Paul & Nessa's Happy Hour Show 43

Not posted a show here for a while - but then the guys at Cranked Anvil have been busy doing other exciting things in theatreland and not uploading their shows to Mixcloud. But here is Show 43, the next in line containing material by me.

With thanks as always to Paul Dunn, Vanessa Karon and Cranked Anvil Productions for using my material in the first place and then for letting me post these shows here on my Blog. For more information check them out at http://crankedanvil.co.uk/ or follow them on Twitter @CrankedAnvil.

Show 43. Sketches written by Paul Dunn, Stephen Philip Druce, David Foster, Tim Gambrell, Michael Monkhouse, Matt Watson, and David Metcalf Jamie McLeish & Andrew Kirkwood as MKM Comedy. Performed by Sarah Boulter, Carole Cooke, Paul Dunn, David Foster, Harriet Ghost, Michael Grist, Vanessa Karon, Wayne Miller, Dolores Poretta, Adam Ramsey, Craig Richardson, Jay Sykes, Stephen Sullivan, and Jordan Todd. Script editor was Paul Dunn. First broadcast 22.06.16.

Paul & Nessa's Happy Hour - the end

September 28th was a very sad day for me, and it's taken me nearly three months to get round to writing about it which I think is rather telling.
I received a tweet from my mate Paul Dunn on that day, asking if I (and actor / fellow writer David Foster who plays Murgala in my sketches) was going to tune in that evening to Paul & Nessa's Happy Hour - those of you who follow this Blog however fleetingly will know that this is the local radio show in Sunderland to which I have contributed comedy sketch material since mid-2015.
I replied in the affirmative - I'd made it a habit to tune in online each week, not just to hear my material performed but also because I really enjoyed the whole show. I rather facetiously tweeted to David that I reckoned we'd be sacked live on air. As it turned out this was almost true! September 28th's show was, very suddenly, the final edition of Paul & Nessa's Happy Hour on Spark FM and we didn't know until Paul announced it live on air.

I was, quite simply, gutted.

That's not me being selfish or egotistical by any means; I wasn't paid for any of the sketches, nor did my involvement earn me any particular kudos or further opportunities. But I did feel massively proud to hear my material performed and broadcast regularly - and even repeated (material must be half decent if producers want to use it more than once!), and Paul & Nessa were very generous with the thanks and credits on air. I always looked upon the whole endeavour as a collaboration: we were all doing it for the love of it, and if it helped bring light to someone's evening then that was a job well done.

No, I was gutted because I really loved the show each week and really felt a part of the team. I understand perfectly Paul & Vanessa's reasons for putting the show on hold; I assume it was a relatively quick decision, since plans were already in place for a Christmas Special with a return for Murgala and some new material which I'd started working on. We remain firm friends (as firm as anyone can be when at opposite ends of the country!) and I hope further opportunities may arise to collaborate again in the future.
There are about fifteen other unused sketches already written (not Murgala), which may see the light of day eventually, we'll see. In the mean time I'll continue to post the Mixcloud editions of the shows as and when they are uploaded so people can follow things through to the end.

Paul & Nessa have very publicly thanked me on a number of occasions. I'd like to thank them, and Cranked Anvil Productions again here for using my material in the first place and bringing a huge smile to my face every Wednesday evening from 21:00 - 22:00.

Thanks guys - and a Merry Christmas.
x

Stuck for Christmas gifts..?

These publications raising money for Charity are still available, to which I have contributed thus far:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Time-Lord-Change-adventure-Drabbles/dp/1540336123/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1481149583&sr=1-1&keywords=a+time+lord+for+change

https://www.amazon.co.uk/You-Else-J-R-Southall-Editor/dp/1519368240/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481149638&sr=8-1&keywords=you+and+who+else

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blakes-Heaven-John-Davies/dp/151199438X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481149673&sr=8-1&keywords=blakes+heaven

All raising money for good causes.

Thanks.

Review: Evil UnLtd. Vol 2: From Evil With Love, by Simon A Forward

Evil UnLtd. Vol.2: From Evil With Love, by Simon A Forward

 

This is a solid sequel and, if I’m honest, a much better read that Volume One. Where the first book could be accused of having an over-enthusiasm of zany ideas, in places, From Evil With Love is much more tempered and restrained – and potentially funnier, where it needs to be funny; it punches where it needs to punch only, rather than constantly slapping you lightly. But also in its favour the hard work of setting up Evil Unlimited had already been done in Volume One, so the narrative is able to start off pretty much in full stride where the former book had left off. 

A note to begin with: not that I would expect anyone to start with Volume Two, but should that happen I don’t think the reader would get anything like as satisfactory an experience if they hadn’t already read volume one. So… 

This time Snide’s group are faced with a growing collection of ‘goodies’ who have decided that they need to be taken down after the culmination of events in Volume One: Salmon Templar from the Piscapalian Secret Service (*cough* Simon Templar, The Saint), Captain Semper Finion Arcoban of Sysfleet (Captain  S(weet) F.A. – look it up if you have to, don’t make me lower the tone). Unlike with Rolph Stengun in the first book, in Volume Two the author actually makes these goodie characters attractive to the reader - engaging and fun to read in themselves, be that Templar’s obvious James Bond-esque skill with women or Sysfleet’s reliance on email communication for everything (to provide an audit trail), which in the latter case creates some moments of purest comedy gold. 

The title From Evil With Love sets the tone of parody from the start; chapter headings pun further on James Bond films, and the book is merciless with the trappings of the franchise as well – natty vehicles, Miss Geldpfennig, gadgets, sexy women dancing in silhouette in the opening titles, ridiculous amounts of bullets wasted by henchmen who can’t aim for toffee…But the book is not dependent on its reader knowing or picking up on these puns and parodies, as with other victims such as The Saint, Doctor Who, Star Trek and others – they are there to raise a wry smile or even a chuckle if known, but otherwise they can be taken at face value and the story still works perfectly. 

