HAPPY 62nd BIRTHDAY TO DOCTOR WHO!!!

On the evening of November 23, 1963, the BBC aired An Unearthly Child, the very first episode of Doctor Who... and history was made.

Back in 2009, I convinced Rachel to watch this episode "to gauge her opinion of what I regard as one of the single, finest episodes of science-fiction ever screened". 

Here's what I wrote at the time (with some mathematical adjustments): 

I'm pleased to report that she enjoyed it; her only problems were the graininess of the image (well, it was filmed in 1963) and she couldn't accept Susan (Carole Ann Ford) as a 15-year-old. Rachel said: "She looked more like 30!"

Could anyone have imagined, when this episode was first screened [62] years ago, the infinite possibilities for storytelling that were being opened up?

Kicking off with a pitch-perfect first episode helped Doctor Who hit the ground running, dropping hints about the mysterious genius schoolgirl, Susan, and her enigmatic Grandfather (William Hartnell) and posing many questions that - to this day - remain unanswered!

Coal Hill School teachers Ian Chesterton (William Russell) and Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill), teachers of science and history respectively (the two subjects the series was initially most interested in), want to find out more about their star pupil and head to the address the school has for her.

It turns out to be a junkyard where they meet a strange, white-haired old man (The Doctor) who tries to drive them off and stop them poking around an old police box (where Ian thinks the man might be holding Susan prisoner!).

Instead Susan opens the door of the police box and the teachers walk in... to find themselves in the control room of the TARDIS... and nothing will ever be the same again, either for them or for the viewers.

How mind-blowing must it have been in 1963 to watch these people step through the doors of a 'normal' police box and find themselves in the vast, hi-tech expanse of a space and time ship?

William Hartnell's Doctor, at this stage, is still rather irascible and certainly doesn't appreciate the interference of two busybody teachers into his time on Earth (fixing the TARDIS and, we discover many years later, dealing with the Hand Of Omega).

Hence, his rather impetuous way of keeping his and Susan's secret - transporting the TARDIS away randomly, taking Ian and Barbara with them!

The TARDIS clearly isn't fully repaired as its first televised journey manages to knock Ian and Barbara unconscious and The Doctor and Susan appear rather strained by it as well.

They have travelled back to Earth's Stone Age and that is a story (called variously The Tribe Of Gum, 100,000BC, The Stone Age, The Cavemen etc) which I've always, rather cheekily, considered its own entity. I feel An Unearthly Child suffers if lumped in with this subsequent, less-than-enthralling adventure.

Of course, the main thing is that Rachel didn't fall asleep or wander off while An Unearthly Child was playing and allowed me to explain to her why this one episode is so important - because without it we wouldn't have over [60] years of Doctor Who and all the books, CDs, magazines, action figures etc

The TV listing in November 23's issue of the Daily Mirror.
NB. The actual broadcast was slightly delayed because of
the assassination of President Kennedy the day before.

To mark the Doctor's anniversary - which really should be a national holiday - here are a small selection of special online episodes from the show:

And this fan documentary looks at the return of Doctor Who after its extended hiatus through the "dark times":

The Birth of Cinematic Science Fiction

We’re going back more than a century to the very beginning of science fiction on film. Between 1898 and 1909, filmmakers were already imagining space travel, invisible men, and electric machines that could think for themselves. This video collects eight of the earliest sci-fi films ever made. Short, strange, and full of early cinematic magic.

Archie Gets Groovy Facing The Army of Darkness

Robert Hack cover art for Archie X The Army of Darkness,
from Dynamite and Archie Comics

Clearly February is the month for crazy comic book crossovers. Following the exciting announcement of the Fantastic Four landing on The Planet of The Apes, it's now come to my attention that a certain Ash Williams (of Evil Dead/Army of Darkness fame) is paying a visit to Riverdale - to save Archie and his crew from a soul-sucking horde of zombie deadites!

There’s a certain man – name’s Ash, you may have heard of him – who is doomed to battle against the forces of evil, over and over again, whether he likes it or not. No matter where he goes, the cycle of violence always repeats itself – until the day that he arrives in the picturesque town of Riverdale.

This supernaturally wholesome community seems to break the curse that has plagued Ash ever since he first encountered its otherworldly evil all those years ago. Or rather, the curse was broken – until an over-curious teenager named Archie finds a copy of the Necronomicon Ex Mortis and reads a portion of it aloud, summoning the horrifying Deadites once again!

Now Ash and the good townsfolk of Riverdale must hold back the undead hordes long enough for Archie to undo what he’s unwittingly done. Otherwise, an Army of Darkness will roll over Riverdale and destroy everything and everyone in its path – and that’s just not going to happen on Ashley J. Williams’s watch!

Fresh-faced author Erik Burnham (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ghostbusters) joins wide-eyed artist Bill Galvan (Archie, Guardians of the Galaxy) for a long night’s journey into mayhem with Archie X Army of Darkness #1!

Burnham's run on Ghostbusters was superb, so I have high hopes for this melding of two very different humorous franchises when the first issue arrives in stores in February.

