Deep Space Nine - The Esssentials (pat 1)

DS9 is by far and away the greatest of the Trek shows and that includes the classic series. The main reasons for this are firstly its brilliant characters and secondly its epic scope. Before looking at the essential episodes of the series itself, some context is important.

The original series was of course seminal and very little needs to be said about it. But fundamentally many of the episodes are dated now, some badly. In addition to this most of the best episodes come from the first season. Indeed the classic series owes as much to the films as the original TV run in terms of public consciousness. It is also fair to say that the classic series was a show about the Kirk/Spock/McCoy triumvirate. I think even the most casual fan of the classic series could talk in depth about each of those characters and the way they relate to each other. The same cannot be said for the likes of Scotty, Sulu, Uhura and Chekov. Indeed I can think of little to say about any of them and equally know very little about who those characters really are. This was not a problem though because everything about the classic series was, at the time, revolutionary for TV Sci-Fi (and TV in general) and the show and the characters are rightfully iconic as a result.

The Next Generation was successful in becoming a variation on a theme of the classic show. But again, aside from Picard, Worf and Data, there is very little to be said about the other characters. As with the classic series there are a good number of excellent, literate, episodes.

The classic series and the Next Generation were about exploration. The drama came from what the characters found and how they reacted to those findings. The Next Generation in particular relied on this; Roddenberry's vision of the future being such that it excluded the notion of internal conflict between the crew in all but exceptional cases. Similarly the exploration based format meant that the characters rarely deal with the consequences of the choices and actions in any given episode. Whilst the style and tones of the episodes are very different, the characters in Encounter at Far Point are hardly any different from those in All Good Things. Riker and Troi started and ended the show as an unresolved question mark, ditto Picard and Crusher. Similarly I am not sure that I could tell you anything more about Geordi after All Good Things that I could not already have told you by the end of Encounter at Far Point.

To some extent this is of course unimportant. The Next Generation characters achieved a status comparable to the classic series characters in the USA. The shows is a successful SF anthology series and there is nothing actually wrong with that but equally there is nothing particularly ambitious about it either.

DS9 was always going to be a different animal. The show was never going to be about exploration, simply because it initially ran in tandem with the last two years of The Next Generation and later in tandem with Voyagers earlier years. Thus the show would either have been about a space station or a colony world. The producers realised a colony show would be too expensive and thus the space station idea was the remaining option. This naturally meant that the show had to be about something other than exploration and thus the characters of the show become the driving force. DS9 had the best range of characters in the entire Star Trek franchise. Indeed very few TV shows at all can lay claim to a better assortment of characters. Aside from the core crew (Captain Sisko, Major Kira, Lt. Dax, Lt. Bashir, Constable Odo, Quark and Chief O Brien in the initial series) the show also had more than 20 recurring characters. Almost all of whom were multi-faceted and constantly growing and evolving. I could say more about some of the shows guest star characters than I could about a Sulu or a Troi. Similarly the core crew were all changed as a result of the experiences through the show.

In some ways the show fell victim to its own publicity. Too much emphasis was placed on the fact that it was set on a station and darker and grittier than TNG. This lead to a perceptions that the show was static and miserable. In reality the show has more humour than any other Trek show and there was plenty of travel too. But there was also the additional factor of seeing the crew build lives for themselves and deal with the consequences of their actions.

The show also fell victim to the misconceptions of the general Sci-Fi fanbase too. Firstly the ongoing Babylon 5 – DS9 feud which I am not even going to bother to address here (being a fan of both) and secondly those in the Trek fanbase who felt the show was a betrayal of Roddenberry's vision for the future.

Lately it seems the tide is turning, at least in the UK, with DS9 recently turning up in a list of the best 50 shows ever and a wholesale re-evaluation of the show in UK genre magazines around the time of seasons 5 and 6.

As with Buffy the show can be neatly split into two eras and coincidentally the split in DS9 is also between seasons 1-3 and seasons 4-7. With Buffy this occurred because of a conceptual change in the show. With DS9 it essentially reflects the Michael Piller era of the show and the Ira Steven Behr era of the show. It also reflects a shift in tone as everything in season 4 onwards is filmed with more energy and flair to it than the more reflective style of seasons 1 to 3.


SEASON ONE

1) Emissary. The pilot episode of the show introducing the core cast and several important recurring characters (in particular that bastard Dukat). Easily the best Trek pilot show. Each of the characters gets a chance to shine and they are all true to themselves in as much as none of them require a radical reworking by the writers (contrast with Troi, Riker and Spock). The political backdrop for show is established and whilst it lacks the pace of a modern day pilot, it does not drag either. It is also rich in ideas, some of which would go continue to fuel the series to its very end. It also sets the tone for the rest of the season with the Federation crew and the Bajoran nationals beginning the process of learning about each other and working together on the frontier. Quark and Odo begin a glorious seven year double act that is the equal of Bones and Spock. Sisko and Dax re-acquaint themselves with each other (sidebar: Dax totally proves the notion a female Doctor Who being able to work fine), we see the first proper family relationship on Trek (Sisko and Jake) the beginnings of DS9 being the first trek to properly explore faith and religion. The beginning of Sisko v Dukat (Think Kirk v Kahn only over 7 years). DS9 would go onto better this epsiode numerous times, but by the same token all of those episodes were built on the stong and wonderful foundations of this one.


2) The Nagus. OK, so a little backstory is required here. Quark is a Ferengi. The Ferengi were intrroduced on The Next Generation and were intended to be that shows equivalent of the Klingons. To say that they did not work, would be an understatement. They were unintentionally hilarious and almost entirely non-threatening (or in the words of Kira “Greedy, mysoginistic, little trolls”). However, the idea or a race motivated purely by greed/profit was a good one, particularly when played against the communist utopia of the Federation. Thus the Ferengi were rehabilitated into a satirical swipe at modern day humanity. Of all the races in Star Trek they are the ones most like modern day humanity. Consequentially the Ferengi are also the funniest species in star trek and The Nagus is the beginning of a DS9 tradition of using the Ferengi as the basis for comedy episodes.

The Nagus himself (brilliantly played by Wallace Shawn) is the elderly Godfather figure of the Ferengi race, the richest of the rich. This episode deals with his plan to appoint a successor, Quarks appointment as his successor and the ensuing attempts on Quarks life.
The Ferengi episodes tend to divide the fanbase. There are those that adore them and then there are those who are wrong. Either way this episode must be watched, if only to hear Wallace Shawn's laughing, his “And You failed! MISERABLY!” and his “Its like talking to a Klingon!”.