Sysfleet, rather wonderfully, reads like The Federation from Star Trek as if it was run by the Vogons from Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy. Everything is mired in procedure and regulations, and budgets have to be accounted for – biting a thumb at Star Trek: The Next Generation’s claim that humanity by their time had risen above monetary greed in its own particular cosy futuristic utopia.

What all this Sysfleet and Piscapalian Secret Service background does, alongside providing laughs, is add a lot of depth and texture to the book. One thing flows on from the next, and at no point does the action or plot feel forced or contrived – which is very much to the book’s credit. Forward is clearly growing in confidence as a writer and storyteller; From Evil With Love contains instances of non-linear narrative, or narrative that jump cuts without apparent explanation; this toys with and challenges the audience in interesting ways, adding a lot to the ‘readerly’ experience. 

If I had a grumble it would be that the Evil UnLimited crew are rarely gathered together in this story; instead they are split into smaller groups or operating individually. I felt that this diluted the effect of the team – or rather diluted the impact of the team. Having said that, it’s a more domestic setting for them this time around, largely in or about their headquarters on the great tree. There’s plenty for them all to do though - splitting them up allows for better character interplay and development, and means that some characters are less likely to be standing around idle as the more verbose ones hog the limelight. But I still found myself missing the group scenes. You don’t necessarily need four stories all going on concurrently, for example, but if you have four strands of action feeding the main story then it makes sense to split the group’s focus accordingly, if not evenly. 

The book is again split into three episodes, however unlike the first book where the respite from the chaos and humour was a relief the split here feels much less of a necessity. There is continuity of narrative and generally continuity of setting throughout and as the narrative is much more focussed on telling a great story rather than telling it through gags I never felt as fatigued as I occasionally did whilst reading Volume One. 

I should like to remind readers that these books are all written for charity – that’s a considerable creative investment on the part of the author and they deserve to raise as much money as they can for Cancer Research. 

Find out more about the range, plus purchase copies here:  https://4devil.wordpress.com/

You can follow the author Simon A Forward on Twitter on @prefect4d

 

 

I’m looking forward to volume 3…

A Time Lord For Change - unused Drabble for 'Alien Bodies'

As I mentioned in another recent post, I submitted a couple of Drabbles for Chinbeard Books' A Time Lord For Change that weren't used for one reason or another. Here then is the second of those. I had the temerity to propose one for Lawrence Miles' brilliant EDA Alien Bodies. The editors decided in the end they weren't going to go down the route of spin-offs or novels, to keep the book focussed on the TV adventures - which is a fair decision and probably makes the book generally more accessible. Including areas such as the original novels of the 'Wilderness Years' would most likely open a can of (Time)wyrms anyway.

You can find out more about Chinbeard Books and A Time Lord For Change, plus links to purchase it here:

http://www.chinbeardbooks.com/p-o-d-beard

Proceeds from the sale of this book go to the mental health charity MIND http://www.mind.org.uk/

You can follow the editors and publisher on Twitter on @cliffchapman, @eltownendjones; @BarnabyEJ; @ChinbeardBooks

My thanks go to Cliff for conceiving the project and allowing me to contribute, and also to Elton and Barnaby for picking up the baton when needed and pushing the whole thing through to fruition. I sincerely hope the book does well and raises lost of money for such a good cause.

So here then, for your perusal, is my other unused Drabble:

Alien Bodies: ‘Don’t Try The Slurry’

Scientific unit Delta reporting. Meteor F7 found unsuitable, mining resulted in breakup. No loss of resource, but structural damage to saucer. Emergency repair landing on planetoid designated K120t0Ω. Crystalline slurry discovered on planetoid surface. Substance inert, but exhibits high energy potential. Siphoned into hold for further investigation.

Report ends.

Supplemental: Substance shows signs of activity post-launch, bubbling and solidifying at edges. Operatives observing. Behaviour contradicts accepted change of matter states upon injection of energy. Unit leader advises caution.

Supplemental ends.

Further supplemental: Assist! Urgent assist! Slurry has invaded several Dalek casings and-

KROTON WARNING: THE HIGH BRAINS HAVE BEEN EXHAUSTED!

Review: Evil UnLtd Vol 1: The Root Of All Evil, by Simon A Forward

Evil UnLtd Vol 1: The Root of All Evil, by Simon A Forward

Subtitled ‘The Farce Of The Dark Side’ as are all the subsequent volumes.

I must point out at the start that this, and the subsequent three volumes (at the time of writing), are all charity publications – whether e-book or hard copy, all proceeds from the sales of these Evil UnLtd books go to Cancer Research. That, in itself, makes this a very noble undertaking by the author since this is not a short book and it is brimming-over with ideas.

The basic premise is refreshing – we follow the ‘baddies’ , Dexter Snide and his evil troupe, as they plot and attempt to carry out their wicked schemes, often in the face of ill fortune and ineptitude, countered by ‘goody’ opposition from muscle-bound hero Rolph Stengun (think Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rainier Wolfcastle and Dolph Lundgren all rolled into one). Forward plays to the old actors’ adage that the best roles are the villains; they’re the ones with the most interesting lives, the meatiest raison d’etre. None of the crimes perpetrated are particularly gruesome or violent, and there is a constant level of humour, thus the reader is not encouraged to dislike Snide or his colleagues despite their openly evil intent; our perception is comfortably manipulated so that the baddies become the heroes - a bit like  in the TV series Blake’s 7, where the characters we should be looking upon as terrorists are actually the ones we relate to and root for. In fact if the reader is encouraged to dislike anyone it's certainly dull, stupid and pedantically obsessive Stengun, who seems to right wrongs or prevent crime simply by the power of being there. Snide, on the face of it, appears to have a solid plan: he wants to set up a company, the titular Evil UnLtd.

