Wyrd Britain mix 8

As Autumn progresses and Winter looms I thought I’d make a, mostly, mellow and late night sounding mix to ease us all into November but then I flipped that on its head by putting a Syd Dale classic in the middle, oh well.

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Opening the mix is some glorious hauntological folk-tronica by Revbjelde, with guest vocals from Emma Churchley, taken from their fabulous 'The Weeping Tree' EP which has been one of a few things clamouring for space on my player of late.
https://buriedtreasure.bandcamp.com/album/the-weeping-tree

Next up is some very late era BBC Radiophonic Workshop with a track from Mark Ayres’ terrific soundtrack to the Sylvester McCoy Doctor Who serial ‘The Curse of Fenric’. Mark is also the curator of the workshop and one of the current touring line-up.

Depeche Mode’s Martin Gore released his second solo album this year made using his enviable collection of modular synths. The album, ‘MG’, is a sumptuous and rolling set of electronic burbles and bloops that manages to create a real period vibe whilst remaining utterly contemporary.

Someone else who manages this temporal juggling act, and does so perhaps better than anyone else, is Boards of Canada and their ‘Kid For Today’ is evidence of this with its textured washes , clattering rhythms and xylophone-esque melodies swirling through the fog of childhood half-memories.

Neil Fellows’ ‘Encounter’ is a tune I discovered on a very good Close Encounters of the Third Kind tribute album, 'Electronic Encounters'. Its hauntological reminiscence of both the film and the iconic melody made it for me the stand out track on what is a very fine collection.
https://electronicencounters.bandcamp.com/album/electronic-encounters-music-inspired-by-close-encounters-of-the-third-kind

John Keating’s ‘Space Experience’ is one I originally found in a box of LPs in a remote antique centre in mid Wales. The title and the words ‘featuring E.M.S. Synth VCS3’ were always going to be enough to get me to part with my money. The album is an odd mix of original tunes (like the one featured), show tunes (‘Jesus Christ Superstar’), cheesy pop classics (‘I Feel the Earth Move’) and theme tunes (‘Star Trek’).

Jon Baker is a name I’m sure is familiar to many of you. One of the classic triumvirate of Radiophonic Workshoppers Baker’s re-purposed and re-configured twangs, clangs, toots and boops are here melded with his keen Jazz sensibilities to soundtrack a 1960s crime show. Taken from the album ‘John Baker – The Vendetta Tapes’, out now on Buried Treasure.
https://buriedtreasure.bandcamp.com/album/the-vendetta-tapes

And so we arrive at an all time classic Syd Dale’s ‘Marching There and Back’ or more commonly known to entire generations of Brits as the theme tune from ‘Screen Test’. A more triumphant and exuberant piece of music you’d be hard pressed to find; just try and listen without singing along.

Keith Seatman is someone whose music I first heard in the context of my old experimental music zine, ‘WonderfulWooden Reasons’ and who’s album left me craving more. His latest, ‘A Rest Before the Walk’, is an utterly glorious selection of filmic folk and ghostly electronica that is utterly mesmerising from first to last.
https://keithseatman.bandcamp.com/album/a-rest-before-the-walk

Closing the mix is Howlround and abandoned playground’s collaborative track ‘OH’ made using micro-cassette field recordings, chimes and distant trains. This version is taken from the Xpylon charity comp but a different extended mix opens the fabulous new Howlround album, ‘Tales from the Black Tangle’.
http://thefogsignals.com/track/oh

Hope you enjoy.

Wyrd Britain 8 by Quiet World on Mixcloud

Children of the Stones (novelisation)

Children of the Stones 1st edition

Jeremy Burnham & Trevor Ray
Carousel Books

Adam Brake, an astrophysicist, and his son Matthew try to unravel the mystery behind the peculiar behaviour of the inhabitants of the little English village of Milbury while investigating the ancient stone circle surrounding it.

A lot of the time I buy or read books based on the cover art.  I'll often hang back on a book I'm really interested in until I can find the specific edition with my preferred cover image and so it's taken me several years but I've finally hunted down a 1st edition copy of the novelisation of this classic 70s kids TV show.

