Reviews, rantings and ravings! (Mostly about 'Doctor Who', but not always). Home of the 'Chronological Hysteresis' series.
I must confess. Having grown up during the burgeoning area of home video, I never actually read a Target novelisation of ‘Who’ in my adolescence. Sure they were there on the periphery of my ever evolving fandom, but even in a literary household such as mine, novelisations of something you already had on VHS seemed …
Continue reading Here We Go…Again!: ‘Doctor Who in An Exciting Adventures with the Daleks’
Did you miss me? No? Carrying on…. A ‘Doctor Who’ comic strip was inevitable. The Daleks, themselves, were blossoming onto all formats onscreen and off, the Doctor and the ultimate storytelling device that was his TARDIS were sure to follow suit. Make no mistake; this was an extraordinary opportunity for the show. Not many shows …
Matt Dale pulled up his sleeves and found out the secret life of the one man who's been keeping the Whoniverse together, one bit role at a time. Little seems known about the enigma that is the character of Reg Cranfield. Known mostly for walking past a junkyard in the opening moments of Doctor …
Our fearless reporter Stephen Webb investigates the things that go bump in the night and could quite possibly rot your teeth. Enjoy this very special 'Pull to Open' essay in the last part of our 'Science Fiction Double Feature'... He lurks not only in underground urban kitchens, but also behind the bushes right outside of …
The first 'Pull to Open' for tonight's 'Science Fiction Double Feature' is a Stone(y) cold classic of a villain and the essay by Steve Hatcher isn't too bad either! Enjoy! Of course it’s ridiculous, isn’t it? Who can really imagine a situation in which a powerful and immensely rich business mogul, whose character traits include …
Continue reading Making International Electromatics Great Again!: The Tobias Vaughn Story
Kicking off our month of 'Pull to Open' essays on some of 'Doctor Who's baddest (and best) villains is Don Klees' look at Davros throughout the show's history onscreen and off. Enjoy! As the Doctor once observed (with a bit of help from writer Ben Aaronovitch), "You can always judge a man by the quality …
Continue reading The Funhouse Reflection of a Good Man: Davros
Remember candy cigarettes? Now they’re as dead as Dodos, disco and Jimmy Saville reruns of ‘Top of the Pops’, but in the 60s and 70s they were as commonplace as lollipops. Hell, even the Daleks sold them! In mid-1964 Cavenham Confectionery marketed a brand of their sweet cigarettes with ‘Doctor Who’. The product, originally titled …
Continue reading Light ‘Em If You Got ‘Em: The Sweet Cadet Cigarette Cards
Suitably for a leftover story from Season One’s production block, ‘Planet of Giants’ is one last outing for the dynamics of that season’s core team, though not without some interesting developments. The Doctor and Ian end up in a rather complex emotional triangle with Barbara, but unlike Sir Phillip of Sandifer, I don’t think it’s …
Oh, season one! Where do I begin? Everyone’s so fresh faced and eager and it’s all so elegantly brilliant…and simple. The Doctor and crew are just at the very beginning of one extraordinary long journey. Ian and Barbara are no closer to their time period on Earth, Susan has yet to properly gain her agency …
'The Reign of Terror' doesn't get a clean bill of health.
The Casual Nexus 