Murray Melvin.

Was very saddened to hear of Murray Melvin's passing. After a long career on stage and in television he has proved himself, time and again, to be something of a national treasure. Off course, it was his role as the icey and threatening and scarily complex Bilas Mangerin Torchwood which was his stand out role for many, and to any who listen to my boobie babble.Every time he appeared in one of the Big Finish Torchwood stories the quality spiked. He was equally brilliant in the 1974 film Ghost Story and to a whole blossomimg generation for the ground breaking A Taste Of Honey. They should dim theatre lights all over the UK to mark the passing of this remarkable man. Just listen to him talking on any of the Big Finish behind the scenes green room chats and tell me differently. Or do not. He was too much of a gentleman to be bothered either way. One of a kind.

Tom Baker on the Beach.

(From my sketchbook.) Me as a boy chasing Tom Baker. I have never caught up.

Teddy as William Hartnell.

Mr Teddy The Cosplaying dog channeling William Hartnell. The High Church of Doctors.

Doctor Who Diamond Dogs.

Well, this was an irresistable choice for me. A Doctor Who novel referencing one of David Bowie's best albums. And not only that, its using a perfectly formed Tardis Team; The Doctor and Bill. I wonder if Peter Capaldi felt the same way when he saw this lovely cover artwork. I had already seen a back issue of a Doctor Who Titan comic (When Mr Capaldi was lighting up Saturday nights on telly.) in which he pays homage to the Ziggy Stardust cover. I got that one framed and it hangs in the room I keep books. Or rather sits in that room as I have not got around to banging in a nail. Anyway, you get a story set on a diamond extracting facility hanging in the Rings Of Saturn with The Doctor and Bill caught up in a series of events which threaten to escalate to an all out space war. Another Space War! Damn, theres so much room in space you would think sentient entities would find something better to do than blow each other up. What am I saying. we cannot even stop it on our homeworld, why would it be any different in space? And what setting for a dramatic tale. I think Saturn remains one of those planets its better to see from a distance than to actually visit. I may be wrong, I do not get around the Sol Solar system anywhere near as often as I would like. I still have not managed to get my Tardis functioning in the manner I would enjoy.Which is not to say capable of traveling through time, i would settle for dimensionally transcendental. something very strange is happening amidst the swirling debris of the Rings of saturn which also presents an epic location that defies the limitations of a BBC budjet. i still find myself translating so much of the stellar otherworldly events into restrictive budjeted visuals as favoured by the BBC in the seventies. The crumbling facade of my mind palace just about stretches to that. its a comfortable imaginarium off sortss, all balconies, red velvet cushions and curtains and suspiciously stained scarlet carpeting. My mind palace that is, not the Rings Of Saturn. Mike Tucker brings this Tardis team wonderfully back, to a time when Bill was just experiencing the adventures her madly eyebrowed mentor was treating her too. It helps that he surrounds them with interesting and engaging characters that drive the story forward. A Federation Secirity agent, one Laura Palmer (Yes, I know.) lends the story an interesting Lynchian arc as the reader is drawn into her unrequited love for Saturn. And you can love a planet all you want, it will not love you back.

City Of Sin.

"There is nothing new under sun" or so it goes. Would the author even bother including the word "sin" in the sub title to this book if they were to publish now. In a relatively short space of time the notion of what is a sin seems to have unravelled. In an era when morality is increasingly becoming a relatively subjective thing it may not carry the necessary weight of conviction when descrbing the wrongness of an act.The almost unspoken civil respect for our fellow citizens seems to be turning to steam on the sin scorched pavements of history. Notions sin, vice, pleasure and culpability birthed in the respectabilty of the social contract are unravelling with the speed of a disintegrating elastic at the heart of a golf ball. Its a well written, very engaging book that details the carnal history of London dating back to the Roman Empire. It steers a winding path through centuries taking in slavery,ancient and modern. In the history of mankind we forgive much, if it were driven by economic need, but a history of sin and vice has a humane cost embedded at its very core. The ability to sell sex, to modify the act and its many permutations as commerce reveals a savage history that may well leave the reader wanting to bath their eyeballs. You will not be able to unsee and nor should you. Own the information received. There are lessons to be learned from a history of vice. If only to point out its proximity to modernity.Wherever man goes there you will find the prurient. But at all times bow to the wisdom of Holly Johnston and Frankie Goes To Hollywood... And relax.

Island Of The Dead.

Another piece of art I am very fond off. Bockners Island Of The Dead. In any version but this one particularly. Although Giger's version runs a close second.

The Island Of Lost Souls (1932)

Was gifted this recently by someone who told me;"You will like it. Its got Dracula in it.". I think they meant to say Bela Lugosi is in it rather than a cross over appearence by the dastardly Romanian Vampire Count. And yes, he is and yes I did. Enjoy it, I mean to say.I find Charles Laughton an interesting human being who led a complex and difficult life combined with a mastery of his craft. I read a Elsa Lanchater book some time ago and she loved the boots of him. He embodied the characters he played, lending them screen presence and an intensity that seems decades beyond the years the work appeared on screen. He is playing Moreau in this screen adaption of the HG Wells book. The title of the movie is a bit more on the nose than the one Wells favoured but it works when you see the village of transformed creatures that inhabit the island. No longer animals but not quite men they are indeed lost. Laughton's Doctor Moreau goes full god like creator mode, enforcing animal morality with a bull whip. Like all gods he does not empathise with his creations, he just wants them to do what he believes is good for them. You will note I do not say "whats best for them." If you enjoyed the fantastic Lugosi movie White Zombie this is well worth a look. Sexual undertones permeate as Doctor Moreau cruelly exploits the Panther Woman on the poster, to satisfy Moreaus desire to control and tame the beast within all. The story is told through the eyes of a stranded sailor who offers us this "in" to the bizarre world of Doctor Moreau. He learns in the end that the beast will not be tamed. That even a world full of sheep needs its wolves.

Alien Steel Egg.

Came across this Alien book in an Oxfam Bookstore (Sitting between a History Of Presbyterianism In The North Of Ireland and The Ladybird Book of birds.) The Gigewresque cover caught my eye. Well, "Gigerewsque" might be stretching it a bit, it was in the way anything with a Giger Xenomorph could be said to be, er, Gigeresque.. Really enjoyed it, too. Some much better than I might have expected. Its a full on horror story in space with the now familiar chest busting sequences playing out at the slower pace of the first film in the series. We know whats coming for the victims of the face huggers but they do not. They think they are in a science fiction story but we know they are in a science fiction horror story.And oh boy but things get gorey! The story taking place in an ancient alien vessel adrift above saturn which is just brain candy. Yep, another ancient space craft hiding a nasty infestation. It might sound a bit of a cliche to hardened Alien franchise fans but there it is. I thought it might be worth exploring the notion that man going into space was going to result in us finding space littered with the relics of ancient extinct species. That space travel might be new to us but the rest of the universe were frequent flyers until some terrible event caused these space empires to collapse. All wiped out by xenomorphs? Who knows.. I thought that Steel Egg plays with some bigger notions than your usual space shoot em ups. Most of the stories begin with a xenomorph encounter then followed by lots of running away punctuated with gruesome deaths or monstrous birthings. And this book certainly follows this well worn if uncomfortable pathway. Introducing us to some characters only to have them meet violent ends.Where desperate positions get worse quite quickly. Steel Egg is an Alien book well worth trying. It gives you exactly what you would expect to recieve. And if you know what you like about Alien then this is one for you. p.s. I had a look around to see if this alien book is still available and it is included in one of the Alien Omnibus books; Volume #6! Just in case you are intrigued enough to seek a copy.