When are you an adult? Old enough to face the world? I have to admit that when I was young I expected at some stage there to come a revelation and that I would be able to handle things, that I would be an adult and sound profound mystery of the world would be unlocked for me. School, university, Grant Thornton – nothing really happened.
At NewVIc I finally felt in control at work when my bad boss left and Orville Gardener started, After my confidence had taken a battering I finally felt like I could handle anything that came my way. That persisted all of two years and I went to another job where I felt like I was running away from an earthquake zone as the ground split behind me. I got the feeling back after a few years and then glandular fever arrived.
Obviously the world is far too chaotic a place to ever be mastered.
I rediscovered this song when I saw the first Charlie’s Angels film. Charlie’s Angels had been a 1970s about three agents who worked for the mysterious Charlie (never seen, but we all knew who John Forsyth was by the mid-80s as he was Blake Carrington in Dynasty). The Angels were three extraordinarily competent women who seemed to only investigate crime in their underwear or bikinis. There were so few shows with female action leads that despite this blatant use of the male gaze it is fondly remembered by women who were young then as well as slightly older men.
(The original line up – Jaclyn Smith, Kate Jackson and Farrah Fawcett)
It was resurrected (not rebooted, as all the films appear to be part of one continuity with the TV series) in 2000 with Drew Barrymore heavily involved. It is a heck of a film – a lot of it does not make a lot of sense but if you turn your brain off it is a lot of fun and uses its soundtrack brilliantly to showcase the action sequence. The fight in the alleyway to Smack My Bitch Up (though an unfortunate choice of song) and Drew Barrymore’s escape from the villains when she tells them how she will do it, then beats up seven of them, despite starting off tied to a chair are marvellous.
There is still quite a bit of the male gaze – Cameron Diaz answers the doors to a postman in her knickers for no reason and Drew Barrymore spends quite a long sequence naked (though various objects hide her modesty), but ultimately it was a film with strong female characters and there were still not enough of them.
I really like it as a fun film but it is such as a shame that it turned out Lucy Liu was paid a fraction of what the other leads got – Diaz got $12 million, Barrymore got $9 million (though shared in the profits so ended up with more than Diaz) and Liu got $1 million. I suppose it makes a change for the issue not be a woman lead earning less than her male co-star and earn less than her female co-stars.
(Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu)
The sequel – Full Throttle – lacks the playful humour and replaces it with a more serious “Rogue Angel “ plot bringing in Demi Moore. There was not another sequel.
It came back in 2019 with the Angels now being an organisation and “Bosley” being a rank. It was directed by Elizabeth Banks (probably most famous for playing Effie Trinket in The Hunger Games). It is another fun action, romp but did less well financially than the 2000 romp and critical reviews were uneven. It is not a deep film but there are far, far worse films out there with male leads and part of the criticism seems to be fuelled from the same misogyny that afflicted the female Ghostbusters reboot (better than the originals in my opinion).
(Naomi Scott, Ella Balinska and Kristen Stewart – the latest Angels)
It seems like Hollywood is scared of films with female leads and will only produce ones with some previous name recognition. Let’s hope that they get over this so there are more films for girls and young women to watch with strong female leads.
This the song that played when Drew Barrymore’s character woke up in the 2000 version. There are lots of versions, but I like the Juice Newton one best.
These Academy Award commentaries are the least popular things on the blog, but I want to do them anyway.
The 1990s were a good decade for the Academy Awards. It starts with a win for Dances with Wolves which is worthy but quite dull. Ghost is far better remembered but Goodfellas is probably the one that should have won. How The Godfather Part 3 was nominated will remain at eternal mystery – Coppola took a giant dump on his legacy with this one.
Silence of the Lambs won in 1991 and it is an excellent film, far better than The Prince of Tides or Bugsy (as for Beauty and the Beast it is was only there as Disney were agitating about it not being fair that cartoons were never nominated). But JFK is my favourite film ever so that – I once watched the extended version in the morning and then the same version with the director commentary on in the afternoon.
In 1992 Clint Eastwood won for Unforgiven. Now, despite his terrible politics, I do like Clint Eastwood, but this smacked of being a farewell award, yet he keeps making films. There was also a buzz about someone making a cowboy film after they had been an ignored genre for so long. A Few Good Men or The Crying Game should have won out.
Schindler’s List won in 1993 and you can’t argue with that really. The Academy had been looking to give it to Spielberg for years but even I would not deny this film. Watch with a friend – it is emotionally devastating.
1994 is a tough year. I think it has the best five films as a group ever. The least good is Quiz Show (based on a true scandal from the 1950s) that is merely very good. The Shawshank Redemption may well win if people voted now, despite its poor reception at the time its reputation has grown with time. Forest Gump won and it is the weirdest thing as many people judge it on the box of chocolates scene if they have not seen it, yet love it if you force them to watch it. Then there are Four Weddings and a Funeral (I saw this on my 29th birthday after eating huge amounts of pizza with people from work – somehow Diane still managed a large popcorn too) and Pulp Fiction – I love both to pieces and they could not be more different. Pulp Fiction just shades it as the best Tarantino ever. Watch all five if you have not seen them.
