Doctor Who: The Masque of Mandragora
by Louis Marks; dir. Rodney Bennett (BBC, 1976)
Tom Baker is in fine fettle as the Doctor swashbuckles around a rather small-looking historical adventure, countering an alien threat that he himself has enabled. Elisabeth Sladen brings matchless nuance to her performance. Giuliano narrowly survives a foreshadowing of Blackadder’s Lord Percy.
Mr. Pump’s Legacy
by Hergé; trans. Leslie Lonsdale-Cooper & Michael Turner (Methuen, 1987) [from Le Testament de Monsieur Pump, 1951]
![Book cover: “Mr. Pump’s Legacy” by Hergé; trans. Leslie Lonsdale-Cooper & Michael Turner (Methuen, 1987) [from Le Testament de Monsieur Pump, 1951]](https://www.derelictspacesheep.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Herge_Mr-Pumps-Legacy.jpg)
Hergé’s children’s adventure series opens here with a comedic salvo (a four-page cameo from the speed-obsessed Mr. Pump) before settling into the improbable thriller/action sequences and manifold lucky escapes that dominate early Tintin volumes. Eyebrows raise at such derring-do from pre-teen protagonists.
Sunset at Blandings
by P.G. Wodehouse (Chatto & Windus, 1977; revised Everyman’s Library, 2015)
The final, unfinished Wodehouse novel. Much like Pratchett’s ‘The Shepherd’s Crown’, the un-fleshed-out text stirs memories of what was, while throwing light on the authorial process. In this instance, Plum-worship has led to the adding of copious and mostly inconsequential third-party annotations.
Murder on the Ballarat Train
by Kerry Greenwood (Penguin, 1991); audiobook read by Stephanie Daniel (Bolinda, 2009)
As with ‘Flying Too High’, the mystery is not so much solved as forced to recognise the unstoppable poise and authority of Miss Phryne Fisher. An easy read of historical interest and with characters made even more memorable by the TV series.
Mr Bowling Buys a Newspaper
by Donald Henderson (Random House, 1944); audiobook read by Tim Frances (HarperCollins, 2018)
Set in London during the Blitz and marketed as a murder ‘story’ rather than ‘mystery’. This is because the protagonist did it! Remarkably, Henderson is able to somewhat humanise Bowling—a serial murderer born from ennui and dreary disillusionment at the war.
Agaton Sax and the Cashless Billionaires
by Nils-Olof Franzén; trans. Kenton Hall; ill. Mike Bryson (Oak Tree Books, 2022)
Good, lively fun to begin with, though degenerating into a tangled mess that Agaton Sax plays no real part in unravelling (save an explanation in retrospect). It’s easy to see why Franzén wasn’t entirely satisfied with this instalment, and left it untranslated.
The Valley of the Cobras
by Hergé; trans. Leslie Lonsdale-Cooper & Michael Turner (Casterman, 1957)
In this final book of the series, Hergé at last strikes the right balance, giving free reign to slapstick antics while more or less side-lining Jo and Zette (though still depicting them as adventurous mini Tintins; Jocko serves as a surrogate Snowy).
Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats
by T.S. Eliot (Faber & Faber, 1939); audiobook read by Miranda Richardson (Faber & Faber, 2015)
A slim volume of Dr Seuss-like (though inherently more literary) poems for children, memorable more for the gloriously absurd cat names and the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical these inspired than for the poetry itself. Miranda Richardson’s reading is decent if sometimes off-tempo.
Commando
dir. Mark L. Lester (1985)
Recipe for the quintessential 1980s action film. Take: atrocious dialogue; nonsequitous, spectacle-driven plot; casual continuity lapses; women as accessories; relentless electronic score; selectively efficacious weaponry; overweight Australian Freddie Mercury villain. Mix well, add Schwarzenegger. Ensure that writers and director are all male.
Murder Must Advertise
by Dorothy Sayers (Victor Gollancz, 1933); audiobook read by Ric Jerrom (Chivers, 2012)
Sayers throws herself into the advertising world, exhibiting the same whimsical, satirical bent as her protagonist. Yet, the entire caper is laborious in the extreme. Characterisation and context are all very well, but a good 50% of this novel is utterly extraneous.