Stuck in the middle with "Who"!

"Fear Her" was another story with a paper-thin plot just when the series ought to be toughening up if we're really about to face an "Army of Ghosts" resulting in "Doomsday". There were some nice ideas in the episode, such as the scribble monster, but when the thing you remember most is the multi-layered joke about parking the TARDIS, rather than any psychological fear, then there is a need to scribble a different script. This was already a different script, however, as episode eleven was originally the slot intended for Stephen Fry. His story was postponed until next year but now doesn't have the time to contribute. It occurred to me, the day after transmission, that maybe what I found momentarily funny on Saturday evening might contain some metaphorical truth about the series itself. The TARDIS is stuck on Earth, the Doctor can't get out/away so he needs to do a ninety degree turn... just like the programme.

The story borrowed from all over the place. "Survival", Sylvester McCoy's swan song, figured prominently at the beginning with a supposedly typical street, though it was too busy to be believable, unearthing mysterious disappearances of its youthful inhabitants and even featured a real, rather than animatronic, moggy! The cat was revealed to have been a bit of a diva in "Doctor Who Confidential" afterwards. Maybe they should've bought some tins of Whiskas like good ol' Sly back in 1989! With Chloe seemingly capturing individuals in her drawings, the obvious influence on "Fear Her" is the children's novel "Marianne Dreams" by Catherine Storr. The motivation of the aliens, in this episode, bore more than a passing resemblance to the ambition of the Gelth in "The Unquiet Dead", as well; as the number of individuals imprisoned in the artwork escalates, initially, to a stadium crowd, with a final desire to seize the entire population of the planet.

It was all just a little dull, however, and when "Confidential" talked about the fear factor in "Doctor Who", illustrating it with clips from the classic series, it only served to make "Fear Her" feel even weaker. Hartnell, looking totally dishevelled and distraught, and frantic to return to his ship at the climax of the original "Doctor Who" story, takes some beating. And, Russell T Davies, during the discussion, getting the name of my all-time favourite story wrong doesn't endear me to him either. It's called "Fury FROM the Deep", Mr Executive Producer and Chief Scribbler!!! Finally, I think it even less likely that Shayne Ward will still be in the public eye in the year 2012, never mind have a Greatest Hits album as the poster in the above picture indicates, than a planet can orbit a black hole!

That was Number One, that was "Top of the Pops"

After a little over 42 and a half years the BBC's flagship pop programme, "Top of the Pops", is to finish at the end of July. "Another One Bites the Dust", to quote Freddie Mercury. It's a brilliant lifespan for a television show, of course, but, having got this far, one might've been forgiven for thinking it would go on forever. I always believed "Doctor Who" was a permanent fixture too. It lasted 26 years before being abandoned to collect dust in archive storage. Now the flagship SF series has been resurrected, after 16 years in the wilderness, so there is no reason why the same thing shouldn't happen to "Top of the Pops", one day. After all, like "Doctor Who", it is a brand name and, after a suitable period, I'm sure the powers that Beeb will want to capitalise on it!

Also, again in a similar fashion to "Doctor Who", the producers started tinkering with the programme's format. "Top of the Pops" was originally intended to feature only singles going up the chart, the top twenty not the top forty, and, unless you were at number one, no record would be played on consecutive weeks. It didn't feature the album chart although there was a time when they started playing new releases, before they charted, if it was a dead cert the artist in question would be a new entry the following week.

Originally broadcast on Wednesday, January 1st, 1964, "Top of the Pops" became better established as part of early evening television on Thursday nights and there was a time, in the mid-Seventies, when I was torn between watching it and the competition of "Space:1999" on ITV, just as I had been forced to choose between "Doctor Who" and "UFO" earlier the same decade. Some say that when "Top of the Pops" was later moved to Friday nights it spelt the beginning of the end, just as the same thing had been said about "Doctor Who" when moved from Saturday to weeknights. The pop show's fate was sealed when moved to Sunday nights on BBC2.

The original presenter was Jimmy Savile and you can see, in the top of the picture, that he actually used to spin the records. Bottom right is a bare-footed Sandie Shaw who was at number 1 that particular week. Above her, you can see the bottom of the top twenty chart board and can just make out that "Crying in the Chapel" by Elvis Presley was at number 20. In the first ever edition, Sir Jimmy, as he is now, introduced The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Dusty Springfield no less! Much archive footage has been erased, another thing in common with "Doctor Who", and the only clip of Sandie that still exists from the black and white days, for example, is a rehearsal sequence.

Many presenters followed Jimmy, from the sublime to the ridiculous depending on your point of view. Noel Edmonds was painful while John Peel's sarcasm was refreshing considering some of the awful "acts" he had to introduce. The vacuous nature of the programme's most recent host, Fearne Cotton, so falsely earnest, is a million miles from the fun of Jimmy Savile's approach to the given material. I still remember soul boy Tony Blackburn commenting, on a rare appearance by prog rock band Genesis, that "It takes all sorts", for which, despite not being a fan of them particularly, I've never really forgiven his narrow-mindedness. I've often thought that the "artists" should pay to appear on "Top of the Pops", rather than being paid, considering a slot on the show is no more than advertising the availability of a product!

