The Time Warriors and Beyond

Heroes of Doctor Who: Mickey Smith

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

We go back to the first days of new Who as we look at Mickey, the character who started as an idiot in Doctor Who mythology but finished up as so much more…

One of the most beautiful things about the new era of Doctor Who is that the characters have a real chance of evolution and we the viewer can share this journey every step of the way.

When we first meet Mickey Smith, played by Noel Clarke, he is a clumsy fool, deeply in love with Rose Tyler and he doesn’t trust the Doctor at all. To be honest I didn’t like the first Eccleston era episode especially the scene where Mickey is swallowed by an Auton wheelie bin and his duplicate is badly done.

It’s no wonder Rose legs it into the Tardis first chance she gets. The Doctor is very rude and dismissive of Mickey and when we next meet him he is a recluse having been accused of Rose’s murder especially as her mother Jackie has told the world exactly that. It’s a nice touch to see there are unpleasant consequences to those left behind when the Doctor takes someone out of their ordinary life.

Twelve months have passed and Rose and the Doctor barely seem sorry for what they have put him through nor is Jackie. However here we see the real Mickey take shape as he rescues Jackie from a Slitheen and is the only person the Doctor can rely on to fire the missiles that will destroy 10 Downing Street thus ending the Slitheen threat. The Doctor literally puts the fate of the planet in Mickey’s hands and he succeeds with flying colours. Having been separated from emotion for so long, the Doctor realises he has made a mistake in misjudging the young man and offers him a place on the Tardis which he initially refuses and asks the Doctor never to tell Rose. He is losing Rose to this alien he knows but still hopes she will return to him one day. Mickey has the foresight to see that life with the Doctor is a passing thing.

His journey continues when he travels to Cardiff in Boomtown to bring Rose her passport and ends up in a new fight with the Slitheen. He asks Rose to go to a hotel with him and pretends he is dating someone else to get a reaction. This is also the first time he meets Captain Jack and immediately christens him Captain Cheesecake. In Parting of the Ways he is the one who helps Rose return to save the Doctor from the Daleks by pulling the console apart with a yellow tow truck. He is the better man for letting her go.

Now of course Mickey decides to investigate any odd goings on and possible alien incursions. Maybe he thinks to himself that if he becomes like them he will reignite what Rose felt for him again. To that end, he becomes the eyes and ears of the Doctor and Rose in their absence. He brings them back to investigate strange happenings in the episode School Reunion. Here they team up with Sarah Jane Smith and K9 and as it progresses Mickey realizes the others see him as the tin dog. So he vows to change it by crashing into the school and rescuing the kids from the Krillitane. At the end he asks to stay aboard the Tardis as he wants to see what they see and discover what exactly Rose loves about this life. Rose’s reaction is less than pleasant.

He gets a spaceship on his first trip in the Girl in the Fireplace which delights him. He and Rose are left to fight off the clockwork robots from harvesting their body parts to fix the ship. But in the next story which saw the reintroduction of the Cybermen, we get two Mickeys for the price of one. Stranded in a parallel universe, Mickey meets his double, Ricky, Britain’s most wanted leader of a gang that knows something is wrong with the company Cybus and its leader John Lumic. They are right as he is stealing homeless people and turning them into Cybermen.

When Ricky is killed, Mickey stands up for himself when the others don’t really take any notice of him and assumes the role of leader when he leads the attack on the airship controlling the Lumic Cybermen signals. When everyone else tries to run from the exploding Cyber factory, Mickey forces the airship down to rescue Rose, the Doctor and Pete Tyler echoing the Doctor’s words in Parting of the Ways by declaring “Rose I’m coming to get you!”

One of Mickey’s greatest regrets is his grandmother dying by tripping on stair carpet and breaking her neck. In the parallel universe he finds her alive and well. He has a chance to put right something he feels guilty about. Knowing he has lost Rose to the Doctor, he decides to remain behind and fight the Cybermen alongside Pete Tyler. Mickey knows he will never see her again but he has finally moved on.