Forward’s influences are clear from the offset. This is a very lexical book, delighting in the English language and the humorous interplay of words. Add to that the sci-fi setting, the eccentric or exaggerated characters and you have a work heavily reminiscent of Douglas Adams. That’s not to say the book is derivative in any way; Forward is not emulating Adams, he merely subscribes to a similar style of humour, and unlike many of Adams’ novels there is a clear and specific storyline running through all three consecutive mini stories that constitute this book. Other influences abound as well – Doctor Who, Blackadder, more that I could list and doubtless plenty others of which I am not personally aware. All authors carry their influences on our sleeves when putting finger to keyboard. One of the bonuses for the reader here is spotting these influences when they raise their heads and wink at you before ducking back down beneath the parapet, but enjoyment of the book is not dependent on you knowing these references or influences by any means – a bit like watching the Channel 4 sitcom Spaced, for example.

Breaking the book into three story sections is definitely in its favour. Word wit of this ilk can become taxing for the reader after a while. It is a very funny book and a very energetic and lively narrative with some real laugh-out-loud moments. But I was reminded of reading Austen’s Northanger Abbey, or Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, where after so many pages of repeated wit I could only sigh ‘enough already’ and put the book down in frustration. One needs a break from the relentless onslaught, and this tripartite structure does at least relieve the reader from time to time and allow them time to settle and recharge before taking on the next stage. It would be a disservice to the author and his creativity to get to the end and complain about humour fatigue.

I probably enjoyed the first section the most, but then I was rather enchanted with the set up and the various roles the characters were playing in their scenarios.  The middle section is a transition, allowing for some interesting character developments within the group dynamic which then facilitates much of the third section, giving the whole book a coherency that on the face of it one might erroneously believe it lacks. Stengun is amusingly dull and slow-witted, but you wouldn’t want to read any more about him than you do. Snide is a classic villain: focussed on his goals, blinkered at times, often unwilling or unable to listen to advice, yet he seems to engender the support of others who look on him as a natural leader. Professor Doomladen is probably my favourite character, starting off as a restaurateur with an ingenious way of getting payment from disgruntled patrons. Tanith Troy, the stunningly beautiful actress, is possibly where the audience perspective lies – at least initially; as hostage she is the recipient of much of the exposition and explanation that the reader requires, without the author having to settle for an omniscient narrator figure. It is also in Troy that we can see plenty of opportunities for the future within these stories.

I was aware before venturing into this book that there were a further three titles in the series to date. Having read this first one that doesn’t surprise me, and I shall be picking them up to read. Forward has created a universe which offers plenty of scope for development and where pretty much anything can happen.

I urge people to purchase and read this for two reasons – it’s a very funny book and it’s for a very worthwhile cause.

Find out more about the range, plus purchase copies here:  https://4devil.wordpress.com/

You can follow the author Simon A Forward on Twitter on @prefect4d

A Time Lord For Change - unused Drabble for 'The Moonbase'

I submitted several pieces for Chinbeard Books' A Time Lord For Change which, for one reason or another ended up not being used. Here's one, as a taster...

The Moonbase: ‘We’ll Always have Coventry.’

Dearest Jane,

I hope this letter finds you well? I know we agreed that this six month placement would give us the space we both needed, but I miss you terribly and I know in my heart that I still love you. It’s awful up here; I’ve a constant headache from the gravitron, Hobson is a mardy old bugger and there’s all these fey European-types everywhere. I don’t know why they don’t allow women up here. Or maybe I do, thinking about it. I wish I was back on Earth with you, in Coventry. I’m sorry.

All my love,

Evans

Doctor Who: A Time Lord For Change, Chinbeard Books

This very exciting announcement came out this week from Chinbeard Books:

http://www.chinbeardbooks.com/new-beard

Our next book will be released on the 23rd of November, which is - not entirely coincidentally - also 53 years to the day since Doctor Who first aired. 

DOCTOR WHO: A TIME LORD FOR CHANGE is raising money for MIND.

Here's a list of the talent involved (see if you can spot the famous Doctor Who alumni)...
Stephen Aintree, Gareth Alexander, Gary Andrews, Penny Andrews, Jon Arnold, Colin Baker, Ian Baldwin, Matt Barber, Richard Barnes, Piers Beckley, Mark Blayney, Andrew Bloor, Niall Boyce,Simon Brett, William KV Browne, Ron Brunwin, Simon Bucher-Jones, Robin G Burchill, Andrew Cartmel, Cliff Chapman, Baz Collins, Catherine Crosswell, John Davies, Jon Dear, Douglas M Devaney, Yasmin Dibella-Back, Sarah Di-Bella, John Dorney, Lisa T Downey-Dent, Paul Driscoll, Danou M. Duifhuizen, Barnaby Eaton-Jones, Paul Ebbstwo, Tony Eccles, Craig Fisher, Simon Forward, Gemma Fraser, Tim Gambrell, James Gent, Alan Gilmour McWhan, Alan Graham, Clive Greenwood, Nick Griffiths, Christine Grit, David Guest, Ian Ham, Joanne Harris, Colleen Hawkins, Steve Herbert, Liam Hogan, Nicholas Hollands, Steve Horry, David J Howe, John Hughes, Georgia Ingram, Will Ingram, John Isles, Alan P Jack, Brendan Jones, Gareth Kearns, Sami Kelsh, Simon Nicholas Kemp, Lou Marie Kerr, Hendryk Korzeniowski, Ian Kubiak,Andrew Lawston, Shaqui Le Vesconte, JR Loflin,Paul Magrs, Katy Manning, Nick Mellish, Stephen Mellor, Dan Milco, Terry Molloy, Fiona Moore, Aryldi Moss-Burke, Craig Moss, Peter Muscutt, Tessa North, Helen Oakleigh, Mark Trevor Owen, Nigel Peever, Neil Perryman, Kevin Philips, Ian Potter, Ilse A Ras, Lee Ravitz, Lee Rawlings, Rachel Redhead, Mark Scales, Robert Shearman, Jane Sherwin, Kenneth Peter Shinn, Robert Simpson, Verity Smith, J.R. Southall, Ash Stewart, Alan Stevens, Callum Stewart, Sam Stone, Rob Stradling, Steve Taylor-Bryant, Alan Taylor, Andrew Mark Thompson, Elliot Thorpe, Elton Townend Jones, Rebecca Vaughan, Mike Watkins, Daniel Wealands, Lisa Wellington, Ruth Wheeler, Joy-Amy Wigman and Brad Wolfe.