Trevor Ray

Matthew Brake and his astrophysicist father Adam have arrived in the small village of Milbury in order to research the 53 standing stones that surround the village.  Once there they find themselves confronted by villagers who are friendly but creepy with their solicitous behaviour and their 'Happy day' salutations and overseeing them all, Rafael Hendrick, lord(ish) of the manor and all round shifty sort.

Jeremy Burnham

Father and son soon start to realise that it's not just the locals who are strange but also the stones themselves as psychic phenomena builds along with the tension before the book culminates with a finale as enigmatic in print as it is on film.

Obviously a novelisation is always going to retain a great deal of it's source material but this is a particularly slavish, though well written, one.  The small illustrations heading each chapter even retain the likenesses of the core cast.  This doesn't mean it isn't an enjoyable enough read though but it is one that is lacking in any sort of tension for anyone with a knowledge of the series.

Buy it here - Children of the Stones

Grinny

Nicholas Fisk
Puffin Books

Great Aunt Emma is no ordinary old lady. But why is she so strange? For a start, she just appeared, grinning, on the doorstep, as if from nowhere. Why have Mum and Dad never mentioned her before - after all, she is supposed to be Granny's sister, isn't she?
Soon Tim and Beth start noticing more and more odd things about the great-aunt they've nicknamed 'Grinny'. And before long, they make a horrifying discovery. She isn't even human, she's as dangerous as a time-bomb and she has a fearful task to perform which involves them…

When Great Aunt Emma turns up on the Carpenters doorstep one morning they are surprised to say the least.  Not only by her sudden appearance but by the fact that they didn't even know she existed.  The adults come to accept her presence almost immediately but the kids remain sceptical as with her naivety of the obvious, her constant questioning, her total recall and her lack of any sort of smell she's a definite enigma.

Fisk's writing style gives 'Grinny' - at least until the finale - the feel of one of Joan Aiken's 'Armitage Family' stories with it's middle class, middle England setting littered with literary references from the likes of William Blake and with a lead character, Timothy, who shares a period 'Boy's Own' spirit with Mark Armitage.  It's through Tim's diary that the story is told and as such it's filled with a strange sort of chummy sexism that seems anachronistic even for the 1973 publishing date. Tim's bright but vengeful sister is in many way the central character in the plot as she uncovers much of the going s on and puts the lie to Tim's misogynistic witterings.

The resolution of the story is a little untidy and oddly unsatisfying in it's vindictive cruelty but I suppose considering the alternative it's justified and works to round off a brief but diverting read.

Buy it here -  Grinny: Grinny & You Remember Me

The Woman in Black (1989)

  

Produced for ITV and broadcast on Christmas Eve 1989 this version of Susan Hill's novel was adapted for the screen by Quatermass creator Nigel Kneale.

The story tells of a junior solicitor, Arthur Kidd, and his journey to the town of Crythin Gifford in order to attend the funeral of local reclusive widow, Mrs. Drablow.  Once there he finds a village fearful of both her isolated home, Eel Marsh House, and of a mysterious black clad woman who Kidd keeps catching sight of.

Soon Kidd's duties necessitate his taking up residence in Eel Marsh where he discovers that the house's evil reputation is well deserved.

Director Herbert Wise has conjured a restrained and in many ways a somewhat old fashioned air of menace that he maintains throughout.  In this he is ably aided by both the script and some fine performances from his cast including Adrian Rawlins as Kidd (who would later play James (father of Harry) Potter), (Colditz Kommandant) Bernard Hepton as local bigwig Sam Toovey, Brit TV stalwart David Daker as pub landlord Josiah Freston and Pauline Moran (Poirot's Miss Lemon) as the titular Woman.

As I understand it this is, with some small changes, a mostly faithful adaptation of the novel and shows an admirable mastery of the form by Hill, Kneale and Wise who have produced a low key and deliciously eerie film that finds terror in disembodied sounds, the laughter of children, the superstition of villagers and the presence of an enigmatic figure.  It's a form of horror rarely seen these days outside of the BBCs Christmas ghost story adaptations of James' (and others) works and with it's Christmas Eve scheduling one can't help but think this was intended as a direct challenge to that series and a successful one at that.

I've not read the book or seen the more recent movie (starring Daniel Radcliffe) but I must admit I'm intrigued to do so in the case of the former, less so the latter, as what we have here is an adaptation that shows a story very much in the vein of M.R. James and the classic Victorian and Edwardian ghost story writers. 

