Dr Who And The Giant Plants Of Norwich

Dr Who And The Giant Plants Of Norwich

The Complete And Utter History Of Dr WHO? (Part Ten)

The second Seasoning of 'Dockter Who' begans with a story that had been hanging around for some time. One of Sidney 'Proctor' Neman's original ideals was for a story called 'Dr Who And The Miniaturists' in which Dr Who's TARDIS was to be shrunken and attacked by a giant mouse that was really small but looked big as it was close up. This story (also known as 'Dr Whom And The Giant Rat Of Sue's Mattress') was had a go at by various writers but they all gave it up as a bad job as no-one could find enough magnifying glasses to put in front of the cameras so that people at home could actually see what was going on.

Enter Lewis Marxks. He was a multi-talented writer, producer, player of the harp and owner of a disturbing false moustache and cigar. Having been to Oxford (to buy a tie) he worked out that you did not really need to make Dr Who and the regular cast small, you could just make a big sink and a giant seed packet or something and the general public would probably be fooled anyway.

Episode One of this story ('Land Of The Giant People') was broadcasted on 31st October, which also happened to be Hallowe'en that year. This began a long-standing tradition whereby each new series of 'Doctro Who' would always start with Episode One of a story, so as not to confuse peoples of the universe.

The villain in this story was a villainous businessman played by Alvin Tillyvernas who was best known as playing both leads in the popular show about those popular comedy writers 'Sid Hills and 'Doc' Dick Green'. There was also a policeman in the story, but it is not the same policeman as in last seasoning's first episode as he has a different helmet if you look closely.

A challenge for the production team was a scene where schoolteacher Ewen 'Johnny' Chess were attacked by some giant matchsticks, which had to be made by gluing lots of little matchsticks together in the right order. At first they thought it was difficult to find so many used matchsticks, but thankfully Jack Hargreaves was smoking his pipe in the canteen at the time, so it was achieved within about ten minutes.

Episode Four ('From An Urge To Live Again') was deemed too slow to broadcast as the videotape had been accidentally set at 33 rpm rather than the usual 45 rpm, so it was edited togther with Episode Three ('Escaping To A Dangerous Crisis') to get it over and done with. Doctor Who makes a seed go little and then it ends. There was also something about Doctor Who's telly being bust, I think. That was probably a metaphor for people who did not pay their licence fee as the BBC detectorist men would come round with a giant hammer and smash the screen if you refused to cough up.

Thus ended Doctor's Who adventures up a giant's plughole but waiting in the wings was an very old Emney... As the old saying goes: The Invasion Of The Earth Had Beginned!

(Next week, that is)

Next Episode:

"Well, I can't see anything..."

(By Andrew Trowbridge)

"Let's meet the eight who are going to generate!"

"Let's meet the eight who are going to generate!"

We'd never really covered game shows before, but with the sad passing of Brucie in August 2017, we simply had to talk about 'Bruce Forsyth And The Generation Game'.  The original incarnation of the show spans 1971 to 1977 (Roy Castle presents one edition in 1975 and Larry Grayson takes over in 1978) and was part of that incredibly strong Saturday night schedule that BBC One has been trying to recreate ever since.

The Christmas 1973 edition is, er, readily available, shall we say... Shown on Christmas Day before 'The Mike Yarwood Christmas Show' (which was in turn followed by 'The Morecambe And Wise Christmas Show') it's a hugely entertaining edition that had us laughing like drains.

The more eccentric  the contestants are, the better. There's an old lady chiropodist from Corfe Mullen (very local to us!) who refuses to wear her false teeth and this sort of raw material is an absolute gift for Brucie.

It's a truly star-studded show with celebrity snowmen in the form of Derek Nimmo and Jimmy Ellis (or Sergeant 'Z Cars' as one team call him)

A bloke with an unconvincing hairstyle does the old trick with the tablecloth, while a lady makes Christmas crackers. Fanny and Johnnie Cradock also turn up to make a massive mince pie.

The fun and games veer towards the shambolic at times, but Bruce never allows anyone to look like idiots. The atmosphere is warm and inclusive and there is no sense of anyone actually needing to win the prizes at the end.

The highlight for me is the very amateur production of 'Cinderella' towards the end of the competition. With Frankie Howerd as the guest actor, what we get is a frantic village hall-style affair where everyone simply wades in and tries their best.

Indeed, some of the Frankie Howerd impressions out-do the real thing. "Yes, aah! No, ooh!" goes an old man, giving a performance I could watch all night.