There's some big names and a lot of exciting talent amongst that lot, and I'm sure it's going to be an amazing book that we'll all be proud to have contributed to. It's certainly for a great cause and I'd urge all my readers to buy a copy.

Paul & Nessa's Happy Hour Show 37 - and I seriously blush

I don't know what to say about this really, except that I'm immensely honoured and touched to have a show partly dedicated to myself... I've really enjoyed contributing material to these guys so far - long may it continue too!

With extra special thanks this time to Paul Dunn, Vanessa Karon and all the boys and girls at Cranked Anvil Productions for the dedication and for letting me post these shows here on my Blog. For more information check them out at http://crankedanvil.co.uk/

Show 37. A show dedicated to our two chief contributors, Tim & David.  Also, Paul displays his skill at doing accents, and Nessa is obsessed with bananas.  Sketches by David Foster and Tim Gambrell. Performed by Carol Cooke, Paul Dunn, David Foster, Michael Grist, Harriet Ghost, Vanessa Karon, Wayne Miller, Dolores Poretta, Adam Ramsey, Peff Soulsby, Stephen Sullivan, Jordan Todd and Jack Young. Script editor was Paul Dunn. First broadcast 20.04.16


You can follow the show's presenters on Twitter via @PNHappyHour, Cranked Anvil Productions on @CrankedAnvil, radio station Spark Sunderland on @SparkSunderland, or even my good self (if you don't get enough of me here) on @Mr_Brell

Paul & Nessa's Happy Hour Show 34

A new sketch from me this time around, and the third in my irregular series of Blind Date spoofs...

With thanks as always to Paul Dunn, Vanessa Karon and all the boys and girls at Cranked Anvil Productions for letting me post these shows here on my Blog. For more information check them out at http://crankedanvil.co.uk/


Show 34.  Voyage From Titan Episode 7 written by Paul Dunn, music by Derry Pope, featuring James Barton, Helen Bowie, Paul Dunn, David Foster, Steven Jobson, Nicola Redman and Rachel Walsh. Sketches by Tim Gambrell, Neil Tolfree, and David Metcalfe Jamie McLeish & Andrew Kirkwood as MKM Comedy. Performed by Paul Dunn, Michael Grist, Vanessa Karon, Micky McGregor, Dolores Poretta, Peff Soulsby, Stephen Sullivan, and Jordan Todd. Script editor was Paul Dunn. First broadcast 30.03.16


You can follow the show's presenters on Twitter via @PNHappyHour, Cranked Anvil Productions on @CrankedAnvil, radio station Spark Sunderland on @SparkSunderland, or even my good self (if you don't get enough of me here) on @Mr_Brell

Dad's Army (2016) film review

So, I received the new Dad’s Army film on Blu-ray for Fathers’ Day this year. From when it was first announced to when it was released in the cinema I suspect I went through the same stages in my reactions to this film that many others did.

1)    No!!!
2)    Why?
3)    How dare they!
4)    Interesting cast.
5)    Hmmm. Teaser trailer. Not bad.
6)    Mrs Mainwaring?! No, they can’t do that! Never seeing her was THE JOKE.
7)    Ooh, a longer trailer – actually that looks really good.

With a young family and few options for nights out I’d already earmarked this as a film I wouldn’t see in the cinema but would happily catch on TV in a few years. I find the old television series to be quite charming but not required viewing (and repeats of it seem to be on BBC2 on a constant rotation anyway), but it’s a cherished part of our comedy heritage. Revisiting a national treasure was always going to ruffle feathers – particularly because over the past twenty years or so various old shows have been revisited or revived in one format or another with mixed, but often unsatisfactory, results. The theatre, where everything is held to be ephemeral, is the accepted medium for recreating characters and fondly revisiting old shows – or on television if the piece is a dramatic recreation or biopic, pandering to our fascination with the ‘real’ behind-the-scenes stories and pain hidden under the laughs. 

The Dad’s Army film, then, is a refreshing tonic, because it is very good. It’s sympathetically, affectionately and (most importantly of all) very well made with some great laughs and some charming moments of humanity and tenderness. There are plenty of nods to the old TV show, such as the font used to introduce the characters one by one at the start and then again to credit the actors at the end (with the original theme music), plus the German war map with the Nazi and British arrows facing off against each other a la the original title sequence, but these fond visual homages aside the film is allowed to be both the same as and yet different from the series that inspired it.

Predictably it has a wonderful cast and the actors recreate the roles with absolute care, but without resorting to actual impersonations - so the audience isn’t distracted by constantly comparing, say, Michael Gambon’s Godfrey with Arnold Ridley’s. This avoids awkward caricatures: much of John Laurie’s Frazer is down to his extraordinary face, for example, and it would be unfair on Bill Paterson to have him constantly gurning with wide eyes and rolling his R’s. Tom Courtenay’s Corporal Jones doesn’t play up to a studio audience with unnecessary shouts of ‘Don’t panic Mr Mainwaring’ – but he’s still Jones the butcher, they still don’t like it up ‘em, and he has a real truth and roundedness about him. Let’s face it, glib catchphrases at the end of the day are shorthand character moments in a half hour TV episode, (we’re doomed!) but the broader world presented by the film and the more detailed storytelling prompts the characters to use any catchphrases ‘properly’ and in context.

The film allows Walmington-on-Sea and its occupants to develop beyond their original boundaries. This is managed largely through the development of the female characters. On TV, if seen at all, Mrs Pike and Mrs Fox (rarely anyone else) would simply pop into the odd scene here and there for humorous and not always proactive reasons - for the sake of a gag or two, effectively. Elizabeth Mainwaring cast a huge shadow over her scenes without ever appearing, sold simply by Arthur Lowe’s reaction to her phone calls or the very mention of her name. But on watching the film I realised that this wouldn’t have worked here; the audience would feel cheated when they’re being shown so much more than the Home Guard. Felicity Montagu, known to many as Alan Partridge’s long-suffering PA, is brilliant as Elizabeth, Mrs Mainwaring. The audience still get George’s fear of her through Toby Jones’ reactions, but more than that we now see a strained marriage, where tenderness and physical contact have long past, and it adds a huge level of realism and sympathy to both characters.

