David White in the pilot, then Robert F Smith in the series. However no other characters from the comic books appeared. This was fine for the Hulk, but the supporting cast of the Spider-man comics were vital to the entire structure of the Spidey-verse. This, and the pretty standard storylines, did the show no favours and 13 episodes over three years isn’t a great thing. It’s little wonder the webslinger fell by the wayside; the victim of stigma rather than popularity and ratings.For this young fan though it was truly amazing!
By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
Despite the success of Mark Ruffalo as Banner and the Hulk in this year’s Avengers movie, for many there has always been and always will be only one face for Bruce Banner and his green rage filled alter ego, the Hulk.
In the seventies, amid a whirl of bionics, Hardy Boys, Spider-man and Wonder Woman twirls, came the idea for an Incredible Hulk television series. Kenneth Johnson, responsible for the success of the bionic duo at the time, wrote the pilot which aired in November 1977 and oversaw the series using the same qualities he brought to all his shows and his greatest weapon was to humanize the characters. How else would we fall in love with a raging green giant monster?
None of your jolly green giants ramming sweetcorn down your throat here. The role of Doctor David Banner (no Bruce, his comic name here) was taken by Bill Bixby, a well loved actor who had just finished his role as the Magician.
The only choice for the role, Bixby gave the perfect portrayal of Banner as a dedicated scientist devoted to his wife as much as his work and desperate to prove his theories as to why human strength increased in times of great stress, something he failed to gain when his wife was killed in a car crash. Everyone knows the story which leaves Banner, believed to be dead by everyone bar a determined reporter, Jack McGee (played by Jack Colvin), travels alone in search of a cure to his affliction.
McGee would plague Banner, desperate to prove to the world who the Hulk is and gain him the greatest story ever. He knew no bounds to get what he wanted but on occasion even Jack had to admit, the Hulk was one of the good guys. The trademark green eyes just as Banner transforms is still burned into the public consciousness to this day. It was homaged even in the new movies, the Hulk and the Incredible Hulk both of which featured cameos from big green himself, bodybuilder, Lou Ferrigno.
Ferrigno was actually second choice to play the Hulk. For the first week it had been played by Richard Kiel, Jaws of James Bond fame. Kiel had the height but not the bulk while Lou had the bulk but not the height but that’s what camera angles are all about.
Another interesting fact was that the famous Hulk growl was provided by Ted Cassidy, Lurch from the Addam’s family and who played Bigfoot in the bionic battles. He also provided the opening narration which was kept when he died, aged 46, before the series aired.
Now, the series ran for 82 episodes over five seasons from 1978 -1982, yet never had any other superhero elements until the later TV movies alongside Thor and Daredevil. Instead, Banner would help people from evil landlords, drug dealers and criminals with entries into sci-fi territory a rarity. One episode the First saw Banner meet another man who had become a Hulk years previous, leading to a Hulk fist fest in the climax. To be honest the other Hulk looked like something out of Carry On Screaming making it laughable to today’s audiences but to this young fan it was amazing. The other episode two parter entitled Prometheus. This classic saw Banner trapped in mid-transformation with only a blind girl to help him. Dogged reporter Jack McGee was closing in. McGee, you see, believes the Hulk to be a murderer and that Banner is still alive. He would go to any lengths to prove it, including in this case, screwing with a hostile secret military establishment. Despite the lack of sci-fi fantasy elements, the Hulk is highly regarded as a classic and, for many, the definitive version.
In the two-part story Prometheus the stakes have never been higher for Banner as he is stuck between transformations after being exposed to a meteorite that is giving off vast amounts of gamma radiation. The military are tracking e meteor as they believe it is actually a UFO. We begin when David rescues a blind lady, Kathleen (guest star Laurie Prange), from drowning in the wilderness where she lives alone, having lost her sight only seven months previously. They form a strong friendship before a meteor smashes into the forest. Investigating alone, David is exposed to the radiation and, when attacked by bees, transforms into the Hulk who is then also exposed when he touches the meteor. However, unknown to both of them, the military are on their way to retrieve the meteor and they have Jack McGee tagging along.