Featuring clean-cut covers from Galvan, Robert Hack, Laura Braga, Craig Cermak, and Stuart Sayger , this premier issue also boasts a special Premium Mystery Blind Bag that contains three limited editions of the issue selected randomly from a range of variant covers exclusive to this offering – including two original covers by Galvan and Francesco Francavilla, as well as multiple line art variants and coloured blanks. Please Note: The number of Blind Bags is limited, and allocations may occur.

It's Clobberin' Time On The Planet of The Apes

Main cover art for issue one by Greg Land

Considering Marvel's historic connection with the Planet of The Apes franchise, since it regained the license in 2022 it feels as though it has done very little with it.

But that's all about to change. The last Ape-centric title Marvel gave us was the underwhelming Beware The Planet of The Apes, back in mid-2024, but next February the publisher brings its First Family into conflict with simian-kind with the mini-series Planet of The Apes versus Fantastic Four.

The four-part serial is written by Josh Trujillo with art from Andrea Di Vito and Erick Arciniega.

In a first for this combination of popular franchises, the Fantastic Four arrive on the Planet of the Apes:

"Witness history as the Fantastic Four cross paths for the very first time with Cornelius, Zira, Ursus – and of course Dr. Zaius! But they won't be going alone! Familiar foes from the Marvel Universe have set their sights on Ape City, setting the stage for a battle royale that fans won't soon forget!"

While not the most enticing or original plot hook, this book is still the first, official, chance to see such a mix of beloved characters all in one place.

Interior artwork from Planet of The Apes versus Fantastic Four

PROJECT 60: What Does The Future Hold?

As I race towards my sixtieth birthday next year, I can't help feeling that it's time I got my "collecting" hobbies under control before I end up on an episode of Hoarders or Rachel finds me buried under a collapsed pile of books, comics, and blu-rays!

I've already mentioned that my life-long love affair with roleplaying games is dwindling, thanks to the dawning realisation that I'm never going to run a "forever campaign" that comes close to my hopes and dreams.

I still want to keep playing, and won't - and can't - stop thinking about RPGs, but the constant need to be working on 'my next great roleplaying project' has definitely eased off. 

Picture, if you can, the amount of space I could create in our house if I sold off all the games (and supplements) that I own but which I'll never read or revisit.

That's going to take a lot of effort to do properly, but it might generate a decent sum of money to bulk up my ever-shrinking bank account.

On the other hand, I'm currently thinking of burying myself in Cubicle 7's Doctor Who RPG, just not with any expectation of running it (it's simply not a game I could imagine my group, The Tuesday Knights, taking to).

However, I quite fancy the idea of creating Whoniverse scenarios, settings, gadgets, aliens etc to share with the readers of this blog.

If I were to return to running a campaign, with any chance of it surviving more than three or four sessions, it would almost certainly embrace the simplicity of old school Dungeons & Dragons-style gaming. As I did many years ago with the Tuesday Knight's three-year Heroes & Other Worlds campaign.

Honestly, I'd just really love to run a hardcore dungeoncrawl at some point. Just not now.

For reasons of both space and finances, I also need to trim my comic book pull-list from its current 25 titles a month down to something more manageable.

Part of my problem has been that my osteoarthritis has made me feel so uncomfortable that concentrating on reading (and finding a good position to do so) has led to a four or five month backlog of unread comics.

Some, I fear, will have to remain unread if I ever want to get back up-to-date.

Going forward, I'm thinking of streamlining my reading to: DC's Superman (and family); Marvel's Fantastic Four; and Titan's Howardverse titles (Conan The Barbarian, Savage Sword, Solomon Kane etc)

There'll be a few odds and ends in there as well: such as Dynamite's "occasional" Fire and Ice.

I've also heard a rumour that the long-delayed Afterlife With Archie (the greatest unfinished zombie comic book saga of all time) might have finally - after a 10 year hiatus - clawed its way out of the grave to resume its run, but I'll only believe it once that new issue is in my hands.

Of course, on top of all this, there's still my monthly Judge Dredd Megazine subscription and odd runs of 2000AD (I'm still undecided on whether to wean myself off the latter or take out a subscription to sit parallel with my Megazine one).

So, that's still a lot of comics each month, but - as long as I can catch up - it feels like it'll be easier to keep on top of.

THROWBACK THURSDAY: How Many 50-Year-Olds Have Superhero-Themed Birthday Parties? Not Enough

The 'Must-Eat League': from left - Richard, Erica, Paul, Jeni, Pete, Me, Nick, and Clare...

The month of celebrations for my half-century (in 2016) came to an end with a superhero-themed meal at the Oriental Buffet in Tonbridge, with a loose comic book-inspired dress code.

You can't really go wrong with an all-you-can-eat dining experience, accentuated by a selection of T-shirts and outfits that ran the gamut from Richard's Batman shirt (he wore the plastic Bat-mask for 90 per cent of the evening as well, which was true dedication to the theme) to Jeni's She-ra costume (complete with gauntlets and headgear) and Rachel's bespoke Marvel comic book dress.

