Happy Halloween From The Archives Family

Happy Halloween From The Archives Family

The laptop has been a busy bee today (nothing to do with Arthur Askey, before you... er, ask) uploading two-and-a-quarter hours worth of material to YouTube.

Admittedly, two hours of that was simply the conversion of Episode 26 of 'Round The Archives', but it still involves a fair bit of churning.

We'll not be home for much of this evening, so will avoid most of the local Halloween activity, though we've got a couple of bags of sweets. Just in case of emergencies, you understand?

But we wanted to get something ready for today, so dashed off a quick chat about the first episode of 'The Addams Family' ('The Addams Family Goes To School' : 18th September 1964) which gave me an excuse to experiment with some genuine night filming.

We always notice when archive telly attempts the old filter-over-the-camera-lens trick (hello there 'Raffles'!) so I thought we out to go for the real thing. My looming uplit face is simply achieved by holding an RAC LED torch under my chin, but the effect is probably quite disturbing for those of a nervous disposition.

As we've said, we'll go into more depth with the series in our next podcast, so our video is by no means intended to be definitive, but it's got the odd moment of interest, we think, especially my rather odd early 80s theory of what Thing really looked like.

Also on the spooky YouTube front, I put a link on Twitter to one of Paul (Shy Yeti) Chandler's older videos ('Shy Yeti's SpookyCreepyShow') as it seemed to fit the mood of today. What I'd utterly forgotten is that we make a brief guest appearance it in, which proves how short-term our memories can be sometimes!

Tonight, we're hoping to watch the first episode of 'The Munsters', but that's for another blog post..

A very Happy Halloween to all of you at home from the Archives Family!

The YouTube version of Episode 26 can be found here.

Our scary video about 'The Addams Family' can be seen here.

And Paul's 'Shy Yeti's SpookyCreepy Show' can be seen here.

(Written by Andrew Trowbridge)

Recording in 525-lines!

Recording in 525-lines!

"They've annuals and CDs
Some 'Doctor Who'-themed teas
And lots of DVDs

The Archives Family!

Their house is full of rubbish
And books on 'Worzel Gummidge'
Their laptop's sometimes sluggish
The Archives Family!"

Sometimes we plan things, somethimes they just sort of... happen.

When Episodes 28 and 29 of 'Round The Archives' get released, they might well give the impression that they belong to the former category, but anyone who knows us well will rightly guess that they're really more of the latter.

Now is probably the time to announce that 28 and 29 will form a two-part release (probably running closer to one hour than two for once!) based around some of our favourite shows from America.

We are certainly not an unknown quantity in the US, with this blog currently standing at 6500 pageviews there, compared with the 10,000 or so in the UK, but the podcast itself doesn't quite match that ratio. Looking at the latest numbers, the complete run of 'Round The Archives' episodes has been heard 346 times in America, but just over 2700 times over here.

So anyone who can give us some exposure beyond there shores will officially go on our list of Nice People. Thanks in advance!

Now, our plans are not fully in place, but if you've noticed the poll I've put up this morning (asking people the almost impossible question of making a choice between the original runs of 'The Munsters' and 'The Addams Family') might give you a clue or two as to what we're intending to cover.

In addition to this, we're hoping to make the final episode of 2018 a bit more Christmassy than the final one of 2017.

And yes, that's 3 episodes we're attempting to cram into 2 months!

Will 'Round The Archives' succeed?

Can Martin Holmes help?

(And other slightly re-written 'Radio Times' entries for Season 19 of 'Doctor Who')

Episode 27 of 'Round The Archives' can still be heard here, of course. Tell your friends!

(Written by Andrew Trowbridge)

Arachnids In The UK

Arachnids In The UK

Another short (or 'concise' if you prefer) blog post, as it's been it's been a bit of a rush jamming everything in today.

But we have at least managed to do a quick video covering our thoughts on last night's 'Doctor Who' story 'Arachnids In The UK' and even splashed out a whole pound on a spider-web decoration from the Asda over the road, just to jazz our background wall up a bit.

As we say in the video, I'm rather fond of spiders and have already re-written the story in my head so that the Doctor takes them all away in the TARDIS to Vortis or somewhere. Well, maybe not Vortis, as who knows how that might end...

I even felt guilty about having to move Martha Cat, who was all snuggled up against me, from the sofa in order to reecord the video, which proves how soppy I am about animals. That's what you get for being brought up on the works of Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin, not that I'm complaining.

In the video we also briefly talk about how the moment an episode has finished airing, Lisa gets asked her opinion by the BBC, though we're not sure her description of the spiders ('cute') will be seen by Chris Chibnall and team...

