The annual is a grim assemblage of disembodied brains, laurel-wreathed cannibals and cocooned monsters at the frozen heart of a star. A photo/text feature introduced me to Ben and Polly, the Doctor's anxious young companions, dressed in matching v-necks. The overall effect hinted at a glamorous but irretrievable history of horror.
As recounted in the fascinating Comic Strip Companion book (Telos Publishing, 2012) that same year, the weekly TV Comic was presenting a strip called Dr. Who and the Daleks.
The Burgh of Girvan Dalek
(bottom right)
So these chronicles of Troughton's Doctor are my ur-texts of Doctor Who.They instilled an abiding obsession with the series and its spin-offs. But like many romances, it has cooled from time to time.
I think I'm not alone in finding the current iteration of Who on telly quite unsatisfying. The combination of Steven Moffat's self-consciously complex story arcs and a rather juvenile tone ( which I can only describe as Harry Potter-esque) has left me longing somewhat for the glory days of Tennant and Tate. Here are my resonses to recent episodes, rated Sun Makers/ 1977-style.
Cold War: a derivative pastiche mashing up Alien, Horror Express and The Hunt for Red October. Devoid of tension and populated with cariactured characters. The reveal of the Ice Warrior was a miscalculation. 2 out of 5 Talmars.
Hide: a good-looking and suspenseful ghost story about the redemptive power of love with a moody turn from Dougray Scott. 3 out of 5 Talmars
Journey to the Centre of the Tardis: a surprisingly dark romp with some terrible acting from the salvage crew but some nostalgic clips of dialogue from past companions on the soundtrack . Unfortunately, it was resolved with a literal big reset button. Poor show. 2 out of 5 Talmars
The Crimson Horror: a high-camp tribute to grainy British horror movies, this episode merged the plot of Quatermass II with The Road to Wellville, throwing in references to James Whale, James Bond and Sherlock Holmes. Some of the imagery was a bit full-on for tots but surprisingly- after Gatiss' threadbare Ice Warrior episode- my favourite of the series so far. 4 out of 5 Talmars.
The latest trilogy of BBC Books are even more lacklustre, despite attractive binding.
The Dalek Generation: a saccharine story from Nicholas Briggs driven by middle-class parenting anxieties. The Doctor acts as guardian for three orphans in a dystopian society engineered by the Daleks. The plot is resolved by a timey-wimey McGuffin. If you ever wanted to hear the Doctor's companion declare "I've wee'd in my pants", this is the book for you. 1 out of 5 Talmars
Plague of the Cybermen: a Hammer pastiche which (according to the back cover) is set in the Nineteenth Century but feels medieval to me. In addition to the lack of any convincing period detail, the writing is thin and dry making a Gothic scenario a little tedious. The best of the bunch but still only 2 out of 5 Talmars.
Shroud of Sorrow: opening with a cutesy nod to teatime on November 23rd 1963, this novel is staggeringly bad. To overcome a giant space worm that feeds on grief, the Tardis visits the Planet of the Clown Doctors! There's a repetitive sequence where the departures of several former companions are revisited and we witness Doctors 2,3,6,7,and 9 at the Brigadier's funeral. A ludicrous and maudlin book. 0 out of 5 Tal-
mars.
I have, on the other hand, been slightly better served with Big Finish's audio adventures:
Gods and Monsters: an overlong fantasy adventure pitting the Seventh Doctor's collection of women warriors against the elder god Fenric. Philip Olivier's Hex made a touching exit but the whole saga was a bit too comic book-y for audio. 2 out of 5 Talmars.
The Justice of Jalxar: a crossover adventure with the Jago and Litefoot series for the Fourth Doctor. Consequently, our two leads are rather outshadowed. This is a mildly diverting pastiche of pulp heroes featuring a steampunk version of Robocop. 3 out of 5 Talmars.
The Emerald Tiger : an exotic fantasy about were-tigers in India, referencing Kipling and Jules Verne. The Edgar Rice Burroughs joke as Australian stewardess greets jungle lord with "Me Tegan, you Djahn" is much funnier than it sounds. 4 out of 4 Talmars
The Jupiter Conjunction: slow-burning hard sci-fi thriller set on a comet. The Fifth Doctor's companions are quite proactive but the gaseous Jovian aliens sound rather portentous when contrasted with the human colony on the comet. 3 out of 5 Talmars
Eldrad Must Live: a disappointing sequel to The Hand of Fear. There is some intriguing imagery as a seaside town is gradually festooned with alien quartz. Tegan and Turlough become servants of the tyrant Eldrad but the Yuppie school bully character from Turlough's past is unconvincing. 2 out of 5 Talmars.
Over the next few weeks, we'll look at the end of this season on tv, some of the Companion Chronicle audio adventures and probably the anniversary reprint novels.
Also coming soon: Iron Man 3 and Star Trek Into Darkness.
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