Finding his way back to Kathleen’s house, David reverts back to human form. Almost. He finds himself stuck in mid change with the aggressive rage of the Hulk and unable to speak properly. He cannot remember the name for a meteor calling it a ‘rock from the sky’ and things get worse when the soldiers arrive to evacuate Kathleen, leaving David trapped and alone. This scene is electrifying on so many levels, evoking the comic strips and allowing Bixby to be the opposite of his usual calm, collected David.
His slips into rage before reining himself back in are edge-of-your-seat stuff. David has become an almost semi-sentient caveman, struggling with words as his very intelligence has also been affected by the locked transformation. His voice is deepened and he becomes a shadow of his former self. The dialogue is wonderful as Bixby retains the green skin and slightly muscled body along with those iconic green ‘the Hulk is coming’ eyes. Every fanboy and girl wet themselves when those iconic green eyes stayed on screen for as long as they did. You know this is Kenneth Johnson writing – and also directing in this case – because he goes for epic every time, Here not only does the Hulk fling trees like matchsticks but takes on a trio of helicopters in the first episode’s climax, preceding the movies by years.
The military have a huge red metal dome hanging from the bottom of one of the helicopters to airlift the meteor but instead use it as a Hulk trap. They think he is an alien and their theories that the meteor was piloted seemingly are indeed correct. This really is comic strip stuff as the Hulk and the helpless Kathleen are hoisted into the air, stuck in the dome which the Hulk cannot break.
Transported to an underground lab designed for alien containment, experts on aliens are called in to see his new discovery with Jack McGee still in tow. The Seven Million Dollar Man himself, Monte Markham, is the complex’s chief, who traps the Hulk in a holding field made of microwave particles.
This complex is the titular Prometheus, a place created for the day alien contact was made and where it could be contained in the event of hostilities. Slipping in undercover, McGee is able to access deep into the complex where he finds the very monster he has been searching for. However, attempts to communicate end up with an enraged Hulk smashing through the floor, when exposed to a piece of meteor, and escaping.
McGee takes Kathleen but she refuses to betray David to his nemesis. The Hulk manages to rescue her from his clutches and evade the complex personnel. For once, Magee shows he isn’t all bad when he stops the all out assault on Banner and tries to persuade him to come peacefully to try and cure him. But the military do learn two things; never fire tranquilizer darts at a half-formed Hulk or hurt his friends. In a final rage filled smash up, the Hulk manages to cause a massive explosion which destroys Prometheus in truly spectacular fashion allowing him and Kathleen to escape. Free from the gamma filled meteor, David is able to revert to his human form once again. Kathleen gains the confidence to return to the city and David takes to the road once more to the tune of those solitary piano keys that can bring a tear from a stone. Any wonder this show was a runaway success?
Sometimes the best ideas come from the simplest of questions and this epic came from a very simple one. What if people thought the Hulk was an alien? And this is epic as only Kenneth Johnson could do it. He brought a hurricane down on the bionic heroes and here uses the elements of the Hulk mythos to great effect. The huge dome he is trapped in, the caveman mid-transformation, unable to break through microwave shields but can rip a floor up, toss a tree and bring a chopper down with one flick of his muscles.
This stands as a great example of sci-fi superhero TV that has lasted the test of time. Everything from the green radiation Hulk eyes to the lonely piano theme that broke our hearts week after week to the fact that the Hulk always morphed into pants that fitted. In the last years, when Hulk returned for the made-for-television movies we saw the introduction of Thor, Daredevil and the Kingpin.
The attempt was already being made for the Marvel universe to interact with itself and the Hulk television series did it first. I for one have no doubt a certain Mister Whedon had Bixby and Ferrigno in his mind when he was writing the script for the Avengers…
By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
Photo copyright BBC
Once again, it’s Owen’s weekly look back over the legacy of characters who inhabit the worlds and universe of Doctor Who. We look at the characters, some you’ll know, many you won’t, who have formed the Doctor and his legacy…
It was the swinging sixties and the then producers of Doctor Who decided to reflect this in the Tardis crew. The character of Dodo had not really worked, so plans were made to write both her and Steven, played by Blue Peter’s Peter Purves, out of the show. With the imminent departure of William Hartnell, the producers felt the show needed a more relevant time-wise companion set. So seaman Ben Jackson was brought in, the boyfriend of glamour girl Polly Wright.