And apparently, there might be some interesting news on the very near horizon, but hopefully we'll be in a better position to talk about that tomorrow...

As always, stay tuned!

Our video about 'Arachnids In The UK' can be seen here.

(Written by Andrew Trowbridge)

Rummaging in me drawers

Rummaging in me drawers

Episode 27 is out there and has already conquered the globe, according to my initial set of data, although that's mostly due to Andy Priestner (who did the lovely piece on 'Maelstrom') sending greetings from Brisbane. The only way we can beat this globe-trotting now will be when we clock up our first listener on the moon. And the frightening thing is this may indeed happen one day, as once something is on the internet, it can potentially hang around for a very long time!

Shy Yeti Paul Chandler has also admitted that in the mid-1980s he used to set up Treasure Hunts for his friends, making them answer clues and find prizes, so our 'Treasure Hunt' piece seems to have been well-received, even if it is a trifle naughty in places!

Keeping up the innuendo, I've been rummaging in me drawers and finding all manner of semi-interesting objects from 1980s fandom, including my first ever DWAS Membership card (my membership number was 5/SAM-288 if that format rings any bells with anyone) and a 'with compliments' slip from 'TARDIS' Volume 10 (1985) editor Ann O'Neill, who was wise enough to employ the services of a certain Martin Holmes.

There's a couple of badges from the first and fourth Leisure Hive conventions (1984 and 1987) together with a scabby disc of card that claims 'The Sun Says Save Dr Who' which didn't really seems to affect the decision-makers at the BBC in early 1985.

The 'TARDIS COMMANDER' badge is the odd-one-out here, dating back to 1972 and as I never attended the exhibition it came from (the Science Museum), I'm a little unsure how I came to acquire it, unless it's one of Warren's that I've neglected to return?

But rarest of all was the single page of A4 paper claiming to be a copy of the 'SFOW Newsletter'. The Salisbury Federation Of Whovians was the rather pretentious name for the Salisbury Local Group and this slim publication (dated some time after 20th June 1987 - I can tell that as it boasts a photocopy of a cutting from the 'Daily Mirror' featuring Richard Briers with that very date on it) carries some news about the upcoming Season 24.

The information about the stories make amusing reason, with everything slightly garbled. 'Paradise Tower' (just the one?) is set in 1990s London, which is news to both me and Andrew Cartmel, I suspect.

'Delta & Bannerman' are the name of two rock 'n' roll stars  who have a spaceship that can go anywhere and mimic any object. An alternative name for the story is 'Flight Of The Vhimeron', apparently, although this may be partly due to someone aiming for the letter 'C' on their typewriter and slightly missing, as I'm sure this mistake was also in an edition of 'Celestial Toyroom' around this time. But we would have to ask writer 'Malcom Cole' to be sure...

Information for 'Dragonfire' (by the singular 'Ian Brigg') is sparse, but watch out for the nasty powerful being with ice creatures as slaves.

But coming across this haul of finds again has stirred a few memories of those far-off days, demonstrating how events, objects and people all connect up in our minds.

I don't know if in years to come, the odd listener will revisit ancient episodes of 'Round The Archives' and remember what they were doing when they first discovered us, but it doesn't hurt to dream, does it?

Episode 27 of 'Round The Archives' can be heard on Player FM here.

(Written by Andrew Trowbridge)

Episode 27 now available!

Episode 27 now available!

Episode 27 of 'Round The Archives' sees us journey back in time further than ever before as Martin Holmes takes a look at the 1950 film 'The Blue Lamp', which introduced audiences to PC George Dixon.

Warren then joins us to consider the time that 'Treasure Hunt' brought its chopper to the vicinity of our Dorset parts.

Andy Priestner returns to review the six-part 1985 BBC drama 'Maelstrom' then Warren rejoins us to talk about Series One of 'Whitechapel'...

As always, if you enjoy our stuff, please feel free to give it some publicity. We are, of course, shameless when it comes to that sort of thing!

Episode 27 of 'Round The Archives' can be heard here.

(Written by Andrew Trowbridge. Artiness by Martin Holmes)

Getting The Giggles

Getting The Giggles

I'm doing the editing for Episode 27 in fits and starts, rather than in one mammoth session, so we snatch a free moment to record a link when we can, allowing me to do some more tinkering before we need to do the next bit.

The running order is now decided upon with our two guest writers giving us a much-needed air of respectability among all our innuendo.

It's not that we don't take our subject matter seriously, it's just that when Warren joins us on the sofa, the Ooer Factor does seem to get suddenly bigger for some reason. I can't think why.