3) Duet. Simply put an astonishingly good episode. Kira deals with a Cardassian who arrives on the station and is revealed to be a suspected war criminal responsible for genocidal acts against Kira's peaple (the Bajorans). Harris Yulin is superb as Aamin Marritza, the suspect, being utterly believable with each twist and turn in the plot until the ultimate truth is revealed. Nana Visitor is only a step behind as Kira. The script sings and the whole thing is so simply you could put it on the stage tomorrow. Not only one of the best episodes of Trek, not merely one of the best episodes of Sci-Fi ever made, but one of the most electrify episodes of television ever made. You owe it to yourself to watch this one.

4) In the Hands of the Prophets. Another great episode and the finale of season 1. Not in the league of Duet, but then very few episodes of any TV show are. This one brings the relationship between the Federation and the Bajorans into the fore and also deals with the always interesting “faith” v “science” argument. More to the point it also introduces Vedek Winn, one of the series main antagonists. Louise Fletcher is brilliant in the part making the character easily and immensely HATEABLE whilst still maintaining a certain sympathy too. Although the episode features a rather large explosion, it is not explosive in the way that TNG finales tended to be. Rather it is a neat little epilogue to the season of stories that preceded it, a point of reflection laying the groundwork for the following season.


Honourable Mentions: Captive Pursuit (A solid O Brien episode), Dax, Vortex (a good Odo episode which hints at the nature of his people), The Foresaken (another good Odo episode).


SEASON TWO


1) Necessary Evil. DS9 goes first person film noir. A Kira/Odo/Dukat story told by Odo and showing the station under Cardassian rule, Odo's appointment as security officer and Kira and Odo's first meeting. An excellent moody detective story. There are also the first hints of the direction of Rom's character (again compare the development of Rom over 7 years with Troi or Geordi in TBG).

2) Whispers. Another great little O Brien episode laced with paranoia and, as with Necessary Evil, very much a first person story. The twist at the end is fantastic.

3) Profit and Loss. A love story for Quark and a very good one at that. Garak continues to surprise and delight in the one too. In terms of the overall arc the story of the dissident Cardassians would continue to evolve throughout the series with this show being the real starting point of that process.

4) Blood Oath. KLINGONS! Kang! Kor! and Koloth! A great action episode with real heart to it as well. This episode does as much to define the character of Dax as any other with her tom boy, rouge, quality coming to the fore for the first time (beyond her affection for the Ferengi). There always something good about a story of some old legends saddling up for one final time. That the legends in this case are genuine Star Trek legends helps the story even more.

5) and 6) The Maquis Parts 1 and 2. This one just makes the cut. The twist at the end of episode 1 is a little to obvious, but the rest of the story is excellent. Classic DS9 with shades of grey abounding. The Maquis would go on to be relevant to the series until season 6 (not to mention the Voyager show). In many ways its also the first time when Ira Steven Behr's take on trek becomes obvious with Sisko's “saints in paradise” speech about the nature of the utopian Federation. In many ways the entire run of DS9 is about that very issue as DS9 is very much about what the saints do when they are taken out of paradise (and for the most part I think they do themselves proud!). This story also encapsulates much of what DS9 was about in terms of the characters having to make difficult choices and deal with the consequences of those choices. Indeed the characters here are actually dealing with the consequences of the choices made in a TNG episode and its notable that DS9 was much better equipped to deal with following up a TNG episode that TNG would have been.

7) The Wire. A superb Garak/Bashir episode about DS9's “plain, simple tailor”. Again this is a classic example of DS9 doing a character story which in turn opens up a number of ongoing storylines. In this case the Obsidian Order become very relevant to the future of DS9. But as with Duet this is really about the relationship between two characters and the secrets of the past.

8) Tribunal. Another “torture O Brien” episode, this time literally as O Brien is forced to go on holiday with his wife Keiko! Ithangyow! Actually that is the start of the episode. What is is actually about it O Brien and Keiko being captured by the Cardassians and O Brien being put on trial. The Cardassians have a novel legal system with ALL prisoners being found guilty and sentenced prior to trial. Thus the trial is the very definition of a show trial. Colm Meaney is, as ever, superb and Avery Brooks direction is striking.

9) The Jem'Hadar. A really important episode this one and a good one too. This is effectively a prologue for season 3 as the show begins the Dominion Arc. The Dominion would go on to become the series main baddies and can be seen as being the Anti-Federation of the Gamma Quadrant. Rather than being a single race, they are a union of races under the control of The Founders. In general the Founders themselves are not seen and are instead represented by other races created or genetically modified by the Founders. This episodes introduces The Jem'Hadar and The Vorta. The former are The Dominion's army/enforcement species, the latter are the diplomats. Both species consider The Founders to be Gods (compare/contrast the Bajorans and the Prophets) and both species work together in carrot and stick fashion to recruit new species into The Dominion. To put it simply the Jem'Hadar will fuck you up big time as a warm up before destroying some Klingons for the main course. This episode gets most of this backstory across in an entertaining and explosive way as Starfleet has its shit comprehensively fucked up in a way not seen since The Best of Both Worlds.


Honourable Mentions: The Homecoming, The Circle and The Seige (3 part story opening season 2). Cardassians. Sanctuary, Crossover. The Collaborator.



SEASON 3



1 & 2) The Search Parts 1 and 2. Ladies and Gentleman I introduce to you: THE DEFIANT! Having had a bunch of fives Starfleet responds by giving Sisko the coolest Starship in the franchise (actually its a battleship). That would be reason enough to watch this one, but there is lots more on offer. The Founders are revealed for one in a very good little twist on a long running storyline set up in the pilot episode. Federation ethics are put under the spotlight as a policy of appeasement is implemented on DS9 (although there is a twist on this as well) and Sisko decides for the first time that the price of peace is too high.

3) Defiant. A terrific action episode with tons of good character interplay too (Kira and Thomas Riker, Sisko and Dukat once again being forced to work as an effective team) a secret is also revealed which would pay off later in the season.

4) Life Support. Another one that just gets onto the list. The B-Plot her about Jake and Nog really doesn't belong in the episode at all. But the A-Plot is great and important with loads of good Kira and Kai Winn stuff and Bariel sacrificing himself for the good of his people.

5 & 6) Improbable Cause and The Die is cast (parts 1 and 2). The high point of season 3 as The Founders score a significant win against two Alpha Quadrant powers. Garak renews his allegiance to the Obsidian Order, Odo reveals a secret to Garak (under torture!). There is a real and perceptible shift occurring here with the series taking its biggest single step from being a “story of the week” franchise to a serial and from DS9 being a modern day western to being a modern day war story.

7) Explorers. A quiet, calming story to recover from the previous double whammy. This is one that gained significance in later years. Essentially this is a standalone about Sisko deciding to try to build his own solar powered space craft to emulate the early Bajorans. However, looking back a lot was set up here. Sisko's relationship with Kassidy Yates, Sisko's growing acceptance of being The Emissary and his growing empathy with the Bajorans, their culture and history. Jake taking another step into adulthood. Also the interior of the ship is really, really cool!