(edit - since writing this I have indeed read the book.  My write up can be found here)

As a fan of both Kneale and of stories written and/or set in that era I have been long intrigued by this one and was very happy to discover that it was eminently watchable, downright spooky and a complete delight. 

Buy it here - UK / US .



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65 Great Tales of the Supernatural

Mary Danby (editor)
Octopus Books

This powerful and comprehensive collection of 65 brilliant stories contains the best of all the well-known writers of the supernatural, both old and new, with some stories specifically commissioned for this volume.

I've grown to love these anthologies particularly the older stories which this mammoth tome has in spades.  It also features a fairly large smattering of (at the time of publication) modern writers.

Of the 65 here it's the famous that have been represented by their A-game pieces.  Robert Aickman opens the book with the sublime terror of his 'Ringing the Changes', E.F. Benson's 'The Bus Conductor' will be familiar to some from it's film version in the 1945 Ealing Films classic 'Dead of Night'.  M.R. James' 'Lost Hearts' makes it's customary appearance as does William Hope Hodgson's Carnacki classic 'The Whistling Room', Robert Louis Stevenson's 'The Body Snatcher' and Nigel Kneale's 'Minuke'.

Robert Aickman

Alongside these and other key authors such as Algernon Blackwood ('Keeping His Promise'), Ambrose Bierce ('The Middle Toe of the Right Foot'), Charles Dickens ('The Signal-Man'), Arthur Conan Doyle ('The Brown Hand'), Mark Twain ('A Ghost Story'), H.G. Wells ('The Red Room') and Dennis Wheatley ('The Case of the Long-Dead Lord'), editor Mary Danby has gathered an intriguing selection of lesser known authors such as Charles Birkin whose 'Little Boy Blue' is an affectingly grim tale of childhood friendship and Dorothy K. Haynes' intense and horrific hotel in 'Those Lights and Violins'.

Adrian Cole

Rounding out the collection is a selection of more modern storytellers such as Adrian Cole who does a Cornish Lovecraft (who's also here with his excellent 'Moon Bog') pastiche called 'The Horror under Penmire', Danby herself gives a nifty tale of well-deserved comeuppance with 'The Engelmayer Puppets', Roger Malisson brings the creepy, small town horror in 'A Fair Lady' and Tim Vicary's heart wrenching 'Guest Room'  is a real highlight.

Since it was published in 1979 (mine is a 1982 4th edition) this book has become a charity shop staple but please don't let that put you off as it really is a corking collection.  OK so maybe there isn't 65 'great'tales but there's certainly a large proportion of the freaky and the fabulous.  There's a couple of tales that are very much not 'great' but Danby has compiled a fairly solid collection and there's a great deal of macabre fun to be had here.

A Year In The Country - In Every Mind

An apology:  I started writing this review several months ago and it got somewhat derailed by my taking a short cut down a flight of stairs and not being able to finish it due to the whole operation and recuperation thing, not to mention the accompanying opiates.  So, it's very late going online but it is still available on both download and disc - I just checked - so it's definitely worth sharing.

Spinning out from his really rather wonderful blog of the same name is A Year In The Country's 'In Every Mind' a collection of 12 tracks that act as an eminently suitable companion to the blog itself.

The music has a stated inspirational link to 1960s UK television oddity 'The Owl Service' but it'll take better ears than mine to point out any links other than a shared hallucinatory quality that leaves a distinct feeling of perplexed awe at the conclusion.  What I can hear are echoes of the synthesizer rich David Cronenberg soundtracks woven through the deep, dark, sonic manipulations of British post-industrialists like Coil and dada cut-up maestros Nurse with Wound alongside the haunted, bucolic, landscapes of Comus and the Incredible String Band.

'In Every Mind' is a set that traverses genres and crashes notional boundaries with abandon creating a truly mesmerising array of sounds that are melded to great a ghost fiction; a spectral narrative haunting the echoes of a half remembered chimerical fantasy.

Jackanory

Between 1965 and 1996 the BBC produced several thousand episodes of a series based around a wonderfully simple idea; an actor / author reading a story in 15 minute chunks directly to camera.  The series, 'Jackanory', became a staple of children's television featuring many key books, authors and actors during it's long run.

