Stun Guns and Cross-Dressing Crime Fighters

‘Stun Guns and Cross-Dressing Crime Fighters’

That would make a fantastic title for a book, wouldn’t it?

Imagine a bleak space outpost in the farthest reaches of the cosmos, a despicable murder, loads of clues and enter the hero of the piece; a Northern-accented, cross-dressing Columbo character who saves the day! Who could play that I wonder? Well, to be honest, that man isn’t with us anymore and the performing world has watched another talented candle blown out far too early.

We know ‘Paul Valentine Birkby’ as that crusading anti-hero of the stars, and yes, that amazing performance of his Columbo-esque character and (later) a detective in a dress on 'Whodunnit?' in the 1970s. I love that name ‘Valentine’, don’t you? It’s not a name that crops up much these days; it suggests a derring-do adventurer and a character who finds romance at every turn.

Paul Darrow was a legend; I don’t use that term readily because it’s over-used in the world of us ‘sci-fi’ fans. We seem to reach for it every time a ‘Big’ name departs this mortal coil. But until those few years when notoriety found him in ‘Blake's 7’, Paul wasn’t that household name emblazoned in lights across your screen. But if you trace his television appearance timeline, it was none too shabby, in fact worthy of a professional.

I was scrolling through my Facebook account in the early hours at work when I first saw the news of his death, I stopped, really stopped and time stood still for a couple of heartbeats. A horrible fear and darkness filled that area in my head which holds those valued childhood memories and a little light in the corner of my archive went out never to be relit.

Paul was popping up all over the shop in the late 60s / early 70s; I remember him appearing for about 10 minutes in a black and white episode of 'Special Branch' from 1969 as a QC in a Coroners Court giving one of the sharpest performances I’ve seen. He rips up Wesley Pithey’s character for arse-paper before painting him into to the proverbial corner, a master class of delivery. And that’s the point with Paul, however small the piece, he gave it ‘the beans’. No half-measures, he invested into every part. This clearly held him in mind for a lot of casting types and directors.

I loved that contrast of a very ice-cold unfeeling performance as Captain Hawkins in ‘The Silurians’ opposite the warm friendly aspect of the Brigadier. This was defined for me when he gets a clearly shocked scientist to help him move the dead body of a soldier. Paul was playing a fighting man, who was used to the sight of death and his cold callous exterior would be immune to the sight of the fallen, it didn’t even cross his mind that the scientist would be repulsed by the sight of death.

Paul could play ‘Steely’ almost verging on the edge of inhuman characters, but then the next week we could see him playing an attention seeking, vulnerable person crying out for help in an unconventional  manner such as he played in an episode of Z Cars called ‘Pieces’  from 1973.

I could go into his singularly most extraordinary performance in ‘Whodunnit?’, but Lisa and Andrew have done a fantastic job of this in their tribute to Paul on their latest Videocast.

But I owe Paul a heck of a lot, the character of Kerr Avon is where I get my sharp wit and sarcasm.

No, really!

It's 1978, it's BBC1 and 'Blake’s 7' was on our screens. Other than the fact that I had a massive crush on Jenna, I learnt a great skill from Paul’s portrayal of Avon which is part of my makeup today. No, it’s not an unfeeling logical megalomaniac attitude towards life, or an unquenchable greed for other people’s money or wealth, it's sarcasm, honestly!

He taught me to be sharp witted and very sarcastic in times of stress. It’s true. It's one of those moments in life that I can nail down to one single influence, Paul’s performance.

Now I could have listed his appearances on so many other TV Shows, audio performances, stage plays and adverts flogging mobility scooters, I just wanted to say what Paul did for me, he actually gave me a life-long character trait that is here to stay till the day I sign out. For someone to place that seed in a 7 year old’s brain through their performance speaks volumes, if not whole libraries about their ability to reach out with their acting abilities.

I never met Paul, but I would have loved to have had the chance, in clips I saw of him he was smiling, generous to everyone and to think that wonderful booming laugh will never be heard on the convention circuit again is a huge loss to fans the world over.