However, cracks in reality bring him back to our Earth to rescue Rose just as the Daleks escape from a sphere. He and Pete Tyler have taken over the other reality’s Torchwood and used the alien tech to help fight this new menace which threatens both worlds. Mickey is becoming more of a soldier and isn’t afraid of any alien menace shown especially when he faces Davros and the Daleks by putting him down where he sits.

He lives with the Tylers in the other universe, working for Torchwood and Rose’s steadfast friend. Alongside everyone else in Journey’s End he helps return the Earth back where it belongs before saying goodbye to Jackie. His gran lived her final days in a mansion and he has to start his life again back where he started. It is telling that he doesn’t say anything to Rose as he has said goodbye to her a long time ago. We see him walking off with Martha and Jack expecting him to turn up in Torchwood but things go differently as he ends up marrying Martha Jones. They become a two man army against alien invaders, last seen fighting a Sontaran in the End of Time.

Mickey is the epitome of being able to change for the better and being man enough to make those changes no matter what anyone thinks. Something tells me this story ain’t over yet.

TW remembers The Nightmare Man

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

Back in the early eighties between a slew of Salem’s Lot, Nightmare on Elm Street, The Howling and The Thing, there was a drama on BBC that took the country by storm, The Nightmare Man. It came out of nowhere, adapted from a book called “Child of Vodyanoi” by Doctor Who supremo Robert Holmes who was responsible for some of the greatest Who stories of all time and direct by Douglas Camfield who also directed some of the most memorable Who stories including Terror of the Zygons.
Set on a remote Scottish island, an all star cast featured in a really disturbing sci if show. And it included the line made famous by Taggert, “There’s been a murder!” in that fantastic accent only the Scots can do.
It had all the elements of classic scare fests with the isolated island, wild open moors favoured by American Werewolf in London, fog sealing off the island, frightened dogs, animal attacks and murders where the victims were torn apart by some unseen force which leaves behind a radioactive trace. And oh yes, someone saw a flying saucer crashing and that’s when they find bite marks that don’t belong to a human. Every possibility is explored from alien monsters, satanic cults, serial killers, genetic experiments on humans and animals before the monster is revealed. The alien theory is reinforced when a mysterious blood stained craft is found on the beach.
Of course the viewer knew there was a monster on the loose with the creature’s point of view method where we hear a horrible gurgling creature stalking the moors with a blood red viewpoint which was genuinely frightening and even when I watched it recently after so many years, it was still quite freaky.
Everything came together with the direction, the writing, the performances and the terrified islanders realizing there is some sort of unknown sea monster on the loose. The dialogue has lovely touches that root it in reality with talk of Kojak, mending fishing nets and digging potatoes, a quick nip of whisky to beat off the cold and a map costs only 50 pence. Those were the days.
The cast includes Maurice Roeves (Doctor Who, STNG and Judge Dread), James Cosmo (Braveheart), James Warwick (Babylon 5 and Doctor Who) and Celia Imrie (showing she’s a serious actress as well as the matriarch in Acorn Antiques). There isn’t one bad performance in the show and they all help enforce the reality of it all. Even the Bill’s Reggie and Freddie Boswell from Bread pop up as ill fated coast guards.
Camfield is an expert at building tension and in the Nightmare Man he achieves it in abundance. Every monster attack is unnerving including the sheep attacks. One avid bird watcher is ripped apart in his tent on the moors while his camera takes pictures and the attack on the coast guard station shows just how effective and terrifying you can make a scene on a limited budget. The click of the Geiger counter is now a portent of doom and the only way the locals have to know something nasty is lurking in the dark. Such is the tension, you’re waiting for the monster to attack every time someone ventures outside into the fog which never lets up. Everything here is meant to terrify the viewers especially the scene where they manage to develop the bird watcher’s camera and listen to the recording of his death. We see a humanoid figure with what seems to be things growing out of its head, reinforcing the notion that this is not human, especially since the amount of radiation it generates would leave a human six feet under. The most chilling of all is the inhuman noise it makes when murdering; it is laughing as it rips its victims to bits.
As the police discover the attacks are occurring in a straight line across the island they take to the moors to try and track it but come across the mysterious Colonel Howard who has arrived for a holiday on the island, or has he?
When the reveal of the monster is finally done, it’s even more terrifying when the viewer learns the truth. They have had a dozen terrifying images running though their heads for weeks and none could have imagined what is really killing people.
There is so even a nod to the Thing when the creature runs burning into the night and the theme music is reminiscent of Salem’s Lot. Between them Douglas and Robert created a really frightening piece of television drama that has rarely been surpassed. Given their background, you almost expect the Doctor to come running in at any moment. This is a great example of how to create a tense drama on a budget; everything is so simple and evocative. Note when the search party go looking for the killer on the moors, the fog is so dense you’re on the edge of your seat screaming at them to go home.
Watched again thirty years later, the Nightmare Man has lost none of its scare factor. I got my copy off eBay which comes with a making-off booklet which shows the care and depths the team went to to make this classic. Check it out, you won’t be disappointed.

