Doctor Who: The Power of Three
by Chris Chibnall; dir. Douglas Mackinnon (BBC, 2012)
An important episode in Amy and Rory’s storyline. Gentle humour, endearing character moments, but the ‘stuff of nightmares’ Shakri are brushed aside with laughable ease. Chibnall might have done better to spend less time on Rory’s dad and more on the resolution.
Space 1999: Breakaway
by E. C. Tubb (Orbit, 1975)
A novelisation of episodes 1, 13, 19 and 10 (production code rather than broadcast order) of the 1975 British SF series. Tubb’s prose is slapdash, and the stitching together of crises affords a lurching, improbable quality to science that already obliterated credulity.
The Mystery That Never Was
by Enid Blyton; ill. Gilbert Dunlop (William Collins, 1961)
Often listed in appendage to the Barney Mysteries (perhaps due to Dunlop’s illustrations), in terms of characters and plot this simple one-off is much more like a Secret Seven adventure. The young protagonists invent a mystery… only to find it coming true!
The Beekeeper’s Apprentice
by Laurie R. King (St Martin’s Press, 1994; reprinted Allison & Busby, 2010)
Mary Russell proves both a worthy viewpoint protagonist and a match for her mentor, albeit her intellect is kept largely unflaunted. King presents a respectful and convincing characterising of Holmes in his older years (likewise depictions of Mycroft, Watson and Mrs Hudson).
Mechanismo
by Harry Harrison (Reed, 1978)
A bizarre attempt to apply the notion of ‘fix-up novel’ to the visual medium. Harrison presents a lavish hodgepodge of SF illustrations, artwork and schematics, stitched together with sections of (surprisingly derisive) genre-focussed literary criticism and stultifying excerpts from invented far-future history.
The Dam Busters
dir. Michael Anderson (1955)
Compelling war film that tells its story in a straightforward fashion, allowing the drama to speak for itself (with poignant character moments pre- and post-mission, and occasional low-key, tension-relieving one-liners). The acting is unobtrusive rather than outstanding, the special effects rightly lauded.
TV Comic Annual 1968
(TV Publications, 1967)
An abysmally written Adam Adamant short story, plus 90 pages of lame comics. Two simplistic, murkily illustrated four-page Doctor Who strips feature an overly tall Second Doctor defeating (with mammoths) Trods and (with rocks) Daleks, having first pre-invented the Goodies’ flying trandem!
Blake’s 7, Series 2
(BBC, 1979)
Series 2 benefits from the influx of new writers—Chris Boucher, Allan Prior, Robert Holmes—developing a sharper edge and becoming, paradoxically, more cohesive than when Terry Nation scripted every episode. The Liberator crew move obdurately (if fractiously) towards a death-or-glory showdown.
Have You Forgotten Yet? Between the Two World Wars
by Alan Delgado (David & Charles, 1973)
Written fifty years ago and looking back a further fifty, Delgado’s aide-mémoire of the English interwar period encompasses politics and society; libraries and publishing; music, radio, dance, film and theatre; technology; leisure, sport; and news media. Faded b&w photographs provide nostalgic testimony.
Petunia
by Roger Duvoisin (Alfred A. Knopf, 1950; Picture Lions, 1973)
Pride and mishap collide in this picture book of a farmyard goose who discovers a book and thinks that owning it is enough to make her wise! Good fodder but the two-page spreads alternate between black-and-white and colour, leaving an unfinished impression.