Cheers mate, you will always sit in my heart. Thanks for making me... me!

Paul Darrow 2nd May 1941 – 3rd June 2019

(Written by Warren Cummings)

(Cover image by Martin Holmes)

Episode 36 now available!

Episode 36 now available!

Episode 36 of 'Round The Archives' sees Tim Worthington returns to talk about his book 'The Larks Ascending' which tells the story of comedy on Radio 3, while Martin takes a look at 'Divide And Conquer', one of the earliest surviving episodes of 'Public Eye'.

Paul, Nick and Andy Ching briefly review the first episode of 'The Tyrant King' and we spend some fantasy time in the company of 'The Phoenix And The Carpet'.

Episode 36 of 'Round The Archives' can be heard here.

(Written by Andrew Trowbridge)

('RTA' cover by Martin Holmes)

"Eldrad Must Live!"

"Eldrad Must Live!"

Just because you wear a mask or full facial coverings on screen, it doesn’t make you less of a visual performer; in fact, the power of a performance comes in the subtlety or the inflections of your verbal delivery.

Stephen Thorne as the ‘Original’ Omega awoke me from my slumber the first time I watched ‘The Three Doctors’ during the ‘Five Faces’ season. I was quite happily supping up the fun and frivolity of the Troughton/Pertwee interplay, when BOOM! Stephen strides onto the screen in full Shakespearean majesty.

But it’s that defining wail, that over whelming cry of Omega’s internal pain he lets out when the realism of his own mortality (or rather lack of) cascades through the air. It sent a resonating chill down my spine and still does to this day whenever I revisit it. Now, that’s the mark of a true classical actor; mastery of a character’s verbal delivery is the key building block of a believable villain. In Omega’s case always very distinctive, gravelly and tainted with traits of vulnerability.

The Shakespearean line of Stephen Thorne’s work comes from his classic RADA training. After that time-honoured training in weekly Rep where he perfected his house style of that polished layered vocal delivery. He was spotted and coached for an opportunity to tread those hallowed boards of the Old Vic. His flexibility and sheer presence, remember Stephen was a man of great stature and an actor who could command the light of attention on any stage, painted his pathway to travel the world with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

His voice work, through the world-renowned BBC Radio 4 plays and dramas became a staple for a considerable period of his life. Again, it was that voice, that authoritarian cut of his projection that gained so much respect from his fellow actors. Appearing in comedies, dramas and soaps his manipulation of his oratory projection was a true game changer and a magnetic draw.

Those tones of his would appear on the wireless on umpteen occasions, even gracing the lands of Tolkien in the radio adaption of the epic adventure ‘The Lord of the Rings’

And that brings us on to where most of us first experienced this towering shadow, the world of Sci-Fi and the universe of 'Doctor Who'.

I first saw Stephen in ‘The Hand of Fear', playing the male version of Eldrad. Again encased in a silicon shell he would cut through the restrictions in the costume, his bombastic and, I think, measured  performance clearly hit the spot. I say that because Eldrad is an alien who has been forced into exile for untold years, building up a cauldron of hatred and revenge in this time.

He’s not going to be nicey-nicey, he’s going to be ‘p*ssed off, really p*ssed off’ and this will start to seep through the cracks, in the character’s inability to control that burning hatred. Stephen nails his colours to the mast early on and we find a almost childlike revenge weeping through those evil pores and manifesting through his vocal tirades. In an inexperienced lesser performer we could have been left with a single layered performance, but with Stephen you got that layered onion shedding its skins.

I was later to experience him retrospectively as an alien Daemon and as the Time Lord Omega.

Like all actors he appeared on other television shows: 'Z Cars', 'Last of the Summer Wine' and other numerous brief appearances in various almost walk-on roles in the world of television as such was the lot of an actor in those days. Stephen returned to the world of 'Doctor Who' audio play from Big Finish on several occasions.

But for 'Doctor Who' fans he is a distinctive voice of some of the most classic villains.