Alongside folktales, classic fairy tales and long established writers such as Roald Dahl, Lewis Carroll, Beatrix Potter and P.L. Travers it also featured stories by less recognisable or less mainstream authors such as J. G. Ballard, Joan Aiken and Richard Hughes.

The list of those who signed up to read stories speaks volumes about the regard that the programme was held in; from the programmes most prolific reader Bernard Cribbins (who read some 114 different stories) and other well known British TV icons such as Spike Milligan, Kenneth Williams, Brian Cant, Thora Hird and Joyce Grenfell through 7 different incarnations of The Doctor (numbers 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 & War) to royalty (Prince Charles) and international superstars like Peter Sellers, Michael Palin, Ian McKellen, Liam Neeson, Patrick Stewart and Judi Dench.

In 2006, 10 years after the original series ended, the BBC produced two new stories, dedicated several hours of BBC4 to a celebration of the show (Jackanory Night) and created an hour long documentary celebrating it's history.

Enjoy.

Wyrd Britain mix 7: Grey Malkin guest mix

Today Wyrd Britain is happy to present the first in an occasional series of guest mixes for our monthly mixcloud music session.  First up is Scottish musician Grey Malkin.

Grey Malkin is the brains behind 'The Hare and the Moon' whose music melds the dark majesty of Coil with the rural psychedelia of the British Acid Folk scene.  He is also a regular contributor to The Active Listener blogzine.  Below are his thoughts on the music that makes up his mix.

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Stone Angel – Stone Angel
I am a huge fan and an avid collector of the period of folk music in the late 60s/early 70s where something a bit darker and ‘out there’ permeated, creating what is now often labelled acid, wyrd or psych folk. Albums such as ‘Swaddling Songs’ by Mellow Candle, Caedmon’s self-titled debut album and those by Mr Fox, Sourdeline, Forest and Stone Angel are all exceptionally inspired and truly creative. Over the last few years their influence is really starting to be acknowledged which is gratifying and some of these recordings (which were often private pressings or sold very few copies at the time) have become easier to get hold of. Stone Angel’s debut is one such album and comes highly recommended; its gothic folk and chilling skeletal sparseness has been a huge influence on my own music.

Coil – Backwards
If I had to choose a band that has meant the most to me throughout the years Coil is the one that springs immediately to mind. I always return to them, they describe the world as I know it to be and how I perceive it. Liminal, lunar and lysergic their likes will never be seen of again. But the legacy they have left is some of the most emotive, transportive and pleasingly disturbed music that has ever and will ever exist. Everything is indeed backwards.

Human Greed – World Fair Theme
Human Greed (or Michael Begg) is, for me, one of the foremost composers or musicians working today. His music is just immense, the emotional impact of it and the ease with which it soaks into the air and the atmosphere. It doesn’t feel right at all to describe his music as ambient as it is not background in any sense, it is intensely affecting and demands full attention and care. I would recommend any of their work to a newcomer but ‘World Fair’ is a personal favourite, the attention to detail and the sheer beauty and melancholy of it is astounding. Michael was a first choice for me to master ‘Wood Witch’, the last The Hare And The Moon album, as I wanted something of that sense of size and space in how it sounded. He did a fantastic job.

Julie Covington – My Silks And Fine Arrays
This is more of a choice based on something I am listening to a great deal of just now rather than enduring fandom. I am not a massive aficionado of all of Julie’s material although I am a fan of her voice even on the songs which are not to my taste. It’s just a very pure, affecting and storytelling vocal performance; quite a folk singer’s voice in fact. I’m not one for warbling or showing off in music (except for prog rock in which the more absurd the better) and there is a simplicity that is powerful in how she expresses herself. It’s also a cracking song.

Caedmon – Aslan
Caedmon are one of my all-time favourite bands and their debut album is quite rightly viewed as an essential (acid) folk release. It pleases me that they formed in Edinburgh where I now reside and that I got to see them perform here a few years back when they reformed. It delights me even more that I have been able to work with Ken Patterson from the band on previous and forthcoming The Hare And The Moon material. It’s just such a magical album; the songs are otherworldly, exciting and unpredictable. Seek it out!

