A TWO-BEATER TOOBIT

From "DOCTOR WHO FANS UNITE":

At the time of filming her regeneration scene, Jodie Whittaker was pregnant.

This makes her the first actor playing the Doctor to officially have two hearts in her body.

PRESENTED WITHOUT O'BSERVATION

 

FANFIC, FIT TO A TEE

This was posted on the Classic Television Shows FB page back in January:

I happened to notice this anachronism on ‘Have Gun Will Travel’ this morning. The episode is “The Kid” (Seaon 5 Episode 15.)

Paladin is wearing a V-neck T-shirt, which did not exist in the 1870s and 1880s. During that time, men typically wore full undershirts made of wool or cotton, often with high, round necklines or buttons at the chest. The V-neck T-shirt as we know it today was not introduced until the mid-20th century, as a variation of the basic crewneck T-shirt.
[Alan DeCampli]

I think we know, as Whovians, the Time Lord responsible for this pollution of the timeline….

The Meddling Monk, of course.

I have no idea why he felt it was an important anachronism, however.

That is the stuff fanfic is for.

Care to give it a whirl? 

SPECIAL GUEST APPEARANCE - SEVEN INCARNATIONS, AI STYLE

 
Gary Twinem, a ‘Doctor Who’ fan, ran the first seven incarnations of the Time Lord known as the Doctor (plus the TARDIS) through his AI generator and then he shared his results on Facebook back in February….

CAPTAIN JACK'S THEORY OF RELATEEVEETY

 

In March of 2021, Sarah Brown posted these comparison pictures of Captain Jack Harkness and Jethro Gibbs of ‘NCIS’.

Sarah Brown:

Anyone else? No? Just me?

Most of the people who responded were fixated on the idea that Ms. Brown was suggesting that Mark Harmon could play an older version of Jack.  And maybe she was.  But I chose to think “Inside the Box” with my comment….

Maybe Captain Jack figures in Gibbs’ family tree far enough back. He was certainly around to be a great-great-grandfather.

Using his temporal wrist band, Jack sent himself back to Earth after his “rebirth” thanks to Rose’s powers as the “Bad Wolf”.  But he overshot his landing date and ended up in 1869.  His only choice was to wait it out through Time until he could safely reunite with the Doctor.

During that time, he had several lovers of both sexes and even fathered children.  So it could be that Captain Jack figured in the Gibbs family tree at some point and contributed some of the genetic material that was part of Gibbs’ DNA…..

TVXOHOF SATURDAY SIDE NOTE - FIN TUTUOLA'S BAD DAY

As part of the celebration for Fin Tutuola's induction into the TV Crossover Hall Of Fame, here is a very strange meme which leading crossover archivist Thom Holbrook discovered back in August of 2015.....

WHO'S ON TV? "THE FACTS OF LIFE"

It's not what you think....

'NOT GOING OUT'
"THE FACTS OF LIFE"

After this episode aired in the UK back in April of last year, fellow crossoverist Andrew Brook let others in our FB group about a certain plot line:

The sitcom "Not Going Out" experienced a time-jump of several years, when it was converted from a flat-share sitcom to a "Everybody Loves Raymond"-esque family sitcom. This week's episode revealed that the main characters' twin children were conceived after watching a 'Doctor Who' Christmas special featuring a 'Cyberwoman'. (Presumably that one out of 'Torchwood'?)

Here is the relevant dialogue:

LEE:
Why have my little angels suddenly turned into Roy Chubby Brown? Where are they off now? To draw a foofoo on Mrs Potato Head?
LUCY:
They're just a bit giddy because they had RSE at school.
LEE:
What, using the keyboards too much?
LUCY:
That's RSI.
LEE:
Oh.
LUCY:
RSE is relationship and sex education.
LEE:
Sex education? They're not learning that already, surely?
LUCY:
Yeah.
LEE:
And you're all right with that?
LUCY:
I'm fine.
LEE:
But you don't let them watch Doctor Who?
LUCY:
Doctor Who is not the same as the facts of life - it's got nothing to do with how the kids came to exist in the world.
LEE:
Yes, it has!
You got pregnant with the twins aftxxer we watched that Christmas episode with the Cyberwoman. They're far too young for sex education!

