RESURRECTION OF THE DALEKS

Looking Back:

RESURRECTION OF THE DALEKS

When Dr Who briefly forgot it was for kids

When I was a kid, my Mother took me to the not-so-official "Dr Who Shop" hidden deep in Butler's Wharf, main location for Dr Who's production of Resurrection of the Daleks. 

This must have been a year or two after it was broadcast but before the entire site was turned into posh flats. I still remember walking down those haunting streets with all those girder catwalks along Shad Thames etc. It was all there, just as it had been in Resurrection. The rain had just lifted, leaving a sheen on the cobbled streets. 

And it was eerie as hell. I half expected a Dalek to be pushed out of a second floor window or one of Lyttons police goons to shoot me, using a silencer. 

Anyway. Resurrection of the Daleks. Like your Marmite, either take it or leave it. For me, it was the best Dalek story of the 1980s. Why ? Because it was a big deal when it first came out, because we hadn't seen any Dalek action in like five years. 

Most of all, it made the Daleks actually scary, established Davros as a Sith Lord Bad-Ass and crossed the blurry line between tea-time kiddies show with  adult themes and body horror. 

DAVROS RETURNS

The return of Davros in Resurrection, was a big deal, mainly due to Terry Molly taking over from Michael Wisher and a total revamp of the Davos's 'look'.

The costume upgrade was the best of all the incarnations. More switches and nobs on his control panel, not to mention a really kool gadget that he uses to control the minds of his minions, such as pre Dirty Den actor Leslie Grantham.

Then theres Molly’s awesome portrayal. like WOW! 

Now this was a Davros for a 1980s audience. Whatever that means. Perhaps a more mature audience? 

A Return of the Jedi / EastEnders audience. Whatever. 

And like some Dirty Den being thawed from carbonite, so too was Davros, revived from his cryogenic prison, making his return one of the most memorable in the series.

He’s also a bad-ass mofo. No longer a mere crippled scientist being pushed around in his Daleky wheel chair. This version of Davros is TERRIFYING.

All power to the disabled, that’s what I say.

Now his ambitions are up there with Atilla The Hun and his rants make Hitler’s speeches at the Nuremberg Rally, look like a crappy juggling act on Britain’s Got Talent before a bemused Simon Cowell.

Somewhere between the Evil Emperor, Hannibal Lecter and a disgruntled wheel chair user trying to get on the 149 bus to Tottenham, this Davros can talk the backside off a Movellan Battle Cruiser and then some !

"The universe is at war, Doctor! Name one planet whose history is not littered with atrocities, and ambition for empire! It is a universal way of life."

Molly got to play Davros in two sequels, and expanded on his Sith Lord Abilities, paving the way as the quintessential Davros, with the knack of levitation and firing arcs of electricity from his finger.

LOCATIONS

The location work is also fantastic. Those wet cobbled streets down Shad Thames with its girder cat walks criss-crossing above. Very atmospheric. These scenes were filmed in London’s Butler's Wharf, a once thriving industrial community.

Often referred to as 'London’s Larder', its warehouses stored huge quantities of tea, coffee, spices and other commodities. By the 1970's container shipping, trucks and railways had made this area redundant.

With subsequent cheap rents, it became a hotspot for local artists such as David Hockney and Derek Jarman, paving the road for gentrification, which turned this area into the posh hive for expensive flats and Star Bucks, that it is today.

SCARY DALEKS 

In their previous excursion, Destiny Of The Daleks (partly written by Douglas Adams), the Daleks rolled down a rocky comical road, becoming farcical pepper-pots. It was a stigma that was hard for them to shake off.

By the 1970s, the Daleks popularity was on the wane. No longer huge movie stars, now they trundled about the Tv series rather lifelessly, flashing their lights out of time. It was like the operators were either asleep or weren't in them at all. 

It would be a running theme,  notable from Day of the Daleks onwards. This was mainly due to directors who hated working with them and thus took the money and ran. Plus they didn't get to do much anyway, always playing second fiddle as Davros took centre stage as usual. 

Cheaper build methods also meant cheaper looking Daleks. By the late 80’s Remembrance of the Daleks had reduced them to stereo types of themselves.

The exception during this hiatus being Resurrection. But it would be the last time the Daleks were ever taken seriously during the series original BBC tenure. 

For the next twenty years, the Daleks suffered ridicule and were knocked for their short-comings, that is until Russell T Davis made them respectable again.

SUPREME DALEK 

So the Dalek Supreme was back. The likes of which not seen since Planet of the Daleks and only mentioned in Destiny.

He doesn't do very much of course, apart from bark orders and scheme plans. 