This new trend to set the Tardis in modern day settings really began in the War Machines, Ben and Polly’s debut story. It is common nowadays, but back then the show was changing direction to regain dwindling audiences. To this end, it was believed that bringing the Doctor closer to every day settings and landmarks such as the newly built Post Office tower, would help modernise the show and make audiences relate to it better.
Ben Jackson was an action man, naval to the back bone and would do anything to protect his friends. There is something magical about a sailor sailing the tides of time with the woman he loves by his side, an almost epic Greek story thread. He continued in the role started by Ian as the Doctor’s muscle, the action man ready to defend the old man at a moment’s notice. They first meet Smugglers in ancient England before being the first companions ever to hold a very special position. They not only meet the Cybermen for the first time in the Tenth Planet but are there to see the Doctor’s first regeneration. Ben has a hard time with it, seeing this new Doctor as an impostor but Polly isn’t so sure; she bonds with the second Doctor quickly as they face a new Dalek threat in Power of the Daleks. By the end of the story, Ben has come round and placed his loyalty with this new Doctor.
Ben and Polly’s presence here was probably one of the most vital in the show’s history. The producers had taken a massive gamble in changing a popular leading man and were not sure the gamble would pay off with the audience accepting Patrick Troughton in the role. This was despite William Hartnell declaring that there was only one man in England capable of replacing him and that was said mister Troughton. To put the first regeneration into perspective, it was a gamble on the scale of Bobby Ewing coming back in the shower and dismissing an entire season as a dream. So having Ben and Polly serving as two sides of the same coin in their reactions to this new man was a brilliant device for any audience uncertainty too.
Russell T Davies has always said the human companion is the doorway through which the audience enter the Doctor’s world. They ask the questions the audience have about any given story and in the Power of the Daleks, this had never been more important. By having the Doctor suddenly pop up in a new body, refer to himself in the third person and watch sadly as the jewelled ring favoured by the first Doctor slipped from his finger, it threw the audience whose questions and distrust were reflected in Ben, with the other accepting half being represented by Polly.
Over the next few adventures, Ben and Polly face the Underwater Menace where Polly is almost turned into a fish person in a hideous experiment before picking up new companion Jamie in the Scottish highlands in the Highlanders.
But the producers wanted change with this new Doctor again and the end was nigh for both of them. Jamie was never intended as a companion but something in Frazer Hines’ performance made them stop and look twice. He had a chemistry with this new Doctor that was missing from Ben and Polly. This new introduction was never more obvious than in the Moonbase where Jamie is unconscious for much of the story and Ben’s dialogue is spread between them.
After battling the Cybermen in the adventure The Moonbase, Ben and Polly find themselves back on Earth the day they left in the Faceless Ones. Ironically they leave in a story that once again reflects modern day London using Gatwick Airport and the then rage of package holidays. But ‘leave’ is a term I use loosely in this case because here the producers let the characters down badly. They had no exit story. They simply disappeared half way through and left a note for the Doctor, just as Dodo had done in their debut story. For me, this is sad and poor judgement on behalf of the production team. Viewers have invested time and emotion with these characters, billed as representing the new modern-day stance on Doctor Who and to simply have them have an off screen exit is insulting to the viewers and the fans. It was also a slap in the chops for both actors who proved popular and got caught up in the politics of behind the scenes changes.
Michael Craze, who played Ben, died a few years ago but was a convention regular and fans lapped his appearances up, especially when he appeared alongside Patrick Troughton who rarely ventured onto the convention circuit until his later years. Anneke Wills, glamour puss Polly, moved to Canada following her divorce from Hammer legend Michael Gough who played the Celestial Toymaker (and Alfred in the Burton and Schumacher Batman movies). She was so far away she didn’t realize the fondness people held for the show and her time in it.
Immediately she was swamped with convention requests and soon settled back into the fan adoration. When making the Doctor Who TV movie, Sylvester McCoy visited her as part of his making of video and for those that have never met her, it was a great opportunity to discover new things about an era that is mostly lost due to the BBC wiping of old episodes.
