mike_baker's review
4.0
This was great. A bunch of Doctor Who fans got together and contributed essays about other 'cult' British TV shows, from the dawn of television to now. Much of it made me feel pangs of nostalgia, especially the chapters covering programmes I watched as a child and have semi-forgotten, gems like Sapphire and Steel, The Tripods, The Moondial. While reading this I dusted off my DVD set of the old Quatermass series (from the 1950s) and I've started rewatching Edge of Darkness also.
Of course, the pieces do much more than simply review old shows; they're often about the writers, recollections of their own formative years, the sorts of childhood rituals that too many times had me nodding in agreement. I was one of them - bookish, a loner, glued to the box at the times when kids TV was scheduled - very different from the current era of 24 hour services; back then you got a slot at lunchtime and a further block before the 'news hour' at six. That was it. TV carefully apportioned and rationed prior to the evening primetime viewing of game shows, sitcoms and soaps.
I love the recurring theme of cheapness when it comes to talking about the shows. You could tell pretty instantly whether something was British or American because the latter tended to be fairly lavish in comparison. These days, a show like Doctor Who comes with good production values, but it wasn't like that then, a time of spray-painted Fairy Liquid bottles and long scenes that involved characters talking because it didn't cost very much to film. Blake's Seven, a show I was probably too young for but I recall watching, was famous for its poverty row special effects, the shots of spaceships sliding across the heavens so poorly realised you almost wish they hadn't bothered in the first place. I was once told by my Dad that the reason so much of Dangermouse took place in the Arctic was that all-white backgrounds were cheap. That didn't stop me from loving it - DM and Penfold ("oooooh crumbs!") was catnip.
Then there was The Tripods, made at a time when Michael Grade was in control of the BBC and looking for alternatives to the good Doctor's adventures. The shots of the 'Pods themselves were rubbish, and you imagine the producers rubbing their hands with glee over the pastoral setting because it didn't involve expensive set-ups. The worst thing about The Tripods, of course, was that it was cancelled after two series - as usual, just as it was getting good and before the story could be wrapped up by adapting the third and final book in the series.
Ah, memories. After finishing the book, I was tempted to go straight onto Amazon and order box sets of Tales of the Unexpected (that music! That naked dancing lady!), Space:1999 and Star Cops. I've already been over to YouTube for clips from The Adventure Game (Drogna!) because that was a great show. Even reading about its cut-price production can't ruin what was a cracking half hour of telly, which was on just before the Sherlock Holmes movie....
Of course, the pieces do much more than simply review old shows; they're often about the writers, recollections of their own formative years, the sorts of childhood rituals that too many times had me nodding in agreement. I was one of them - bookish, a loner, glued to the box at the times when kids TV was scheduled - very different from the current era of 24 hour services; back then you got a slot at lunchtime and a further block before the 'news hour' at six. That was it. TV carefully apportioned and rationed prior to the evening primetime viewing of game shows, sitcoms and soaps.
I love the recurring theme of cheapness when it comes to talking about the shows. You could tell pretty instantly whether something was British or American because the latter tended to be fairly lavish in comparison. These days, a show like Doctor Who comes with good production values, but it wasn't like that then, a time of spray-painted Fairy Liquid bottles and long scenes that involved characters talking because it didn't cost very much to film. Blake's Seven, a show I was probably too young for but I recall watching, was famous for its poverty row special effects, the shots of spaceships sliding across the heavens so poorly realised you almost wish they hadn't bothered in the first place. I was once told by my Dad that the reason so much of Dangermouse took place in the Arctic was that all-white backgrounds were cheap. That didn't stop me from loving it - DM and Penfold ("oooooh crumbs!") was catnip.
Then there was The Tripods, made at a time when Michael Grade was in control of the BBC and looking for alternatives to the good Doctor's adventures. The shots of the 'Pods themselves were rubbish, and you imagine the producers rubbing their hands with glee over the pastoral setting because it didn't involve expensive set-ups. The worst thing about The Tripods, of course, was that it was cancelled after two series - as usual, just as it was getting good and before the story could be wrapped up by adapting the third and final book in the series.
Ah, memories. After finishing the book, I was tempted to go straight onto Amazon and order box sets of Tales of the Unexpected (that music! That naked dancing lady!), Space:1999 and Star Cops. I've already been over to YouTube for clips from The Adventure Game (Drogna!) because that was a great show. Even reading about its cut-price production can't ruin what was a cracking half hour of telly, which was on just before the Sherlock Holmes movie....
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