Telly Visions: Ruth Wilson

It seems a little ironic that, a few years ago, Ruth Wilson made her name playing plain “Jane Eyre” when she is clearly one of the best-looking actresses working in television today! It’s the long red hair, searing eyes, and that thing she does with her lips that make her so striking. More than a regular femme fatale!! However, with the use of theatrical cosmetics, and unflattering costumes, an actor can be made to appear dowdy where, in the everyday world, makeup would be applied to enhance one’s appearance. It seems a shame to go out of the way to make a beautiful girl look less pretty. Jane Eyre, the character, is renowned for her inner beauty but television, being mainly a visual medium, has to express this loveliness outwardly so Ruth Wilson seems perfectly cast.

I discovered recently that Ruth and I have a number of things in common. Before her breakthrough role, she read history at Nottingham University. This is the same establishment of further education I attended, though my subject was music. Whilst there she participated in amateur dramatics, as some of us do with a theatrical inclination! If we ever cross paths at least we’ll have something to talk about!! She was born in the same month as me so we’re both Capricorns. And, she’s also a big fan of American soap-cum-murder-mystery “Twin Peaks”. That revelation may go some of the way to explain why she took one of her most recent roles…

Ruth Wilson is currently appearing in two television series. On ITV1 she is 313, appearing alongside Sir Ian McKellen in the six-part remake of the 1967 cult classic “The Prisoner”. She says she took the part because of similarities to David Lynch’s earlier surreal television series “Twin Peaks”. In last Saturday’s episode, “Schizoid”, Bill Gallagher, screenwriter of the new version of “The Prisoner”, even went so far as to quote “Twin Peaks” delight of food stuffs. Perhaps it was that which made Ruth think of her childhood favourite. I’m not sure how well the new series works. It quotes the original’s catchphrases in abundance but is colder and less colourful. The interiors of Number Two’s residence, for example, are shot in a manner similar to “Blade Runner”. It may all be going on in his wife’s medicated mind but Sir Ian assures us that, unlike the end of the original series, everything will be explained in this week’s final episode.

On BBC One Ruth is playing Alice Morgan, a psychopathic genius who has murdered her parents, in the six-part classy crime thriller “Luther”. Detective John Luther is played by Idris Elba while a whole host of famous names pop up throughout the run. Eighth “Doctor Who” Paul McGann comes to blows with the lead in the first episode while Third Doctor Jon Pertwee’s son Sean battles the police from within his prison cell in the following instalment. You may recognise Suzie (“Torchwood”) Costello actress Indira Varma as Luther’s wife with whom McGann’s character is having an affair. There’s a marvellously stylish moment, near the end of part one, where Luther is holding Alice over a bridge and she invites him to “kiss me, kill me”! He should’ve reluctantly unhanded Ruth at that moment and said “be seeing you”!!

Time Lord Pensioned Off

Happy 65th, Sylvester! Today (August 20th, 2008), Seventh Doctor Sylvester McCoy turns sixty-five and becomes a pensioner!! He played the Time Lord for forty-two episodes, over three seasons, between 1987 and 1989. Each of his series consisted of four three-or-four part stories divided between fourteen episodes making a total of twelve “Doctor Who” adventures in total. Sylvester reprised the role, quite substantially in 1996, in the first third of the American TV movie before handing over the mantle to Eighth Doctor Paul McGann. Bonnie Langford played companion Mel during Sylvester’s first year while Sophie Aldred joined during “Dragonfire” and stayed for the duration under the moniker “Ace”! His stories are a mixed bag but, then, that’s the case for every era of the programme. Percentage wise, the actor does pretty well in the classic stakes! I would claim that, of McCoy’s dozen tales, a third of them should be regarded as “Doctor Who” classics. Best of all is “The Curse of Fenric”, a story steeped in Norse mythology set during the Second World War. “Ghost Light” some fans find overly complex but is a lovely little thesis, disguised as costume drama, supporting the ideology of Richard Dawkins who, recently, made a brief cameo in the new version of the series. “The Greatest Show in the Galaxy” is set in a circus, partly filmed in the BBC car park and all the better for it, again inspired by Norse myth, while “Remembrance of the Daleks” opened Sylvester’s Second Season and, following a couple of shaky years, bred new life into the show.

Of the other eight titles, most are worthwhile. From Sylvester’s debut season, I’m quite partial to “Paradise Towers” and “Delta and the Bannermen”. The former is written by Stephen Wyatt who the following year went on to write “The Greatest Show in the Galaxy” and whom I consider the most imaginative of the writers of this period of the programme. “Paradise Towers” isn’t to everyone’s taste but at least the domestic element, involving older “Rezzies” (residents) feeding off the youthful female “Kangs” (colour-coded gangs), integrates better into the narrative than any of today’s offerings! “Delta and the Bannermen” is just great fun and anyone who isn’t carried along with this holiday-camp nonsense probably has no joie de vivre! “Silver Nemesis” was the 25th Anniversary story, essentially a reworking of “Remembrance of the Daleks” but with Cybermen. It did include some gritty battle sequences to contrast the humour of the good Doctor showing his usual politeness (in raising his hat) towards the present monarch whilst walking her corgis! My favourite director of the period was Alan Wareing. He was as tough as Graeme Harper, from earlier in the decade, but shied away from showing as much violence on screen. Alan helmed “The Greatest Show in the Galaxy”, which went out as the climax of Sylvester’s Second Season, as well as “Ghost Light” and the Seventh Doctor’s ironically titled swansong “Survival” which reintroduced a much-reinvigorated Master and concluded the era and classic “Doctor Who” on a high.