Nurse With Wound – Two Shaves And A Shine
Steven Stapleton has also been a constant inspiration to me, the notion that you can be a non-musician and it doesn’t matter – you can still create swathes of mood and sound that disturb, intrigue and have an impact upon the listener. He is also unconstrained by genre and you never quite know what you are getting with each new release, only that it won’t sound like anything else on this earth. His music is also exceptionally useful for annoying the neighbours, clearing out unwelcome guests and scaring small children. ‘Two Shaves And A Shine’, with its demented performance by Nurse collaborator and Current 93 frontman David Tibet alongside frantic mandolin solos, distorted guitar and a truly funky bassline is for me one of their classic ‘hits’.

United Bible Studies –The Lowlands Of Holland
This track features two singers which I could listen to all day, every day; Alison O’Donnell (from the afore mentioned Mellow Candle) and David Colohan. I especially like the way that, for the most part, this is straight folk however there are a few details and shadows in there that just twist the track slightly off kilter. It’s very subtle but powerfully done and there is a tangible darkness as a result. United Bible Studies just seem to be a bottomless well of inventive and unique recordings, they are hugely prolific yet everything they release has such a high quality control. That may be about to end as I’ve been recording with them! I’ve also recorded a track with Alison for the forthcoming ‘Songs From The Black Meadow’ compilation based on Chris Lambert’s superb book ‘Tales From The Black Meadow’.

Strawbs – Witchwood 
Simply here because it is a beautiful, eerie and timeless song that is perfectly formed, it is not extravagant or overdone in any way but is just as it should be. I do like the Strawbs and the album ‘From The Witchwood’ is probably the one I reach for the most. Is ‘prog folk’ a genre? If not it should be. Perfect for listening to sitting in the heart of a wood whilst growing a beard.

Wyrd Britain 7: Grey Malkin guest mix by Quiet World on Mixcloud

The Vendetta Tapes

John Baker
Buried Treasure

If I say that much of what you can hear here is typically Baker you will of course understand that by saying that I am by no means deriding anyone or anything and I am, in fact, giving it very high praise indeed.  Perhaps the phrase 'quintessentially Baker' would be more appropriate except what we have here is indeed that but also so much more.

Compiled by Alan Gubby, who was also responsible for the two fantastic 'John Baker Tapes' compilations released on Trunk Records a couple of years back, this newer album is a two part sort of deal.

For the most part it's Baker's contributions to the soundtrack to 'Vendetta' a Mafia thriller produced by the BBC in the 1960s.  On these tracks we get to hear his characteristic processed and layered twangs, clonks and sprongs melded seamlessly with jazz melodies and instruments.  I must admit to having been sceptical when I first heard of this release as to how well these two things would merge and whether they could transcend any novelty factor well, they do, they can and I'm an idiot for thinking otherwise.  The fusion creates music that is a pure delight; an honest, purposeful and extraordinary marriage of Radiophonic Workshop eccentricity with giallo cool.

The rest of the album is where that 'quintessentially Baker' thing I mentioned earlier comes in with a selection of tracks that were left over from the 'John Baker Tapes'.  These show his mastery of rhythm and melody with both showcased through his meticulous cut and paste methodology to produce music that will be as familiar to entire generations of Brits as it is still perplexing, exhilarating, capricious and mesmerising.

Hugely recommended and available digitally (below) with limited numbers of LPs and CDs still available.

Doctor Who: The Glamour Chronicles

BBC Books

These fairly regular trios of 'New Series Adventures' hardbacks have become a real favourite of mine over the last few years.  I really like the design and the hand feel of them - hardbacks with printed covers - but equally they're a chance for a slightly longer and more outrageous Doctor story than the TV can provide yet they are less involved and embedded in the mythos than the old Virgin and BBC Books series were.  They do however tend to be a bit of a mixed bag but usually they're at worst readable and there's often at least one - the last set had two - that's just downright fun.