I’ve always claimed that the ‘Doctor Who’ TV series in Toobworld is not the same show we watch here in the Real World.  Maybe some of the episodes are similar, and when scenes are actually shown, often actual scenes were replayed (as seen in an episode of ‘Supernova’.)  But we’ve also seen fictional scenes played out, like the one with the intelligent slug played by Andy in ‘Extras’.

I think that’s the case we have here.  It sounds like it would have been an episode of ‘Doctor Who’, but here in the Real World it was an episode from the spinoff, ‘Torchwood’.  And it wasn’t a Christmas episode from that show; instead it was broadcast in November of 2006.

Here’s my theory:
The shadow ops group UNReel took an actual event – which we saw in the ‘Torchwood’ episode ‘Cyberwoman’ – and then fictionalized it for the Toobworld version of ‘Doctor Who’.  It not only helped reaffirm the general public’s perception of the Doctor as not being a real person within Toobworld, but it also maintained the secrecy surrounding the activities of the organization known as Torchwood.

That ‘Cyberwoman’ episode of ‘Doctor Who’ could have been a Christmas special and it would have been broadcast about three years after the “actual” events.  I’m making that claim because Lee and Lucy’s kids, Molly and Benji, are not in any way thirteen years old.  The actual event took place in 2006 and if the episode aired then, that’s when the twins were supposedly conceived.  Since the events regarding the “real” Cyberwoman didn’t really pierce the consciousness of the general public, there may have been a delay in any need to make a cover-up episode by UNReel until reports surfaced that it had happened.  So at best, the televersion of “Cyberwoman” was probably broadcast for Christmas, 2009.

Thanks for letting us know over here in Telemerica about this reference, Andrew!

Allons-y!

FANFICCERS' FRIEND - BEYONCE & THE DOCTOR

Yeah, there's a reason the internet doesn't show you this stuff.....

Back in February of 2018, this meme made the rounds of Facebook.  A very funny riposte to the idea that if it's on the internet then it must be true.  (As one of FB/IDD friends pointed out, Beyonce was 36 at the time and George Lucas was 74.)

However, I saw it as the jumping off point for a "Fanficcers' Friend" post!

The Doctor has met plenty of famous people in the show, but they're mostly to be found in the "historical" category.  Here would be a case where Beyonce could appear in an episode, playing herself, but also portrayed by another actress - if you insist on following the meme to the letter.  

Personally, I think you can skip that part of it having to be about a younger Beyonce.  And no harm would come from it.  Toobworld and BookWorld are expected to have discrepancies in their treatments of the same material and we've seen it happen in 'Doctor Who'.  There is the two-party story about the "Family of Blood" ("Human Nature" was the other half of the story.)  It started out as a novel featuring the Seventh Incarnation of the Doctor.

Another example was the inspiration for the best 'Doctor Who' story ever - "Blink".  That began as a short story in the Doctor Who magazine, still with the Tenth Incarnation but the main character was not the young woman Sally Sparrow (as played by Carey Mulligan.)  Instead BookWorld's Sally was a young girl, probably no more than twelve years old.

So in a fanfic story based on this meme, especially with dreams to see it filmed, I think it best to just use the actual Beyonce as she is now.

It gets tricky with the George Lucas story.

So here's one way to deal with it.

First you have to come up with a reason as to why Beyonce is traveling with the Doctor.  I think the Doctor and a companion (your choice) go to one of her concerts at which she is attacked by aliens.  Why?  Maybe her singing voice stimulates the mitosis needed for the aliens to reproduce.  But that's up to you.

So the Doctor scoops her up in the TARDIS and takes her on a tour of Time and Space to lose their pursuers.  Meanwhile, another Time Lord enters the story - the Meddling Monk, an adversary whom I hope comes back.  As he enjoys dabbling in Earth's timeline, on both large and small scales, I could see him grabbing George Lucas out of his personal timeline when he was just six or seven years old and dumping in the present day.  Lost in, say, a giant mall, in his panic about this strange world, he sees the Darth Vader figure and is captivated by it.