The Time Warriors’ heroes: Varran

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

Copyright Owen Quinn Varran concept art drawn by Stephen Mooney

In a way writing characters is a bit like a friendship. Life has brought you together for some reason and you only grow to know that person by sharing good and bad times together. That’s when you both learn each other’s characters that deepen or break your friendship. Hopefully like your characters they become part of your life forever.

Science fiction and fantasy are full of time traveling heroes. It’s kind of hard to come up with an original angle without bringing some sort of comparison to something else in the genre.

To be honest Varran was the least developed character when I started writing the series. I knew who he was and what had happened to him. However I could only visualise him with white hair and beautiful sapphire eyes similar to the actress Meg Foster. He hated the military and possessed the most powerful weapon that once lead the Xereban armies. Varran is the typical scientist that has touched parts of reality that should be left alone; in this instance time travel. A genius ahead of his time from the planet Xereba, Varran’s break through is fully supported and funded by the government. Without his knowledge Varran’s work is being watched closely by General Solos. Solos is the most trusted military leader in the entire world. He has successfully saved their homeworld twice from invasion.Pretending to beforend Varran, Solos has him integrate this new temporal technology into his new battleship/space station, the Juggernaught. When Varran realises what Solos is really planning to do with his work, he goes underground on the run. When he is just about to complete the ultimate test of sending a person back in time, Solos’ squad tracks Varran down. A barrage of weapons fire short circuits the machine sending it out of control. Varran is plunged into a terrifying vision of the universe being consumed by a great darkness. the attack has also released a massive temporal wave that is aging the planet to death. When Varran wakes up he is aboard the Juggernaught with the last of the survivors.

Copyright Owen Quinn Varran concept art Varran’s Reflection in General Cade’s eye drawn by Stephen Mooney

Their home is gone. They have nowhere to go except the one place that Varran has seen in the temporal vision. They must find the third planet in a system of nine; a blue green world that is unknown to them, Earth. Saddled with the guilt of destroying his entire world, Varran leads the last of his people with only their faith that everything happens for a reason to keep them strong. Once they reach Earth the survivors blend in with the human populace leaving Varran to keep watch for the coming darkness. So far, Varran is unique as far as background is concerned but how else could I make him different?

Initially because of his being caught in a temporal explosion, I was going to make him immortal. Then I thought, how boring and limited is that. There is no drama in immortality. So I came up with the idea that what if Varran realised he wasn’t aging but did that mean immortality? As he tells Tyran at one point, he isn’t brave enough to throw himself in front of a speeding bus to find out. Additionally with the entirety of time and space at his fingertips, he was afraid of travelling to the future. His culture had no religion but were governed by the deeply held mantra that everything happens for a reason. For Varran, what if he discovered something in the future that changed his actions in the present threatening what should be. He reluctantly allows Michael to visit the 24th century in the Survivor and In Last, Will and Testament Tyran meets someone from Varran’s personal future that has fallen back through time.