1995 makes me madder than any year. Braveheart is an appalling piece of inaccurate crap. The Scots did not wear kilts, droit de seigneur is a myth, the whole thing is just a fiction that namechecks some people who lived. Apollo 13 should have won, maybe Tom Hanks was doing too well?
Really? In 1996 The English Patient beat Fargo? I mean I think Jerry Maguire is so over rated too, but Fargo is the best Coen Brothers film and a truly awesome movie. How many films have a pregnant policewoman as the lead character? Plus it inspired a top notch TV series. What were the Academy thinking?
Titanic dominates 1997, though I would not say it was one of James Cameron’s best films. It is two films put together with sticky tape – a romance and a disaster movie. Go watch Aliens or Terminator 2 for far better. Good Will Hunting and The Full Monty are better films, but the best is LA Confidential – it is not good as James Ellroy’s fantastic novel (his LA Quartet should be a Netflix or HBO series).
Shakespeare in Love is a lovely film, not a great one. Elizabeth was nominated too in a festival of Tudor fun. At least it denied Saving Private Ryan a win. I remain sceptical about a lot of Spielberg’s work. This starts with a devastating tour de force on the beaches of Normandy, but most of the movie is that kind of cloying the USA won World War 2 crap. 1998 was not a great year for nominees.
In 1999 American Beauty won and to be honest at the time I liked it. It seems a lot more problematic now with our knowledge of Kevin Spacey (though he is a great actor) and its focus on a man’s lust for a teenage girl. The direction and design is lovely. The Cider House Rules and The Green Mile are both novel adaptions that are nowhere near as good as the books (and Green Mile seems to have been nominated as Shawshank Redemption did not win). The Insider is a more important film dealing with real life issues.
Fatboy Slim – the band of the 90s as he said about himself. Love this video too (despite it being inaccurate).
Mike lived in Leicester for quite a while. The first time we went up to see him he was living on his own and I rifled his CD collection and found one that surprised me – an Elvis Presley compilation. Now I knew that he was hugely important in the history of popular music, but I had not really heard anything that set my world on fire. Mike played it, praising his voice, and I realised that I did like his material from the late 60s.
Three men defined English cricket in the late 70s, 80s and early 90s. Ian Botham is the most famous but Graham Gooch of Essex and David Gower of Leicestershire are arguably more era defining (and I admit to a high level of bias as an Essex fan and Graham Gooch being the batsman I have invested more in emotionally as a fan than any other).
Graham Gooch made his debut first against the 1976 West Indies team and was not successful, lasting just two test matches. David Gower’s debut was more successful – he pulled his first ball for four.
Gower is one of the most beautiful batsmen to watch that I have ever seen (probably only Mark Waugh compares) but he was always incredibly frustrating. A running joke at university was that when he came out to bat the first thing that he did was nail his boots to the ground. Never have so many runs been scored with so little foot movement. The disappointment with Gower was that despite his immense talent he only averaged just over 44, yet Allan Border, another left-hander with far less natural talent averaged over 50. Yet when Gower played well, like in the summer of 1985, it was truly a joy to behold. The only negative point was that Gower had a high average against Australia when they were a weak team and a poor average against the dominant West Indies.
At a county level Gower freely admits that he did not always concentrate when not playing for England and his first class record reflects that, with an average of barely 40. He looked like an incongruous fit at Leicestershire and was a far better match for the ethos at Hampshire when he moved there. Gower did not miss many test matches (except through his own choice) until near the end of his career. Gower looked and played like one of the Gentlemen amateurs from before the 1960s.
If Gower was a cavalier Gooch was a roundhead. After his difficult start in 1976 he was recalled in 1978 and almost hit a century in a second innings run chase (he was on 91 when England won) then suffered a tough tour to Australia in 1978/79. On the “Packer peace” tour in 1979/80 he was run out for 99 at the MCG (in a three-match series where Kim Hughes made 99 and Geoff Boycott 99 not out at the WACA, and both David Gower and Greg Chappell made 98 not out at the SCG). Gooch then hit three hundreds against the West Indies in nine test matches. Terry Alderman brought this to a shuddering halt – no bowler could humble Gooch like Alderman, Gooch would fail badly against him in 1989 too.
After the 1981/82 tour to India Gooch went on the rebel tour to South Africa. Leaving behind a test average of just over 35. For the three years of his ban he scored prolifically in domestic cricket and was seen as the King over the water by fans. He was recalled at once in 1985, displacing the unfortunate Graeme Fowler. At The Oval that summer Gooch and Gower combined for a massive stand as they scored 196 and 157 respectively. Glory days.
Yet by the end of 1989 Gooch had opted out of the 1986/87 tour to Australia to try and save his marriage and then not been picked in 1987, then failed in 1989. His batting average remained at the same level as when he had been recalled in 1985. There had been 4 more hundreds, including one to prevent England’s third consecutive blackwash by the West Indies (England managing to improve from a five nil loss to a four nil loss).
