Sounds of Rock – Hervey Bay
(Seafront Oval, 6th September 2025)
Queuing debacle, early sound fluctuations (like a sweeping desk fan) and patronising MC notwithstanding, singalong nostalgia surged to the fore! Standout act: the slick and supremely assured, cowboy-leather, keytar-toting Pseudo Echo (duckwalking to glory through a masterful extended rendition of Funky Town).
Thank You, Jeeves
by P. G. Wodehouse (Herbert Jenkins, 1934)
audiobook read by Jonathan Cecil (Bolinda, 2014)
The usual hijinks, predictable in outline but spontaneous and delightful in the detail. While Jeeves may have lodged more firmly in the public consciousness than has Bertie, the latter presents as the more quintessentially Wodehousian character, frothing over with witter and wit.
The Bell Jar
by Sylvia Plath (Heinemann, 1963)
audiobook read by Maggie Gyllenhaal (Faber & Faber, 2015)
Heavily descriptive, albeit the slathered-on imagery (a poet throwing herself at prose) does serve as a tracing agent in charting mental illness. An unsatisfying novel, difficult to separate from its affecting autobiographical content. Gyllenhaal’s audiobook reading renders it at least somewhat accessible.
Counterpart, Season 1
(Starz, 2017-2018)
The premise is beguiling—a cold war waged not between nations but between diverging multiverse iterations of the same nation. We’re given murk and intrigue. Actors play disparate versions of themselves. At season’s end, however, all remains predictably abstruse (pending a continuation).
Father Brown, Series 5
(BBC, 2016-2017)
Father Brown survives its first major cast shake-up. With Sid absent, ‘Bunty’ (Emer Kenny) replaces Lady Felicia and joins Mrs McCarthy in open, (double)active support of Father Brown’s no-longer-even-remotely-clandestine investigations. Inspector Mallory’s behaviour, meanwhile, goes beyond parody and into god knows what.
Agaton Sax and the London Computer Plot
by Nils-Olof Franzén; ill. Quentin Blake (André Deutsch, 1973)
[from Agaton Sax och den svällande rotmos-affären, 1970]
![Book cover: “Agaton Sax and the London Computer Plot” by Nils-Olof Franzén; ill. Quentin Blake (André Deutsch, 1973) [from Agaton Sax och den svällande rotmos-affären, 1970]](https://www.derelictspacesheep.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Franzen_Agaton-Sax_London-Computer-Plot.jpg)
Agaton Sax once again comes up against The Boss and his ineffectual, scramble-talking gang. While the Swedish detective’s much-vaunted mastery doesn’t really hold water on this occasion, the pseudo-portentous, faux-mysterious comings-and-goings will nonetheless keep young readers amused (and delving into the genre).
The Second Form at Malory Towers
by Enid Blyton (Methuen, 1947)
audiobook read by Beth Eyre (Bolinda, 2021)
Second Form introduces new characters and shifts the viewpoint away from Darrell (embracing an omniscient narrative). While the plot mirrors that of First Term, the girls have turned thirteen and the shading is less innocent. Thus the series grows alongside its readers.
A Murder is Announced
by Agatha Christie (Collins Crime Club, 1950)
audiobook read by Joan Hickson (Lamplight, 2015)
Christie dollops out distinct, often irreverent personalities, and fashions an engaging murder mystery, albeit the scenario hangs on an unnaturally compressed timeline (to which the reader is only belatedly made privy). The omniscient narrative allows for different angles of sleuthing and deception.
Terry Nation’s Dalek Special
ed. Terrance Dicks (Target, 1979)
The odd typesetting gives this a fanzine appearance, as if Dicks has cut-and-pasted his material from elsewhere. Includes a potted Dalek history, random Dalek puzzles and photographs (B&W), and a truly amateurish (more nonsensical than ever) MG story courtesy of Terry Nation.
The Last Rose of Summer
by Steve Gallagher (Corgi, 1978)
Gallagher’s first novel—an adaptation of his own radio series—is a ropey SF piece that displays none of the writerly craft or voice so evident in later works. The grim societal pessimism is there but even this element lacks for subtlety.