I've just been going through our article on 'Whitechapel' and it's all going along fine until Lisa comes out with the phrase 'she's been helping to man the lines to stop people from interfering with a fireman'...

There is a slight pause and we dissolve into silly giggling, with Lisa making brave attempts to get the piece on track, but this bit will have to be trimmed down and relegated to the out-takes after the end theme music.

I hope people generally stick around for the daft stuff right in the final moments. We always stay for the end credits at the cinema, and if you switch off 'Round The Archives' as the end theme plays, you might have missed some of our sillier moments.

We hope we never come across as self-indulgent, and hope that by trying to get as many Facts Per Minute in our pieces, that compensates for some of the less than professional moments.

We're just glad that we can call upon some people who are capable of taking 'Round The Archives' seriously, even if we don't always manage it!

(Written by Andrew Trowbridge)

Christmas Crackers

Christmas Crackers

Interested parties may like to know that I've begun editing in earnest for Episode 27 of 'Round The Archives', having finally decided on the running order. It's not something we've talked about very much, but when you've got four or five items from a variety of contributors, we essentially have to construct a schedule just like you'd see in 'Radio Times'.

So one of my jobs is to try and arrange things in some sort of order so that each piece is different in style to the one before and the one after. That can be through contrasting subject matter, genre or simply whoever has worked on the piece. We try to operate on the magazine-show principle that even if one thing isn't to the taste of the individual listener, something should be along next that they'll like.
But last night's episode of 'Are You Being Served?' reminded me of this, as we took time to look at the entire BBC 1 schedule for 22nd December 1975.

We'd reached the first every Christmas Special, 'Christmas Crackers', which is one of the better ones, quite frankly, even if any trace of realism goes out of the window in the last few minutes. Written by Jeremy Lloyd and John Chapman, it's a simple enough affair, but none the worse for that, which demonstrates Frank Thornton's ability to make a pair of googly-eyed glasses really rather funny.

We won't pre-empt our video discussion (which can be seen here) too much, but it did wander up some interesting avenues as we thought about the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures  (Eric Laithwaite discusses gyroscopes in a repeat of his 1974 ones, which you can find here) and 'Blue Peter' sees Lesley Judd dressing up as 'Alice In Wonderland'.

That nice Mr Martin Holmes was able to supply some images of the 'Radio Times' listings (which got the thumbs-up from Peter Purves himself) and he's talked about this in more detail on his own blog, which can be found here.

But enough of this chatter, the end of October is looming, and we've got a podcast to finish by next week!

Best get a shift on, or it really will be Christmas!

(Written by Andrew Trowbridge)

Two Mad Cats

Two Mad Cats

We've had our lovely cats for ten years now. Their first 'Doctor Who' episode with us was 'The Poison Sky', which was appropriate as both of the characters they are named after appear.

Before we got them from the local branch of Cats Protection  we considered what we would call our future cats.

Possible names included Boe and Captain Jack (yes, I know that's technically the same person) but we finally decided on Rose and Martha as suitable names around the time we first saw them. They were originally named Lilly (Rose) and either Harriet or Henrietta (Martha), the paperwork couldn't make its mind up in her case.

But I couldn't imagine myself calling out "Henrietta!", so Martha she became and it really suits her. She even comes when called, usually meowing her head off as she does. She's the first cat that ever talked back to me when I spoke to her and she always has to have the last word.

Rose on the other hand is more of a nudger, talking every oportunity to rub whichever part of your body she can reach, including your head, usually very hard.

She doesn't meow so much as squeak, which is extremely cute and never fails to get her fuss.

The first day we bought them home they didn't do any of things that the booklet we had been given said they would do. They didn't hide, instead coming out of their cat carriers and wandering around their new home as if to say "Yes, that will do" and one of them (not sure which) immediately tested the litter box and decided it was okay.

Next up, they discovered the stairs and both sat at the bottom staring up as I don't think they'd had them in their previous home. Half an hour later they were both charging up and down chasing either other like they had lived here for years.

That night we let them have access to the bedroom as we thought they might be a little scared still in this strange place, only to have them jumping on our feet all night.

The next day at aroud 5 am a huge crash was heard and  I came downstairs to find Martha casually walking from the kitchen, to find that what we had thought was solird wall under the bolier was in face a removable piece of wood with added kitchen tiles.

It didn't take long for each cat to decide which human was their favourite and despite my fears that both would flock to Andew, Martha firmly adopted me as her mummy. And Rose is definitely a daddy's girl, unless there is food on the go of course in which case she loves me lots.

