Alden Bates' Weblog

On Monday, the latest issues of RTP and TSV both popped through my letterbox. Yesterday I was sick as a dog (don't ask) so I had the opportunity to read both from cover to cover.

RTP celebrates 10 years and 25 issues! Roughly half the issue is taken up by the last of the series of articles on Tardis Tales (including a reprint of the TSV 34 edition of Dr Hoo), and much of the rest is taken up by the end of Peter Adamson's comic strip masterpiece Cydonia. The latter was the highlight of the issue for me. Is there going to be an issue with Cydonia collected? The other major item being an interview with Kelly Buchanan of Random Static, a Wellington publishing firm who have taken over publishing the Faction Paradox line.

The only problem I had with this issue was an unfortunate choice of fonts. In the font used, the space under the tittle on the lower-case 'i' is very narrow, making it difficult to tell the difference between the 'i' and 'l'. As a result, the name "Billis" on the last page looks like a series of vertical lines with 'B' and 's' at opposite ends.

TSV, meanwhile, is celebrating 20 years and 75 issues with a slick and glossy full-colour cover. Oh, if only all the covers from now on could be colour!

One of the highlights of TSV for me, was Amy Mebberson's artwork for the Series 3 reviews, with a mixture of serious art and extremely funny cartoons. Some interesting view in the reviews themselves - I agreed with a lot of what was said, and it seems pretty much everyone agreed that the season ended on a bit of a duff note. The in-depth commentary on TSV 1 was fascinating, as was the screening history of Doctor Who in Singapore, though I suspect a more interesting question would be "Where did the tapes of the missing episodes go after Singapore screened them?!" (Jon addresses this a bit in the article).

In Doctor's Dilemma, Jon Preddle takes on the claim that Sylvester McCoy is the longest running Doctor, ad he technically held the title from 1987 to 1996, but Jon comes up with a different result. I think Jon's wrong though - Peter Davison has been playing the Doctor from 1981 to 2007 (last appearing onscreen in Time Crash this November, but also in the Big Finish audios) so, although he hasn't been the current Doctor all that time, technically he's still been the Doctor for the last 26 years!

I have two items in TSV 75 - two drabbles in fact, which were entered in the Drabble Who Challenge. If you want to read them, you'll have to get the issue. :)

You can preview the TSV 75 contents listing and cover on the NZDWFC site.

Last Saturday, TSV issue 53 (published March 1998) went online. One of the two items I had published in this issue isn't up on the site - this was a brief note about NZDWFC web site:

"At time of writing, there are subscription information and contact details already up, and at time of printing, there should be a club history up as well. Also planned are a news page (mainly to detail upcoming conventions and chapter events - this will need the help of event organisers.) and a small archive of some of the articles and artwork which have appeared in TSV. Comments are welcome and appreciated."

"Small archive". Heh heh heh... That was the first time the website's URL appeared in the fanzine.

The other item was a comic strip which I co-wrote with Peter Adamson, and which he drew, called Dominion. It's one of only two comic strips I know of which feature companion Melanie Bush in a major role (the other being the DWM comic Plastic Millennium, which appeared in one of their specials).

Sadly, I don't still have the emails which flew back and forth between me and Peter during the writing of Dominion, but from memory he approached me with the idea of co-writing the comic strip. We wrote alternate panels and edited each other's work, with Peter also writing the first page pre-credit teaser and adding in a bunch of neat little touches, like the Nedla on the billboard the Doctor hides behind on page 10 (though admittedly I wasn't keen on this at the time!). I suspect I was responsible for several of the Dominators being named after game characters - Kano being from Mortal Kombat, and Rahn being an enemy wizard from Magic Carpet 2. Peter's designs are awesome, of course. Especially Anzor's costume and the flying Quarks.

And it has Mel dressed as a Dominatrix!

Also appearing in TSV 53 was A Question of Answers - a piece written by DWM Archivist Andrew Pixley which took a look at various esoteric questions relating to the history of Doctor Who. One of the questions he mentions that has never been answered is "Who was originally cast as Sarah Jane Smith?", and Andrew suggests some likely names, though naturally this is only speculation.

So, go read TSV 53. :)

See also: write-ups by Paul and Jamas.
Previously: TSV 52

As I was watching Heroes tonight (specifically the episode "Out of Time", which just screened here in New Zealand) I had a sudden sense of deja vu... Because this post refers to a series which is still being shown, I'm going to put the rest of this post behind a link to try to avoid spoiling anyone.

