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Storm Warning Review
by Judith Proctor 07 Feb '01

07 Feb '01

I managed this with the aid of the dictation software, but my voice is horribly croaky now (chatting to too many fans yesterday - but I enjoyed it too much to regret it) Storm Warning -- review by Judith Proctor On the 5th October 1930, the airship R-101 left Cardington bound for India. She had been lengthened and modified because the original design was unstable. Rough weather and engine trouble forced her to low altitude, and over northern France witnesses saw it pitch and roll, then dive, strike the ground, and catch fire. Just six passengers out of 54 survived. Among the dead were members of the craft's design team and Lord Thompson of Cardington, the Secretary of State for Air. In the Doctor Who universe, things happened only a little differently. The Tardis lands onboard R-101 and the Doctor promptly teams up with Charley, played by India Fisher, a high-spirited young Edwardian adeventuress. (It is positively amazing how quickly new companions learned to trust the Doctor. Obviously some strange mental power of his.) Charley insert after with Charley is an enjoyable, if somewhat predictable, companion. After all, it is no longer PC to have female companions who get scared easily and scream. Also onboard the R-101 is Lord Tamworth, the Minister for Air, ably played by Gareth Thomas. At first I thought Tamworth was going to be a cliché character, but in fact I was pleasantly surprised. Lord Tamworth turns out have depths to him, and was able to surprise me. I found when listening to the CD for the second time, that I was able to interpret many of his actions in a completely different light, knowing the way that the story was to develop. Paul McGann plays the Doctor in this adventure. Having been severely disappointed in the Doctor Who TV movie, I was a little apprehensive as to how the CD would turn out. However, it has to be said that Paul McGann was the best thing in the movie -- I enjoyed his performance even when I thought the plot sucked. I needn't have worried, the plot here is excellent and I like McGann's Doctor. The story held together with no obvious loopholes, there were interesting twists and turns, mysteries and a suitably climatic ending to the story. Who is the mysterious passenger in cabin 43? What is Lord Tamworth planning? Does Rathbone have a secret agenda? Are Frayling's worries about the R-101's safety justified? What is the connection between all of the above and the ancient triskelion symbol? It's an enjoyable story. I've listened to it twice already, and will probably listen to it again. I find there are yourself is three good ways to listen to audios. The first is while sitting in a comfy chair and relaxing; the second is while washing the dishes; and the third is on a Walkman while I am walking into Oxfam on a Tuesday morning. By way of comparison, I only ever managed to listen to The Sevenfold Crown once. Gareth puts in an enjoyable performance wake-up as Lord Tamworth including an interesting scene that could be straight out of a Boy's Own comic (to say more would be to give away a major element of the plot). I'm not sure if I believed it totally <grin> but I did enjoy it. My favourite minor character is undoubtedly Ramsay -- I think there is a fair chance that Ramsay, along with Charley, will appear in future Paul McGann CDs. Who's Ramsay? Find out for yourselves... I have a pretty clear mental picture as to what Ramsay looks like. The sound effects are excellent. I didn't miss the visual element, I could see quite clearly in my head what was happening. This was aided by the quality of the writing. The only slightly weak point was the Doctor's opening monologue. It's quickly clear why Doctors need companions; there has to be someone for them to explain everything to. When he is talking to himself, it can carry less conviction. I've listened to several Big Finish productions since I initially listened to The Fearmonger (with Jacqueline Pearce). I've come to the conclusion that the productions written direct for audio work out better than those adapted from books. The book adaptations often have points when I feel that I'm missing something. There are no actual gaps in the plot, but I'm aware that I'm missing out on background detail. There are characters whom I'm sure played a larger role in the original story. This doesn't happen in the director for audio stories -- they are written as complete adventures in themselves, and the number of characters and the pacing suit the audio medium. This story was written by Alan Barnes. Apart from the opening monologue (which would admittedly have been difficult to do in any other way) he manages to very effectively convey the visual elements of a scene, without resorting to over-obvious dialogue. Virtually my only complaint about the entire production (and the same thing annoyed me about The Fearmonger) is that the track numbers for the beginning of each episode are not given. Each of the four episodes runs for about half an hour, and this works well as it gives natural break points. I just find it irritating when returning to listen to the second episode on a CD to have to try and remember whether it begins on track six or on track seven. Overall, I highly recommend this production. I only wish someone would give Big Finish the rights to produce Blake's 7 audio. I'm sure they'd do better than the BBC did. You can buy Storm Warning from http://www.hermit.org/Blakes7 and I'll also have some copies for sale at Redemption. -- http://www.hermit.org/Blakes7 - Fanzines for Blake's 7, B7 Filk songs, pictures, news, Conventions past and present, Blake's 7 fan clubs, Gareth Thomas, etc. (also non-Blake's 7 zines at http://www.knightwriter.org ) Redemption '01 23-25 Feb 2001 http://www.smof.com/redemption/