And we couldn't love them more.

Two Mad Cats is what we'd call a production company should we ever form one by the way...

(Written by Lisa Parker and supervised by Martha)

Missing Blog Entries Discovered!

Missing Blog Entries Discovered!

"When I last visited Longleat I went to the Dr Who exhibition and I bought a dalek…"

Write about what you know, they say. Well, newly recovered documents indicate that I've been doing this since at least 1975. I was banging on about 'Doctor Who' then and it's a habit I've found hard to break...

Regular readers of this collection of assorted strangeness may remember my piece a few months ago 'A Look At Longleat' which mentioned a picture I drew at school depicting the main console room part of this much-missed attraction. I couldn't quite track it down at the time, but some subsequent digging in dusty boxes has unearthed the complete school workbook from that period in surprisingly good nick.

I can date the start of the book to September 1975 as the first entry in this prototype blog details how we have recently moved house from Knowlton (which had the grand total of two houses, a ruined church, some earthworks and a silage pit) to the grand metropolis of Monkton-up-Wimborne (four houses, a river that flooded every Winter and still no mains drainage). It's a recurring pattern that every time I've moved, it's been to a larger conurbation, with our current location of Poole seeming like a major city in comparison to my addresses in the 70s and 80s.

Entry number two is fairly mundane, concerning a sink unit being put into our new kitchen, but Page Three is where the excitement really starts.

We are talking the first week or two of Season 13 here, so Longleat only has stuff on display up to the end of 'Revenge Of The Cybermen'. Now I was never going to win any prizes for my attempts at artwork, but if you look closely at the picture, there's a cheery silver figure in the middle, waving his arms about with gay abandon. A couple of yellowish Daleks are on the left, with Davros exuding less menace than is customary. On the right, there's a Giant Spider and what may be a maggot from 'The Green Death'. Several minutes have been wasted trying to work out what the two brown lumps about the Spider are, and sadly there do not seem to be any photos from the 1975 console room display available. There is a written report which gives the clue that they might be anything from Yeti to Axons to Gell Guards or even plain old-fashioned rocks. This is why I was never brave enough to send anything in to 'Vision On'...

I clearly like my TV even at this early age, as along the way I mention 'Tomorrow's World' (Thursdays, of course, before 'Top Of The Pops'), 'It's The Knock-Out' (sic - apparently we watch this every Wednesday after I've been down the pub for a cherryade - BBC Genome says it starts 6.55pm and runs till 8.10pm when 'Softly, Softly : Task Force' starts, which means we didn't stay long in the pub) and 'Watch' (Tuesdays). The latter is interesting as there's a drawing of an elephant and the Genome entry for 11th November 1975 gives 'Watch' at 11am, shortly after an edition of 'Science All Around' that mentions weighing elephants...

Claire (not sure of her surname, sorry Claire!) has brought in her Womble, Orinoco, who seems to be wearing a red-and-white bobble hat, rather than the more familiar Tom Baker-style get-up and this page also notes my hope that the Loch Ness Monster is a Womble. If this is a reference to something from a book or an annual, that might explain this odd notion, as I'm unlikely to be mixing up Orinoco with Ogopogo, as we're a bit too early for me to have seen 'Arthur C Clarke's Mysterious World'...

Actually Nessie seems to be on my mind at lot (we are talking just after 'Terror Of The Zygons' here) as I've also rendered a two-headed version, who seems very happy, noting that "some people say that there are 50 monsters in the Loch and they are 40 feet long..."  But then, some people say some right old nonsense, after all...

But it's 'Dr Who' (guilty as charged on that front!) that clocks up more mentions than any other show. We watched 'Who' followed by 'The Generation Game' before going out to dinner with some friends. Who apparently drove around in 'Joe 90's car, for some reason. judging by the accompanying illustration...

Shortly after I have made some Christmas cards (one for my parents, the other for my cats & rabbits), I brought my 'Doctor Who' book to school, and it seems that "inside there was a picture of some of the monsters on..."

Given that 'The Doctor Who Monster Book' was published late '75, I'm therefore getting the feeling that I got this as a Christmas present, but with no specific dates in my workbook I cannot be 100% sure.

It's been fascinating going through these early example of my writing, as clearly much of what interested me then has carried through over 40 years later.

But then, that should be no surprise to anyone!

(Written by Andrew Trowbridge. Some of it in 1975)

Rosa

Rosa 

Last night's wonderful episode of 'Doctor Who' featured the story of Rosa Parks. Brave, confident and emotional, it was very hard to watch but absolutely worth it.