Gower’s failure as captain in 1989 left Gooch the only credible leader for the tour to the West Indies. England actually went one nil up but Gooch was injured and the series was lost 2-1. Gower was not selected as Gooch instituted a new fitter more professional regime. Finally Gooch showed his true talent. At Lords in 1990 he scored 333 against India; when Kapil Dev saved the follow on by 1 run (hitting Eddie Hemmings for 4 consecutive 6s) Gooch hit 123 to set up the win. 456 runs – no one has ever scored more runs in a single test match.
The following year at Headingley England had taken a narrow first innings lead against a West Indies team with a bowling attack of Marshall, Ambrose, Walsh and Patterson (one of the best four man pace attacks ever fielded). The pitch was bowler’s paradise and England were bowled out for 252 in their second innings. Ramprakash and Pringle made 27 each and there were 21 extras. The other eight batsmen made 23 and Gooch carried his bat for 154, over 61% of his team’s runs. The only time more runs as a percentage of the total were scored was in the very first test match in 1877 by Charles Bannerman who scored 165 out of 245. I doubt the attack was so good and lots of weird records were set in the early days of international cricket.
Statistically this is the greatest innings ever played in cricket.
England won thanks to that innings and drew the series two all, the first time England had not lost to the West Indies since 1973/74.
Gooch averaged over 50 for the final 5 years of his international career. His average as captain was 58. The only downside is that Gower rarely played again, the final straw was an Ashes test when England were up against it and Gower got out just before a break into an obviously set trap.
Gooch also scored 128 first class centuries, the tenth most ever. He always took the county game seriously and it is no coincidence that Essex won a lot of trophies over his career.
Doctor Who was born in the 1960s and, as fans know, the first episode clashed with the assassination of John Kennedy. Fortunately they repeated it before episode 2 the following week.
(The original cast – Carol Ann Ford, Jacqueline Hill, William Russell and William Hartnell)
It was not expected to last long and the fact that it continues in 2020 (albeit with a 16-year hiatus) and has spawned thousands of books, audio stories and comic stories would have shocked them in 1963. Of course appearing on the show has turned into a wonderful retirement pay day for actors who were in it – payments for audio plays, convention appearances and memorabilia provide a good income stream.
Disappointingly there are still over 100 episodes missing from the 1960s (see https://fivemilesout.home.blog/2020/08/29/like-the-deserts-miss-the-rain/ ) though they all exist as audio recordings. The BBC have animated quite a few of these now – though the standard of the animation will not have Pixar quaking in their boots. What they do is highlight how important the acting and the cast were in those early days without the benefit of flashy effects. The French Revolution shows it well as only two episodes are missing. I am grateful they were animated, but without the cast putting their souls into it the story is far less interesting.
(Animated William Hartnell)
Who fans talk a lot about how the show can be anything, but this was only really true in the early days as they explored the limits of what was successful. Early on there is a mixture of stories – historical, science fiction, comedy, epics and small stories. Absurdly over ambitious science fiction like The Web Planet and The Romans which is a farce set in the time of Nero.
Two episodes of The Crusade remain missing. Reading David Whitaker’s novelisation as a child with its balances view of the crusades and Saladin as an equally, if not more sympathetic, characterisation than King Richard has left me far more ambivalent than most westerners about their justification. Both of Whitaker’s novelisations were of a very high standard.
The production team changed quite frequently in the 60s as the demand to produce over 40 episodes a year was crushing (which is why the regulars got weeks off where they were only in episodes with short, pre-filmed, inserts). The third season contains a wonderful mix of stories and yet vast swathes of it are no longer available on screen. I would love to see the Trojan War story, The Myth Makers, and The Massacre of St Batholomew’s Eve with its impending religious genocide, sadly I have to make do with the audio and a novelisation. On the whole I think the era does historical stories better than the science fiction – the BBC was always good at a costume drama.
(The Myth Makers)
After season 3 the show changes and starts homing in on the monsters. In particular there is a run where every story is a base under siege (easy on the sets) – even the Buddhist monastery has warrior monks, because each story has a head of security (it was better reading the novelisations as this run were released over the space of several years). By this stage Patrick Troughton is the lead – a great actor (and a man whose private life deserves a long biography) but the stories are repetitive. The series was heading towards cancellation in 1969, but the lack of an adequate replacement saved it for the era of colour TV.
Season 6 looks really tired. The final story – The War Games – is ten episodes long. Terrance Dicks once said of it if you have a good idea spin it out, good ideas a are hard to find. True. However with this story there is about 4 episodes of a good story and a lot of running about. The last episode is different as it exiles the Doctor to Earth. Troughton is a wonderful actor but the creative team behind the camera in his era was less than stellar. My affection for it really comes from the novelisations of the stories, not the TV versions.
If you can live with listening to audios then these are the stories for you from the 60s:
Marco Polo and The Aztecs
The Crusade and The Romans
The Myth Makers and The Massacre of St Bartholomew’s Eve
The Power of the Daleks and The Highlanders
The Web of Fear and The Tomb of the Cybermen
I can’t, in good conscience, recommend any stories – this is an unpopular opinion I know.
Only three of these exist completely in video form. If you can live with sixties TV standards the early years are really well worth watching.