And onto the conveyor belt, which is blessed with some many cuddly toys I feel sorry for the blokes shoving them on like crazy. You get a good shot here of the round window in the set, with some proper 1973 colours on display.

It might have been seen as fairly disposable stuff in its day, but coming back to it nearly 45 years later (ouch!) it really does stand up as a delightful serving of Christmas cheer and a lasting testament to Bruce's supreme ability to entertain.

Didn't they do well?!

(By Andrew Trowbridge)

"No, no! I shall never give in to an Italian whopper!!!"

"No, no! I shall never give in to an Italian whopper!!!"

Episode Thirteen of 'Round The Archives' rounded off with an article on Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft's 'Are You Being Served?'. This is often our default choice for a comedy series and we have watched certain episodes time and time again.

One of Lisa's favourites is 'The Hold Up' from the final season in 1985. Although I feel the show loses something after the departure of Arthur Brough's gloriously crabby Mr, Grainger, there is still plenty of entertaining material in its later years.

This particular story gives the cast a good excuse to dress up as the store falls victim to a robbery. One of the ne'er-do-wells is none other than Michael Attwell, soon to give us a terrifying portrayal of Bill Sikes in the Terrance Dicks production of  'Oliver Twist'.

It is stocktaking night and Mr. Rumbold has already left along with Miss Belfridge, so when Miss Brahms is grabbed by the criminals (which is always painful), it falls to Captain Peacock to impersonate the long arm of the law, that presumably will ride up with wear.

Although the plan seems to work for a few moments, the fact that Captain Peacock's supposed warrant card is actually Mr. Harman's Packing & Maintenance union card rather gives the game away.

All is not looking well for our friends at Grace Brothers, until talk of the feared Gumby Gang gives a ray of hope. Enter Mr. Harman and Mrs. Slocombe in full 1920s gangster gear as the infamous Pa and Ma Gumby.

But as always, Mr. Humphries tops everyone with his fan-waving Italian Tony ("The Tooting Terror"). Even Michael Attwell has trouble keeping a straight face when "Tony" has to law down the law.

A hurried phone call to Mr. Rumbold (note the lovely character detail of his cuddly koala bear) doesn't exactly pay off as intended. But if you want to know how the story ends, then we refer you to the DVD release.

'Are You Being Served?' makes no apologies when it dabbles with the dafter side of things. It's a difficult tightrope to walk, but when it holds its nerve, it can produce some wonderfully silly moments of comedy. It never fails to make us laugh and a trip to Grace Brothers habitually highlights how the production team have all done very well!

(By Andrew Trowbridge)

"When you've finally reduced your Triffids to dust..."

"When you've finally reduced your Triffids to dust..."

Last night we recorded the article on the 'Doomwatch' episode 'Project Sahara' which was chosen as it was broadcast the week Warren was born.  To be honest, I was a bit worried about whether we'd have much to say about this particular story, as it doesn't have a memorable image or scientific concept at its core.

There's none of the shock horror of 'Tomorrow, The Rat' or topical green concerns covered in 'The Plastic Eaters'. Even the name is a trifle misleading as the experimental defoliant around which the project is based could frankly have been anything. What Doctor Quist is faced with is the inhuman face of computer security - there are no location scenes of trees or bushes withering on Clapham Common. We were just going to run out of things to say after ten minutes?

But as soon as we got the shot of the computer operator "typing" with an action more reminiscent of playing the piano with a sledgehammer, we realised we were hitting gold here. Lisa proclaimed "She's like Rowlf from 'The Muppet Show!", kicking off a stream of consciousness that I could barely keep up with when making my notes.

What we've essentially ended up with is an irreverent set of production notes, where we take the mickey out of each other as well as what appears on screen. All three of us go back a long way, so no-one gets offended and we hope that the listeners will enjoy the experience as much as we did.

We concentrate on details rather than the overall plot, so we consider the attempts at avoiding product placement, with bottles turned away from the camera and cigarettes being taken from their packets only when they are safely below the nearest desk.

We wonder whether the curtains that sweep across the bluescreen in the computer room mean that someone is going to come in shortly bearing a tray of Kia-ora orange cartons, small tubs of ice cream and possibly an albatross.

My total lack of knowledge of sporting things is betrayed when footage of horse racing is featured on a pub TV. The best phrase I could come up with was " a horse match". Cue Warren piddling himself laughing...

This is not to imply that we think the episode itself is a poor piece of work. Quite the contrary, it asks questions that are even more important now than they were in 1970. 'Doomwatch' as a format is as relevant as it ever was.