A time traveller afraid of the future and carrying the blame for the destruction of his own world makes him a much more interesting character. he has several near death instances but we never get the answer to that question. he keeps the existence of the Juggernaught and his people a secret knowing humanity is not ready for the reveal. That said, he does make human friends across the years as seen in the stories The Moon Once More and Darkness in the World. In the former he sits at the bedside of his terminally ill friend helpless. The man with all the time in the universe desperately trying to give his dying friend just a little bit more.

Copyright Owen Quinn Cover Mentara drawn by Stephen Mooney

Copyright Owen Quinn designed by Eoin Quinn

The arrival of Jacke, Michael and Tyran bring out the fatherly side of him. At first he didn’t want them to be part of his solitary life but over their adventures together he mellows to the point they are his reason to keep going. Over the course of the first four books, Varran suddenly finds his family has quickly expanded. He is a grandfather figure to Michael’s daughter, Sarah and openly welcomed to the celebrations we have in every family.

In Tempest he discovers what happened the day Xereba exploded which changes everything. After that he loosens up a little trying to learn all about pop culture references and dressing a bit more stylishly. We learn he was engaged twice to both a man and a woman and fell in love with an Irish woman during the Famine who was murdered. In Red Water we learn his claim that he lived a solitary life during the first years of the Juggernaught’s arrival on Earth was a white lie. He walked the Earth to learn all about their new home and the place that would be the last battlefield between good and evil. He spent time with the Native Americans as we learn in Red Water where he rescued a Sasquatch child called Jacko. Having saved a vineyard’s crop in France he spent several months at the family’s estate home learning to dance, paint and ride horses.

He learns that the darkness he saw in his vision comes in many forms. He becomes obsessed with finding and stopping the Mentara after he stops a human harvest in Summer’s End. When he finally finds their home world in The Belbridge Mystery, he finds his steadfast beliefs shattered to the core. He realises their adventures have left him prejudice and assumptive much to his detriment.

So really my point is Varran grew through my stories. I learned who he was as he taught me when i took them to new worlds and new times. Any writers out there will tell you the same thing. Sometimes a character will guide you on what they want to be. You as the writer will place them on one road when all of a sudden they change direction to do something you never thought they would. A lot of the time it is for the better and is something that is a joy when writing a story. There’s an almost one on one relationship with these characters that live in your head. They travel to our world through ,my words and imagination gaining a life of their own. When those sudden twists happen you can see them smile and nod at you in your mind letting you know they are where they need to be in the journey you share with them. In a way writing characters is a bit like a friendship. Life has brought you together for some reason and you only grow to know that person by sharing good and bad times together. That’s when you both learn each other’s characters that deepen or break your friendship. Hopefully like your characters they become part of your life forever.

That journey is far from over because we have yet to feel the fallout from the events of The Belbridge Mystery but believe me when I tell you, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

Zombie Blues: Elvis Impersonator Zombie

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

Copyright Owen Quinn and drawn by Stephen Mooney

We meet the various zombies that appear in the Zombie Blues books and learn the story behind their inclusion. This time up is The Zombie that Left the Building.

Writers are inspired by so many different things and in this case the idea for an Elvis Impersonator Zombie came from this drawing my buddy Stephen sent me. He did the cover for The Time Warriors: The Belbridge Mystery and there’s more to come so this one came out of the blue during his brainstorming session.

The idea of an Elvis type zombie intrigued me and immediately my mind began whirring for ideas on how to approach the story. It was always going to be titled ‘The Zombie That left The Building.’ Nothing else was ever going to do for this story. So what angle could I take? At first I decided to go with a man who wasn’t very confident and crippling shy. He would be a slave to his low self worth. Secretly he was a huge Elvis Presley fan and like any other fan of something, he knew every single detail about the life of Elvis. He could sing and move like him, a passion inspired by his grandmother who was also a huge fan. His impersonation would be noticed by a neighbour who would push him to perform in public. Once shy guy hit the stage he found a confidence he had never known. It would be how becoming Elvis and lapping up the adoring fans was a mask that hid the real person behind. He could only be himself when he wore the guise of Elvis himself.

