THE END OF TIME

I've had a bit of a Dr. Who evening tonight. First I listened to the Lost Episodes radio programme and was amazed to learn that 108 TV episodes are still missing even after the BBC and fans have scoured the world! Incredibly all the episodes' audio were taped by fans at the time using reel-to-reel recorders and microphones. The pictures are lost and it would seem forever. Or?

At 6.40 pm tonight UK Television history was made by Dr.Who in this series' final episode 'the End of Time'. The 10th Doctor 'died' and regenerated into the 11th! BBC1 pulled out all the stops to make it an unforgettable episode and the end of David Tennant's tenure will stay with me for a long time. Great Sci Fi is always an strong alloy of grief and glory and this was no exception - he really didn't want to go.  I have to honest and admit that I've been a fairweather Who fan, dipping in and out since I was old enough to watch it in the early 1960's. It's been a constant companion but there were many series I haven't seen at all over the last 40 odd years and the show's merchandise didn't feature much at all under my childhood Christmas trees and I'm unsure why really. The Doctors I remember most vividly are the John Pertwee and Tom Baker incarnations. Two stand-out storylines were the Curse of Peladon and the Sea Devils. In fact I watched the Peladon episodes just the other week as I have them on VHS. The Boar-God monster Peladon has haunted my dreams since the day I clapped eyes on him stalking the passages of his vast mountain stronghold in the early 1970's. I have a faint memory of the Paul McGann 1996 Christmas special but it was its revival in 2005 (was it really a 16 year gap?) that got me hooked again. Although I haven't seen every episode since by a long chalk, I've been an ardent fan and Dr. Who remains one of only two TV programmes since 1990 to keep me in and plan around. The other were the early series of the X-Files (Tooms, Gargoyles etc).

The Who re-birth began with a brilliant new writer/producer Russell T. Davies, a Ninth Doctor played by the charismatic northern actor Christoper Eccleston (I'm from the North of England so it struck a chord immediately) and in a stroke of genius petit national babe Billy Piper was cast as the new gorgeous assistant Billy. I loved Ecclestone's brash northern Who and Davies' storylines were inspired Sci Fi. If Ecclestone was brilliant, David Tennant's 10th Doctor from series 2 was genius. His relationship with Billy was fascinating and emotional and the inevitable final parting for them, with the Doctor and Billy seperated forever, was profoundly moving. Other masterstrokes have included casting megastar Kylie Minogue and national treasure Bernard Cribbins. The show's nadir were the John Barrowman and Catherine Tate episodes but these were minor blips in an otherwise highpoint for modern British TV over the past 5 years. I'm already excited about Matt Smith as the 11th Doctor and can't wait for it to start this Spring. It's what we pay the UK TV Licence for!

Ed's Redbox II

"Hi Paul,

Great pic (I sent Ed). Here's a few more Redbox pics I found. The one boxed isn't mine, I keep getting outbid. This version is Action Man scale. Redbox stuff is tricky because it can be 8 inch scale or 12 inch scale. With 8 inch scale the only moving parts are the head and arms. Redbox was a prolific toy company with knock off type items back in 60s-70s Redbox there are many soldiers, sailors, Tommys and Spacemen. Redbox is still around producing childrens toys today no action figures though. The UK seems to have had better distribution of Redbox toys than in USA. No telling what else they produced. The 1960s Fairlylite (sp) Thunderbird 1/6th scale figures look very much like Redbox figures. I wonder if there is any connection? Have a great NEW YEAR!

Ed"

Cheers Ed. RedBox did some cool spy stuff too. I have a few bits. Sean commented on BLUE BOX in the last post. Did they do toy figures too? Pics anyone? Bluebox, Redbox, Spy stuff? Woodsy

NEW YEAR POSTBAG 2010

"I'm seeing this a few days late myself, but it may be of interest: http://trueslant.com/milesobrien/2009/12/21/the-commercial-space-race-heats-up/

Best wishes to you and yours for the New Year!