So, that's one major article all done and dusted for Episode 20, then. Now we have to stop off in 1968 and 1972. What can we be covering next?

"Now pay attention, [banana]men..."

(By Andrew Trowbridge)

"Parsley is a herb..."

"Parsley is a herb..."

Although Michael Bond is rightly best-known for his creation of Paddington Bear, the 1968 series 'The Herbs' is probably where I first came across his name.

If 'Paddington' tells the story of an urban bear, then 'The Herbs' is more concerned with Rural Vegetables (no gags about us village people please!). When coming up with the basis of a new animated series for children, not many of us would reach for a 17th century book on the medicinal use of various plants, but that's the genius of Michael Bond for you.

Our guide through this secret green world is the amiable lion Parsley, who is so scared when he first notices the viewers at home that he goes and hides in a bush. Our cat Martha can be spooked by sudden Unexpected Slippers, so we have a lot of sympathy with this.

Everyone (with the exception of that most terrifying witch Belladonna) in the Herb Garden is friendly and respectful of each other. Though Sage the owl is justifiably grumpy when things happen to his beloved nest from time to time.

I can think of few series in which an Italian opera singer and a dragon with a slight speech impediment rub shoulders, but every character here is very well-written, so everyone will have their own particular favourite.

I'm rather fond of Bayleaf the gardener, especially when he feigns a bad back in order to get out of doing a stroke of work. And he scoffs most of the strawberries when he's supposed to be picking them, so fair play to him!

Gordon Rollings (later known for the 'John Smith's Yorkshire Bitter' adverts) does a fantastic job providing the narration and all the voices.

There are only 13 episodes (as with other fondly-remembered show such as 'Bagpuss'), but they are all beautiful pieces of work that have easily earned their place in our DVD collection.

The door to the Herb Garden lets us into a magical world every bit as imaginative as Narnia. The lion may be green, but I'm the one envious of Michael Bond's ability to create such a lovely place to visit. Sheer natural magic!

(By Andrew Trowbridge)

"A fire? A REAL fire?!"

"A fire? A REAL fire?!"

'Camberwick Green', 'Trumpton' and 'Chigley' run through my soul like letters through a stick of rock. The sheer detail of the universe that Gordon Murray creates, Brian Cant's gentle narration and the gorgeous music of Freddie Phillips all combine to produce a universe that is both welcoming for children and nostalgic for grown-ups.

Once upon a time, it was perhaps fashionable to look back on our childhood favourites with a rather jaundiced eye, but I am not here to snigger about how Mickey Murphy is a master baker. This is a show that stands up on its own merits and I wish I could make something so consistently excellent.

It's an idealised world, of course, but none the worse for that. Everyone is helpful to their friends and neighbours, whether there's a swarm of bees outside the bakery or the mayor's hat has lodged somewhere inaccessible again.

Now it's true that the average response to any problem is to over-react. The army and/or fire brigade are constantly called out for even minor problems. It's a amusing that PC McGarry's song says you can summon him even if your baby has lost a shoe.

We suspect that you'd be given short shrift if you dialled 101 and reported the loss of an item of junior footware. Mind you, given that this week people have been phoning the police to report that their local branch of KFC has run out of chicken, it demonstrates that you should never underestimate the stupidity of some of the general public...

Lisa was interested in the apparent clash of times zones, given away by the weid mix of fashion styles. The skirts of most of the ladies seem to owe more to the Edwardian era, but Mrs Murphy shockingly has considerably more than her ankles on display!

The soldier boys at Pippin Fort appear to have fallen through a crack in time from about 1835, but Mr Dagenham the salesman has a bang up to date helicopter. Although if I was invited on board, I'd ask that he put some safer doors on it.

The animation style is clean and simple, but still manages to communicate a surprising amount of emotion. For somebody portrayed by a puppet, Captain Snort manages to look wonderfully perplexed when he is lumbered with Mrs Honeyman's massive and oddly rigid baby.

I've mentioned the music in passing, but it really is one of the essential ingredients in the mix. Everyone gets a memorable song, even the corporation dustmen ("We're efficient, quick and thorough when we're cleaning up the borough!") and the telephone engineers with their squat, less than aerodynamic van.

Time truly flies by when you're watching these marvellous stories. So waste no time in taking a trip to Trumptonshire. But if there's some dust on the surface of your DVD, first take a smooth cloth to it rather than phoning for PC McGarry (Number 452).

(By Andrew Trowbridge)