Also of particular note is Alison Steadman who clearly spent time studying Pamela Cundell’s Mrs Fox because (again, although not an impersonation) she adopts Cundell’s very particular style of movement as that character in the film.

Of the surviving TV cast Ian Lavender has a cameo scene as a general and Frank Williams is still playing the vicar at his ripe old age. In the days of the TV show, when camp or fey people were considered raucously funny and the backhand suggestion of homosexuality had the audience roaring for hours the vicar was clearly ticking the camp/probably gay box. It was pleasing to me that in recreating the role years later Williams could give a genuine performance with no loaded moments or suggestions of cheap laughs. The vicar may have been gay – but who cares (it's not important to the story) he’s just a person and it doesn’t need signposting.

Toby Jones is very hot property these days, isn’t he? His face seems to be everywhere on TV. It happened to Olivia Coleman a few years back, and Sue Johnston back in the ‘90s. It can be a double-edged sword though; it shows approval of your talent and marketability by the industry but the downside is that the general viewer can become weary of seeing you. I’m guilty of that, I know - for years I wouldn't go near David Jason's TV shows for example. I’m not yet weary of Toby Jones, but I’m approaching tipping point, I’ll admit. He’s very charming as Mainwaring, very human and sympathetic. He doesn’t have the unpleasant, bullying edge that mars Arthur Lowe’s Mainwaring at times, but he has the pomposity that you want to see popped. Yet at the same time he’s very vulnerable and we can understand his struggle. But he doesn’t need to be unpleasant because Bill Nighy’s Wilson isn’t as fey or disassociated as John Le Mesurier’s was. He's frustrating in a different way.

If I had a criticism of the film it would be that Sergeant Wilson is miscast. I’m not a fan of Bill Nighy anyway; it's often said that Bill Nighy plays Bill Nighy no matter what the role. Personally I find that he saps the energy and dynamism out of scenes; he pulls focus by halting the flow as he fidgets and chews his way through his lines like he’s getting used to a new set of dentures. He’s got a sort of ‘laidbackness’ about him so I can see why the production might have thought of him for Wilson. But John Le Mesurier wasn’t laid back, he was always at a charmingly bewildered disconnect with everything else around him – which is different. Bill Nighy, on the other hand, just looks like he can’t be bothered. But there’s no one quite like Le Mesurier around these days, so I guess the options were either to have an impersonation, such as Robert Bathurst who played him in Ruth Jones’ Hattie (2011) or someone laidback like Nighy. Nighy is a bigger name. Bathurst, having played Le Mesurier as himself may, of course, have run away from any suggestion that he also play one of Le Mesurier’s characters as that would be an actor impersonating another actor acting…

I noted that Hodges, the ARP Warden, doesn’t feature prominently in the film, nor was he played by an actor I recognised. But then he was a very crass, unpleasant character in the TV series, only there to shout down Mainwaring and belittle him in scene-stealing moments. Probably a lot of fun for Bill Pertwee to play but rarely a lot of fun to watch, I think. I presume the choice in the film was either to try to develop Hodges into a more well-rounded character and involve him in the action or to keep him as he was on TV and use him sparingly. But the story would have struggled to use him in a productive or constructive way, though, so I think they did the best thing and left him to his occasional unpleasant asides. The audience sympathies are always going to be with the Home Guard anyway.

Catherine Zeta-Jones’ role is rather like the special guest star of the week – such as the TV series would occasionally have. She is pure excellence, playing the men off against each other with no effort at all as they all fall for her glamour compared to their own war-weary local women. Having the audience fully aware throughout that she is the spy in question allows us to focus on reactions and relationships rather than being distracted by trying to solve a mystery. It’s a film about relationships and pride and honour and commitment, the spy storyline allows those aspects to develop and shine forth without ever eclipsing them. Indeed the climax relies completely on those elements all coming together. I think that’s a measure of how well judged and fondly made the film was: telling a story through the characters, the characters we’ve taken into our national hearts.

And thank heaven they didn’t try to cram in a ‘Don’t tell him, Pike!’, one brief moment from one episode that seems to outshine almost everything else about the TV series.

Blue Box Podcast no 212

I'm a tad late posting this, since two more episodes have since been issued, but if anyone out there enjoys my written ramblings here and fancies hearing me speak instead I was fortunate enough to be invited to join in on a recent Blue Box Podcast with JR, Matt and Simon. We were discussing, amongst other things, the Doctor Who Series 5 Silurian two-parter The Hungry Earth & Cold Blood, by Chris Chibnall.

You can check it out via iTunes:
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/episode-212-back-to-hungry/id517595563?i=1000370914503&mt=2

And more information is available via the podcast page on the Starburst Magazine website:
http://www.starburstmagazine.com/doctor-who-podcast-episodes/15436-blue-box-podcast-episode-212--back-to-the-hungry-earth

Hope you enjoy...

The BBC Sherlock Holmes Collection, starring Peter Cushing

It’s been years since I’ve watched the Hammer version of The Hound of The Baskervilles, thus I came to Peter Cushing’s BBC Sherlock Holmes series with no preconceptions beyond some internet gossip about it being rather highly regarded at the time. And indeed it is marvellous – so much so that it’s an utter tragedy that only six of the series of sixteen episodes remain extant in the archives for us to enjoy today. And they are in colour too, which is wonderful. I can’t imagine many people saw them in colour when they were first shown in 1968, but the fact that we can see them that way now, and not just as 16mm black and white film telerecordings made for overseas sales instead, is almost miraculous.