But he looks the part, with his Sith Lord black paint job and white hemispheres. While the other Daleks look decidedly worse for ware. 

All the Daleks in this story, were voiced by actor Brian Miller, who was also married to former Dr Who Companion Elizabeth Sladen of Sarah Jane Smith fame. Small world. 

LYTTON

Commander Lytton, played by the formidable Maurice Colbourne, almost steals the show. With his mercenary gang for hire, posing as coppers, this gives the story a whole new dimension. 

Like, sorry ? The Daleks need mercenaries? When did this happen? Things must really be bad. Usually they just robotise everyone. Not anymore. 

The heady days of subjugating all other life are long gone, in the wake of The Movellan War. 

The Daleks have been reduced to scavengers. Fortunately for them, Lytton and his not-so-merry men are available. The only thing missing, is Mr T and the A-team van. 

Lytton is not afraid of anyone. Thus he has the Daleks by their greeny gonads. So it’s fun to see him bitch-fight with the Dalek Supreme and put him in his place without fear of extermination. Its like watching Eva Braun and Hitler, bickering over who left the chicken in the oven too long.  

Prop wise, there is another nod to the Star Wars era, with Lytton's men wearing helmets that look suspiciously like Darth Vaders but with more Dalek bits. 

CREEPY STORY

Basically, it’s a dark tale. Akin to a Shakespeare tragedy in space. Like Warriors of the Deep, everybody dies and then some. So much so, that even Tegan finally draws the line and jumps ship. Well, who would blame her? After all, Adric was dead, Nyssa joined a Space Leper Colony and Turlough turned out to be a two faced Trion ginger vagina.

That scene when a Dalek octopus escapes and attacks a soldier was particularly effective and scary. 

And the Daleks blasting the airlock was quite exciting. And let’s not forget the epic Dalek battle in the warehouse at the end and them succumbing to Movellan shaving foam.

Thus it was the only 80s story that attempted more horror than in previous episodes.

NOT FOR FAMILY VIEWING

In fact, it broke the precedent in upping the shock-value in Dr Who. I mean. We got to see an extreme close up of this guy’s face eaten away by some Dalek skin eating Gas? Crew members puffing away on cigarettes, soldiers being attacked by Rabid Octopuses etc. Even Lyttons murderous coppers using silencers? It was all a bit much for most Tea Time viewers, straight off the bat of Gardeners Weekly. 

It was almost as if producer JNT wanted to finally break the mould of Dr Who as a children’s Tv show and make it more for adults. But it backfired. 

This time the series went too far. All this culminated in complaints from concerned parents about the series direction. But as a kid I thought this was fucking kool. And still do. 

But the powers that be said no. Dr Who was a children's show and thats were it belonged. Never again would the original series deal with such graphic issues. 

The sequel (Revelation of the Daleks) is by comparison, a much lighter affair. 

It still contains dark undertones and themes of death but it was obvious that budgets were being cut. The Dalek voices sound like nose pinching, comedian Alexei Sayle, as hilarious as he is, seemed too jarring. 

By the Sylvester McCoy era, the show was so dumbed down for kids, that it lost its adult viewership altogether and was subsequently axed. 

LEGACY

What Resurrection gave was the most adult Dalek story since Geneses. With the shows return in 2004, the latter revamps of Davros owed much to Molly’s incarnation. As for the Daleks, it briefly returned them to top monster of Dr Who, in the whole Top of the Pops thing. 

Plus, its shock-horror elements elevated the series into some serious mature viewing, offering a glimpse of what a more grown up show might look like, if the BBC suits had all been exterminated. 

KIRK VS AGEISM

 

THE BEST OF TIMES, THE WORST OF TIMES 

STAR TREK 2: THE WRATH OF KHAN

KIRK VS AGEISM

Ageism is the killer of all professions. No more so than in the movie business, where everyone is expected to be young, dumb and picture perfect. Actors might reach their pinnacle around thirty something and then the roles begin to dry up, as the younger climb up the ladder and knock the older flying. 

WRINKLY HEROES 

With a sense of camaraderie, certain serials and movies tended to ignore the issue of ageing actors, still throwing themselves around like teens. An issue that was painfully obvious in the latter Roger Moore Bond Films, as his age began to become so at odds with his various young damsels in distress. 

Even watching the latter Indiana Jones Films, the issue of age is rarely brought up as an elderly Indiana practically does summersaults. For Dial of Destiny, CGI was employed to make a 80 year old Harrison Ford appear 40 years younger for the flashback scenes. And I don't blame him because, like Roger, who wants to get old? 