She has not only returned in novels like most others, but has literally single-handedly represented her era in the Companion Chronicle series for Big Finish which fans lap up.
Anneke has also released her autobiography which gives a good insight into her life and era.
Her contribution is vital since very little still exists of a very important era and it seems apt that one of those missing, presumed lost, episodes has been found. The Underwater Menace isn’t a great story but the recovery of one of its episodes is a valuable asset in completing the picture of the second Doctor’s lost era, especially those early days when Patrick Troughton took over one of the world’s most revered roles.
By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
copyright BBC
Once again we look back through the long history of TV’s longest running sci-fi show and spotlight one of the characters who helped form the character of the Doctor. This week, Harry Sullivan.
Harry Sullivan saw the first time a Doctor had travelled with the Doctor, the Time Lord being the definitive article as they say.
Played by Ian Marter, Harry would enter television history as part of the dream team in the golden era of the show.
Ian had previously appeared in the show as an officer on a ship terrorised by a sea monster in the third Doctor story Carnival of Monsters. When Pertwee decided to leave the show, the search for the fourth Doctor was a long and arduous one. It looked like the Doctor would be played by an older man so the producers came up with Harry who would be the action hero figure ala Ian Chesterton. However when Tom Baker was cast, it was obvious the character had to change.
Harry was assigned to look after the Doctor and he knew Sarah Jane Smith so when the Doctor decided to go on a trip, he took Harry along with him. He was charming, affable and a genuine nice guy except he had a terrible tendency to cause accidents and almost bring about disaster. As the Doctor claimed, having fallen down a ravine, ‘Harry Sullivan is an idiot!’.
He was very old-school and a gentleman, visibly shocked as Sarah Jane rebuffed his attempt to help her when she stumbled. Harry quickly became a fan and viewer favourite as he helped the Doctor battle Daleks, Sontarans, Wirrn, Zygons and Cybermen. Along with Sarah, he was the first to encounter Davros and his medical skills came into practice when the Doctor needed to dissect the dead body of the insectoid Wirrn which laid its young in human bodies on the space station Nerva. He was a cautious man but not afraid of facing these alien terrors.
But it is the story Terror of the Zygons that sticks in people’s minds when a Zygon disguised as Harry tries to kill Sarah Jane with a pitchfork in a hayloft before plummeting to his death that sticks in the mind. The fact that this scene disturbed so many people shows how endeared Harry had become to everyone and how brilliantly Ian played him.
Having stayed on Earth at the end of this story, Harry would return once more in the Android Invasion by Terry Nation, recently released as part of the UNIT files DVD boxset with Invasion of the Dinosaurs. The fourth Doctor, Harry and Sarah jane were the team to beat with all three turning on Blackpool Illuminations and attending countless promotions for the show.
Harry would never return to the show again as Ian died from a diabetic related heart attack but he was a convention favourite. He and Tom even wrote a Doctor Who movie script called Doctor Who meets Scratchman but nothing ever came of it. His photograph is in Sarah Jane’s attic in the Sarah Jane Adventures and is fondly remembered by her. In Mawdryn Undead the Brigadier told the Doctor Harry is doing undercover work.
Harry is also one of two companions, Turlough being the other, that had their own novel entitled Harry Sullivan’s war, a book series that attempted to show life for companions after the Doctor. The fact that he was chosen to launch this short lived series speaks volumes about him and the place he has in people’s hearts.
But he will forever live in that golden time when kids settled down on a Saturday evening to go with Harry, Sarah and the Doctor to places far beyond time and space. The bumbling gentleman lives on.
By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
The surprise appearance of Star Trek Insurrection on the tv the other day made me think of the first time I saw it. I also remembered the “fans” that automatically said the even numbered movies were better based on box office takings etc and this led me to wonder what they were thinking. Trapped in an illusion that Star Trek in whatever form would run forever, it was the in thing to do to diss an upcoming odd numbered Trek movie before anyone had seen it.
And this gets on my nerves. Judge after you watch something and be bloody grateful there is sci fi of any sort on the big and small screen. I remember the day when a choice of sci fi was few and far between. If you missed an episode that was it, you had missed it for good.