Cushing is an actor I need to see more of; he surprises and impresses me in everything I see him in. For years I’ve known of him as the bumbling eccentric ‘Dr Who’ from the two Dalek films of the mid-sixties, or the efficient Grand Moff Tarkin in Star Wars. But seeing him here makes me want to check out more of his work – the countless Hammer appearances for example, or the infamous 1954 BBC dramatization of 1984. He has a very precise delivery and a delightful twinkle to his performances which make him an endearing and human Holmes, still retaining the sharp brilliance and the deep brooding but without the need to be morose. One can understand more why Watson would want to remain with this Holmes, at times jovial and pleasant. And in fairness Cushing’s Holmes needs to have a modicum of humour and patience about him to cope with Nigel Stock’s wonderful Watson – a complete bumbling boob, the sort of ‘by Jove, Holmes’ wobbly-jowled stalwart that it seems for many years Watson was imagined to be; invalided out of the army and straight into mutton-chopped middle age. Stock is a consummate performer, always working while the camera is on him with little gestures and expressions - he’s like Holmes' faithful dog. Could he be accused of pulling focus? Maybe, but in my view there was a battle royale going on between Cushing and Stock that gives the viewer far more entertainment than might otherwise be expected.

In the main the short stories fare better from these fifty minute adaptations, judging from the two extant examples The Blue Carbuncle and The Boscombe Valley Mystery. They feel a little less rushed, as if they’re allowed to set their own narrative pace. Indeed I’m surprised The Blue Carbuncle isn’t wheeled out each Christmas in the maelstrom of festive repeats. The Hound of The Baskervilles is allowed the honour of two episodes, but the other novels A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four are removed of their excess trappings and condensed down. They still work as stories, but we miss a little colour and breathing space in the process. One of the charms of this particular Baskerville, easily the most often adapted and popular of all the Holmes stories, was the enactment of the social evening and the events leading up to the death of Sir Charles, in their correct narrative place, rather than having it all related by Doctor Mortimer in Baker Street after. Unlike Hammer’s Hound of The Baskervilles, for whom the hound itself must have been the selling point, this BBC version is aware of its limitations and shows the dog as little as possible. I’ve never been entirely satisfied with the hound bearing down on Sir Henry in any of the versions I’ve seen (how wonderful it is in prose, though) so this one does a good job in not even trying to show it until it pounces.

Television is rarely ‘timeless’, and these episodes – highly enjoyable as they may be - are very much of their time, belying the haste and ephemerality with which the programmes were produced. It is doubtful anyone at the time imagined that they’d still be being watched fifty years down the line. There are uneven performances from guest actors (my wife was convinced all the young females were picked on looks not acting talent!) the odd boom mic in shot and the odd wobbly set here and there that one associates with old TV and its limited time and money – but these things don’t matter; it wasn’t trying to be a perfect slice of real life. It’s theatrical television, mainly studio-bound and often presented almost proscenium arch-fashion. If the actors took a bow at the end it wouldn’t seem too out of place. Personally I take great delight in the theatricality of it all, the exaggerated gestures, the slightly delayed responses by extras (check out the pair of yokels waiting for Holmes and Watson to enter the pub in The Boscombe Valley Mystery – I howled for ages over that but at the same time I LOVED it for its imperfections). How many viewers would be fooled by Joe Melia’s old woman in A Study in Scarlet? I love this because it shows television at work – not in a postmodern, self-referential way, but in a way that says ‘we’re not trying to make this real, we’re just trying to do as good a job as we can with what we’ve got and we hope it gives you some escapist enjoyment along the way.’ There’s no sense of the producers trying to ‘get one over’ on the audience.

 
The BBC Sherlock Holmes is also wonderful for old actor spotting. Who gets to see James Beck in anything other than Dad’s Army these days? And then there are actors like John Stratton, Jack Woolgar, Frank Middlemass, Joe Melia – great jobbing actors of the time who could always be relied upon for a solid characterful performance be it in drama or comedy. Their appearances in these episodes feel so much more special to me now, so much less pretentious than the lengthy list of stellar names that Agatha Christies or period dramas get these days. Now it seems to be more about a show boasting of certain actors, using it as a selling point to legitimise itself.

I love these six episodes, and it is heart breaking to think there would have been up to ten more but for the junking of the video tapes or 16mm film copies for overseas sales that no doubt happened when it seemed they’d served their immediate purpose. But what we do have left to posterity is very enjoyable (though not to everyone’s tastes, I’m aware) and I know I will watch them over and over.

 

But before I go I have to ask, what's with Watson and the ornamental dagger in the opening titles - he looks VERY suspicious..!

Paul & Nessa's Happy Hour Show 32

After a break of three, yes, THREE Happy Hours, I'm very happy to feature some material once again on Paul & Nessa - although long time listeners may spot that the wildlife shorts were used previously in an earlier show (no harm in re-using good material!)

With thanks as always to Paul Dunn, Vanessa Karon and all the boys and girls at Cranked Anvil Productions for letting me post these shows here on my Blog. For more information check them out at http://crankedanvil.co.uk/

Show 32. Voyage From Titan Episode 5 written by Paul Dunn, music by Derry Pope, featuring James Barton, Helen Bowie, David Foster, Steven Jobson, Nicola Redman, Craig Richardson and Rachel Walsh. Sketches by Tim Gambrell, Andrew Stephenson and Matt Watson.  Performed by Sarah Boulter, Carol Cooke, Paul Dunn, David Foster, Harriet Ghost, Michael Grist, Vanessa Karon, Wayne Miller, Craig Richardson and Stephen Sullivan.  Script editor was Paul Dunn. First broadcast 16.03.16
You can follow the show's presenters on Twitter via @PNHappyHour, Cranked Anvil Productions on @CrankedAnvil, radio station Spark Sunderland on @SparkSunderland, or even my good self (if you don't get enough of me here) on @Mr_Brell

42

So, yesterday I became 42.

Cue massive revelations about the meaning of life, the universe and everything..?

No.

Typical.

In lieu of anything more profound I shall instead add some images of things related to the question, the great question, of life, the universe and - well - everything, to which the answer is, as we know, 42...

Just remember where your towel is.