The Monkees were a manufactured band, who eventually shook off the shackles of that start and took control of their own destiny. They had a psychedelic TV series which boggled my mind as a child.
The Psychedelic Furs are most famous for Pretty in Pink, a big hit after the film of the same name was released in 1986. Yet the film is an anodyne story about high school love between Molly Ringwald and Andrew McCarthy (two of the 80s Brat Pack) and the song that inspired it is nothing like that. It is a song about a woman who has been used and betrayed by men who is looking for a relationship.
John Hughes was huge in the 1980s with a run of American High School (or post high school films) that captured the zeitgeist. Sixteen Candles was the first of these, but is now remembered more for the appalling racism shown to the Asian character, Long Duk Dong, than anything else.
The first of his films that I saw was 1984’s The Breakfast Club. I saw it in the 1985 university summer holidays. Neil and I would cycle to a video rental store and grab a couple of films to watch (Neil and Dave having proper work while we were lazy students). At 19 I was enchanted – the film is about 5 very different characters in a Saturday detention who bond by the end of the day.
At university all colleges showed films at the weekend. Some had purpose-built cinema type screening rooms. Christ’s was very popular on a Sunday night with students from all over the university and it required eating dinner in hall at 6pm sharp followed by a quick walk over to guarantee seats. At the other end of the scale was St Catherine’s where we hired a videotape for the weekend and had two showings a night in the TV room. The weekend we showed The Breakfast Club I saw both sittings on both nights and a special one of my own on Monday morning.
(Nelson, Estevez, Sheedy, Ringwald, Hall)
It features several brat pack actors – Ringwald, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Anthony Hall and Emilio Estevez) – at the time they looked like they would be the next generation of superstars. In particular Judd Nelson looked like he had it all. It was other Brat Packers who became superstars though – Rob Lowe, Charlie Sheen and, above them all, Demi Moore. The ultimate Brat Pack movie is not directed by Hughes – St Elmo’s Fire features eight of the actors from that generation and feels like it could be the same people a few years later, but it was directed by Joel Schumacher not Hughes.
Hughes’ had another hit with Weird Science, another film very problematic now as two nerds make a woman who is compliant to their wishes – a role Kelly LeBrock may well regret now. If you watch try and spot a very young Robert Downey Junior in the party scene. There was a TV series based on the film that skipped the very sexual element and is mildly entertaining fun.
Least problematic and still popular of this run from Hughes is Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. I watched this after much nagging from my sister Fran who loved it. Three friends bunk off school for a day and they are chased by the Principal. It is an iconic film even now.
Whatever the issues with his films the late John Hughes left a mark on the psyches of the Gen X generation, which covers me and my siblings.
This is my favourite song by the Psychedelic Furs. Despite the title it is nothing to do with religion but is about the betrayal of the hippie dream.
When I got into dance music I really liked the Shamen. Their story is quite sad as they recorded En-Tact and when they went to Tenerife to make a video for Move Any Mountain Colin Angus drowned in the ocean. The song Omega Amigo looks eerily prescient and the song Space Time off Boss Drum is an elegy to him. Of course they are best remembered for managing to get a song praising ecstasy to number one for 4 weeks and nobody noticing until far too late. Their follow up Axis Mutatis is good as well, but their star waned.
After Doctor Who went off the air first Virgin and then BBC books kept the flame alive, both ranges published short story collections (Decalogs by Virgin and Short Trips by BBC). Despite the odd good story they never really hit the mark.
Then were the fanthologies – unauthorised collections of short stories for charity. The first was Perfect Timing edited by Mark Phippen and Helen Fayle. The first edition was spiral bound and I gave mine away when it was reissued in a book format (below) – shame as I would like to have both editions now.
Of course they are not all brilliant stories – the early draft bits from The Dark Path show the final result was better and Gary Russell’s contribution is poor. I like the late Craig Hinton’s One Perfect Twilight despite fanwankiness, being about Kamelion. The absolute gem is Ian McIntire’s Schrodingers Botanist. (Erwin Schrodinger was a quantum physicist who used the thought experiment of a cat in a box that may be alive or dead due to a random fatal or non-fatal pellet being put in to explain the Copenhagen interpretation of Quantum Theory). Peri has several alternate futures in Who – dead, marrying Yrcanos (and him being a wrestler), or her return in Bad Therapy. It also features Grant Markham, a two-book companion from Virgin. It’s clever and ties it all up. It may well be my favourite Who short story ever.
It was so popular there was a second that was even better. Mark Phippen ceded editorial reins to Julian Eales (I think that Mark had just become a father). It clocks in at an impressive 446 dense pages.
The most disappointing story for me was from Diane Duane – a pro Star Trek writer. The unused parts of a novel in this book are from the original The Crystal Bucephalus and are illuminating. It was the first time I saw Jay Eales alternative “Malleus” Doctor in Mysterious Ways – I wish there had been far more of this reality than we got. The amazing Phillip Purser-Hallard contributes First Person highlighting differences between the seventh and eighth doctors and Dave Owen has The Next Universe but One, metatextual about the TV and the book versions of stories.