Thank you, Stephen, for making me shudder and in equal measures feel sorry for the character you were portraying. To have that ability to make your audience love and despise an evil character in the same breath is an amazing achievement.

Thank you for those rich tones and the legacy of a true villainous performance

Stephen Thorne was born in London 2nd March 1935 and returned to the stars during the last days of May 2019.

As the ‘On Air’ light fades we thank you Stephen and hope you rest in peace.

(Written by Warren Cummings)

('RTA' cover by Martin Holmes)

'The Shy Life Podcast' Episode 251

'The Shy Life Podcast' Episode 251

Robots, robots everywhere!

At least that's what we were promised for the 21st century in all those books about the future that I used to read circa 1978.

Our homes may not yet be jammed full of robots doing the hoovering and all that, but Paul recently invited Martin Holmes to join us for a natter about the various robots we've seen on screen over the years.

It was an absolute pleasure to be able to do a real-time piece with our two podcasting friends, who are highly valued members of the 'Round The Archives' team. We never quite know where these sorts of discussions will take us, but we always try and have fun on the journey.

And, of course, in the Shy Life universe maybe some of those wilder 20th century predictions have come true after all...

Episode 251 of 'The Shy Life Podcast' can be heard here.

(Written by Andrew Trowbridge)

The ExtonMoss Experiment - Episode 17

The ExtonMoss Experiment - Episode 17
(Podcast Crossovers - Volume 1)

We feel lucky to be part of a small family of podcasts who help each other out with material along with a bit of extra promotion and the latest episode of 'The ExtonMoss Experiment' demonstrates this very well.

The subtitle for it is 'Podcast Crossovers - Volume 1' and the first half of it gives listeners a chance to catch up on two articles that Simon and Ken recorded for 'Round The Archives' when they looked at 'Kavanagh QC' and 'MacGuyver'.

 Following this, Simon makes a call to the podcast 'Help, I Sexted My Boss' for some advice about what happens when his social and professional lives start to collide, relating some anecdoates that might raise an eyebrow or two...

Finally, Ken presents the second part of an interview with Sophie Aldred, recorded in 2007.

'The ExtonMoss Experiment' have lots of stuff lined up for the future, so be sure to join them for some gin'n'telly in the coming months...

Episode 17 of 'The ExtonMoss Experiment' can be heard here.

(Written by Andrew Trowbridge)

Episode 35 now available!

Episode 35 now available!

Episode 35 of 'Round The Archives' sees Warren join us on the sofa for some 'Sticky Moments' with Julian Clary.

Then Paul and Nick put safety first as they watch the Public Information films 'Drive Carefully Darling' and 'Apaches'.

Martin returns to consider 'The Fourth Horseman', the episode that launched Terry Nation's 'Survivors'.

Finally we mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of Queen Victoria by reviewing 'Victoria Regina', which starred Patricia Routledge in 1964.

Episode 35 of 'Round The Archives' can be heard here.

(Written by Andrew Trowbridge)

Mrs Slocombe, Senior Person

Mrs Slocombe, Senior Person

Just to keep everyone informed, Episode 35 of 'Round The Archives' still needs the final article to be recorded, with it pencilled in for this coming Saturday. All being well, the episode should be released by the end of next week, but don't come round with your kicking boots on if it slips a bit. So long as we get it out before May 24th, we'll be happy, for reasons that should become obvious...

But to tide you over, we've got another 'Are You Being Served?' video, although our look at 'Mrs Slocombe, Senior Person' sees us being well and truly upstaged at the end by Martha Cat, who just stares into the camera lens in an attempt to break the fourth wall.

Possibly, she feels that her public wants to see more of her, after we put her name in our version of the 'Van der Valk' theme tune. Though we reckon that Rose Cat will start to make more frequent appearances in response. Pussy rivalry is certainly a thing to behold.

As Mrs Slocombe would probably tell you...

Our video about 'Mrs Slocombe, Senior Person' can be seen here.

(Written by Andrew Trowbridge)