Me and My 'New Adventures'

About seven years back now I was half way through a re-read of all the BBC's Doctor Who Eighth Doctor Adventures (EDA) novels. A friend was having a clear out and leant me a few books: the BBC Past Doctors Adventure (PDA) Bunker Soldiers by Martin Day ('Okay, but not outstanding'); the Virgin Missing Adventure (MA) The Crystal Bucephalus by Craig Hinton ('again okay, but the author was trying too hard') and the Virgin New Adventures (NA) Godengine, also by Craig Hinton ('wonderful') and The Sword of Forever by Jim Mortimore ('not a clue what was going on!') - this latter being the first NA I'd read from the end of the run after Virgin had lost their Doctor Who licence and continued the run with Paul Cornell's Bernice Summerfield as the central character.

Godengine got me thinking about the few NAs that I’d read back in the day which I’d actually enjoyed and I was grasped with a sudden desire to fling off the EDAs and read all the NAs instead. So, I went through the arduous and expensive task of filling in the gaps in my collection (I say ‘gaps’ when I really mean ‘chasms’, since I only owned about six of them at that point!)

At first my plan was to alternate between an EDA and an NA each time, possibly with the odd MA or PDA thrown in for good measure. This lasted for all of about two books perhaps, before I ended up concentrating solely on the NAs. My EDA re-read sadly remains incomplete to this day...

When Virgin started publishing the New Adventures I was about 17 years old – pretty much the perfect age for them, you’d think. I’d loved Seasons 25 and 26 on TV in the late 1980s and the subsequent Target novelisations of those stories which were somewhat the precursors for the NAs in many ways, so I was very much ‘into’ the McCoy Doctor and Ace team – or so I thought. I recall being very excited about the prospect of original Doctor Who fiction; I owned the three Target Companions Of Doctor Who books but hadn’t read them at that point. I was given the opportunity of borrowing the four Timewyrm books that opened the range from a friend. Hmmm. It was clear to me straight off that this wasn’t quite the same thing as the TV programme I loved. Timewyrm: Genesys by John Peel was all right, but unnecessarily sexual in places and what was all that mad stuff about swapping out the Doctor's personas? Timewyrm: Exodus by Terrance Dicks was much better, a good solid read. Nigel Robinson's Timewyrm: Apocalypse was okay too but Paul Cornell's Timewyrm: Revelation stumped me completely; I couldn’t relate to it, I didn’t like where it was going and what it was trying to do and it put me off the range completely. My friend Andrew, who had lent me the books, said he wasn’t that keen either when we discussed them afterwards and he wouldn't be buying the next story arc, Cat’s Cradle. Any money I had from part-time work was going on the videos which had started to up their frequency about that time too, and I decided I’d lose nothing by never going near the range again. In retrospect I think that if I’d carried straight on to Marc Platt’s Cats Cradle:Time’s Crucible that really would have sealed the coffin for me, as it's even less accessible and reader-friendly than Timewyrm: Revelation to the uninitiated. As it was I came back to the range not too long after with Nightshade by Mark Gatiss - my first actual purchase in the range - having been swayed by its great reviews; I didn’t enjoy it that much and I kept getting annoyed at the thinly veiled self-referential 'Professor X'. I just don’t think my mind was in the right place for the NAs at the time - I was the right age, but I wasn't mature enough as a reader to cope with the textual complexities or the hard-edged sci-fi content. Buying and watching old Tom Baker stories on video instead was much easier and more enjoyable for me at the time.

But thanks to the coverage and reviews in Doctor Who Magazine I remained aware of the range and like the good little fan I was I felt obliged to dip in now and again just in case things had improved. I was enticed by David Banks' Iceberg because of the Cybermen, and picking that up for the first time I discovered I should read Nigel Robinson's Birthright too because they were happening concurrently, so that's what I did and I enjoyed them both immensely - hurrah! I also stumbled across second hand copies of Jim Mortimore's Blood Heat and Daniel Blythe's The Dimension Riders and very much enjoyed them too, but I never felt the urge to fill in the gaps between and I was wary of Paul Cornell's work. A few years later I picked up Terrance Dicks' Shakedown because I’d rather enjoyed the video release (similarly with Marc Platt's MA Downtime), but when I borrowed Kate Orman's The Left-Handed Hummingbird from another friend many years later I hated it. I also hated Russell T Davies' Damaged Goods when I borrowed that from the same friend after the programme had returned in 2005. I was sickened by it in all honesty – too ‘on the nose’, too 'kitchen sink' and far too much death and destruction at the end.

Clearly something was amiss.

 

One of the joys of seeing through that decision to read the complete series from start to finish was finding how wrong I’d been years before. I'd clearly changed a lot as a reader, as a person and as a fan in the intervening years, plus a certain amount doubtless falls to familiarity, being a little more prepared for what you're going to get. Timewyrm: Revelation, Nightshade and The Left-Handed Hummingbird were among my very favourites and although I still don’t love Damaged Goods I did prefer it the second time around. But it wasn’t all fabulous by any means; Timewyrm: Apocalypse and Dave Stone's Sky Pirates! were utterly deplorable, The Pit by Neil Penswick is turgid and dull and I was very disappointed to find that Birthright wasn’t as good as I’d remembered it. Paul Cornell's Love and War and Ben Aaronovitch's The Also People came to me very highly recommended and as a consequence didn't live up to expectation and there were several runs of books where the quality was consistently good, but not necessarily great, and I found myself yearning for something extra special. It seems pretty harsh to condemn good books for not being great, but I think it’s representative of the range as a whole that they set their own standards of achievement – 'good' became the base-level norm, and thus not quite good enough; they needed to be 'great' to stand out.

I enjoyed the three cross-overs into the Missing Adventures range too: Goth Opera, Lords of The Storm and Cold Fusion, which I read in their correct place without getting unnecessarily side-tracked into the MAs. Goth Opera is easily Paul Cornell's weakest addition to the Virgin ranges, and as the opener to a new range that promises old Doctor stories which will fit in with those of the time it's a curious effort since it's nothing like the Fifth Doctor era at all. David A. McIntee's Lords of The Storm turns out to be far stronger than Shakedown, with which it is paired but Lance Parkin's Cold Fusion is the icing on the cake in cross-over country and surely one of the best works of Doctor Who prose fiction ever.

