Cover Versions

With David Tennant and Freema Agyeman adorning the latest front cover of the “Doctor Who Magazine”, Issue 374, in which you can win a talking K9 no less, I got to thinking about the covers and asked myself when was the last time they printed a full cover image relating to the original series? I discovered that since the magazine, published every four weeks, proudly announced “We’ve Regenerated!” on the front of Issue 352, and dispensed with the staple binding and adopted the new series logo, the answer is never. They got close with Issue 369 which heralded a “Blast from the Past”, and pictured Elisabeth Sladen as erstwhile companion Sarah Jane Smith with the aforementioned doggy, but this was simply to promote latest episode “School Reunion” and thus nothing to do with the original series.

I discounted images of the TARDIS, as seen on Issues 353 and 350, as these are generic and pertain to all eras of the programme. Dalek and Cybermen covers have been specific to the new series such as the gold Dalek featured on the cover of Issue 356, the Emperor on 358, and, more recently on Issue 370, the newly designed Cyberman, followed, on Issue 372, by the newly designed black Dalek. I want to know why there have been no pictures of Jon Pertwee or Tom Baker, for example? Is the magazine, consciously, only wanting to promote itself to those only mostly interested in RTD’s version of the programme, happy to lose those who have remained faithful to the publication while the show was off air? Or, are they hoping to draw fans of the new to the periodical and get them interested in classic “Who” through the articles within?

I do think the occasional cover harking back to the good old days wouldn’t go amiss. Would it really hurt sales that much to remind everyone that the series has a long and very fruitful history? I had to travel back in time almost two years to find a cover featuring something pre new series! Paul McGann and Daphne Ashbrook reunited eight years on from the TV movie, in Issue 351, published on 9 December 2004, to share their recollections with each other and the readership. This still, strictly speaking, isn’t classic “Doctor Who” I hear you cry! OK, then. Travelling back another couple of months to 14 October 2004, and Issue 349, Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant are on the front, promoting a major feature on the radio adventures of the Doctor and his associates. And, those still not happy that even this doesn’t refer to the television series, as seen on BBC1 between 23 November 1963 and 6 December 1989, then there are many covers to choose from prior to this one! I chose it because it’s the last front cover of a regular issue of “Doctor Who Magazine”, to date, to feature an actor who portrayed one of the first seven Doctors. Maybe it’s time for another McGann cover, this time with Sheridan Smith, but with the same headline as the Colin Baker issue, “Radio Activity!”.

Miller’s Tales!

Just for a brief moment last week, I actually found myself feeling excited again on hearing news pertaining to the “Doctor Who” universe. It was the announcement of eight brand new audio episodes, a season if you will, featuring the return of Eighth Doctor Paul McGann to BBC7, from New Year’s Eve, in a run of six stories. Produced by Big Finish, they have adopted the double length episode format of the recent TV revival and the mix of two part and single episode stories, so beloved across the Atlantic, that we have embraced here in order to conform and thus compete in the marketplace. The two two-parters open and close the season, the first featuring the Daleks, the latter the Cybermen.

It’s interesting to mull over the story titles. My favourite has to be Paul Magrs “Horror of Glam Rock”! Nice play on “Fang Rock” and certainly brought a smile to my face. I wonder if it’s about Gary Glitter? Anyway, that one follows the opening story “Blood of the Daleks” by Steve Lyons. Two stories (three episodes) have been written by Eddie Robson, the closing Cybermen tale “Human Resources” and “Phobos”, fourth in the sequence, presumably set on, or about, the larger and closest of the two satellites orbiting the planet Mars. The title of the preceding story, “Immortal Beloved” by Jonathan Clements, is intriguing. This was also the name of a film about a letter written by Beethoven to an unknown lover, starring Gary Oldman. So, I’m wondering if my wish, mentioned a couple of posts ago, that the Doctor should encounter a famous composer, is about to come true?! The penultimate story of the second McGann radio season of “Doctor Who” is “No More Lies” by Paul Sutton. I wonder if he’s related to Sarah?!!

As well as an impressive guest cast, joining the Doctor on this two-month aural extravaganza, just after Christmas, is new companion Lucie Miller. After two days of auditions, Sheridan Smith was chosen to replace India Fisher’s outgoing companion Charley Pollard from last year’s debut season. Following Doctor John Smith, Sarah Jane Smith, and Mickey Smith, does this mean we’ll finally have a real Smith aboard the TARDIS? Sheridan will be a familiar face to anyone who has ever switched on BBC THREE! She has played the part of Janet for well over fifty episodes in six seasons of sitcom “Two Pints of Lager & a Packet of Crisps” and, more recently, led the cast of similar sitcom “Grownups”, as Michelle, from the same writer and production team. I’m nothing, if not curious, as to how this pairing will turn out!