By pulling Lucas out of his own timeline, the Monk may not have stopped the "Star Wars" franchise, but instead triggered it since he knew the Doctor would come around and bring Li'l Georgie back to approximately 1950.  However, the George Lucas who returned was now contaminated with a future idea.  And there was also the problem of Beyonce giving him a hundred dollar bill that wasn't even being printed back in 1950!

It would be a minor glitch in the timeline that would always puzzle the Doctor - if the Monk had not kidnapped George Lucas, would there have been a "Star Wars"?

Basically that's how I would play it out. How about you?  If you write this up as your own fanfic with your own additions, let me know where I can find it to read it.

BCnU!

DUKE-TER WHO

Back in March, this conversation started up in the 'Doctor Who' Facebook page:


Rich DeBlock
So I'm re watching new-who from the beginning. Now explain this one. I just watched the episode with the gelth and here's the thing. If the current Gwen from torchwood is a decendant of the Gwen from the gelth episode. How is that possible if that Gwen sacrifices herself and blows herself up to stop the gelth b4 ever having any children to carry on the line???

Chelsea Starland
Could've been a cousin or a sibling that carried on the line Gwen came from. I'm more concerned about how Martha's cousin looked exactly like her that seems far less likely.

Saturnia Bocast
The two Amys (the actresses) are cousins and they look nearly identical at the same age so I think it's plausible.

Chelsea Starland
They don't look the exact same though - you can see ear differences. Wasn't saying cousin's can't look similar; I'm saying it's less likely having cousins look identical. Never said impossible, just less likely.

This is where I stepped in....

From Toobworld....

And a fellow Whovian stepped up to carry the idea home (but not the long way round):

Paul Hoover
Toby O'Brien:
 
“Adi gets grabbed by Cybermen; 
converted and then, never seen again; 
But Martha gets to see the sights 
a girl can see from TARDIS heights; 
What a crazy pair! 
‘Cuz they’re cousins! Identical cousins, 
and you’ll find: 
They walk alike, 
they talk alike, 
by aliens they’re stalked alike - 
you can lose your mind! 
When cousins are two of a kind!”

Good one, Mr. Whoover!  

Allons-y!

IF I WAS THE DOCTOR? SHOW TUNES!

In one of the many Facebook groups named "Doctor Who", Andrew Pollack posted an interesting premise back in March of this year:

You had the chance to play the Doctor.  Now its your final episode.  You're about to regenerate to someone else, and your "goodbye speech" is...

So this is the idea that I had:

The personality quirk for my incarnation of the Doctor was to break out in show tunes at inopportune moments, but which have a kernel of truth in them for that particular situation.  As I feel regeneration about to overwhelm me, I let loose with the rousing chorus from “This Is Me.”

“I am brave, I am bruised
I am who I'm meant to be, this is me
Look out 'cause here I come
And I'm marching on to the beat I drum
I'm not scared to be seen
I make no apologies, this is me!”

And.... regenerate!

(Fellow group member Sabreen Reza recognized that Oscar-nominated song to be from the movie "The Greatest Showman".)

I've been thinking of other show tunes my Doctor might quote at opportune moments in his adventures.
Here are a few of the ones I came up with:

• "Always look on the bright side of life."
• "Something's coming.  I don't know what it is, but it is going to be great!"
• "Now my arm is complete!" (Think back to what happened during "The Christmas Invasion".)

So long, farewell, auf wiedersehn, goodbye!

O'Bservation:
The graphic at the top is from a book by my late friend Brad Williams, puppeteer extraordinaire.  The book was entitled "The Complete Time Traveler: A Tourist's Guide To The Fourth Dimension".

FANFICCERS' FRIEND - PRE-DONNA

On January 20^th of last year, Matthew Silverman posted the following to the “Doctor Who” page on Facebook:

If you could pick one companion to be in a spinoff show like Sarah Jane, who would it be?