I started to notice that some regular authors were consistently great: Kate Orman and Paul Cornell in particular. I had a fondness for Terrance Dicks (who doesn’t, let’s face it) but although his books were always readable they weren’t always great. Andrew Cartmel may not count as a regular contributor, but his three books were stand-out efforts of postmodern narrative and contemporary life. Gareth Roberts no doubt deserves a mention too for his refreshing yarns, although his best work was reserved for the MA range.

Throughout these books I still had issues with the ‘scheming’ Seventh Doctor; although I came to the range this time around a lot more tolerant of this aspect of his character I felt it grew tiresome very quickly. I also had issues with where the writers took the character of Ace too, and what she became. I started Gareth Roberts’ Tragedy Day while away for the weekend in the New Forest, and there was palpable relief to finally read a book where the Doctor, Ace and Benny all actually get along fine for a change. Benny, poor Benny. I was interested in her at first, and how her fresh dynamic with the Doctor would develop. But we just get used to them together when Ace returns like a bulldozer and Benny gets pushed to the side a lot, acting as ‘companion’ to either the Doctor or Ace depending on who she’s been lumbered with that month. I’d have been happy for Ace to have gone after Love and War and not returned; she certainly returned more quickly that I liked.

And then, after Ace left properly in Kate Orman's beautiful Set Piece again we only get a few books’ grace before Chris and Roz come along and again the dynamic changes. I took to Roz Forrester, but found that Chris Cwej was very unevenly written across many of the books; he was occasionally smart and intuitive, occasionally just big and dim depending on what the narrative required - along with the sex and the fast cars. As a consequence I was disappointed when Benny left and married Jason because I felt I still didn’t know her as well as I’d have liked.

What I found, towards the end of the Doctor Who NA range and repeatedly through the Bernice Summerfield NA run, was that I was already hankering to re-visit some of the earlier NAs and give them a second chance, specifically Marc Platt's Cat's Cradle: Time’s Crucible, Andrew Cartmel's Cat's Cradle: Warhead, Paul Cornell's Love and War and Ben Aaronovitch's Transit. I took that as a sign that I was starting to tire of the range and although I’m certain that was true during the Bernice Summerfield stories I think that earlier it was because I was aware that the range had changed and evolved quite a bit along the way. But I resisted the temptation to go back before I reached the end.

The Doctor Who NA range ended as it had always been for me; So Vile A Sin, by Kate Orman and Ben Aaronovitch, Lungbarrow by Marc Platt and Lance Parkin's The Dying Days in particular were all superb - the latter giving the fledgling Eighth Doctor his solo Virgin outing - but there were some within that final strait (post-Happy Endings where it’s all obviously being geared up to hand over to Benny Summerfield) that still didn’t hit the mark for me. I left the range feeling saddened but also a bit relieved – Doctor Who had been put through the ringer by Virgin and I was glad that it was ending on a high and with such a great legacy behind it.

I made a conscious decision at that point to see out the NAs fully and go through the briefer 'Benny' range too. I knew some of the Big Finish audios and I’d been bewildered by The Sword of Forever but otherwise the character still largely felt like an unknown quantity to me. I’d missed her not being in some of the latter Doctor Who novels so I knew I had some affection for the character.

Some of the twenty three Bernice Summerfield NAs were superb: Lawrence Miles was emerging as a force to be reckoned with, Justin Richards too. And seemingly true to form I adored Jim Mortimore’s The Sword of Forever the second time around. Paul Cornell and Kate Orman both left the range with excellent swansongs, but a good half of the run were poor or average at best. Benny Summerfield gets reduced to being a series of cyphers and stock actions / responses. Gary Russell’s Deadfall was another truly dire effort and easily the worst of the lot. Dave Stone had clearly found his niche, if not for quality then at least for being able to hit deadlines, but his whole NA output varied massively. Death and Diplomacy and Ship of Fools were great. Sky Pirates! was appalling and his further three Benny books were exercises in readerly patience at best. I don’t think he helped the range in the long run. Although the ‘Gods’ story arc added some interest towards the end of the run I was feeling by then that it was all a little too late. Picking up something that was seeded during the Doctor Who stories was a mistake as certain names and characters were under licence and could no longer be used, which made for clunkiness. Bernice had become a kind of pissed-up Jessica Fletcher, off solving murders and mysteries wherever she went; there seemed to be a lack of initiative or imagination as to what to do with Bernice and what stories to tell. I began to wonder why Virgin hadn’t mixed up the pot a bit more and added stories about some of the other companions or recurring pseudo-companions that they’d introduced during the Doctor Who run, such as Kadiatu or Chris Cwej. When we finally get a Chris Cwej solo novel, Dead Romance by Lawrence Miles, it’s a bit of a revelation and all a bit too late to save things.

It’s a shame but I felt relieved when I put down Mark Clapham & Jon De Burgh Miller's Twilight of The Gods at the end. I’d grown weary. I was expecting to feel a little empty inside, like I’d left an old friend behind, but I was instead enthused with excitement about what proper Doctor Who books I could go back to reading – like re-visiting those early NAs, or finishing off the EDAs after all...

I should point out that I didn't read a straight run of all eighty four NAs, plus the three MAs: I would read a few, usually encounter one I’d enjoyed less, pick up something else for a break, then go back to the range a few days or a week later – so I was reasonably dedicated but I didn’t weary myself with them, as I didn’t want that to unfairly taint my views. I can’t imagine anyone reading all of them back to back and maintaining an objective outlook. 

Although I was old enough for the New Adventures range when they were first published, I believe I wasn’t mature enough either as a person, a fan or a reader to fully appreciate them, hence the mixed responses I had. But, I must admit, the best of the range are amongst the best books I’ve ever read. I can't pick a favourite - truly - and it's a mark of the quality of the range over all that even my shortlist would be rather long.