So far this series has played down the monster factor (although 'Arachnids In The UK' might cover that element, even if the spiders won't be a patch on the ones we get in out bathroom) but the monsters in 'Rosa' were in plain sight.  They were us; the ordinary human beings that populated Montgomery, Alabama. The bus driver, the policeman, the waitress, the passers-by...

The actual villain of the piece, Krasko, was pretty incidental to the plot, just there to try and disrupt history. I did wonder at one point if he was the Meddling Monk, but as Andrew pointed out the Monk (at least the Peter Butterworth version) was never that nasty.

Before this episode aired I did a litle bit of research on Rosa Parks. I knew very little about her apart from the fact that she had refused to move from her seat on the bus, and even that I learned from a 'Horrible Histories' song. But looking into her story I was inspired by her bravery and strength of character.

Something that was put across beautifully by Vinette Robinson, who gives a measured and dignified performance. The main cast are all on top form and Ryan's big grin when he meets Martin Luther King Jr. is both glorious and very funny.

Graham's face when he realises that he is the reason that Rosa will be told to move is heartbreaking and Bradley Walsh's acting shines in this scene. He is also given some comedy material earlier in the episode which he also acts brilliantly.

It is a lovely moment when Yaz tells Rosa that she is a policewoman and I love the chat that she has with Ryan behind the dumpster. It's a touching moment and leaves us with hope that the future for these two will be bright.

Jodie's Doctor just gets better and better as we find out more about her. The look on her face when Graham puts his arm on her shoulder her made us laugh and she shows a quiet authority when talking to Krasko.

All in all 'Rosa' is a fantastic episode, deserving all the praise it can get and hopefully picking up a few awards along the way?

(Written by Lisa Parker)

Treasure Hunt

Treasure Hunt

Yesterday we recorded an article for Episode 27 of 'Round The Archives' on the Dorset edition of 'Treasure Hunt'.

Filmed during the summer of 1985, it features many locations known to us. They start flying over Old Harry Rocks (close to Swanage, birthplace of original 'Z Cars' producer David E Rose), then on to Brownsea Island where the scouts still go camping to this day.

A fair amount of time is wasted here as Anneka Rice is lead in a circle by arrows placed on the ground, ending up where she started and where the clue has now been placed.

We then go on to the village of Corfe, where Annie has to look for the memorial for Edward the Martyr. She asks many passers-by if they know where it is only to be told no or that they are tourists. As if that excuses them!

When she finally locates the memorial and finds the clue the clock is stopped and we go into the first advert break. Sadly, the copy we watched did not include all the adverts, as these can be equally fascinating to modern eyes.

The next clue takes us to Arne and the Wareham Channel where Anneka has to attempt to read the clue from a moving powerboat which takes a few attempts, as the helicopter overshoots.

We then go on to Bovington Tank Museum, where Graham Berry the camerman nearly injures himself falling off an Armoured Car and Anneka skips paying the entrance fee. Finally finding the tank in question she has to try and climb onto it to find the clue.

The last clue mentions Piddles and Puddles and takes us to Athelhampton House, location for much of the 'Doctor Who' story 'The Seeds of Doom'. The contestants narrowly miss out on winning the complete jackpot but at least manange to grab a fairly respectable £500.

Having enjoyed this edition very much, we followed it up with the Season 3 one from the Isle Of Wight (7th March 1985) and decided to do a video about it as a bonus,

We must admit that we got confused about when exactly Kenneth Kendall moved to the Isle of Wight, as it appears that he didn't actually move there until the late 1980s as far as we can tell.
This edition features Osbourne House, Carisbrooke Castle, Robin Hill Country Park, Shanklin Rock Shop (which has never been so busy) and Blackgang Chine. Faced with the challenge of finding a gnome in a maze at this last location,  Anneka first steals a map and then a child to help her.

We finished our 'Treasure Hunt' marathon by watching a special celebrity edition that featured Kenneth Kendall and Anneka Rice as contestants in the studio with Ned Sherrin hosting.

We get celebrity skyrunners in this one, starting off with Gemma Craven who has to go to The Royal Chelsea Hospital, Wayne Sleep who goes to the Wig & Pen club on The Strand (where he is asked who he is and is made to wear a jacket) and finally Kenny Lynch who is terrified of the helicopter as it doesn't have a door and ends up back at the studio in Limehouse winning the prize for Kenneth and Anneka's charities.

We really enjoyed watching all these episodes, particuarly finding Wayne Sleep very amusing, who has a very good line in innuendo.

Our video about 'Treasure Hunt' can be seen here.

(Written by Lisa Parker)