Royal Blood
Una McCormack

“The Grail is a story, a myth! It didn’t exist on your world! It can’t exist here!”
The city-state of Varuz is failing. Duke Aurelian is the last of his line, his capital is crumbling, and the armies of his enemy, Duke Conrad, are poised beyond the mountains to invade. Aurelian is preparing to gamble everything on one last battle. So when a holy man, the Doctor, comes to Varuz from beyond the mountains, Aurelian asks for his blessing in the war.
But all is not what it seems in Varuz. The city-guard have lasers for swords, and the halls are lit by electric candlelight. Aurelian’s beloved wife, Guena, and his most trusted knight, Bernhardt, seem to be plotting to overthrow their Duke, and Clara finds herself drawn into their intrigue...
Will the Doctor stop Aurelian from going to war? Will Clara’s involvement in the plot against the Duke be discovered? Why is Conrad’s ambassador so nervous? And who are the ancient and weary knights who arrive in Varuz claiming to be on a quest for the Holy Grail…?

I've read several of Ms McCormack' books before and they're usually a diverting enough read with a nice core concept.  This one though was decidedly weak throughout.

Knights and medieval castles are never going to particularly enamour me to a book and when you tie in King Arthur and the quest for the Grail I'm pretty much gone.  

What really let this one down though was some sloppy writing, plotting and editing.  The time frames are all over the place with, for instance, the questing knights travelling for three weeks over a distance that Clara and Emfil manage to subsequently travel in the turn of a page even though they're on the other side of the country.

This really should have been a lot better and a title like that could have sent the story to any number of interesting destinations but instead what we got was several strands of a story that failed to gel in any meaningful way.

Big Bang Generation
Gary Russell

“I'm an archaeologist, but probably not the one you were expecting.”
Christmas 2015, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Imagine everyone's surprise when a time portal opens up in Sydney Cove. Imagine their shock as a massive pyramid now sits beside the Harbour Bridge, inconveniently blocking Port Jackson and glowing with energy. Imagine their fear as Cyrrus "the mobster" Globb, Professor Horace Jaanson and an alien assassin called Kik arrive to claim the glowing pyramid. Finally imagine everyone's dismay when they are followed by a bunch of con artists out to spring their greatest grift yet.
This gang consists of Legs (the sexy comedian), Dog Boy (providing protection and firepower), Shortie (handling logistics), Da Trowel (in charge of excavation and history) and their leader, Doc (busy making sure the universe isn't destroyed in an explosion that makes the Big Bang look like a damp squib).
And when someone accidentally reawakens The Ancients of the Universe - which, Doc reckons, wasn't the wisest or best-judged of actions – things get a whole lot more complicated…

Gary Russell is a long term DW writer and aficionado with a plethora of novels and audio plays under his belt.  I've read and listened to a few and find them to be a bit of a hodgepodge in terms of quality.

As a writer he has a light, fluid and personable style, he's hugely knowledgeable on his subject and an easter egg spotters dream author (and for me the last two are a large part of the problem).  The plot of 'Big Bang Generations' is all of the above and makes for a heads down, see you at the finish ride as we watch the Doctor , an archaeologist friend and some others attempt to avoid the imminent destruction of Sydney followed closely by the universe.

There's a problem here though and it's a doozy.  Russell's version of the 12th is quite simply wrong;  it's just not him.  He's personable, likable, huggy, jocular, patient and wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong.  His version of 12 says things like, "Cold pizza. My favourite. Not." which I just can't imagine 12 ever saying.  I spent much of the book picturing the Doctor here as a 10th / 11th hybrid.  A big kid running around with his mates saving the universe. This may sound like a small thing, they're all the same person after all but getting the specific doctor right is fundamental and he didn't.

The book itself is a romp. It's entertaining enough and an ok place to visit but fortunately you don't have to stay too long.

Deep Time
Trevor Baxendale

"I do hope you’re all ready to be terrified!" 
The Phaeron disappeared from the universe over a million years ago. They travelled among the stars using roads made from time and space, but left only relics behind. But what actually happened to the Phaeron? Some believe they were they eradicated by a superior force… Others claim they destroyed themselves.
Or were they in fact the victims of an even more hideous fate?
In the far future, humans discover the location of the last Phaeron road – and the Doctor and Clara join the mission to see where the road leads.
Each member of the research team knows exactly what they’re looking for – but only the Doctor knows exactly what they’ll find.
Because only the Doctor knows the true secret of the Phaeron: a monstrous secret so terrible and powerful that it must be buried in the deepest grave imaginable…

There, I told you there'd be one.  'Deep Time' is fun one this time out.  It brings to a close the poorly conceived 'Glamour' storyline in a satisfying way.  