RAB"

Nice one RAB. Have an intergalactic year! Woodsy

****

"Woodsy, A Happy New Year to you and yours from Cloudbase and having greatly enjoyed your article on 'Marooned' a movie I'm very fond of, I thought I'd keep things going with the poster for the film. By the way I think you were thinking of 'Longstreet' who was played by the Late James Franciscus. I also have the novel of the film by Martin Cadin who was the Creator of the 'Six Million Dollar Man' and if I can dig it out, I'll scan it and send an Image. Only 10 minutes left, Gotta Go! Happy New Years Swordheads, Steven Boyes"

Fabulous Steven, Happy New Year from Moonbase to Cloudbase! And I can also see on the poster David Janssen, who used to star in the FUGITIVE, compulsory viewing for me and my Dad back in the early 70's. Whenever I think of the Fugitive I also think of The Invaders too. Don't know why. Must be my Sixties-Seventies radar getting snowed-up! And yes, LONGSTREET, I'd forgotten about that but how could I when the late great BRUCE LEE appears in it too teaching Mr. Franciscus his Jeet Kune Do! I measure my childhood by the 3 craze's at the time - first came Monsters, then Space and then Kung Fu! That's it, my tender years in a nutshell and the very fabric of who I am today. I've never lost my passion for all three, although my martial arts are restricted to armchair studies these days! Here's a clip of Brucey on Longstreet (he popped up allover the place back then) courtesy of the the modern miracle that is You Tube.

CARRY ON 2010

Well its here, ten years into the new Millenium. Like many we watched fireworks exploding in the Yorkshire sky until the wee hours of the New Year. A new phenomenon are Sky Lanterns, a sort of hot air paper balloon. I was transfixed as they glided high into the clouds, far higher than I'd expected. I couldn't help thinking if they might cause problems for aircraft or whether they would take the weight of an Action Man or Major Matt Mason! The sort of thing I'd have definately experimented with as a kid but not now, I know how much they're worth! Now we're all up and looking forward to the promise of a new twelve months. Mrs. Moonbase is walking Blue the mutt. The guinea pig, Pig, is chomping on fresh lettuce and I'm drinking coffee watching one of my all-time favourite comedy monster movies, Carry On Screaming, with hilarious characters like Valeria, Bung, Sockett, Slowbottom and Oddbod! I've just discovered there's even a Carry on Screaming Royal Mail stamp!

As its one of the last lazy days of the holiday I intend to watch my new 2001 Space Oddysey VHS at some point. I was interested to read of the sequels by Arther C.Clarke including 2010! Here's a resume of it -

Nine years after the disastrous Discovery mission to Jupiter in 2001, a joint U.S.-Soviet expedition sets out to rendezvous with the derelict spacecraft *to search the memory banks of the mutinous computer HAL 9000 for clues to what went wrong . . . and what became of Commander Dave Bowman. Without warning, a Chinese expedition targets the same objective, turning the recovery mission into a frenzied race for the precious information Discovery may hold about the enigmatic monolith that orbits Jupiter. Meanwhile, the being that was once Dave Bowman *the only human to unlock the mystery of the monolith *streaks toward Earth on a vital mission of its own . . . 

Was it made into a film I wonder?

HAPPY NEW YEAR READERS

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE

Here's to a healthy and happy 2010 for us all. See you in the new decade.

DR.WHO AND THE LOST EPISODES

This was on UK radio over the Crimbo holidays - about the lost episodes of the Dr. Who TV series. Fascinating. You can listen to it here: BBC DR. WHO LOST EPISODES. Don't forget that the conclusion of the current David Tennant Dr. Who's demise, The End of Time, is on UK TV tomorrow, New Years Day. Mandatory viewing!

MAROONED AND THE XRV SPACE GLIDER

Well it's New Years Eve afternoon in frozen Ackworth, West Yorkshire and I'm got my feet up. I've just watched a great US movie from 1969 called MAROONED starring Gregory Peck, Gene Hackman, Richard Crenna (years before his Colonel Troutman role in Rambo) and a blonde-haired astronaut who I just can't place but I'm sure he was a TV Detective? Anyway, an excellent film released in December 1969, which must have added a cheery note to the first post-Moonlanding Christmas! Not! It looks great for it's time and features a fabulous red Lifting Body space glider called the XRV, which if you ignore the huge exhaust, looks like Thunderbird 2 minus its rear tail-bridge. It's even on a Rescue mission to save the marooned spacemen!

You can see the XRV being transported to its launch area in this You Tube clip of the film. Recommended.

ED'S REDBOX

"Hi, I like you blog!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have been documenting vintage 1960s-70s Knock Off toys in preperation of making a book. Operation Astronaut is one of my favorite pieces. I have found many varations of this Knock Off including scale varations some are only 8 inches tall. This is the first time I found the varation you have. GREAT FIND!

It's hard too find such cool Sci -Fi pieces. Redbox made many Gi Joe/Action Man Knock Off's in 1960s a very prolific company they even made a KO Batman. I thought you might get a kick out of pics. There are at least 4 varations of uniform too. Overall pretty scarce toys.

Ed"

Always happy to help Ed. Maybe other bloggers have more Redbox?