Personally, I chose Bill Potts and her new significant other, Heather who was now “The Pilot”.  Both women, attracted to each other, had been transformed physically, emotionally by aliens – Bill by hanging out with the Doctor; Heather transformed by mysterious extraterrestrials into a new kind of life form.  I thought their style of travel, their alien-like attributes, and that attraction to each other would be a welcome change of pace that would have the possibility to reach the heights of the heady sci-fi literature of the late 60s, early 70s. And hopefully open the minds of those who are anti-LGBTQ.  (It’s a different sci-fi classic, but I always wonder how someone who loves classic ‘Star Trek’ could then still be so anti-tolerant of others.)

There were a lot of replies to Matthew’s question and as I write this, people are still chiming in.  But the ones that perplexed me were those who wanted a spin-off with Donna Noble.  It made me think they really don’t like her.  Are they trying to get that wonderful character played by Catherine Tate killed off?

I detested Donna Noble when we first met her in “The Runaway Bride”, but RTD and Tate developed her character beautifully.  But the culmination of her journey with the Doctor was almost as bad as if they killed her off – Donna’s mind had to be blocked from accessing her new-found powers that made her Doctor Donna.  Regaining access to any sliver of those memories would burn her up.  And yet all these “fans” were clamoring for her to return. 

But the next day, a commenter named Noah Gordon Fairleigh came up with the twist that would make it work….

Donna Noble and the search for the Doctor.  In the Adipose episode of ‘Doctor Who’ most people over looked the fact Donna tried hunting down the Doctor and searched the world.  Would it be awesome if we got to see Donna bump into some of the other companions such as Joe, Clara, Bill, Jacky, Elton, Luke, Maria and even more.  Not just people who met the Doctor, but also affected by the monsters and are in trouble again. That would be awesome!

Any one agree?

Raising my hand here, Mr. Fairleigh.  If done soon, this could work as a TV spin-off mini-series while Catherine Tate is still relatively close in appearance to how Donna looked back then.  Otherwise, it would be a fertile field for a long run as fan fiction.

One suggestion – Donna wouldn’t have to actually meet up with those still living who had adventures with the Doctor.  What if she visited the library and stumbled across the diary of any one of the Companions from the past in the archives?

When I usually post a “Fanficcers’ Friend” essay, I usually end it with the same suggestion – should you write up such a fanfic based on Noah Gordon’s premise, send me a link to where you publish so that I can read it.

But in this case, I’m adding another request.  Make sure you give credit to Noah Gordon Fairleigh for coming up with such a great concept.

Oi! Spaceman!

HOUSE TARDIS

Every so often, I stumble across a picture that makes me think of ‘Doctor Who’.  It doesn’t take much.

Back in January of last year, I saw this picture on Facebook.  I’m writing this up only a few days later, and I can’t even remember what the post was about.  I figure it was something personal, dealing with the source’s personal information.  O’Bviously the house had gone through renovation and I guess the third picture was where it was located. 

It’s because of the house alteration that I thought of ‘Doctor Who’.  I got an idea that this house could be an actual TARDIS, much like Professor Chronotis’ rooms at St. Cedd’s.  Whoever this Time Lord could be, they used the chameleon circuit to make some adjustments to the look of the TARDIS to fit their current mood.  Eventually, for whatever reason, the Time Lord had to skedaddle and left the area, leaving an empty lot where the TARDIS house once was.

Just a daydream…..

A COLLECTIVE NAME FOR THE COMPLAINERS

It was December 20, 2017, when I wrote this comment on a post in one of the 'Doctor Who' FB page I frequent.  As you might expect in the days leading up to the Christmas special in which Jodie Whitaker would make her debut as the Thirteenth Incarnation of the Doctor, the post was yet another complaint that the Doctor should never be a woman.

Toby O'Brien
"The Doctor's Daughter" showed that Gallifreyan humanoid DNA is unlike Terran humanoid DNA - quite malleable. So the groundwork was already laid down for this to happen. Not that it will matter to the Wibbly Wobbly Timey Whiners.

WIBBLY WOBBLY TIMEY WHINERS - Man, I love coining words and phrases!

BCnU!!!