But what I like to do is make the zombie outbreak global so I took another approach. Diversity is hugely important but it can’t be shoehorned in to suit the PC brigade. It has to be organic and grow from the story. So I checked out videos of Elvis conventions and saw all the different nationalities inspired by the King himself. That’s when it hit me; this story had to be about racism and how one man can unite the planet through song. His music and lyrics bypassed colour and creed to bring out the best in people as they brought their love of him to the world.

Now I have to say at this point I never knew there really was a Maori Elvis impersonator. He is apparently the only one in the world. It is a pure coincidence believe me but it was a perfect fit. The reason behind choosing Maori was the show Sensing Murder. I was intrigued by the episodes where different cultures were involved. it showed me that racism affects so many more people than just black and white. The more I researched the more it spoke to me about the story’s themes of togetherness and rising above the darker aspects of humanity. Anyone can be anything they want to be, screw what others say. It’s actually one of my favourites of the book and one I’m particularly proud of.

You can judge for yourself in the upcoming Zombie Blues 3 when you can meet Elvis Tuhoe Presley for yourselves.

TW watches The Mandalorian Chapter 16

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

Spoilers ahead

To be completely honest I was never a fan of this show until about four weeks ago. It was a sure fire thing that every Monday morning in work my buddy and I would disagree on how good it was. For me the Mandalorian never utilised its full strength and elements of Lucas’ universe. Poor episodes like the one where he defended a village against a chicken walker and the Tremors episode with the Tusken Raiders just frustrated me. Weequay are a species not the name of the bartender I argued and throwing in a cameo from R5D4 was just a crowd pleaser.

My buddy’s blind love for it sent me up the wall. They should be using the elements established previously to build upon and bring new dimensions on what we already know. Well, I think the writers probably heard me because suddenly things did a sharp turn and did exactly what I had been saying all along. It’s ok guys, I forgive you. Any jobs going in your writing staff? You know where to find me.

What a difference. The Empire carrying out genetic experiments to create Force powered beings, Boba Fett more than just a helmet to become a martial arts master, Thrawn, Ashoka, references to Anakin Skywalker turning bad are mere tasters for what was to come in this final episode.

Part of me thought the backstory of having to find the Child’s species was just an excuse to drag it out. However the reveal of a hidden history and that the Child was much older than it appeared only served to whet the appetite.

We seemed to be heading for an Empire Strikes Back season finale. Moff Gideon has the Child and experimenting upon him. The Mandalorian’s ship has been blown to pieces and Thrawn is waiting in the shadows. All seems lost but what an ending.

The assault on Gideon’s ship, stormtroopers falling like skittles, the Return of the Jedi like stealing aboard Gideon’s star destroyer using an Imperial ship and the legion of robotic Dark troopers coming at them like the Borg. We are treated to great fight scenes which are cinematic in nature.

But it is the ending that broke every fan in the world as Luke Skywalker arrives in full Jedi fighting stance to rescue Grogu. These scenes felt like the Darth Vader ones in Rogue One. Luke is now a skilled warrior and teacher far removed from the atrocity we saw in the Disney trilogy. The moment he pulls back that hood left me on the floor just as it did at the end of the Force Awakens. Seeing him in full black Jedi outfit was beautiful just as it did when he entered Jabba’s Palace all those years ago. What a fantastic blast from the past along with old reliable R2D2 at his side. Coupled with the farewell scenes between the now helmetless Mando and Gorgu it brought an emotional impact that is rarely seen in a television show. I had the same reaction at this as I had when I saw Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher together on stage at Star Wars Celebration in London a few years ago. Yep there was tears. It is like not seeing an old friend for many years yet the moment you do, you forgot how much they mean to you. It hits you like a punch in he face.

Now Mandalorian works for me as an intelligent show that uses its source material in a thoughtful way. The post credits scene of Boba Fett taking Jabba’s palace by gunning down Bib Fortuna was just the icing on the cake. I can’t wait to see what happens in season three.

The Time Warriors: The Voalox Horror out now!