Mark was back, working with Shaun Lyon on Missing Pieces. Storywise I think it is the least adventurous of the four and being jaded I like different stories. Greg Guck’s Eurydice’s Reprieve is my favourite – about a year of travelling with Katrina before her death.
Finally (of the big four) was Julian Eales; Windows In Eternity (WInE). Definitely the volume that pushed the boundaries the most and it is between this and Perfect Timing 2 for my favourite.
The quality is so high it is hard to pick out all the good ones. I found a review I wrote at the time so here are a few of them:
IN THE SIXTIES by Paul Magrs
It may be way off base but it’s interesting that Missing Pieces finishes with a Paul Magrs story and WinE starts with one. Don’t get me wrong I’m not denigrating either volume but it almost seemed like a statement of intent from the editor here. Probably only a coincidence and Paul Magrs is at the start to get everything off to a good start.
There is something special about the sixties. It seems like the Golden Age of hope and optimism that we lost in the depression and decay of the seventies. My parents say it wasn’t really like that and that washing machines are a lot better these days. If I really wanted to quibble I’d say that the sixties as a phenomenon lasted from 1964 to 1972 and this is set in 1969, which is not the end of the era. I won’t though, as 1969 is the year Paul Magrs was born and the year of my first memory not related to my family – the moon landings.
The story itself is closest to Magrs’ Femme Fatale, but much more way out than that. Doctor Who holding parties at his house attended by Emma Peel, Steed, Lulu, Bowie, Cilla, Coward and so on. The writing is beautiful – I would probably pay to read Paul Magrs’s shopping lists his prose is so good.
Great start to the collection – should be read with The Velvet Underground and Nico playing :- )
WHAT DOES IT PROFIT A MAN? by Arfie Mansfield
I think I saw somewhere that the author did not rate this story. If Arfie can do better than this then it’s going to be something really good. The story is in two parts; a latter day plan by resistance fighters to destroy the Doctor’s TARDIS and the other part gives an idea of how the Doctor got to the position of Dictator. The two narratives are cut together and reward a second reading in chronological order.
It’s not specified but this could be the Inferno universe – though it would be as if Inferno had not happened as it’s the 1990s. Genuinely chilling in places, such as when the Doctor stabs the Silurian, but even more when he “deals” with the Master by cutting out his tongue and poking out his eyes (I assume that anyway, it’s not that graphic).
Following Jay’s story in MP this highlights how it might have been easy for the Doctor to go bad in the face of his exile. There is more depth to the Third Doctor than there appears on the surface and Jay seems like the perfect man to develop this as editor or writer. That said this is Arfie’s triumph.
BELL, BOOK & CANDLE by Julian Eales
I admit I’m a mark for the Malleus stuff so it probably isn’t a surprise that I loved this. I really think this is the way for the future – interesting scenarios that are very different from the ordinary Who universe where even old stories can be told with verve and style. This is not an old story – it’s a clever story that hints at more about the Malleus universe whilst featuring a clever villain, an appearance of a different Koschei and ideas of what the Doctor is doing in this universe.
DON’T MENTION THE WAR! by Jonn Elledge
To start with I thought this was a rewrite of The Ancestor Cell (TAC), but it’s a lot more interesting than that. Jonn Elledge uses the climax of the war to point out the holes in TAC, but in a humourous way. I suppose if you love TAC it might seem a bit nasty but I really don’t think that it is meant to be mean.
The story ends in a similar manner to the book as Romana presses the Great Reset Button of Rassilon (and there are other Rassilon jokes here too) and it all ends up having been a dream in the new reality. Romana is back in the TARDIS prior to the e-space stories, the worst thing is that she dreamt of a night of passion with Adric…..
Great comedy and I liked the way it mutated from straight story to a commentary without any problems. It makes a few telling points as well. Very confident and impressive
HANGING CHADS by Jonathan Dennis
It’s like Jade Pagoda Politics (a mailing list off shoot of the original Jade Pagoda) is in a story. The list was set up in the wake of the Florida election result and consequently members know more than they need to about the Florida election process.
Faction Paradox appear for the only time in a magnificent example of them at their most dangerous and playful. As members repeatedly interfere the result swings backwards and forwards, including some very strange outcomes.
A totally different style again from Jon Dennis (compared to Hollywood Life or Flash Boy) and just reinforces my opinion that he will be a Who novelist before long.
(Sadly Jon did not write a Who novel).
I must also mention Helen Fayle’s amazing Thorns, but my review seems to have been corrupted.
Those are a fraction of the stories, which are almost all excellent.
If I could only take four Who books to a desert island I would take these as there is such a varied range of stories.
There were other volumes, none of which (in my opinion) were of quite the same high standard (though the Craig Hinton memorial anthology Shelf Life came closest). They mostly seemed unedited fanzine level publications. With one or two exceptions.
Tales of The Solar System was a much delayed by Paul Griggs fanthology. It is only 96 pages, spiral bound and has one story for each planet in the solar system. Being the date it was that includes Pluto and being the Whoniverse it includes Charon, Cassius and Vulcan. Whilst not saying anything about the others Lance Parkin’s Saturnalia is a beautiful 3 page story about the Doctor and the gilded rich. Worth reading if you can find it.