Unlike 'Royal Blood' it's tightly plotted and unlike 'Big Bang Generation' the Doctor (and Clara) is absolutely spot on.  The words feel like they are being spoken by Capaldi and his actions and reactions are true to the character.

The story is fairly straightforward as the Doctor and Clara join an expedition to investigate a deep space wormhole linked to the lost Phaeron race.  Joining them on board are a team of scientists, a rich adventurer and the four person crew of pilot, navigator and mechanics.  When everything inevitably goes wrong the crew find themselves stranded on a mysterious planet being periodically thrown further and further backwards in time as their numbers dwindle alarmingly and the Doctor frantically searches for the TARDIS whilst someone else in the crew searches for something else.

It was a delight to read. A big , fast, witty, Doctor Who romp that felt at home in the new series and also felt correct to the DW mythology without seeming to be slavishly mired in the history.  

I could happily read more like this and hope the next batch of three provides more of this and less of the others.

The Omega Factor

After leaving the TARDIS in 1978 and before confining herself to a Japanese POW camp for two years in 'Tenko', Louise Jameson starred in the single series of what, until recently, was perhaps one of the forgotten chapters of British weird TV, 'The Omega Factor'.

Created by scriptwriter Jack Gerson, 'The Omega Factor' was a 10 episode series produced by BBC Scotland that told of journalist Tom Crane (James Hazeldine also star of Chocky and The Last Train) and his involvement in Department 7, a shadowy government agency (is there any other kind?) concerned with psychic phenomena.  Also employed by the agency are, Jameson's, Dr. Anne Reynolds and Dr Roy Martindale (John Carlisle) the driven and unscrupulous department head.

Crane is drawn in to the orbit of the agency as a result of his wife's murder by evil psychic, Edward Drexel played by Cyril Luckham who will be familiar to some readers as 'The White Guardian' in the Tom Baker era Doctor Who storyline 'The Key To Time'.  The rather aggressive, slightly unlikeable and, where Ann is concerned, inappropriately attentive Crane is encouraged to join the organisation both to hunt for Drexel and to explore his own nascent psychic abilities.  Once involved he slowly comes to realise that there is a larger conspiracy at work, the Omega of the title, and that his own organisation may not be completely innocent.

Only 10, 50 minute episodes were made before the series ended on a bit of a cliffhanger.  In it's time it achieved a level of notoriety when self righteous, moaning, busybody Mary Whitehouse denounced the episode, 'Powers of Darkness' as being "thoroughly evil" which, according to his obituary in Scottish newspaper 'Herald Scotland', delighted Gerson.

The series boasted some fairly high production values and some nicely creepy and unpleasant moments.  It was definitely made with an adult audience in mind and this is reflected in the behaviour of the characters but also in things like the fabulous diegetic music choices. It is also very much of it's time in terms of things like Crane's (and Martindale's for that matter) behaviour towards Anne.

I've seen this series at various times compared to both 'Sapphire and Steel' and also 'The X-Files' but it rarely achieves the sublime craziness of the former and my knowledge of the latter is really too limited to accurately compare but on the surface it seems a fair comparison.

The series has recently been revived by audio maestros 'Big Finish' who have produced an audiobook of Gerson's novelisaton of the series and who have issued several series of new episodes starring Louise Jameson (whose Dr Anne Reynolds is now in charge of Department 7) and John Dorney (as Crane's son, Adam) which will hopefully raise the profile of the original.

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Wyrd Britain TV Themes

With several hours to spare the other day I decided to make a playlist of some of the themes from the shows we love here at Wyrd Britain.  I'm entirely certain I've missed more than a few out but these are the ones that came to mind most readily.

Included in the list are classic sci-fi themes (starting with the most obvious), cartoons, supernatural, spy and action themes, kids shows and some light entertainment.

If you think of anything I've missed from the list then please leave a comment below.

hope you enjoy.

The Time Machine (1960)

Today, September 21st 2015, marks what would have been the 149th birthday of probably the single most important author in British (if not global) science fiction, Herbert George Wells.  To mark this occasion I'm going to share with you one of my favourite things, the 1960 MGM adaptation of his novella 'The Time Machine'.