8) Family Business. A Ferengi episode. More specifically and more importantly a Quark and Rom episode. The plot ostensibly concerns the actions of Quark's mother (she wears clothes and earns profit, both forbidden in Ferengi culture) and there is certainly some fun to be had in the satirical swipes at 20th Century western culture. But in reality the story is much more about the family relationships and estrangements. Rom gets his first chance to shine in a major way in standing up to Quark. Similarly Quark is once again shown to be a complex figure and not just comic relief.


Honourable Mentions: The House of Quark. Equilibrium. Second Skin. Fascination. Past Tense (parts 1 and 2). Shakar. Facets. The Adversary (season 3 finale).

Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Much has been written about Buffy The Vampire Slayer over the years and I doubt that I can find anything too new or original to say about the show. What I can do is to give my own personal overview of the show and why it is so brilliant. Buffy has never been short of critical praise, but that praise has always been somewhat guarded. There's a view that the show is a great show disguised as a mutant comic book, teen drama hybrid. This is almost correct. But the truth is that the show is actually a mutant comic book, teen drama hybrid that also happens to be one of the greatest TV shows ever made.

Much of this is due to Joss Whedon and the strength of his writing and the writing team he assembled to produce the show. The show itself has it all: great iconic characters, heart, imagination, wit, depth, a genuine mythos of its own and a willingness to subvert audience expectations at every turn. This ethos extends to the very title of the show; Whedon insisted on the faintly ridiculous title to be deliberately obtuse. The idea being that those who could not appreciate the deliberate joke of the title would exclude themselves from the joy of the show.

Broadly speaking the show can be split into two eras. Seasons one to three and seasons four to seven. The first era relates to Buffy's High School Years, the second deals with her life after High School. This post will deal with the first three seasons, I'll deal with seasons 4 to 7 some other time.

I could write pages about the show, but the real way for people to appreciate it is to watch it. As the title of this post suggests, what follows is a brief guide to the essential episodes of Buffy. Those stories that should be viewed because of their sheer quality and/or importance to the overall storylines of the show. That is not to say that the other episodes are dispensable or poor and it should be noted that a number of excellent and/or important episodes did not make the cut. Similarly even the most pedestrian episodes provide a context for the greater episodes and as such it should be realised that watching the whole series in order is the best way to get the most enjoyment and a full appreciation of those episodes that have made the cut. Spoilers are ahead, where possible I've tried to be non-specific though.



SEASON ONE

The first season is a truncated run of 12 episodes. The series was commissioned as a mid-season replacement for a failed show. Much of the season is concerned with establishing the characters and the overall tone of the show. What is impressive though is how the series hits the ground running with an exceptionally good pilot story and two genuinely classic episodes. What is also notable is how the feel of the show is consistent with later seasons. Certainly it lacks the depth and maturity of later years, but it does feel consistent with the other 6 seasons. Compare this with the feel of, for example, the development of Star Trek: The Next Generation or a more mainstream show like Seinfeld.

1) Welcome to the Hellmouth & The Harvest. This is where it all began, the very first story. It is essentially a two part pilot episode establishing the core characters (Buffy, Giles, Willow, Xander) for the entire 7 year run and the “Big Bad” for the season (The Master a vampire many centuries in age). Often you a pilot episode is a necessary evil for getting into a series, but this is a genuinely entertaining piece of TV in its own right.

2) Angel. Mid way through the series we get the first genuinely classic Buffy episode. I followed Buffy right from day one and had enjoyed it a lot. But up until this point I thought that it was a reasonable clever a witty bit of telefantasy which would soon run its course. I thought it was formulaic show which would quickly run out of ideas, but which at least had a certain Doctor Who like vibe to it. This is the episode that changed all of that. The revelation at the core of the episode turns the show on its head and immediately makes you realise that the writers were going to take risks and weren't going to run a formula into the ground. It also marks the beginning of the poetic Buffy/Angel relationship. Again, up until this point I thought that the show was simply going to string out the “will they wont the” storyline to which US dramas seem to be addicted. That wasn't to be the case, even more surprising was the fact that the Buffy/Angel relationship was always more interesting when they were together than when they were apart.

3) Prophecy Girl. Buffy's first season finale and a belter of an episode it is too. It is a measure of how brilliant the series became that this episode is something of a forgotten classic. Sarah Michelle Gellar gives an astonishingly good performance as the young Buffy facing up to the knowledge of her impending death and Anthony Stewart Head is similarly awesome as Giles struggling with his duties as a watcher and his paternal feelings towards Buffy. Again the show surprises by killing off the Big Bad leaving a big old question mark over what the future direction of the show.

Honourable Mentions: Nightmares.



SEASON 2

Season 2 is the point where Buffy changes from a cool and fresh bit of telefantasy to one of the best TV shows ever made. This is a season of revelations and whilst season one's Angel was a clear indication that the show would confound expectations; season 2 almost confounds any non-expectations the audience may have had. Season 1 had a clear focus on the characters of the Scooby Gang (that is to say Buffy, Giles, Willow, Xander and to a lesser extent Cordelia). Season 2 would take this to another level with constant exploration of the Scoobies. But this was also complimented by a stronger group of adversaries, all of whom also had strong characters (as opposed to the relatively functional bad guy of Season 1's Master).

1) School Hard. A watershed moment for the series as Spike and Dru hit the show becoming 2/3rds of the Big Bad. This is a classic case of the show delving into the characters of the bad guys as well as the Scoobies. Spike in particular makes an immediate impression and his relationship with Drusilla is immediately believable. Spike is also irreverent eschewing the stereotypical vampire traits in favour of pop culture, anarchy and punch ups! The writers have said that they initially saw Spike and Dru as being the Sid and Nancy of the show and this is as good a comparison as any. What is important is that the Baddies are as cool as the Scoobies, a feature lacking in season 1 but a feature which would become a hallmark of the show from this point onwards. This episode sees the seeds laid for the story arc of the following season, albeit in a fairly oblique way.

2) The Dark Age. This show is significant and surprising for the way in which it turns your expectations of one of the Scoobies on your head as their somewhat dubious past is dealt with. Just as School Hard was so important for giving us Multi-faceted villains, so The Dark Age starts the process of showing us the darker side/histories of the Scoobies.

3 & 4) What's My Line (part 1& 2). This one just sneaks in because of its importance to season 2. Once again this is an episode dealing with characters. It is also important for introducing the notion of a second slayer and the start of a new relationship between the Scoobies (which is both unlikely yet unsurprising if you were paying attention through the earlier episodes). It also features a baddy who is literally made of bugs which has got to be worth and hour and a half of anybody's time.

5 & 6) Surprise (part 1) & Innocence (part 2). Made of Awesome. No scratch that, made of totally fucking awesome. Another character gets a surprising past, Willow and Oz get closer, Buffy and Angel consummate their relationship and a regular character is revealed to be the last third of the seasons big bad trio. This was the point of no return. Up until this point the series could have gone into a safe little rut, but after this NOTHING would ever be the same. There effect of the character developments on the plot was such that there was no way to go back to monster of the week format. This is the show where the younger Scoobies take their first steps into adulthood and the point where the serialised nature of the show became an integral part of what people expected from Buffy.

7) Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered. I was toying with having this one under Honourable Mentions as it isn't particularly earth-shattering in terms of the Buffy Mythos or its importance to season 2. But it is very, very, funny and also very clever it also begins the process of making Xander a more centred and confident character. Marti Noxon would go on to be known as the series “angst writer” with Jane Epenson becoming the shows “comedy” writer. But back in season 2 Marti was still the funny one. The basic story is that Xander uses a spell to get Cordelia back after a break up. The spell backfires; Cordelia is immune to its effect whilst the rest of Sunnydale's female population find Xander irresistible. This somewhat clichéd idea fuels the entire episode with Marti Noxon piling on one great joke after another.

8) Passion. An incredible episode. Perfect in every way. One of the regulars is murdered by another regular and Giles goes apeshit as a result. Suddenly everything becomes very dark, very nasty and very dangerous. Visceral and disturbing just about covers it here.

9) Becoming (Part 1 & part 2). The season finale of season 2. This is damn good and damn clever. It is also epic and serves as a dry run for the ground that the Angel spin off would cover for 5 years. This story sees some classic moments. Buffy's mother finally being forced to see what her daughter is, the first moment in the humanisation of Spike, the death of a slayer (a permanent one!) and Buffy saving the day in an awesome moment of romantic tragedy. Buffy may have gone on to have stronger seasons and finales (season 5 being a personal favourite); but never again would the show be able to hit a cumulative peak of sheer brilliance of episodes, combined with such an array of crucial developments and revelations.

Honourable Mentions: When she was Bad, Halloween, Phases, I Only Have Eyes for You.



SEASON 3

Season 3 is, to my mind, one of consolidation. The season is more consistent than season 2 (no real bad episodes at all) but for my money it only occasionally hits the heights that season 2 often reached. Similarly there are nowhere near as many moments of revelation and surprise as season 2 provides. This is understandable given all that had already been revealed about the principle characters. Nevertheless the show maintained a high quality which is reflected in the sheer number of honourable mentions.

1) Faith, Hope and Trick. Actually something of a functional episode, but it qualifies on the basis of being an immensely important show for both Buffy and the eventual Angel Spin-off. This show introduces a recurring bad guy who would be relevant for the first half or season 3, but more importantly it introduces Faith. Faith is usually though of as The Other Slayer and as being a somewhat screwed up individual.

2) Band Candy. Utterly superb. If Passions is the Perfect Tragedy/Angst episode, then Band Candy is its mirror image. The perfect Comedy episode. As with Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered, this is a show which takes a somewhat clichéd idea and makes it all shiny and new. The basic idea is that the adult population of Sunnydale revert to their teenage years giving the wiggins to the Scoobies in the process. This one is almost endlessly quotable and full of great moments (Giles: Oooh Coppa's got a gun!, Giles: Hit him, Joyce pulling out the handcuffs, Snider's every line, Buffy stamping out Joyce's ciggie). However, as funny as it is, this episode reveals as much of the characters as many an angsty episode has done. Whilst Snider is no more likeable at the end of the episode, he is more understandable. You can see the life of loneliness and disappointment that he must have led. Similarly, whilst Giles is no less likeable, you get a real sense of how insufferable he would have been during the Ripper years and of his more dangerous side. An absolute classic of the first order.

3) Amends. Buffy's take on a Christmas Carol. A beautiful poignant episode which also lays more ground work for the Angel spin-off and sets up season 7 too. I love it when the snow falls.

4 & 5) Bad Girls & Consequences. The former episode culminates in Faith making a VERY bad mistake and the second deals with her reaction to this mistake (which is worse). Along the way there are some fantastic moments (Giles knowing Faith has lied to him), Faith's “I don't care” which has about a million levels of emotion behind it. There's also a good deal of The Mayor, who is frankly George Bush Jnr in all but name!

6) Enemies. Very much an arc episode, but a good one which is also a complete story in its own right. This one sees the Scoobies learn of the Mayor's plan. It also revives the always brilliant Buffy/Angel angst and sees Faith go ever further to the Dark Side. The ending is a little too clever and convenient though.

7) Choices. Another arc episode but one which is very important to the development of the characters of the show. The Buffy/Angel angst gets ramped up by the Mayor and the pieces are put in place for Season 4 and the season 3 finale. There's a distinct atmosphere of impending doom in this one and the finale set piece and stand off is incredibly tense.

8 & 9) Graduation Day (Part 1 & 2). And so we reach another season finale. This one doesn't quiet hit the high points of Becoming, but it runs it pretty close. Loads of great stuff, The stabbing, Angel draining Buffy's blood, Snider's demise, The Mayor's demise, Buffy leaving the Watcher's counsel and on and on it goes.

Honourable Mentions: Anne, Homecoming, Lovers Walk, The Wish, The Zeppo, Doppelgangland, Earshot, The Prom.

Jadzia Dax - RIP

Doesn't matter how often I see "Tears of the Prophets", that Bastard Dukat always gets her!

The Damned United - David Pearce

I've previously posted on my respect for Brian Clough and my loathing for Leeds United. I have been meaning to get around to reading this book since it was first released in 2006 and with the film coming out shortly I decided that the time had come to finally read it.

The books selling point is that it is a fictionalised account of Clough's tenure in charge of Leeds United. In actuality the book is far more than that and is effective a fictionalised account of Brian Clough's entire career up to leaving Leeds United.

The tale is told in two ways with the "present day" events of Clough at Leeds being intertwined with flashbacks to Cloughs career from the day he suffered a crunching tackle (which bar a few games ended his playing career) up to the point where he takes the Leeds job.

The "present day" sections are narrated from the perspective of Clough and told in the present tense. The "flashbacks" are narrated in the second person perspective and in the past tense; presumably again as though written by Clough (although they could also be from the perspective of Clough's arch enemy Don Revie).

I read the book in two sittings and it is a real page turner. By and large an understanding/appreciation of football is totally unnecessary as the story is a character study. That being said there is or course an extra enjoyment to be had from the book if you do have an appreciation for the game. In particular there are several moments when you find yourself grinning along to Clough's expressions of contempt for the dirty, cheating, Leeds team. Similarly the somewhat bleak end to the book, with Clough being ousted from the job, is offset by the knowledge that Clough was yet to achieve his greatest successes whilst the Leeds team was proven to be all washed up.