There is also a great Simon Bucher-Jones Doctor Who/ Blakes 7 crossover in Lifedeath. I do not usually like crossovers but At The Beach is brilliant (but Simon is another immensely talented human being).
This would be a dream compilation – but I doubt that it would ever be published.
Continuity Errors by Stephen Moffatt
Model Train Set by John Blum
Saturnalia by Lance Parkin
Schrodinger’s Botanist by Ian McIntire
First Person by Philip Purser-Hallard
Mysterious Ways by Jay Eales
The Next Universe But One by David Owen
Eurydice’s Reprieve by Greg Guck
Don’t Mention the War by Jonn Elledge
Hanging Chads by Jon Dennis
At the Beach by Simon Bucher-Jones
Bell, Book and Candle by Jay Eales
What Does It Profit a Man by Arfie Mansfield
In the Sixties by Paul Magrs
Thorns by Helen Fayle
Boss Drum is their classic album, but one track from The Shamen has to be this – and yes it is about drugs.
I sometimes wonder if I would have been better off being born twenty years earlier or twenty years later. I hope, despite being 54, that I am still staying abreast of modern technology. I hope that I keep doing that and do not succumb to the seeming inevitability of older people of saying it was all better when I was young. I see posts like that on Facebook – the things that say: “We had no internet, played out on the street, got the cane but it was a better world. Share if you agree.” To which my response is sexism, racism, homophobia, hidden paedophilia (it is not a modern thing, just that it is now being exposed), corporal punishment and class privilege. No – it was not better and you are not remembering properly and foolish for suggesting it. I do not want to be posting those in twenty years. All I can say to those people is that the memory lies, it was not better – it was simpler and it is hard to cope as the world becomes more complicated when your brain has been wired a certain way in childhood.
The 1950s revival in the 70s epitomises this kind of hazy nostalgia – remembering the good bits and ignoring the problems of the era.
Born twenty years later though I would have missed the threat of nuclear annihilation but would be facing a future of a Climate Crisis where large swathes of the world may be uninhabitable.
My personal skills may have fitted a world before the IT revolution better. I have a very good memory (though sadly not as good as it was), a fast reading speed and the ability to use and evaluate information at speed.
In the world that I started work in before Information Technology took off this was perfect for being an accountant. It was also perfect for passing exams – I have qualifications in subjects that I really have no skills in, but I was able to dredge up enough facts to pass them in an exam situation. They were also skills that made me very good at Trivial Pursuit.
My skills worked better in a world without the internet where having a good memory was a really important skill. No Wikipedia or Shazam. No IMDB or any other resource – remembering what song was called or who an actor was relied on what you could remember and the resources at the local library.
Ultimately, I think that I got it right earlier. Your brain is wired in a certain way due to the nature of the world when it is still plastic. I still read as much as I can, current teenagers seem to be far more visual learners and will search out youtube videos in preference to a Wikipedia article.
We are all doomed to be passed by – the best we can do is hang onto the technology train as long as we can. Society will change and the next generation will handle those changes in ways the previous one is just unable to.
I wrote some time ago about one international cricket dynasty (https://fivemilesout.home.blog/2020/09/26/im-so-tired-of-trying/ ), they were succeeded by an Australian dynasty. In fact Australia being the best team in the world is the default position for world cricket, but being young in the 70s and 80s it seems odd for the West Indies not to be the best.
Australia had been the best team in the world in the 1970s, but then World Series Cricket happened. A tournament run by Kerry Packer that recruited almost all the top Australians, West Indians and a few from other countries. One Australian exception was Kim Hughes who was not well liked by Greg Chappell, Rod Marsh and Dennis Lillee, the superstars of the team.
(Marsh, Chappell and Lillee)
After peace broke out Chappell was Australian Captain again, except he did not tour. Hard as it is to believe the Australian Board accepted that decision and kept him as Captain at home. Kim Hughes was skipper abroad, but without Chappell the team was much weaker – they only won against Sri Lanka away from home (and Sri Lanka were a minnow then).
The superstars retired and Australia were demolished in 1984/85 by the supreme West Indies team and they targeted Hughes (like they targeted all opposing captains). Hughes tearfully resigned from his position and was dropped. Meanwhile a rebel series to apartheid South Africa was being organised – which Hughes ended up leading after not being picked to tour England.
Allan Border took over as captain with a severely weakened team, including players who had been going rebel but had been paid to stay with the main team – not the way to foster team spirit. First they beat the West Indies on a spinner’s paradise in Sydney but then lost the Ashes in England (English fans are always at pains to point out that we were without our rebels when we lost the Ashes in 82/83; but are far less vocal about the fact that the Aussies did not have their rebels when we won in 85 and 86/87).
Australia did not win a series from 1983/84 until beating New Zealand in in 87/88 (though they fought bravely in the second ever tied test in India and drew that series). That win and winning the 1987 World Cup started the revival. Border became Captain Grumpy and they swept England aside 4-0 in 1989. Border never managed a series win against the West Indies, though the margins were just 2-1 in the last two series he played them (including one match they lost by the thinnest of margins). (I admit to a Border bias – he made the most of his talent, played two seasons for Essex and on the one occasion I met him, at Fenners in Cambridge when he was part of an Essex team playing the university, was a really great guy).