Hug a Whoodie!

“Blood of the Daleks”, the opening two-part story of the new BBC7 eight-episode radio season of “Doctor Who”, begins a lot like “The Runaway Bride”. As Catherine Tate’s Donna in the television special, so too new companion Lucie Miller, played with such spark by “Two Pints” actress Sheridan Smith, when she finds herself foisted upon the Doctor. She’d rather be anywhere than on board the TARDIS with this “frock-coated ponce”! The similarity continues up to the point where the Doctor immediately tries to return his unwanted guest back from whence she came!! But that’s about all these two adventures have in common. “Blood” feels like good old-fashioned “Doctor Who”, despite being audio only and in the double-length format. It also boasts a traditional cliff-hanger, at the end of episode one, with Paul McGann’s passionate eighth Doctor in peril of extermination. The story has been likened to “Genesis of the Daleks” in that we witness the birth of a new breed of Daleks, here from the remnants of a crashed Dalek spaceship, at the hands of a wannabe Davros. But, I think “Blood of the Daleks” owes more to “Revelation of the Daleks” with its warring Dalek factions, farming of humans, and incubation chambers. Even the incidental music reminds me of the Colin Baker serial.

I love it! Steve Lyons script is happy to draw on the best of all worlds, name checking the Mechonoids, from “The Planet of Decision”, the last episode of “The Chase”, as well as the Movellans, from “Destiny of the Daleks”, but avoiding the mention of Davros actually by name though referencing new series’ episode “Dalek” at the moment of flight. There’s even a nod to “The Dalek Invasion of Earth” with Kenneth Cranham’s character Tom Cardwell’s explosive batteries reminiscent of Dortmun’s homemade bombs in the Hartnell serial. The second episode is bursting at the seams with all manner of Dalek voices. Nick Briggs is in his element when barking “Dok-tor” at regular intervals and “E-le-vate” at the requisite moment. When the Skaro originals turn up and start ranting about ethnic cleansing, again reminding me of Davros in “Revelation”, these monsters scare the hell out of me. All they did on telly last year was pop up for a bit-of-a-bitch with the Cybermen, fly a bit, and then disappear down the proverbial plughole! And well before the end of the story. Here they are still going strong right up to the climax, leading into the first single-episode story “Horror of Glam Rock”, bizarrely featuring a race called the Only Ones (name of a Seventies’ punk band!), which sounds equally intriguing…

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!

Sooner than expected - The Doctor is back!

A new series of "Doctor Who" has just begun on BBC7! While we patiently wait for the next batch of TV episodes, four four-part Big Finish audio dramas have just started airing. These stories are already available to buy on CD but are being broadcast for the first time. So, if you don't own the discs, these sixteen episodes represent new material!! The season stars Paul McGann as the Doctor. Choosing his stories, instead of going with the audio adventures of the actors more familiar to us in the role, is an interesting move as it places the possibly-forgotten eighth Doctor centre stage.

Paul was terrific as the Doctor in the 1996 TV movie and it is a shame that a series with him in the title role didn't follow. The all-important ratings were excellent in this country beating, incidentally, all but the first episode of the recent revival with Chris Eccleston. In the States, however, this pilot film didn't fare so well and that was where the co-funding came from. British actor, British writer, British director, American money!

The failure can't be blamed entirely on US involvement. There were a lot of problems with the script. Seventh Doctor Sylvester McCoy said he had a lot of fun making it in Chicago but that he shouldn't have been in it! What he meant was that changing leads 25 minutes into the movie was a mistake. They should've started out with Paul and avoided changing the face of the hero. Introducing a new audience to the concept of regeneration so soon meant the wait for a new series was extended another nine years!!

Those of us who warmed to Paul's performance back in 1996, as well as new fans of "Doctor Who", now have the opportunity to see how the eighth Doctor develops. He is joined on his travels by Charlotte 'Charley' E. Pollard, a 1930s society girl played by India Fisher. In the first four-part story, "Storm Warning" by Alan Barnes, Charley sneaks on board the doomed airship the R101 with the intention of meeting a young American trader in Singapore on New Year's Eve but bumps into the eighth Doctor instead...

The second story, "Sword of Orion" by Nicholas Briggs, finds the travellers up against old adversaries the Cybermen while in the third, "The Stones of Venice" by Paul Magrs, the pair find themselves in a sinking city. In the final adventure, "Invaders from Mars" by Mark Gatiss, writer of the recent Dickens episode, they meet film director Orson Welles at the time of his radio production of "War of the Worlds". Simon Pegg from "The Long Game" co-stars in this story. Listen out for a great joke during the season finale when the Doctor meets a character called Bix Biro and asks him if it's a pen name!!!