After all, it happens to all of us sooner or later. We reach our peak and then its all down hill. No more so than in the Star Trek franchise. But what makes Star Trek interesting is that they actually addressed this issue, in The Wrath Of Khan. 

Rather than ignoring the elephant in the room, they tackled the themes of virility vs mortality head on. 

THE DEADLY YEARS 

Of course, the theme of age wouldn't be a first time for Star Trek. Back in the original series, the episode The Deadly Years had Kirk and Spock etc infected with a disease that made them age rapidly in a matter of hours, to the point that Kirk became senile. By the end of it however, they found a cure and Kirk was back to swooning the chicks. But it was a taste of what was to follow. 

What The Wrath Of Khan tried to say was ITS OK TO GET OLD. So long as you could still roll with the punches. 

Yet it took a lot of convincing to get to that point, especially with young executives. Usually a Tv series just gets a reboot. Out with the old and in with the new etc. Dr Who for example can practically go on forever (and probably will) because no particular actor can now stake a claim to that character, much as the aforementioned James Bond series. 

BIG COMEBACK

After the original Star Trek series was scrapped way back in 1969, the cast went their separate ways. At the time, it was unlikely they would ever top what they had achieved in Star Trek.  Entering the 1970s, the future for our gallant crew looked bleak. William Shatner even lived in a trailer home for a while.  Fortunately the original Tv series was still in syndication, keeping  the trekky universe alive and coming back to that camaraderie thing again,  the original actors still had enough influence to keep their hats in the game, by doing convention tours. 

By 1972, talk about a Star Trek movie called "The God Thing" was in the pipes but never got anywhere. And even if they could get something off the ground, there was no guarantee it would secure the cast a regular income. They had learned all that the hard way, the first time around. 

Then Star Wars came along and changed EVERYTHING. Shatner was right on it and pressed the lever pullers to get Star Trek back on track. 

Feasibility of a new Tv series was a big financial risk. It meant renting out massive studio spaces to accommodate the enterprise interiors etc. And it would mean high end scripts every week. 

Hence instead of a new series, they opted for a movie. 

FROM TV SERIES TO MOTION PICTURE 

Star Trek: The Motion Picture was, in some ways a gamble. It was the ultimate test to see if the same actors from a long gone Tv show could still reel in an audience.  Still, that said, public demand had got them to that point in the first place, so it was a fair bet to say a movie would probably work. 

But this first outing lacked the familiar themes of the Tv series. In fact The Motion Picture, as great as it was, missed a trick in that it had entirely overlooked the role that age would inevitably have to play. 

One has to remember, there was no internet, only Tv re-runs. For an audience who had not seen the original crew in 10 years, the transition from Tv series to big screen was a little jarring. 

Gone were the hammy fisty-cuffs and ill placed stunt doubles. The Enterprise itself had completely changed. The bright Technicolor vibes of the 1960s were all binned in favour of muted tones of beige and grey.  As for the actors, everyone was somewhat older, seasoned perhaps. Scotty was starting to put on a few pounds. 

Plot wise, we got a lot of wrestling to explain how the crew got back together. So much so, that the story went thru various re-writes until they came up with the V'Ger narrative.

But beyond all the spectacle, the film didn't say anything new. It was just re-hashing age old tropes from the Tv series, such as trying to contact the aliens and make friends etc.

It did however, plant the seeds that gave way to its sequels. Particularly with an ageing desk bound Kirk, muscling his way back onto the Enterprise and demoting Captain Deckard.  

SUBTEXT OF KHAN 

Sensing they could do more with this theme, it was exploited to the hilt in the second movie, The Wrath Of Khan. Whereby Ageism takes centre stage as the subtext for the whole movie. 

Marooned on Ceti Alpha 5, the subtext of Khan is that he's not only lost his freedom but also his youth. Something about the planet* causes  him and his followers to age twice as normal. Eg: His son Joacim is supposed to be 15 years old but looks almost 30. 

Plus he is removed from his fathers ambitions as he pleads him to give up this grudge against Kirk and move on. But Khan is consumed by hate and revenge. All he can think about is how Kirk took away everything from him, including his wife.

Meanwhile back on Earth, Kirk and crew are put out to pasture. Pushing 50 something with a cushy but boring desk job, Kirk misses the good old days when he was out there, hopping galaxies.

But then the shit hits the fan. What should have been another run of the mill training exercise with new trainee Cadets, turns into a nightmare, when Khan escapes Ceti Alpha 5 after hijacking a star ship. Then its all out Moby Dick in Space as he chases Kirk around perditions flames and so on. 

Seeking refuge in the tunnels of Regular 1, Kirks ex (Carol Marcus) tries to make sense of it all. 