(Allan Border with the Ashes)
Mark Taylor took over and the team continued its rise – the debut of Shane Warne being an immensely important part of their rise to dominance. From 1993 to 2008 the team lost justsix series out of forty-three (one in Pakistan, one in Sri Lanka, three in India – they never beat India at home – and one in England).
(Shane Warne’s Ball of the century)
In that period the team also won three consecutive World Cups – obliterating a powerful India team in the 2003 final and showing immense character in 1999 to win a semi-final against South Africa that they should have lost (and starting South Africa’s reputation as World Cup chokers).
The team was strong enough to pretty much ignore the talents of Stuart Law and Darren Lehman, men who would have been the mainstays of other international teams. Players were dropped if they did not perform or if they did not have the right approach and attitude.
Under Steve Waugh they doubled down and became one of the most aggressive attacking teams in the world. Now with the talents of Glenn McGrath to open the bowling they were almost invincible. If you were picking a best Australian team of all time it would be hard to deny that Taylor, Hayden, Ponting, Steve Waugh, Gilchrist, Warne and McGrath would not be part of it (I would add Bradman, Greg Chappell, Lillee and Lindwall to make an 11).
The dynasty’s downfall was the 2005 series against England. It was a close series with England winning 2-1. Not just that but England’s victories were by 2 runs at Edgbaston and 3 wickets at Trent Bridge (heart in mouth time as Warne looked unplayable as England chased a low total). Glenn McGrath was injured for these matches – now that is something you have to expect with fast bowlers as they get older, England had suffered multiple issues with injuries throughout the 1990s, but if he had not been I am certain England would not have won either game.
This was genuinely a series that enthralled the UK as it was a constant subject of discussion at work and when I visited my family. I was in the kitchen in Brightlingsea when Brett Lee and Mike Kasprowicz almost pulled off a miracle victory at Edgbaston.
(Andrew Flintoff comforts Brett Lee at the end of the 2005 Edgbaston test)
The bigger thing for the Australians turned out to be that no one wanted to leave on a bum note like that and pretty much the same team destroyed England 5-0 in 2006/07. Then the retirements came thick and fast. McGrath and Warne at the end of the series – two of the best bowlers of all time – no team would be the same without them, as well as Justin Langer. Adam Gilchrist and Matt Hayden followed just six tests later. Jason Gillespie had gone just before that Ashes series.
(Langer, McGrath and Warne retire from test cricket – great players but glad to see the back of them)
If Australia had won in England in 2005 I think those retirements would have been spread out more. Ricky Ponting had to cope with rebuilding a team in the way that no one had had to do since Border in 1985 (I never understood the English hatred of Ponting – talented batsman and a great commentator). This is not to say that Australia became a bad team – they continue to be a strong team and win far more than they lose. But they are no longer a great team – the dynasty was broken.
Glenn McGrath’s ankle injury at Edgbaston may not have just lost them that test it may have meant the end to the second great international cricket dynasty of my lifetime.
One song from Gloworm – the title always reminds of those squeaky bum moments in 2005.
Serial killers seem to exert a massive hold on the collective consciousness in the modern world. I think my first encounter with the concept was when I read the second volume of Sandman – The Doll’s House. After this there was The Silence of the Lambs (SOTL) and now there are films, TV series and podcasts focussing on them.
One of the less well known is Il Monstro – the Monster of Florence. He preyed on women and courting couple around Florence, taking advantage of the Catholic culture’s prohibition on pre-marital sex as couples parked in out of the way places.
He was never definitively caught, prosecutions were mired in the corrupt culture in Italy at the time (not prejudice – my friend Paolo has talked a lot about that culture in general). There were various suspects but nothing could ever be proved.
(Il Monstro)
The TV series Hannibal (the life of the young Hannibal Lecter, well pre SOTL) had him go to Florence in the appropriate time period. Hannibal was a bit arty for my taste but it showed an incredibly beautiful city. Hannibal left a trail of death across the city.
In 2015 Dad and I went on a tour of Italy and one day of that was in Florence. It is a magnificent city with a striking cathedral. Any church in Italy seems to be worth a visit as even the smallest has something special in it.
(Cathedral in Florence)
The food in Italy is wonderful – so many great places to eat proper Italian food, even in the tourist traps if you look away from the main streets. Paolo (https://fivemilesout.home.blog/2020/09/30/and-at-work-i-just-take-some-time/ ) told me that one of the biggest differences between the UK and Italy was the art. I really did not get it until I went there. Art is everywhere, frescos, statues, paintings – in public places, in churches in museums. I am not a big fan of “art” but the beauty of the work of the Italian renaissance and post renaissance artist was really something else – I particularly love Canaletto.
Obviously you need to try and avoid the tat that is sold in tourist shops, but that applies anywhere. Everywhere in Italy also seemed to have designer shops – even quite small villages would have high end stores. Maybe they were aimed at tourists but I am not sure all could have been. It was noticeable in Florence how stylishly the locals were addressed – especially the women.