As a character study the story is successful, if not altogether accurate. The Clough of the book is a chain smoking, foul mouthed, vitriolic, nervous alcoholic. In real life Clough didn't smoke, he didn't swear anywhere near as much as the book would have it and the level of alcholism presented in the book simply isn't believable in the context of the time when the book was set (it may well have been accurate if set in the 80s). Similarly some of the examples of man management and team talks presented in the book are more Barry Fry than Brian Clough. Clough had much more tactical awareness than is portrayed, or even hinted at, in the book. As such there were occasions where I felt that what I was reading, although immensely entertaining, was a version of Clough built around common perception of the man, rather than the reality of the man. There are also moments where dramatic licence goes a little too far for the sake of drama (Clough walking out into a rainy night screaming "What have I done" after leaving Derby).

Ultimately though for every stray step, there are 5 or 6 where the author nails it. I particularly like the little moments where Cloughie thinks about his family or enjoys a bit of home life. This is a side of the man that is never really mentioned in the media, but which season the book to excellent effect. There are also the moments where you really feel like you get a real feel for the drive and determination of the man and for what he overcame to achieve his successes.

Similarly there's great fun to be had in the way that the book captures the needle between Clough and Revie and the way that the Leeds team are portrayed as a rouges gallery of football villainy.

Not a perfect book then and certainly not a book that can be considered to be any kind of biography, but an excellent read nonetheless.

W.B. Yeats - The Second Coming

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in the sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

Random thoughts on Batman: The Dark Night

Not exactly topical I know, but I've just watched the DVD extras for the film. Obviously the film itself rocks in a major way. Although it is not quiet as great as general opinion would have it be.

Watching the DVD extra's however I am convinced that this film is a major leap forward in how action movies will be made. In terms of film making technique it stands with The Lord of the Rings trilogy as being the major film making achievement of this decade. I was amazed at just how many of the "stunts" and "special effects" were actually real. For example the scene of the Joker's lorry doing a vertical 180 weren't the result of model work or CGI. They actually flipped an articulated lorry 180 degrees! And the test footage for Batman's dive off the building in Hong Kong has to be seen to be believed.

Also the bit in the film where the hospital was blown up... Yup they blew up a real building for real. There's no model work at all and hardly any CGI. Basically what you see is real, even to the point of a Ledger walking away from an exploding building. All real. Although biggest bollocks award still goes to Sylvester in Greatest Show in the Galaxy because (1) he didn't get rehearsal and (2) he wasn't expecting the explosion at all, whereas Ledger was.

Back to a couple of thoughts on the film itself. Firstly the cast, brilliant in the first film, even better in the second. This is mainly the result of the recasting of Rachael. Katie Holmes was the weak point in the first film being badly miscasted. She was too young looking for the role she was playing and rather wooden to be honest. That's not to say she can't act, she was utterly brilliant in Dawson's Creek, but she just couldn't do that role. Maggie Gyllenhaal is far more convincing and will be a loss to the franchise should there be a third film. It also has to be said that she was immensely fit. Her politics in real life are spot on too.

Gary Oldman deserves a million billion awards for being almost totally unrecognisable as James Gordon. This is how good he was, I didn't even realise he was in Batman Begins and I then spent most of this film trying to work out why he seemed familiar.

Heath Ledger. Yes he was fantastic, but I'm not sure that he was definitive. I think its open for another person to better what he did. Indeed I think Nichelson handled the humorous stuff better than Ledger. Also I remain totally bemused at what the guy did to himself in real life. He was married to Michelle Williams and had a beautiful kid. And left them for a freakin Olsen Twin before overdosing!

Avon Calling

The Cybermen are overrated and normally pretty rubbish

We're not very good really.


Sometimes there's no clever title available, sometimes you have to call a spade a spade.

The continuing popularity of the Cybermen is a mystery to me. Well maybe that's not quiet true, I'm aware of all the reasons why they are supposed to strike a cord, I just don't buy any of those reasons. The reality is that in general they feature in mediocre and overrated stories and are themselves the Who equivalent of a greatest hits CD.


A cheesy classic apparently.


Going through their appearances throughout the show we do have some classic moments. The Tenth planet has the reveal in the snow (albeit this is a cheesy “Kirk fighting the Gorn” sort of classic) and the associative greatness of being the first ever regeneration story. In the second Doctor's era we have the Cybermen breaking out of their tombs and then the walk down the stairs of St. Pauls. Then nothing till the 5th Doctor era when we have the episode one reveal and the glory that is Adric getting blown to crap (again entirely associative). Then that really is it until the new series when we get the incredibly disturbing “In the Jungle” scene (up there with Reservoir Dogs ear-ectomy) and the Yvone Hartman “I did my duty” bit. Then finally we have another snow scene.

Maybe that should be a greatest hits EP!

The thing is that for the most part these scenes could've been any old baddy. The Haemavores would or the Sea Devils would've been just as creepy coming out of the Tombs or walking down the steps of St. Pauls. Do the Cybermen of The Invasion bear any real resemblance to the Cybermen of The Tenth planer? Hardly. Would history have missed the Cybermen if The Invasion had featured that design, but called them the Cyberbots. Its really only the new series that has created a legitimately great uniquely Cybermen moment that gets to the heart of what is supposed to be so cool about the Cybermen (“In the Jungle” and “I did my duty”).

All that being said, the truth is that these scenes did all feature the Cybermen and that must have factored into their popularity. However, this meagre greatest hits collection of moments alone cannot account for their popularity. For a start off the Autons have almost as many classic moments in their 3 stories as the Cybermen have in their 10 television stories. So what are the reasons why they have endured?

Well its difficult to argue that it is the design. As the picture above shows its never been remotely consistent. Whereas the Daleks have maintained an almost totally uniform look for the entire history of the show (bar the odd emperor model) the Cybermen have constantly changed and constantly deviated further and further from their human origins (thus undermining their own mythos entirely).

There is always of course the argument that Cybermen are a perfect foil for the Doctor himself. Just as the Daleks stand in opposition to the Doctor by virtue of being hate filled fascists; so the Cybermen are in opposition to the Doctor by virtue of their lack of emotion. This seems persuasive, but the reality is that this is just not true. The Cybermen stories from Tom Baker to Sylvester McCoy inclusive all feature Cybermen being overtly sarcastic, boastful, macho (HEXcellent) and sadistic. The stories of the Black and White era feature less overt emotions, but they are there nevertheless. The new series has fared a little better, but this leads to a further problem. When the Doctor is in conflict with the Daleks (or indeed the Master) the conflict operates on several levels. The intellectual, the emotional and the physical. The problem with the Cybermen is that when they genuinely are emotionless, you have the Doctor railing at what is essentially a non-responsive robot which diminishes the intensity of the scene (Picture Eccelston vs the Daleks in the climax of Bad Wolf, now picture that with the Cybermen in place of the Daleks). On the other hand when the Cybermen show emotion in those sorts of scenes it undermines the whole point of the Cybermen!