The programme has produced many memorable moments and the choice of these probably depends, most likely, on one's age! My era was the Seventies and, in particular, the more musically adventurous side of Glam Rock followed by New Wave, the more musically adventurous side of Punk. So, I remember Roxy Music performing "Virginia Plain" in which you can barely see future U2 producer Brian Eno on synthesiser; Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel with their number one hit "Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)" in which Steve repeats a verse, by mistake, and acknowledges it during the performance by adding a word - "I know what faith is AGAIN and what it's worth" - and I fondly recall Hugh Cornwell snarling his way through The Stranglers' "No More Heroes". Any more? Loads! But I'll finish with my all-time favourite appearance, on "Top of the Pops", which was "Starman" by David Bowie, featuring the late Mick Ronson, of The Spiders from Mars, on guitar.

Absorbing Stuff?

With the Doctor and Rose virtually written out of "Love & Monsters", a strong cast was needed to take centre stage to effectively replace them for a week. Facially similar to Malcolm McDowell, Marc Warren took the lead as Elton Pope, an actor who'd probably make a better job of playing the Doctor than David Tennant, to be honest. He was terrific as PC Dougie Raymond in the first season and a half of "The Vice", alongside Ken Stott, and is now perhaps best known as con man Danny Blue whom he has played for the last three years in "Hustle". Shirley Henderson appeared as his sidekick, Ursula Blake, whom I best remember from the third and final season of the French-resistance drama "Wish me Luck" in which she played ill-fated Sylvie, executed by the Nazis after the war was declared over.

To complete the line-up a villain was needed and cast as Victor Kennedy was comedian Peter Kay, best known to television viewers for multiple roles in the two seasons of sitcom "Phoenix Nights" and its less successful spin-off "Max & Paddy's Road to Nowhere". Victor is not what he seems, however, when it transpires he is distantly related to the Slitheen family preferring to go by the name of Abzorbaloff. The monster was created by nine-year-old William Grantham for a 'Design a "Doctor Who" monster' competition held by children's magazine programme "Blue Peter" last year, and his winning artwork is reproduced above. I think the design team did the boy proud. It was a pleasure to witness his excitement in "Doctor Who Confidential", immediately after episode 10 aired, on meeting the Bolton comic in costume.

Taking the target audience into consideration, RTD's script could've been a little more appropriate for family viewing. I'm not talking about the fart gag. Tedious though it is, I'm sure children everywhere will love that element as much as seeing Mr Blobby chasing Elton (thank God he wasn't called Cliff!) through the back streets of Cardiff. But, was it really necessary for Jackie to try and seduce the Pope by flashing her underwear in his direction in the launderette? One is left wondering if, like the TARDIS, her knickers are bigger on the inside (apologies to the more sensitive reader)! There was also reference made to the size of Camille Coduri's chest and worse at the climax of the story, in relation to Elton and Ursula's love life now that Miss Blake is reduced to a head in a paving stone!! You might say "Doctor Who" has reached rock bottom!!!

Rose goes!

It came as no surprise to hear about the departure of Billie Piper from "Doctor Who" at the end of its current run. By default, this is the only possible outcome for the second season. There were two things, according to Mickey/Ricky actor Noel Clarke, that the production team had managed to keep secret, which hadn't been leaked to the press. The first was the departure of Mickey. So, it had to be something bigger than that for the season climax. It seemed unlikely, then, that it would be Rose's Mum Jackie because the exit of Camille Coduri, being a semi-regular in the cast, would only be on a par with Mickey. Therefore, having already seen the departure of Christopher Eccleston's Doctor, as the climax to the first season, and assuming Tennant is staying, what else could it have been but the removal of Rose?

The point of interest now isn't that Rose Tyler is leaving but the manner of her departure. The irony is that, on the BBC's "Doctor Who" website's newspage, the top story has remained a denial of Piper's exodus for numerous months while RTD claims the end of "Doomsday" hasn't been hastily rewritten, after a squabble over money, but was planned over a year ago. That would mean they always knew Billie Piper would be moving on at this time which makes the BBC report, shall we say, contradictory! If the Beeb maintained this position to avoid the fiasco created last year, when Chris withdrew from the programme so early into its first run, then why inform the public at this stage, with four episodes still to air? Couldn't the BBC have maintained radio silence just a little longer and allowed the viewer the surprise of Rose's retirement or has the information been released now to bolster decreasing viewing figures?

Whatever the politics, the close of Rose's adventures in time and space could be utilised to take the show in new directions. It means the Doctor has no reason to return to the Powell Estate any more. The problem, although I don't suppose the Executive Producer sees it as one, is that, with Russell still at the helm of the TARDIS, Season Three will probably continue along the same lines as its predecessors. I suspect there will be a story in which, whilst fending off some supporting aliens, the Doctor returns to Rose's home to see how Jackie is coping without her daughter. She'll no doubt blame the Time Lord and he'll offer to take her back to the moment just before her demise for reconciliation and closure. If only it hadn't already been done, I could've submitted the story line... although recycling previous ideas hasn't stopped them yet!