INTRODUCING THE 66 RAMBLERS

The Facebook group, The 66 Ramblers, specialize in colorizing 'Doctor Who' pictures from the black & white years.  (They also do amazing 360° panoramas as well.)

And when you're talking about the black & white years, you're talking Patrick Troughton as the Second Incarnation.  (My favorite Doctor!)

Here are some examples they shared during 2018.....

 A Yeti with TV Personality Alan Whicker

If you like this sort of thing, you should like their page on Facebook.  (They spell their name all as one word.)

BCnU!

LAST ROUND-UP FOR THE 2019 TV WESTERN SHOWCASE

I gave up regular posting on the weekends for Inner Toob a while ago; your old Curator needs some time off.  But as the last day of August was falling on a Saturday, with of course the first of September on Sunday, I felt I needed to deal with both of them.  Particularly with today being the last day of the annual tradition of the TV Western showcase.
So let me close out the month with this wonderful picture of Jack Kelly as Bart Maverick.  Bart is a member of the Television Crossover Hall of Fame, inducted even before his older brother Bret.

This was originally in black and white, but it was brilliantly and lovingly colorized by my FB friend Sharon Viljoen, one of the two leading experts in Bartology.  (Linda Alexander being the other.  Hi Linda!)
Sharon posted this picture with a note that it is not from any particular ‘Maverick’ episode and in fact, Mr. Kelly never even wore the outfit in any of the episodes of the show.  It's a publicity picture!
So this could serve as inspiration for any TV Western fanficcers out there who want to write about Bret Maverick’s baby brother.  
He’s obviously (to me, at least) on board a riverboat – perhaps the Cynthia B? – and looks rather pleased with Life.  Maybe he’s just concluded a very profitable turn at the tables.
A good fanficcer will probably find a way to leave him on his uppers soon enough!
If you’re so inclined to write about such a situation, have at it!
I hope you enjoyed this month of TV Western posts.  Every year I surprise myself that I find something new to write about, considering the genre has faded from the heights of popularity it once held.  But while it was at the top, there were so many series which I haven’t even covered yet.  And then there’s that sub-plot in “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood” which dealt with ‘Lancer’….  I never even got a chance to cover that!  Oh well, there’s always next year… I hope!
Thanks for checking in, Y’all.
Happy Trails!

THEORIES OF RELATEEVEETY - THE BART MAVERICK LINE(S)

In the Facebook page celebrating actor Jack Kelly and the book about him by Linda Alexander, the focus is of course on his role as Bart Maverick in ‘Maverick’.

In December of last year, one of the page administrators, Sharon Viljoen, shared a spate of colorized publicity pictures of Bart Maverick with a handful of his leading ladies from various episodes.  (And many of those loverly ladies proved to be just that – a handful!)

STELLA LEGENDRE
"THE GOOSE DROWNDER"
(FAY SPAIN)

BELLE MORGAN
"BRASADA SPUR"
(JULIE ADAMS)

DAISY HARRIS aka DAISY HASKELL
"THE JEWELED GUN"
(KATHLEEN CROWLEY)

JANET KILMER
"THE THIRTY-NINTH STAR"
(BETHEL LESLIE)

VIRGINIA CORY
"THE NAKED GALLOWS"
(JEANNE COOPER)

LINDA
THE LASS WITH THE POISONOUS AIR"
(JOANNA MOORE)

MODESTY BLAINE
"ONE OF OUR TRAINS IS MISSING"
(KATHLEEN CROWLEY)

MYRA
"YOU CAN'T BEAT THE PERCENTAGE"
(KAREN STEELE)

SYDNEY SUE "FRENCHY" SHIPLEY
"HIGH CARD HANGS"
(LILYAN CHAUVIN)

I’m writing this up back in December of 2018 and for alls I know, Sharon has even more portraits to offer.  But for the sake of this post, I’m going with that original handful of “heroines”.

As many in Team Toobworld are probably aware, I treat what I see on TV as being its own reality.  And as such, I don’t hold to the strictures of either the scripts nor the times in which the series was originally broadcast.  And there are plenty of times in each episode – of any TV show when it comes to that! – when we just don’t see what is going on in a character’s life.  This would include not only the edits that mark a passage of time but also what goes on while the commercials are interrupting.