To be fair the Hartnell production team had no idea of the mediocrity they were unleashing on the future of Who. To be fairer still the original Cybermen were not mediocre as such. The original Cybermen were, in their first story, a genuinely interesting concept. The Tenth Planet as a story is both confusing and mostly tedious. But the Cybermen themselves are interesting. The low tech “shit we've run out of budget” look actually serves them well because they clearly retain an element of flesh. Also I love the way that their mouths simply stay completely open when they talk (revealing a buzzing electronic voice) and then close when they are finished. There's no movement to make the words, which is a cool feature in my mind. They also have names, so there's an element of underlying individuality there. This makes sense. Even the new series gets this wrong. A removal of emotions will not totally eradicate a persons individuality, our memories and they way we think would remain. It doesn't make sense that the Cybermen are, form The Tenth Planet onwards, so generic. It totally undermines the notion that they are cyborgs and not robots if they all act exactly the same.

But of course it's not the Hartnell era Cybermen that people remember. Indeed when they are shown on TV its generally with a hint of derision. I think the key to the popularity of the Cybermen is the Troughton era. They weren't particularly well used then, certainly not as well used as in The Tenth Planet, but they looked more high tech and imposing. They were also used regularly and they had most of their classic moments in that era. Thus their popularity is somewhat circular. They were/are popular because they were used a lot and they were used a lot because they were/are popular. I really don't think there is much more to it than that.

The role of the Cybermen role in the Troughton era was to be a shorthand bad guy. If the writers wanted a bad guy that needed little explaining or motivation (and they didn't want to pay Terry Nation for the Daleks) they brought in the Cybermen. The fact that there was frequently no plot justification for doing so, or that doing so was contrary to the very nature of the Cybermen was not a problem. The Troughton era was certainly the zenith of the Cybermen in the mythology of Who. But again its all smoke and mirrors. Take Tomb of the Cybermen; I can understand this story's legendary status when it was missing. But its been back in the archives for around 20 years now and you've still got people talking like its a classic story. It isn't, its slow and badly plotted (the Doctor helps a bunch of crackpots release the Cybermen just so he can lock them up again). The Invasion is brilliant and hardly feels padded at all for an 8 episode story, but the Cybermen are almost incidental. The success of the story hangs on Tobias Vaughan and the Brigadier.

Whether it is a coincidence or not, the Cybermen never really recovered from the shows transition from black and white to colour. The Pertwee era never even bothered with them preferring to get its fix of classic moment from the Autons. When they returned in the Tom Baker era it was once again in a substandard, dull runaround with decidedly emotional Cybermen. Earthshock was purposely a throwback to the Troughton era. All very well and good when there was getting on for 15 years between Earthshock and The Invasion, less good now the DVDs can be watched back to back and you can see how truly unoriginal Earthshock was. The Five Doctor's once again uses them as generic bad guys, but they barely make it into nuisance territory. By the time of Attack of the Cybermen and Silver Nemesis the show had given up. There's no effort whatsoever to do anything creative with the Cybermen and there's nothing threatening or disturbing about them either.

The new series hasn't fared much better with them either. The first problem was how to revive the Cybermen. The Tenth Planet template was not open for use, Star Trek: The Next Generation having both appropriated it for The Borg and done a better job with that template than Who ever did. The 70's don't really provide a template and the 80's were the epitome of naff. That only really left the Troughton era. This is essentially what we got another retread of the 60s with bluetooth and ipods thrown in. Once you strip away the nostalgia and the gimmickry of “upgrading” there's nothing of any substance left. And again there is a quality control problem with their stories. Rise of the Cybermen, Age of Steel and The Next Doctor are much better stories than any of the 70s or 80s stories featuring the Cybermen, but they are amongst the poorest offered by the new series. Army of Ghost and Doomsday are awesome, but the Cybermen quickly play third fiddle to the Daleks and the separation of the Doctor and Rose. Moreover RTD openly admitted using the Cybermen as shorthand bad guys for The Next Doctor, contrast that with his zealous protection of the Daleks.

Naturally the Cybermen will return in the future and there are plenty on the fan forums looking forward to The Moff returning to the Cybermen of our universe (as opposed to the Cybus industries models). I personally think that this will not make a difference. If the Cybermen are to be truly worthy of their reputation a more fundamental approach to their use will be needed.

Whilst a wholesale return to the ethos of the Tenth Planet will not be possible because of The Borg, there can be a return to the idea of some individuality to each Cyberman. The new series has so far been able to keep emotion from the characterisation of the Cybermen and this should be maintained. Inspiration can also be taken from the spin-off media. The “in the Jungle” moment was one of the finest uses of the Cybermen because it was so gruesome, this is an aspect of them that should be emphasised. Poncing around spaceships with clenched fists and randomly exclaiming “excellent” is neither intimidating or interesting, people being shovelled into brutal conversion chambers is. The Novel “The Killing Ground” shows the way on this one, focusing on the conversion process itself (The Next Generation had the same success with The Best of Both Worlds”). A Cybermen story should always have the dread of this process at its core, it should be an ever present dread in any Cyberman story.

The comic story “The Flood” provides further raw materials for the future. On a superficial level the design is fantastic. The Cybermen have never looked as good as in this story (when they are not invisible that is!).


We were fucking brilliant.


The use of the Cybermen in this story is also brilliant. They have the human race begging for conversion by overloading them with emotion. This is the way to do it. The Doctor in the middle ground between emotional overload and a total loss of emotion, it also fits the whole Emo thing that is going on at the moment.

Spare Parts on the other hand is shockingly overrated.


Next time around The Flood or The Master.

I've taken the Star Trek character quiz

And it turns out I'm a fucking Red Shirt. Says it all really.

Your results:
You are An Expendable Character (Redshirt)

An Expendable Character (Redshirt) 85% Jean-Luc Picard 70% Geordi LaForge 65% Uhura 60% Deanna Troi 60% Chekov 40% Spock 37% Data 37% James T. Kirk (Captain) 35% Leonard McCoy (Bones) 35% Worf 35% Mr. Scott 30% Beverly Crusher 30% Will Riker 30% Mr. Sulu 25%

Since your accomplishments are seldom noticed, and you are rarely thought of, you are expendable. That doesn't mean your job isn't important but if you were in Star Trek you would be killed off in the first episode you appeared in.

Click here to take the "Which Star Trek character are you?" quiz...

Doctor Who: Who Killed Kennedy

Ever since I saw the file JFK back as a kid I've always had a fascination with the assassination of JFK. Of course as I've read more on the subject I've come to realised that Oliver Stone's version of events is even more off target that the Warren Commissions (albeit that JFK remains a gripping film). As such this was an interesting title to me back when it was released in 1996.

The conceit of the book is to mythologise the Pertwee era (specifically Spearhead from Space up to the aftermath of Day of the Daleks) into an X-Files style conspiracy story.