And now the conjecture begins again in earnest! Who's next? Which actress, or actor, will take Billie Piper's place aboard the TARDIS? I'm not a believer but, God forbid, it should be Rose's Mum!!! I was very impressed with the actress who played Scooti Manista in the first half-hour of "The Impossible Planet". She would be my choice. MyAnna Buring showed great courage and commitment, considering the short screen time, in shooting underwater, in the tank at Pinewood, for her death scene floating through space towards the black hole. She has an interesting voice, slightly nasal-sounding, a little like Emily Corrie's from "As If". And it isn't unheard of to cast someone who has previously appeared as a guest in the series in one of the major roles. Colin Baker and Lalla Ward immediately spring to mind to long-term fans but, more recently, Eve Myles, from "The Unquiet Dead", has been cast in a new role in "Torchwood" alongside John Barrowman (reprising his part from "Doctor Who" as Captain Jack). No doubt Rose's replacement has already been cast but I would prefer an actress who hasn't already been a pop star. I wonder who will be David Tennant's new companion?

The Voice of the Woolf

"Doctor Who" has always been at its best when veering more towards horror than science fiction and although both "The Impossible Planet", and its conclusion "The Satan Pit", are dressed in sf iconography this two-parter is ultimately a tale of terror. It may be set on a planet improbably orbiting a black hole, which could well be read as a metaphor for the irrationality of any religious belief system, in that trust in a supernatural being is fundamentally empty for not being grounded in the laws of physics, but this was a story dealing with the impulses that steer human beings away from the light and into the dark. The steel cable in the lift shaft snaps because the Beast in the pit doesn't want the Doctor's voice of logical scientific reasoning to be heard above its putting the fear of God into the personnel of Sanctuary Base 6.

And, in the Beast, what a voice to be tempted by! Gabriel Woolf makes a remarkable return to "Doctor Who", after an absence of 31 years, having last appeared as Sutekh the Destroyer in the fourth Doctor story "Pyramids of Mars". It is particularly striking in the closing stages of "The Satan Pit" when acting-Captain Zack, Danny boy and Rosebud are fleeing certain death, confined together in a spaceship, as a fire-breathing Toby reveals himself to be still possessed. I suspect that children would've found this more frightening than the superbly realised computer-generated monster itself. On this level, this story is pure Boys' Own stuff. The rocket taking off is straight out of one of those annuals you get for Christmas and, as a result, makes episodes eight and nine oodles more like old "Doctor Who" than anything that has gone before!!

Ode to the Ood

After reading previews where the Ood were constantly referred to as vile-looking, I was hoping the Doctor would turn to one of them and say, "You're beautiful, you are" but, unfortunately, he didn't; though, I'm sure Sil would've found their visage pleasing enough! At least they weren't wearing as much eyeliner as Billie Piper!! Here was an opportunity to explore further, definitions of beauty which "Doctor Who" has been flirting with all season; the Doctor recognising it frequently, where others may not. It's easy to say something is ugly without really looking at it properly and, actually, the Ood were quite charming and courteous, until they became possessed, possessed by the devil...

The stranding of the TARDIS crew was handled better in the latest episode, "The Impossible Planet", than it was in "Rise of the Cybermen". Where, in the Cybermen story, the ship's "death" was almost immediately resolved, literally with a glimmer of light, here the craft is lost, following a quake, without any possible means of even future retrieval open to our heroes. The Doctor and Rose look a little out of place on Sanctuary Station, even before they meet the crew, not having made any effort to blend in, as they so often do on their sojourns to the past. It was suggested their arrival was random, however, instead of the recent trend to (usually) choose their destination but I did find myself wishing John Hurt was playing the Doctor for this story!

Instantly assigning the Doctor to laundry duties brought about a wry smile, though, fair dues, he did actually change into a James Bond number for the aforementioned Cyber-outing! Comedy in new "Who", nevertheless, is a mixed bag. The mickey taking, pardon the pun, at the start of "Rise" left a bad taste-in-the-mouth making this viewer feel the Doctor and Rose to be more heartless than any Cyberman. "The Impossible Planet" included a real hackneyed old joke, when the Doctor, preparing for his descent into the bowels of the planet, said to Rose, "See you later", to which she so obviously replied, "Not if I see you first", which I thought the script could've done without. I wonder if the Doctor retained his pinstripe under the spacesuit?!!

I would love a story in which the Doctor and Rose don't actually mention Jackie at all. Also, Rose seems to be getting through an awful lot of mobile phones. Is this what she brought on board in her rucksack/backpack at the start of "New Earth", a supply of cellphones, to hand out to her various boyfriends or throw away when the mood takes, and her make-up bag?!! On the whole, the episode was tautly written, seriously acted and directed, and I can see fandom taking this story to its bosom. Just one more quibble! Did they have to kill off Scooti quite so soon? They did it last year with Suki, though Lynda, with a y, lasted a little longer. Why do I always fall for the minor, doomed, characters? I never got the chance to say, "You're beautiful, you are"!!!