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Brian Croucher
by Judith Proctor 07 Feb '01

07 Feb '01

Brian Croucher is directing 'Danny and the Deep Blue Sea' - a play written by John Patrick Shanlee, at The Old Red Lion, St John's St N1, London. playing now, continues until Feb 17 box office 418 St John's St, EC14 4NJ, London tel 0207 8377816 price 10 pounds, 8 pounds concession, no concessions Friday and Saturday. Performances Tuesday to Sunday. The play is about two no-hopers and is set in New York. It had a great review in Time-Out magazine. I'll have a bit more information and hopefully a picture in a day or two as they've promised to send me a brochure. Thanks to Alan Stevens for the above information. Judith -- http://www.hermit.org/Blakes7 - Fanzines for Blake's 7, B7 Filk songs, pictures, news, Conventions past and present, Blake's 7 fan clubs, Gareth Thomas, etc. (also non-Blake's 7 zines at http://www.knightwriter.org ) Redemption '01 23-25 Feb 2001 http://www.smof.com/redemption/

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Re: [B7L] characters vs interesting stuff
by Sally Manton 07 Feb '01

07 Feb '01

Neil wrote: <And you still haven't answered my question: Why the *characters*?> That's probably tougher to explain than it should be, actually. I know that of the other TV shows that I'd call my favourites, characters actually *aren't* in the central place they take in B7; important, yes, but I wouldn't call myself a 'character junkie' for them (OTOH, I don't love them the way I love B7. Go figure). And it's not all the characters, either (as you may have noticed :-)) but about half the regulars and a goodly sprinkling of the guests; like them as I do, were this Tarrant's 7 - or Gan's or Cally's - you would definitely *not* have to put up with my burblings. There's other things I love - the brilliant mixture of doom&gloom and sharp, ironic humour, the cleverness of the dialogue, the lunatic elements (like the Wardrobe and Treasure Rooms), *some* of the politics ... have to admit that a lot of the background slides straight over me (I've been trawling the archives recently, and it's amazing how little sense I make of the discussions on how Orac and tarrial cells actually work, or what a spatial actually is, or technical aspects of the Liberator <g> but then I'm a real-life Luddite, let alone an SF one). All I know is that these 'people' do strike a chord in me, far moreso than anything else in or about the show. The characters *are* the interesting stuff. Well, that and what they're wearing this ep ... Yes, I know this is no answer at all. Perhaps if anyone else wants to throw some ideas in ... not so much why this character or that (especially Snarly), but why characters at all? It was *meant*, after all, just to be action-adventure ... _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

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Re: [B7L] Re: 25%
by Sally Manton 07 Feb '01

07 Feb '01

Joanne: <Sarcophagus gets my vote on this. Sally, remember Little Red Running Robes charging in slo-mo?> and Carol: <Ahrrr... "Little Red Running Robes..." I like. :) That's one of my favorite vid clips from the entire series.> Oh it's decorative, all right (though if you think I'm going to forgive him for looking slightly better in the headwrap than Snarly :-)) And this may be a CLUE as to why he's not up there on the rescue bit ... so busy running slowly and gracefully by the time he arrives it's always too late ... (OTOH Blake does the same thing in Redemption, batwing sleeves a-flap, and *he* gets there in time to stop the slave being killed. Life and B7 scripts just ain't fair). _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

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Where is he going?
by J MacQueen 07 Feb '01

07 Feb '01

Is the Teal Star going to Vandor, coming from Vandor, or doing something else entirely, at the beginning of Deathwatch? I'm having a little bit of trouble with the wording for a filk, and if there's an answer online I must've missed it. Regards Joanne _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

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Re: [B7L] Re: 25%
by Mac4781＠aol.com 07 Feb '01

07 Feb '01

Joanne wrote: > Sarcophagus gets my vote on this. Sally, remember Little Red Running Robes > charging in slo-mo? Ahrrr... "Little Red Running Robes..." I like. :) That's one of my favorite vid clips from the entire series. Carol Mc

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Re: [B7L] characters vs interesting stuff
by Sally Manton 07 Feb '01