The story is told from the perspective of James Stevens, a Kiwi journalist, as he investigates UNIT and department C19. At the time this was the first attempt at showing the world of the Doctor from an outsiders perspective. This has regularly become more common with, for example, the works of Kate Orman and Jon Blum (Blue Box and The Fearmonger spring to mind) and even the new series itself (Love & Monsters). The book is also clearly influenced by the X-Files as UNIT and, in particular, C19 are presented as basically being the bad guys. Covert organisations pulling the strings and covering up the truth. This is achieved by virtue of the fact that Steven's sees events from a distance, not being aware of all of the facts and without the cosy "Brigs Army" feel of the show itself.

The use of C19 (previously referenced in Time Flight) is particularly important to ramping up the mood of the book. It allows the nastier stuff to be kept away from UNIT, thereby lending a credibility to the paranoia that would not otherwise be present (since the reader already knows the real truth of the UNIT activities referenced in the book).

I've just finished rereading the book and I must say it holds up remarkably well. The Kennedy stuff is, by the author's own admission, a gimmick of the publishers and up to a couple of years ago it might have felt dated with its very 90s era feel about it. But at this point it is not so much dated as nostalgic. It also still stands as the first full length effort at doing a Who story from an outsiders perspective.

Happily the book can also be accessed online at this URL:

http://nzdwfc.tetrap.com/archive/wkk/

those with a fondness for the 3rd Doctor's era, or conspiracy stories in general, would do well to check it out.

Popularity of the Daleks

The appeal of the Daleks is a matter which is often discussed, both in Who fandom and in the mainstream media. I have some thoughts on this matter!

On a superficially level their importance to the modern era of Who (and much of the classic era) is that you know full well shit is gonna go down when the Daleks are around. By and large their schemes are big and bold. Moreover they are normally a good match for the Doctor. Partly because they stand in clear opposite to him on a moral level, but also because they almost always fight from a position of strength. They are not normally portrayed as generic bad guys wanting the earth for no clearly definable reason. Generally they have a plan and an army and several conquered planets/ solar systems/galaxies already one before the Doctor shows up on the screen. Thus the stakes are always that bit higher.

But this does not explain their appeal from the earliest days of the show. Indeed it is only because they were so popular that they ever got to be the top dogs amongst the shows bad guys. So there must be more to it than the prospect of the Doctor and the Daleks fucking each others shit up.

Obviously the design of the beasties is a key feature. For a start off they are clearly not humanoid. I think this is a big deal. When you think back to their introduction in 1963 they were unlike anything that had come before. Even the likes of “Robbie the Robot” from “Forbidden Planet” was essentially humanoid in appearance. There is resembling a human in the Dalek form. Yet as with many features in Doctor Who there is an element of the mundane, the domestic. The familiar sink plunger arm and egg whisk gun are entirely familiar. But it is this very familiarity which helps embellish the uniqueness of their appearance. There is a fundamental incongruity about these common household objects being analogous to limbs.

Sylvester McCoy has likened the appearance of the Daleks as being tank like. There is something in this (particularly the armoured bling models of the current era). Squash a Dalek flat and you would have something that looks very similar to a tank. Similarly the old style extermination effect is reminiscent of a nuclear flash.

The voice is also an essential factor. The voice of a Dalek is harsh, grating and filled with hate (and often screaming Exterminate!). The voice also ties in with another design feature. That being the flashing lights on the top of the Dalek's casing. There has never been any on-screen explanation for this. To the best of my knowledge there has been no explanation in any of the audios, books or comics either. However, I love the explanation offered by Terry Nation in a book in the 70s. The explanation was that the lights were a way for the Dalek to discharge energy and that without them the Dalek would basically explode from the pent up energy of its own hate and anger. This strikes me as being a fantastic explanation and would also explain why the more senior Daleks have had more lights and/or bigger casings, it would allow for more room for the pent up energy and more discharge of that energy.

Important thought these features are, I think people are most attracted to the mythos of the Daleks. The Daleks were the creation of Terry Nation and they neatly encapsulate two regular themes of Nation's writing. The first of these theme's is that of Fascism. Nation was a child of the second world war and would return throughout his career to the examination of the Nazi regime; Blake's 7 was a series based almost entirely around this fascination. The Dalek's were the other main examination of the Nazi's. The second theme is that of nuclear war. Nation created the series Survivors as an examination of the risks of a nuclear catastrophe.

At the time the Dalek's story first aired (1963) these concerns were very much mirrored by the population of the UK. Much of the population were alive during the second world war and for many the history of that event was very much prevalent in their minds. Similarly the risk of a nuclear war was a pervasive fear following the nuclear bombing of Japan and with the (then) recent Cuban Missile crisis, the assassination of Kennedy, the cold war and the prospect of war in Vietnam.

These twin themes of fascism and a nuclear winter were developed during the first two Dalek stories and have underpinned every Dalek story and the perception of the Daleks ever since. In the first appearance in 1963 (only the second Doctor Who story) the nuclear winter theme was by far the more prevalent. We learn that the Daleks were mutants born out of a nuclear catastrophe. Even at this early stage there was a clear public fascination for the Daleks was clear. However, it is most likely the second Dalek story that cemented their role in Doctor Who and indeed the popular culture of Britain itself.

That story was the Dalek Invasion of Earth and although it is actually a pretty rubbish story; it is arguably the most important story the series ever did and also features a number of iconic, classic, scenes (albeit interspersed with entire episodes where nothing happens). In essence the story is the Blitz transposed to the future. The Daleks are a mythologised version of the Nazi's and are primarily interested in invading (in apparent order of importance): London, the home counties, the British Empire, then all the rest!

The first volume of the About Time series (an excellent series by Lawrence Miles and Tat Wood) puts it perfectly:

[the Daleks] routinely use the verb “exterminate” to mean killing individuals, not groups or races. Yet the idea or mass extermination is present, and one of them calls it a “final solution”. Earlier we see them giving fascist salutes with their sink-plungers, employing slave labour camps...and broadcasting propaganda over the airways. They've apparently wiped out all non-white races on Earth... and believe themselves... racially superior. We believe there may be a subtext underlying all of this!

Clearly this subtext would have resonated with the population of Britain at the time comprised, as it was, of those who had lived with through the war and those who lived with the legacy of the war (be it deceased or injured relatives or the cultural recollection of the war).

The Daleks as Space Nazi's becomes a simple fact of their existence from this point onwards. Indeed in the following Dalek stories (The Chase, The Dalek Masterplan, The Power of the Daleks) it is simply taken as a given that this is the very essence of what the Daleks are about. In the Evil of the Daleks the fascistic nature of the Daleks once again becomes a key plot point again as they undertake a series of what are, in essence, experiments in eugenics to discover the “Dalek” and “Human” factors.

Again in The Day of the Daleks, they are back in control of the Earth, operating “work camps”. Interestingly they are only able to colonise the Earth following a world war between the superpowers of the Earth (note the use of the nuclear war again). They also maintain control of the planet by use of a combination of human sympathisers and a slave race (the Ogrons).