Continue reading "Heroes/Doctor Who Connection"

Hello

Time Crash, the Children in Need mini-episode this year, was some 10% plot and 90% David Tennant bouncing around like an over-excited fan meeting Peter Davison for the first time. He should probably have gotten that out of his system before they started filming... Kidding: it's short and sweet and doesn't fit into continuity, but hopefully prompted some Doctor Who fans to donate to Children in Need. :)

I would, but when I tried it wouldn't recognise my post code. Typical!

In other Doctor Who news:

• Prime finished playing Series 3 on Sunday by playing the edited version of Last of the Time Lords, but the full version will be on the DVDs anyway.
• Stephen Greenhorn showed up at the Writers' Guild awards, putting to rest the bet a friend and I had that he was a pseudonym for Mark Gatiss.

Back in 1993, I did a cartoon for TSV titled What's Really inside a Dalek. Today, I happened upon the fact that someone's created an embroidered patch from it. That was unexpected and also totally brightened up my day! Thank you, Trifarina!

TSV 52 was published ten years ago to the month, and now it's online! I had one item in it, this picture of an Ice Warrior, which is the last piece of artwork I did for TSV until about TSV 63 (and then it was just some cartoons).

There's quite a lot about The Five Doctors in this issue, including an article on the Special Edition, a review of same, and even a cartoon. I would have liked to have done screenshot comparisons of the original TV version and the Special Edition, but the BBC only released the latter on DVD (I have an ancient VHS recording of the TV version somewhere, but no way to capture video off it), so I could only add screenshots of the new effects.

There's also the first of a semi-regular column from Jon Preddle called Rantings from the Padded Cell, in which he deftly fits the two Peter Cushing Doctor Who movies into the TV Show continuity; an interview with then-DWM-Editor Gary Gillatt, in response to last issue's interview with Gary Russell; another installment of the Karkus; a piece of fiction from Jamas; and another comic strip.

Just as a random thought, isn't it odd how the delegates in the Daleks' Master Plan appear to be a pretty important bunch, but none of their kind have ever appeared in Doctor Who again? Likewise, Alpha Centauri (left), despite inhabiting a planet in the nearest solar system to Earth's, has only ever appeared in two stories...

See also: write-ups by Paul and Jamas.
Previously: TSV 51

Via Boing Boing:
Steampunk Dalek, which also comes in CGI video flavour:

I'd been thinking of doing something like that but hadn't gotten around to it. I'm still thinking of having a go at designing an Art Deco Dalek to make up for the design we didn't get in Daleks in Manhattan. :)

TSV 51 is now online! What can I say about it? It's green, which matches the NZDWFC site colours nicely. It contains Zero Minus Thirty-Three Days, a prequel to the BBC book The Devil Goblins from Neptune, written by the authors. There's a long interview with Gary Russell, ex-editor of Doctor Who Magazine and author, in which the dirt is spilled. There's more fiction, including a crossover; another adventure with the Karkus; Alien Nation, covering monsters Terry Nation; and a detailed biography of the Dalek creator.

This is the point when Virgin lost their license, so there's reviews for the last few New and Missing Adventures, and the first two BBC books - The Eight Doctors and the aforementioned The Devil Goblins of Neptune.

Also in this issue is In Bloom, one of my favourite TSV comic strips, which features the seventh Doctor and Benny during the Dalek occupation of Earth (although no Daleks appear, in keeping with New Adventures tradition). One page illustrates a scene from one of the books, but I don't remember which one... [No Future, thanks Morgue!]

There's nothing from me in this issue, not even a letter. Oh well, read it anyway. :)

See also: write-ups by Paul and Jamas.
Previously: TSV 50

Edit: Morgue has written about the making of 'In Bloom'.

Spotted on alt.toys.transformers:
JAG Animation: meet Chronobot, Saucer, and Stardrive
Chronobot costume

Regarding the Saucer design on the second page, I'm not entirely sure they've accounted for the entire bulk of the saucer section of the Enterprise-D in that design. Larger scans of the artwork would be nice...

Does Doctor Who series 3 end with a two-part story or a three-part story? The remainder of the post is cut to avoid spoiling people who haven't seen the end of the series yet - Utopia screens in the US this Friday.

Continue reading "Series 3 end - 2 parter or 3 parter?"