All Spooked Out!

“Spooks” returns next weekend, on BBC ONE, to begin its fifth season with the now traditional opening two-part story. Currently enjoying reruns of last year’s season on BBC THREE, now halfway through, and with the box set of the same season available from last Monday, September is definitely a good time to be a fan of this high octane spy drama. If you’ve never seen it, it’s a grown up version of the much underestimated 90s’ action adventure series “Bugs”. And neither that show nor this one would have existed without seminal 60s’ series “The Avengers”. That’s the lineage sorted!

“Spooks” went through a bit of a dull patch during its third season when it lost its three leading characters, Tom Quinn (Matthew Macfadyen), Zoe Reynolds (Keeley Hawes) and Danny Hunter (David Oyelowo). But the production team seemed to start over with season four, despite opening with Danny’s funeral, in an excellent two-parter, “The Special”, that timely dealt with a terrorist bombing campaign in central London and featured a spunky performance from guest star Martine McCutcheon as Tash. She demonstrated such balls that, at the end of the story, I was disappointed she didn’t become a series regular.

All was not lost though as by the end of episode five of season four, an equally adroit heroine, Jo Portman (Miranda Raison), was invited to join the “Spooks” team by new leading man Adam Carter (Rupert Penry-Jones). I love her introductory story, “The Book”, despite the plot holes and having to suspend disbelief over the number of coincidences, simply because the whole thing is carried off with such panache. Curiosity having got the better of her in following Adam, Jo shows great presence of mind when setting off car alarms to alert our agents to the proximity of assassins about to enter an MI5 safe house and, again, in dumping her mobile phone in the assailants’ getaway car in order that they may be traced. Beauty and intelligence are a winning combination.

Playing Devil’s Advocate!

The “Doctor Who” production team, having completed filming on the second Christmas special, “The Runaway Bride”, originally scheduled to be the second episode of the second season, is now busy recording material for season three. David Tennant and Freema Agyeman, as new companion Martha Jones, are on location in Coventry, doubling as Tudor London, for an episode in which they meet Shakespeare. I’m all for promoting the heritage of a once Great Britain but why does the Time Lord have to meet another author quite so soon after meeting Dickens? Yes I know there’s a difference in that dear old Bill was a playwright, whom the Doctor has already met incidentally, and Charlie boy a novelist but couldn’t RTD have gone a bit further afield and chosen a scientist or a musician?

I would find it interesting, for example, if the Doctor were to encounter Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Bringing him forward in time, to the present day, the Austrian might ponder over the evolution of the composition of his age into the modern music written by luminaries such as Hungarian born Gyorgy Ligeti, and you’ve probably all heard his scores in the Stanley Kubrick films “2001: A Space Odyssey” and “The Shining”, or the relatively-recently deceased Polish composer Witold Lutoslawski. Or Sir Peter Maxwell Davies if you want someone closer to home. Too intellectual for BBC1! If it happened we’d no doubt be treated to Mozza’s thoughts on Robbie or Britney!! Now, Beethoven and John Lydon would probably get along!!!

Knowing the Doctor’s predilection for meeting famous figures, surely the ultimate storyline would be if the Doctor were to “rescue” Jesus from the kiss of Judas in the Garden of Gethsemane. The TARDIS could again bring him forward in time to meet Richard Dawkins, for a bit of a chat, on one of Melvyn Bragg’s Sunday night religious discussion programmes! Too controversial for BBC1!! Actually, I’ve had the first part of that scenario in mind since I was a boy. I even started to write it at one stage…

The point I’m making is that there doesn’t seem to be much imagination coming out of BBC Wales for the third series. “Doctor Who” is an adventure so get adventurous! It all sounds as though RTD is resting on his laurels and content to dish up more of the same. Maybe “Doctor Who” has always been thus and I’m finally growing out of it. And yet, many older stories still excite me. Maybe, and in my bones I know this is a big maybe, but maybe Russell will surprise his doubters and come up with a terrific script involving England’s greatest writer. And even if the Bard himself might enjoy them, that means absolutely no infantile fart gags because they quite simply stink! What it does mean is more dialogue like Jefferson’s extremely moving monologue after the death of Scooti, in “The Impossible Planet”, or subtle touches like those remembered by acting-Captain Zack as “deceased with honour”, before our favourite science fiction programme dies in dishonour.