Originally written in 1895 Wells' novella tells of an anonymous inventor - identified only as 'The Time Traveller' - who uses his craft to travel far into the future to the 803rd century and then on another 30 milion years to the eventual end of the Earth.

The film, in many ways remains faithful to Wells' original just with the emphasis being, of course, more on action as opposed to Wells' meditation on class and society (and possibly free range farming).  Starring Rod Taylor as H. George Wells (can you see what they did there?) an inventor who creates a time machine - surely one of the most beautifully realised pieces of filmic sci fi gadgetry - and who uses it to travel forward to the seemingly idyllic surface world of the Eloi and the subterranean hell of the mutant Morlocks.

Taylor, in his first starring role, is an engaging enough lead in a movie that he mostly carries on his own shoulders with his co star Yvette Mimieux (playing the Eloi, Weena) mostly reduced to giving puzzled looks and being in need of rescuing.  The sets are nicely realised, the action sequences are slick and the supporting cast are solid.

Having been based on a novella that it follows fairly closely the core story at the heart of the movie is fairly thin but, for me at least, it remains a classic of its time and its genre and is a film I can, have and will watch again and again.

Buy it here - The Time Machine [DVD] [1960] - or watch it below

The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Scroll of the Dead

David Stuart Davies
Titan Books

Holmes attends a seance to unmask an impostor posing as a medium, Sebastian Melmoth, a man hell-bent on obtaining immortality after the discovery of an ancient Egyptian papyrus. It is up to Holmes and Watson to stop him and avert disaster...
In this fast-paced adventure, the action moves from London to the picturesque Lake District as Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson once more battle with the forces of evil.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s timeless creation returns in a new series of handsomely designed detective stories. From the earliest days of Holmes’ career to his astonishing encounters with Martian invaders, the Further Adventures series encapsulates the most varied and thrilling cases of the worlds’ greatest detective. 

So, my guess is that David Stuart Davies is a bit of a Sherlock Holmes nut.  I've read several things with his name on and have several more waiting their time in the sun and they are all Holmes related.  A quick check of his website reveals many more strings to his bow (a Stradivarius played at night whilst pondering a tricky conundrum) but for me he's a Sherlock writer and a very good one at that.

David Stuart Davies

'The Scroll of the Dead' is an ancient Egyptian papyrus purported to contain the secret of immortality to whoever can crack it's code.  Hunting for it is a sadistic dandy by the name of Sebastian Melmoth who is determined to defeat death itself.  Through a tangle of events Holmes finds himself increasingly drawn into the hunt for the scroll as a trail of murders leads him further into it's mysteries and the obsessions of those surrounding it.

It's a fairly faithful Holmes tale with a hint of the supernatural about it although the arch-rationalist is having none of that in his pursuit of his quarry.  There are moments when I think DSD left Holmes uncharacteristically wide open and defenceless (the confrontation in the cellar for one) which is too out of character but for the main part Davies knows his characters and has created a very readable Holmes pastiche.

The Wombles

In 1968 Elisabeth Beresford created the first of what became some 20 books (6 of them novels) about small, furry, burrowing creatures that lived under London's Wimbledon Common called Wombles.  From the outset the books were a huge success that tapped very much into the emerging countercultural zeitgeist of simple, rural living and green issues.  The books have since been translated into various languages and continue to sell to this day.

Without wishing to take anything away from the books this enduring success can be, in no small part, attributed to The Wombles step away from the page and on to the screen with the 1973 BBC TV series. 

Elisabeth Beresford

This new series was written by Beresford and directed by Anglo-French animator Ivor Wood who had previously worked on 'The Magic Roundabout' (with Serge Danot) and 'The Herbs' and who would go on to make 'Paddington' and 'Postman Pat'.

Ivor Wood

Responsibility for the theme tune was given to the then virtually unknown songwriter Mike Batt who obtained the rights to musical exploitation of the characters and later went on to be entirely to blame for 'Bright Eyes'.

Providing the voices for the Wombles was British TV legend Bernard Cribbins.  In the video below he talks about the show.



Two series, each consisting of thirty 5 minute episodes, of  'The Wombles' were produced in 1973 and 1975 and all 6 can be viewed in the two playlists below.

They are beautifully made, utterly charming, slightly mischievous and gloriously daft.

Enjoy.