One day was not enough to even touch on this place and I really want to go back. Along with Venice and Rome it deserves a much longer examination. I love Italy and the Italian people.
This is the exact position they used for the establishing shots in Hannibal. When we stopped there I had to get a shot of me there. Panama hats are cool.
On the whole trip I was listening to a compilation called Magic Bus – a lot of hippie music which fitted the lovely weather. This is Scott McKenzie.
One evening in the early 90s I sat down and read the three Miracleman graphic novels in one go – these were the ones published by Eclipse Comics that went out of print for two decades.
Marvelman was based on Captain Marvel, better known as Shazam! now (https://fivemilesout.home.blog/2020/06/05/just-take-your-seat-and-hold-on-tight/ ). When legal proceedings from DC Comics stopped Captain Marvel’s publication the British reprint comic faced running out of material. Marvelman was born – the stories were very basic and rather insane – with villains like Young Nastyman and Marvelman’s gang – Young Marvelman and Kid Marvelman (surely Marvelkid would have been better?).
Eventually it was cancelled, but Dez Skinn (owner and editor of Warrior) had Alan Moore and Gary Leach bring him back. It was Moore’s first reinvention of an old character that totally changed the everything about the strip’s concept. He started off with bringing Marvelman back in an episode at a nuclear power station that culminated with this ecstatic panel (originally it was I’m Marvelman and I’m back – more on that soon).
Moore showed the darkness at the heart of this world when Marvelman realised that Kid Marvelman had survived the nuclear explosion that robbed him of his memory. Only his sidekick had used his unfettered power for evil and he had 20 years more experience. The battle between the two of them is scary in its intensity and Marvelman wins by accident when the villain reverts to his human form by mistake (the same way Superman has continually defeated Mr Mxyztplk). Gary Leach left the strip as his work was so slow (though beautiful).
Alan Davis took over on art, making the Moore/ Davis team the creative team behind the UK’s only two superhero strips (Captain Britain was the other). A dozen or so issues more and Marvel comics realised what was going and objected to the name, even though Marvelman had existed long before Marvel Comics. Moore refused to compromise on the name and the strip went on hiatus – with Marvelman rendered powerless for an hour and an augmented Miracledog with his powers chasing him through the South American Jungle.
(Miracleman’s human form loses two fingers)
Eclipse published the stories in America (DC would not touch it due to the Marvel connection) and book two was wrapped up with some substandard art from Chuck Beckum and some wonderful art from Rick Veitch. It included a very graphic depiction of Marvelman’s wife giving birth – his daughter being the first of a new generation of humanity. The title of the above volume gives you a pretty good clue about how Moore linked the whimsical, silly stories of the 50s with the gritty reality of his strips. It also revealed Miraclewoman who had been the villain’s side project – and it was casually mentioned that not only had her life been a manipulated dream but that she had also been repeatedly raped. Moore’s record on the use of rape is questionable.
(Mount Olympus)
The third book, Olympus, takes place mostly as a flashback after the Miracle family have built a supposed Golden Age on Earth (a lovely scene as Thatcher is put her in her place when they destroy the world’s stock of nuclear arms and declare capitalism over).
The physical climax is with a returned Kid Miracleman (whose human form has been tortured by older children in a home for orphans and he finally brings his evil alter ego back when some bullies are about to rape him) who has rampaged through London torturing and killing to get the Miracle family’s attention (they were off world). Truly one of the most disturbing scenes in comics ever and a more realistic portrayal of what a world with omega level supervillains would be like.
Miracleman wins again, just. Unlike their first encounter he does not take the risk of Kid Miracleman coming back and kills his human alter ego, Johnny Bates – a child that has known only fear for years. Founding Olympus on murder and violence. Miracleman leaves his human wife for Miraclewoman and never becomes human again. He lives on top of the world granting boons to humans who can reach his home, though in an unfathomable inhuman way.
(Despite unspeakable crimes Kid Miracleman is loved by some of humanity)
The question of ownership was never really resolved. Marvelman had been co owned by Moore, Leach and Skinn then Moore, Davis, Skinn and Leach, but it turned out that they never obtained the rights from Mick Anglo in the first place (Dez Skinn had been….misleading). Todd McFarlane bought the rights to Miracleman when Eclipse went bust, but as the Warrior copyright holders had never had them to sell to Eclipse in the first place that just made it the situationworse.
Finally Marvel did a deal that brought the character to them. It was tied up with copyright issues that Neil Gailman had with Todd McFarlane, primarily bringing the character of Angela to Marvel, joining the Asgardian pantheon, whilst other characters that Gaiman had created belonged to the Spawn universe.
(Angela)
Moore was unhappy and his name is not on the Marvel reprint books. It’s a shame, but one (of the many) things I admire about Alan Moore is that he holds to his principles.
Even now this is one of the definitive superhero stories and a classic from Moore.
That night I reread it all to a CD single of this track – with seven different versions playing one after another. The techno style seemed a good fit for the book.
Five Miles Out 