    'What are you feeling?' She asks Kirk, dismayed that his only son rejects him and would probably be happy to help Khan. 

    'I feel old...' he says 'Worn out.' 

This theme however, resolves itself when Kirk finally defeats Khan but at the cost of losing Spock.  

Still, he gains the respect and love of his son David.  

The ending is all about rebirth, as they all gather on the bridge of the Enterprise and regard the sun rising over the new Genesis planet. Whereby Kirk finally realises what Spock was trying to tell him on his birthday and says he feels young again. 

Kirks resolve is reborn and we're left wondering, is Spock really dead? 

And that pretty much wraps up this story. 

 

LEGACY

The Wrath Of Khan became a theatrical sensation, making it one of the best films in the franchise and projected its cast into superstars. With that, Star Trek kicked Ageism's ass once and for all. Or at least for a few more sequels before The Next Generation came along anyway. 

With the aforementioned CGI however, its only a matter of time before we see a return to the original series, featuring avatars of all our best loved characters. But by that time, this writer will likely be too old and senile to even care. 

*All is explained in the book by Greg Cox 

BABS CARTLAND

BARBER CARTLAND 

LITERAL ANTI-CHRIST 

So I keep seeing this post going around about Barbara Cartland and like, how amazing she is ? 

The post states she wrote 723 novels in her life time and 23 novels in 1976 alone. At the time I thought wow. Thats...

But then I did the maths or Math, whatever. Anyway, it all sounded a bit suspect. Like VERY SUSPECT. 

I mean think about it. 23 Novels in one year? The average novel is 85k. And we're talking about no internet, no computers, no artificial aid of any kind. 

Back then you only had a physical library and clunky typewriters. If you made a typo mistake, you had to use white nail-varnish paint called 'Typex' to fix the error. Plus you couldn't do any editing or re-arrange paragraphs, without cutting up physical pages and glueing them back together. All this takes time. 

But even if you could write 23 novels, thats like two novels a month at 85k. 

To put that into perspective, you would need to conjure up 85,000 words every two weeks. If we assume there is 168 hours in a week and minus say eight hours a day for sleep (56hrs) gives you just 112 hours a week to complete half a novel (say 40,000 words). 

That means you would be writing on average 5,700 words a day. And thats just typing. No time for coffee breaks, 'thinking cigarettes' or agonising over wether your protagonist needs more character development. 

Its not impossible but the output is literal pantsing, no plot and just formulaic. I don't know about you but I wouldn't get much sleep. Like zero. Not to mention I would probably reach BURN-OUT before the end of the month. But thats just me.  

But as far as everyone else is concerned, Babs Cartland is up there with Jesus and the Apostles. Untouchable. A christ-like role-model for all aspiring peasant writers. But that just means that your own little novel will never be good enough. And all your peers will tell you so. 

And of course she wrote 723 novels. And 23 in just one year. And as anyone online will tell you: how many novels did you write last week dickweed? 

So I did a bit of research. Not much tho. Because somebody as big as Babs Cartland is bound to have thick bio's galore and my small peasant brain can only take in so much. Plus unlike Babs, I don't get paid for my writing. Just putting this together, alone took me like three hours to write.  

But even just mulling over a few token articles and wiki, it was interesting to note that at least one writer had openly complained about her flagrant plagiarism. 

So how was Cartland able to write 23 novels in one year and 723 in total? Simples: She had previously married the heir to a printing fortune. Which certainly made things easier. The marriage didn't last of course, but by that point she had gone up the social ladder enough to be mixing with the elites.

Her daily writing schedule included falling out of bed at whatever o'clock, followed by a leisurely lunch that included tea and scones. Then she might spend three hours in the afternoon, depending on how she felt, lying on a couch and dictating her 'ideas' to the secretary. This entailed using well known X,Y,Z plot formulas, lifted from other books. Then Babs would toddle off to see friends, while the poor secretary was putting in all the hours, working flat out round the clock to wrestle Cartland's dictations into prose. 

Thus after two weeks, hey presto! A full manuscript ready for the printers. Cartland does it again! No thanks to some 'borrowed ideas' and flogging the poor secretary for all her worth. If anything said secretary should have at least got credit as a Ghost Writer. But I guess not. 

Meanwhile, Cartland was celebrated and her prestige allowed her to get away with churning out books like so many hot turds.  

The moral to this rant is: if you want to be a respected writer, don't aspire to be Barbara Cartland. If anything, the real writers of this story are the poor secretaries paid peanuts, and the people she ripped off, who poured out their heart and souls onto paper, while Cartland took all the credit.