Copyright Owen Quinn Cover by Bradley Wind

Join the Time Warriors in this second exciting volume as the race against their enemies intensifies.
The Family are revealed in the most unexpected place, Michael faces an impossible choice trapped in the 24th century, an old enemy returns, Tyran is lost on a planet of robots with a hidden agenda while a dark secret from Jacke’s past may be the only hope for an alien race.
In the Victorian England a new enemy emerges as the fight is on to stop the ghost of Jack the Ripper.
Remember, everything happens for a reason.

Get your Kindle copy here https://www.amazon.co.uk/Time-Warriors-Voalox-Horror-ebook/dp/B07DWGGCNX/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=the+time+warriors+owen+quinn&qid=1604865873&sr=8-2

Get your paperback copy here https://www.amazon.co.uk/Time-Warriors-Voalox-Horror/dp/1461154502/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1604865873&sr=8-2

The Time Warriors: Spooklight & The Skull out now

Copyright Owen Quinn Cover by Adrian Baldwin and Conaire McMullan

More thrilling adventures from the Time Warriors series. Welcome to two brand new adventures.

In Spooklight, they team up with a pair of paranormal investigators in 1931. What is the secret of the Spooklights? Who is the mysterious Mr Beaumont and why is he so loved by the public? Splitting up, Michael and Varran face the wrath of the Spooklights when the spirits of the dead come back to haunt them. Spirits that will reveal both men’s inner most secrets.

Summoned to 1975, they find Brussels in the grip of a serial killer with a difference. All the bodies have been sucked dry leaving hideous corpses in its wake. As they race to save the latest victim, things go wrong. Jacke disappears while tribal warriors stalk the streets. With no clues, Varran and the others find themselves running out of time. But it may be too late as Jacke comes face to face with the killer. A killer she thought long dead…

Get your copy today by clicking on this link https://www.amazon.co.uk/Time-Warriors-Spooklight-Skull-ebook/dp/B07FKSTJ1Y/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=the+time+warriors+spooklight&qid=1608481475&sr=8-1

The Time Warriors: The Moon Once More & Other Stories out now!

A new collection of short stories featuring the Time Warriors. Think you know everything that happened in series one? Not quite. Join Varran, Jacke, Tyran and Michael as they find face new dangers which will test them to their limits. Six stories including Fire and Ice which was released as an surprise extra in Tempest. In Irish Eyes, we learn more of Varran’s past, in the Gift a distraught Robert meets a woman that can talk to the dead, Jacke is trapped alone in ancient Ireland during an invasion in Trinity while Rachel faces an occupied Earth which has never heard of the Time Warriors. In Twisted Michael and Jacke find the world has changed dramatically and it’s all their fault.

Get your Kindle copy today by clicking on this link https://www.amazon.co.uk/Time-Warriors-Moon-Once-More-ebook/dp/B07FKQTP83/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=the+time+warriors+the+moon+once+more&qid=1608479824&sr=8-3

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Owen Quinn’s The Time Warriors: Venom out now!

A brand new story from the Time Warriors series. A romantic weekend in the seaside town of Ballybraken is disturbed when an ancient evil rears its head intent on taking over the planet. What is the End? Who are Legion? And what lies hidden beneath the sea? The Time Warriors fall one by one leaving Earth at the mercy of an evil no one ever imagined existed.

Get your copy today on Amazon by clicking on this link https://www.amazon.co.uk/Time-Warriors-Venom-Owen-Quinn/dp/1478281863/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1608477794&sr=8-1

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Owen Quinn’s Zombie Blues 2 out now

More Zombies, more trouble. Welcome to book 2 of Zombie Blues who give us their view on the world and life from behind undead eyes. This time round meet Diabetic Zombie, Racist Zombie, the Ice Queen and why is there a zombie with no teeth?

Get yur copy today by clicking on the link here https://www.amazon.co.uk/Zombie-Blues-2-Owen-Quinn/dp/B084DGVGVG/ref=sr_1_12?dchild=1&keywords=the+time+warriors+owen+quinn&qid=1604865873&sr=8-12