So this trend of blasting odd numbered trek movies astounds me. It was the first one I watched with absolutely no foreknowledge of what was to come which was a first for me ever. So I watched the thing as raw and was surprisingly delighted at the outcome.
Insurrection is a really strong narrative, tackling issues that are as relevant to today more so than back then.
Each layer of the story unfolds at a great pace, slowly drawing the viewer in as the characters learn of the mystery. Data has been injured while observing a new culture in a duck blind. Picard and co are called in to stop their now rogue officer but learn things are not as they seem, Bad Starfleet Admiral O’Doherty is working with a race called the So’na, secretly trying to relocate the peaceful Ba’Ku from their world via a hidden holoship. It turns out that Data was shot to prevent this being discovered.3 Picard and crew find themselves warming to this world and its people especially when they discover that this world is in fact bombarded by a type of radiation that keeps them young forever.
The themes are so relevant to today eg slowing down to see the beautiful moments in life to help keep you grounded, the plastic surgery necessities of the So’na race, the preservation of an unspoilt nature to keep our humanities intact and not to let technology overrun us. In this day and age the rat race consumes us and most people never stop to literally smell the roses. Plastic surgery has never been more prevalent and the simple act of playing has become lost as we try to make ends meet.
Here every character discovers something about themselves that they have lost over the years; Troi and Riker’s old feelings for each other resurface like love sick teenagers, Picard is taught to stop and enjoy the moments before they pass, Data learns to play, Worf goes through puberty but the most touching is Geordi, whose eyes grow back and he is able to see a sun rise for the first time. The movie is filled with panoramic views, the director completely making the most of the snow capped mountains and lakes along with the stunning sun rise skies. We know it’s Earth but for once it feels like the ideal world that could support the Fountain of Youth.
Remember we are witnessing a crew hardened as the Dominion War sucks them in and thousands are dying every day in the battle. So to see them find an oasis amid this carnage is perfect for the movie. We saw the effects of the war in Deep Space 9 and how traumatic they were but here, the war is a story book away as the Enterprise crew find a new lease of life; one that could very to a renewed strength that could win them the war.
After years of following orders, Picard’s insurrection comes as no surprise. His moral compass just as it did in Drumhead, cannot stand by and let these people be forced off their homes especially when the same thing nearly caused a massacre between Cardassians and Native Americans in the episode Journey’s End. Everything the crew does here fits in perfectly with the surrounding Trek universe and the situation they find themselves in.
The effects are particularly outstanding here too from the battle in space between theEnterpriseand the So’na ships to the energy collector that will destroy the world it has nurtured all these years. Even the scene when Picard is taught to slow down and see moments for what they are is excellent with the visual of the hummingbird.
Even the actors involved are heavyweight award winners and fan favourites. Ru’afo played by Murray Abraham is outstanding as the movie’s main villain and not just any madman. His evil is fuelled by revenge against his people, the Ba’ku themselves as in another cracking plot point we discover both races are one and the same and the fight here is one based on family rather than territory and strategic locations as the Federation thinks. This ties in with Picard’s family, theEnterprisecrew, standing by his side no matter what as opposed to Ru’afo’s struggling to believe his actions are for the good of his crew as they still have family among the Ba’Ku. His hatred of his loved ones ends with him and Picard trapped aboard a burning collector as theEnterprisedesperately speeds ahead of the exploding station to save him. And he can give Shatner a run for his monry in the famous “”KHANNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!” stakes.
This is a movie of parallels cleverly written and woven into a solid mystery that unfolds a layer at a time. The interaction between the leads is flawless, a real family with plenty of humour that springs naturally from the story eg Data testing the theory that Riker’s newly shaven chin is as smooth as an android’s bottom and Data becoming an underwater explorer. Beautifully acted, beautifully shot, Insurrection is the perfect Trek movie to remind us that life can consume us and to slow down as well as to appreciate those around us as well as the world itself.
The end shot of the crew standing together as they beam back to the Enterprise with a renewed determination to fight the Dominion and protect their own paradise is as classic as Kirk and co beaming back to the Enterprise at the end of City at the Edge of Forever.
So the next time anyone tries to tell you the odd numbered Trek movies aren’t so good, stop a moment and take another look. You might just be surprised at how good this one really is.
The Time Warriors and Beyond 