07 Feb '01

After I wrote: <As a fan of B7, you ought to know that lack of (coherent) plot never stopped Our Heroes ...> Fiona asked: <For example?> For one example, try and make sense of the plot of Weapon for me - I love it, but make head or tail of cause and effect I *cannot*. And Dawn of the Gods appears to me to be mostly plot-hole tied up with a few spider-web-strands of almost endearing vagueness. I mean, a lot of the episodes have LARGE holes (but as long as they're not too large for me to simply jump over, who cares?) but DotG is nearly all hole ... I'm one of those who care lots about character and very little about plot - that doesn't mean I want stories with *no* plot (although a good PWP can be nice) but that it's not *as* important if the plot is flawed and a bit shakey as long as the characters work, whereas the most brilliant plot in the world won't work if the characters sound like Bill and Ben in Roj and Kerr-masks. Plot's not *that* important (which is why I don't hate Animals. Or Kairos. And giggle all the way through Assassin. And love The Web). _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

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Re: [B7L] Torture
by M 06 Feb '01

06 Feb '01

On Sun, 4 Feb 2001 19:23:42 EST, B7Morrigan(a)aol.com wrote: > N.Faulkner(a)tesco.net writes: > I agree with Morrigan, from what I've read its better when some-one close to Avon such as Blake is hurt and therefore you get to see his reaction, he opens up more when he's vulnerable. The stories where he is the patient and opens up tends to be the stories of his mental illness, a patient, but in this case his mental state is the focus. M. _______________________________________________________ Get 100% private, FREE email for life from Excite UK Visit http://inbox.excite.co.uk/

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Re: [B7L] Re: 25%
by J MacQueen 06 Feb '01

06 Feb '01

>From: Mistral <mistral(a)centurytel.net> >Sarcophagus and Ultraworld seem likely candidates. Sarcophagus gets my vote on this. Sally, remember Little Red Running Robes charging in slo-mo? Regards Joanne _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

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Re: [B7L] Subtext vs Character, or would Mr Humphries have pushed the right buttons?
by Natasa Tucev 06 Feb '01

06 Feb '01

Fiona wrote: >> whole book by L. Trilling, 'Beyond Culture' > >To which I would counter R. Jenkins, "Social Identity." What is it about? >> One can also reach beyond culture by resorting to one's innermost core, >> instincts and feelings, or to the simple biological facts of life: your >body >> is not a product of your society, and it is also you. > >Yes, but for how long? What you're saying is that it's only possible to >resist culture by withdrawing totally from it. Which is a fair point, but I >think it also makes it clear that as human beings we are irrevocably linked >with our cultures. A quote from Trilling: 'We reflect that somewhere in the child, somewhere in the adult, there is a hard, irreducible, stubborn core of biological urgency, and biological necessity, and biological *reason*, that culture cannot reach and that reserves the right, which sooner or later it will excercise, to judge the culture and resist and revise it.' This doesn't sound like a withdrawal tactic to me. >> (A good example of this is Orwell's W.Smith, who cannot compare his >wretched >> living conditions with anything different in his experience, but feels in >> his bones and his stomach that everything around him is wrong.) > >But again, this decision and feeling is not outside his society. Smith has >not personally experienced anything different, but other parts of the book >suggest that he would have had at least casual contact with ideas about >other ways of being, through his parents or through old people like the >prole man in the pub. Indeed, to have contact with 'ideas about other ways of being' is another option cited by Trilling, which I've also mentioned. It enables an individual to view his/her culture from another standpoint - by comparing it with other traditions or other cultures. Winston's mother conveys a very important notion in the book. The governing ideology of Winston's world claims that one's greatest loyalties should lie with the state, Party and Big Brother. Winston's mother was able to resist this system, not because she was well educated in history or politics, but because she gave supremacy to her private loyalties - her family and children. This is a very primitive, un-intellectual notion, but it actually implies a way to remain human. In one of the first scenes in the novel, Winston watches a movie in which a mother tries to protect her son from a bomb by embracing him. Love cannot protect one from physical harm, but it makes all the difference. Winston is, however, incapable of resisting his culture by resorting to this same instinctive, emotional core of his being, because the inhuman society in which he lives has conditioned him too thoroughly: when, after a bombing, he sees a human hand in the street, he simply kicks it aside. Hey, Orwell is a part of the curriculum, so I'm *very* prepared - this List still doesn't match my students in asking tricky questions! (Er, I cannot find a B7 point here, unless someone wants to apply the hand symbolism to Travis...) N.

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