We've come a long way since TSV 1 went online in September 2002. Now, five years later to the month, TSV 50 is online!

TSV 50 is dominated by Tom Baker, starting with this sterling cover artwork, as he'd recently come to New Zealand to make some commercials for NZ Superannuation, and also made a public appearance. Unfortunately I didn't make it to his Mission bay appearance, but TSV contained transcripts of his ramblings and of a TVNZ interview.

On the non-Tom front, there's also The Wilderness Years, detailing the absense of new Doctor Who between Survival (in 1989) and the TV movie (in 1996), and The Darkest Path, an article by David Ronayne responding to last issue's Time's Chump.

This issue saw the last appearances of Tardis Tales and Oswald the Cat. Tardis Tales, as previously noted is making a welcome return to the fanzine. Making his first appearance this issue is the Karkus, a character from the 1968 story The Mind Robber, co-opted here as the hero of the first Erato strip.

I also feel that I should mention the artwork, since any issue that has a picture of Mel dressed as a dominatrix *cough* I mean, dressed as a Dominator, gets a thumbs up in my book. Precisely why she's dressed like one of the villains from The Dominators will become clear in a few issues time...

See also: write-ups by Paul and Jamas.
Previously: TSV 49

While I'm waiting to get the urge to write... anything (It'll probably be the "Here's TSV 50!" entry), here's a neat Doctor Who/Red Dwarf photoshop! Which contains spoilers for the end of Series 3.

It's that time of year again...

Yes, there's only 25 days until the Rugby World Cup.

...

And five days until Doctor Who starts screening on Prime TV.

TSV 49 going online means we have nearly 50 issues on the site! (well, duh) It's also the longest issue to date - the print copy was a massive 108 pages.

Man, where do I start? Well, there's a cool article about the sixth Doctor's treatment at the hands of Virgin Publishing, titled Time's Chump. There's also a comic strip featuring the fourth Doctor, Sarah and UNIT, titled Home by the Sea which, as you might guess, references the Genesis song of the same name quite heavily; and interviewed this issue is Chris Loates, who worked on the classic series.

Then again, I could be egocentric and mention I had two reviews published: Day of the Daleks (which contrary to what I said there isn't really one of the best Dalek stories, because they're somewhat pasted in. It does make good use of time travel though!) and Death to the Daleks (which I still have a soft spot for).

TSV 49 is (personally) notable for another fact which isn't apparent from the online version because it doesn't contain the letters column from the print issue. My letter in this issue starts out as follows:

Hello everyone. It wasn't long ago that I joined in all the Mel hating with all the rest of the masses of Who fans worldwide. However having watched Trial of a Time Lord and Time and the Rani numerous times, I've come to realise that I really like Mel, and that she's actually my favourite companion.

So TSV 49 marks the point where I became a Mel Bush fan, which indirectly lead to me webmastering the NZDWFC site.

Next issue, Tom Baker visits New Zealand, the last installment of Tardis Tales, the first installment of the Karkus, and a bunch more!

See also: write-ups by Paul and Jamas
Previously: TSV 48

Lots of short items which I can't be bothered writing full posts for:

Prime TV is going to start screening Series 3 of Doctor Who on August 19th. You can read more about it here (I know the page layout sucks - I'm going to tidy it up on the weekend).

Blogger: Please add a bulk submittal version of your spam reporting tool, so I when I get spammed with 200 blogspot URLs, I can report all of them at once.

I believe the hacker who's been trying to hack into my site to be a Brazilian who goes by the handle Nicksom2d. One of the scripts used to try to hack in was located on a hacked site, with a main page title "Owned by Nicksom2d from Brazil". Nicksom2d also wrote there "I never really hated the stupids admins but I hate the admin that make a website and ignore all the possibilities of invasion, sometimes I would be a hacker... just it..." Word.

Stone Age, one of my favourite groups, has a new album out, Totems d'Armorique! And it's, like, almost totally different to their other albums.

The NZDWFC site had 7720 unique visitors last month, beating its previous best of 7624 set in May.

Apparently there are approximately four times more people searching for Transformers Robot Heroes than there are for Transformers slash. This proves Robot Heroes are better than sex.

The Bill Gates eyes program I made years ago on a whim got downloaded over a thousand times last month. No, I don't know why.

Three search queries of note used to find my site in July:

• wallet with masturbate (eh?)
• how to pronounce earth (It's "urf")
• alden porn (I'm flattered, but... no.)