The remaining Pertwee Dalek stories sees them used in a rather unsatisfactory manner. In Planet of the Daleks and Death to the Daleks they are simply generic bad guys. However they were back in form in Genesis of the Daleks. As the name implies this story shows us the creation of the very first Daleks. And wouldn't you know it they arise from a bunch of (human) Nazi's who are in the middle of a nuclear war! This story also introduces us to Davros, the creator of the Daleks and a rough mixture of Hitler, Goebbels and Himmler. Genesis shows us that the fascist philosophy of the Daleks is a product of their genetic make up and their environment and culture.

Dalek appearances after Genesis are much less frequent than was the case before Genesis. However it is notable that the last two Dalek stories of the classic era, Revelation of the Daleks and Remembrance of the Daleks, see the Daleks at civil war. Although this arguably weakened them and alienated the casual viewer; it was a development that was entirely in keeping with the themes established from the earliest stories. It is only natural that a second generation of Daleks would view the first as being inferior and aberrant (and vice versa). Similarly it is only natural that each Dalek race would seek to purify their own species before moving onto dealing with the rest of the universe.

The Daleks were a part of Doctor Who that somehow remained ubiquitous throughout the wilderness years between 1989 and the revival in 2005. They even made smurf like cameo in McGann's one off! The return of the Daleks (or risk that they would not return) were a regular talking point up to the airing of season one in 2005.

But the more interesting question for me at the time was how the Daleks would return. Happily Russell T Davies is a very clever bunny. In the episode Dalek they are immediately re-established as Nazi-Killing machines! Indeed that lone Dalek probably kills more people on screen in one episode than were killed by Daleks in the entire classic era. The reason being that it genuinely believes they should die.

Looking back you get the impression that RTD wasn't entirely sure that a new generation would “get” the Daleks. Thus the traditional fascism is tinged with modern day religious fundamentalism and self loathing (over their impure genetics) for the season one finale. As it happens this was an unnecessary, albeit fitting, embellishment. People DID get the Daleks on an instinctive level.

The last appearance of the Daleks was in the recent Stolen Earth/Journey's end season finale. Once again the Daleks were taking the usual party line, only this time turned up to 11! We the wiping out of all other species in the entire cosmos by way of a “reality bomb” (read nuclear explosion).

So pulling all of this together; why are the Dalek's so popular? The answer is “all of the above”. The Dalek's resonate with us on an almost primal level because they are an archetypal representation of humanity at its worst. The design and mythology of the Daleks are reminiscent and reflective of the worst incidents of human history (the holocaust), the darkest hours of British history (World War 2 and the Blitz) and our fears of what we are capable of in the future (nuclear Armageddon).

The Mamas and The Papas lyric of the day

When you go out in the street,
So many hassles with the heat;
No one there can fill your desire.
Cops out with the megaphones,
Telling people stay inside their home.
Man, can't they see the world's on fire?

Somebody take us away...take us away...

No Longer Trapped in the Village

I've been wanting to post about the sad death of Patrick McGoohan. For a while I wasn't sure what to post. There are already a handful of decent obits out there (hopefully Charlie Brooker will comment soon). The other problem is that really, my thoughts and feelings on the man are limited to his work on Dangerman and The Prisoner, I've really not seen much else of his work and I'm not sure that I care too.

Ultimately I realised that this is hardly relevent. It is Dangerman and The Prisoner for which he will always be known and remembered anyway. More to the point they are the roles that mean something to me. In the same way that Leonard Nimoy will forever be Spock to me, so to will McGoohan always be Drake/No. 6 and this is no bad thing (Sidebar: Shatner finally broke out of forever being Kirk by the Indian Summer that was DENNY CRANE).

With these limitations in mind I decided to take a look at Fall Out, the final episode of The Prisoner. I would not presume to call this a review, I am not sure any human being is capable of reviewing such a work. This is more a recap, with pictures and occasional comments.

We are start out with a reprise from the previous episode (once Upon a Time) featuring Leo Mckern and No. 6 back at school.

There's something quiet macabre about these scenes, in particular N0. 6 literally talking Leo McKerns character into death.

Strange story about this, Leo Mckern was apparently genuinely traumatised by the filming of these scenes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_McKern#Career).

No 6. meets a waxwork of himself.

The Beatles' All you need is love starts to play in the background. No.6 walks along dressed in black looking for all the world like he invented the concept of cool.

No 6 goes into a cavern and faces a court/parliament of what look like KKK members. They clap him for a full minute! We don't know why!

The Judge gives his opening speech.

No.6 takes the chair of honour.

No. 1 (which at this stage appears to be a column with an eye in it) brings Leo McKern back to life! There are still loads of episodes of Rumpole yet to be filmed!!

Leo is having shaving foam put on his face as part of the resurrection process!

We are meeting No 48 a previous revolutionary. He starts singing “dem bones dem bones".

The clan are in consternation!

“Give it to me baby, confess! Confess!”

“GUILTY!”

Leo faces down No. 1 and is secured in the deep freeze for his troubles (“Be Seeing You”)

No.6 is offered a choice between leadership and freedom

No.6 goes to meet No.1 and discovers: No.1 is... a Monkey!


... is himself!


No. 6 and his band are breaking out of the village with Machine Guns. All you need is Love plays in the Background again.
Free at last?



I first saw the Prisoner about 10 years ago. I watched them all in four sittings and I still remember the "what the fuck was that" reaction I had to the finale. For me it was WTF in a good way. A way that made me keep on thinking about it (and indeed a way that continues to make me think about it). I can only imagine the reaction of those watching in the 1960's; but I expect rage and frustration would probably cover it. This episode is not only surreal when compared to other TV shows (of the era or since), it is surreal in terms of the show itself and unlike anything any other show not called Twin Peaks.

But that is what is so great about it. The Prisoner was about not conforming, not being categorised. A finale whereby No. 1 is revealed to be some foreign power or a MOD official would have been a betrayal of the ethos of the series. Putting the show back into the realms of the Dangerman era or, even worse, James Bond territory. This finale is so wilfully open ended as to barely count as a conclusion and its surrealism prevents the show from ever being categorised. The finale is the Nashville Skyline to the rest of the shows Folk era.

It should be remembered that the show (both the episode and the overall series) has McGoohan running through it like a stick of rock. This remarkable finale not only features McGoohan, but was also writen and directed by him. It is a television classic that stands both as McGoohan's finest hour and also as a testament to the man himself.

Theodore Roosevelt

Those who know me well will know that it is not in my nature to big up right wing Americans. However, to all rules there are exceptions and the Theodore Roosevelt was an exception to EVERY rule.

Evidence of Roosevelt's sheer awesomeness can be found at the following links:

http://www.cracked.com/article_15895_p5.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt#Character_and_beliefs

Anyway, this quote is brilliant and requires sharing:

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."