As well as having decorated our table ahead of time with appropriate balloons (several of which also survived the journey home afterwards), my wonderful wife still had one gobsmacking surprise up her sleeve: the best birthday cake ever!

Based on Des Taylor's design from my main birthday present, it was the scumptious, double-decker cake you can see below (created by a local cake aficionado), complete with Acrobatic Flea, Flash, and Supergirl decorations:

BEST. CAKE. EVER!

BEST. WIFE. EVER!

Special mention has to be made of how Paul turned up at our door, before we went to the restaurant. The doorbell rang, and I opened the door to be greeted by The Black Power Ranger!

Apparently he'd changed into his superhero alter ego outside our house (although I still suspect he'd travelled down from London on the train like this, only he'd used super-ninja skills to blend in with the crowd).

Sadly, the costume was too uncomfortable - and totally impractical - for going to a restaurant in. But major kudos for borrowing this outfit and throwing himself into the spirit of the evening!

What Is Seen Cannot Be Unseen: Alice has no clue as to what is happening at this point!

Pennywise Shows His Hand In Welcome to Derry

The Portable Door (2023)

Desperate for a job to cover his rent, bumbling Paul Carpenter (Patrick Gibson) - through a series of unlikely coincidences - stumbles into an interview at London's mysterious J.W. Wells and Co.

Somehow acing the interview, he and fellow interviewee, Sophie Pettingel (Sophie Wilde), are taken on as interns.

It is only then that they truly discover what the company does: magically shift reality to create beneficial coincidences for their clients.

Paul, it seems, has a gift for "divining", which company CEO Humphrey Wells (Christoph Waltz) seeks to use to find his missing "portable door" (which turns out to be a brilliant magical device capable of opening portals to anywhere the user desires).

However, there are forces within the company seeming set upon blocking Paul's progress.

Overall, The Portable Door is a fun, fantasy adventure, with an amazing cast of distinguished actors, such as Sam Neill and Miranda Otto, bringing their A-games to a variety of supporting roles.

Based, apparently, on the first in a series of books by Tom Holt, the twists and misdirections in Leon Ford's script (directed by Jeffrey Walker) are impressively orchestrated, if occasionally obvious.

However, while I'm all in favour of weirdness and inexplicable goings-on in my films, for what is essentially a "young adult" story there's a bit too much obfuscation and confusion in the narrative, hindered by the common problem that a lot of the action takes place in poorly lit environments.

There is also the issue of the story's obvious comparisons to the Harry Potter franchise, with JW Wells feeling like a corporate Hogwarts - with a dash of Warehouse 13 craziness thrown in for good measure.

Paul is a Harry/Ron surrogate, the gifted Sophie is a Hermione, Sam Neill's hostile Dennis Tanner is Snape, Miranda Otto (drawing upon her Zelda Spellman from Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) as Countess Judy is Professor McGonagall etc

The way the story employs supernatural goblins is also an obvious similarity (not that JK Rowling has a copyright on "goblins", of course).

Nevertheless, for all the Potterisms on display, ultimately the world of The Portable Door remains intriguing and full of possibilities.

Running for almost two hours, the film doesn't drag, but could also do with tightening its belt a bit. It certainly doesn't need to be that long.

I've never heard of Tom Holt's J.W. Wells & Co. book series, and this didn't make me want to rush out and read them but I'd certainly be interested in seeing further adaptations in this "corporate magic" style of adventure.

Another Magnificent Birthday Celebration Under My Tightening Belt

The biggest afternoon tea Rachel and I have ever seen

Last weekend, I marked my birthday with a level of food consumption that would have made Mr Creosote proud.

In my excitement, I fear I may have gotten a bit carried away. With the constraint of my current increased state of disability, my usual "going out and doing something active for the day" was put on hold, making way for a number of magnificent food-centric activities instead.

On Saturday, Rachel's parents took us - including Alice - for a meal at my favourite, nearby pub-restaurant, where I managed to consume a three-course Christmas meal. In the evening, watching Strictly in a borderline food coma, I could only manage a bowl of ice cream (I needed something to take some of my pills with).

Then on Sunday Rachel, Alice and I went to the wonderful Pup Cup (the dog café in Tonbridge High Street), where Rachel had prebooked us afternoon tea for two.

It turned out to be the biggest (and most delicious) afternoon tea either of us had ever seen (see picture above), and we ended up having to take a few top tier cakes away in a "doggie bag" for later.

The evening was rounded off with a KFC, although I suspect that might have been a "wafer thin mint" too far 😂

My weekend of excess ended up with me not feeling particularly chipper in the middle of Sunday night and fearing I might explode. However, I got back to sleep and felt a lot better by Monday morning.

This week I've been halving my daily portions of breakfast toast, snacks etc

Haven't even started my birthday cake yet!

Family meal on Saturday

Dog-themed t-shirts for dog-themed café

Downing my favourite strawberry milkshake

Alice always loves The Pup Cup for the attention she gets 

Presents waiting for me on my birthday morning

Wonderful presents from Rachel

Rachel turned me into a Funko Pop!

Pop! me comes holding a comic book and a pizza box - seems about right!

Amazing presents from Rachel's parents