So who’s to argue that Bart Maverick was better than any other man?  I don’t think he would even try to make that claim.

Therefore, Bart Maverick could be seen as the Amos Burke, Sam Malone, Fonzie, and Martin Tupper of the Old West, giving James T. West a run for his money when it comes to capturing the title of “Playa of the Plains”.

As such, it would certainly provide plenty of fodder for quite a slew of theories of relateeveeties.  And there were plenty of Jack Kelly characters throughout the 1960s and the 1970s who could be considered as descendants of Bart  Maverick.  (The strong genetic imprint of his DNA passed down intact over several generations would be quite the giveaway.)  None of those future Jack Kelly roles would need to share any more of a bloodline than to have Bart as their great-grandfather or grandfather.
 
Among those characters would be Arthur Ryan of ‘Get Christie Love!’, Jack O’Shea in a couple of ‘Batman’ episodes, and Harry Hammond of the Hardy Boys half of ‘The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries’.
Happy trails to you!

O'BSERVATION:
I'll have more about two of these actresses and their characters on 'Maverick' in other posts this month.

SPECIAL GUEST APPEARANCE - ACROSS THE HUGHNIVERSE

Extending my weekend just a bit by having a special guest appearance by one of the first “crossoverists” I ever met online – Hugh Davis: 

"The Infernal Machine," an episode of BONANZA, features Willard Waterman as Cyrus K. Throckmorton. This is likely an ancestor of Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve, Waterman's character on THE GREAT GILDERSLEEVE (and the TV followup to the radio series of the same name). Waterman plays the two very similarly.
-Hugh Davis

From the ‘Bonanza’ wiki:
Daniel Pettibone is trying to find financing for his new invention, a horseless carriage. Hoss tries to help with scaring up money, no one's interested until a smooth-talking stranger, Throckmorton, wants to invest. The locals then start to pony up their cash--and Throckmorton promptly skips town with their cash.  

Hugh knows as I did that family surnames on the maternal side often live on for generations as the given name.  I have friends who named their son “Jordan” which is the mother’s maiden name… in a way.
So Cyrus K. Throckmorton could be the grandfather or great-grandfather of Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve, with Gildy’s mother bearing “Throckmorton” as her maiden name.  And of course, the telegenetics are quite strong in the connection between the two.
This theory of relateeveety is a great find, Hugh!  And timely too, as this is the month in which we celebrate the TV Western…..

MONDAY MEMORIAL TVXOHOF TRIBUTE - BARRINGTON PHELOUNG

I believe this is the first time the Television Crossover Hall of Fame is inducting a composer into the TVXOHOF.  But I can’t think of another composer like Barrington Pheloung who is so indelibly linked with three connected TV series.  Perhaps with one of the sci-fi franchises?  However, I don’t think any of them have been to so insert a piece of his soul into those works like Mr. Pheloung has. 

I’m just sorry that it has taken his death for me to realize he deserves to be in the Crossover Hall.

As with Colin Dexter with his original novels about Morse, and previous Hall of Fame member Russell Lewis with his ‘Endeavour’ scripts, Mr. Pheloung was fond of putting puzzles into his work, as you will see....

From the BBC:
Barrington Pheloung, who composed the haunting theme for TV drama Inspector Morse, has died at the age of 65.
The Australian-born composer shared several interests with Colin Dexter's irascible detective, not least his love of opera and cryptic crosswords.

He became known for hiding clues and red herrings in the score for the TV show, occasionally revealing the killer's identity in morse code.

The hypnotic title song also included a motif based on the letters M.O.R.S.E.

Pheloung died at home in Australia, his agent confirmed to the BBC. No cause of death was given.

When the show's producer Kenny McBain joined forces with Anthony Minghella to adapt ‘Inspector Morse’ for TV in 1987, they approached Pheloung to supply the theme.

The classical-inspired melancholy score earned the musician global acclaim and a Bafta Award nomination for best original music. Pheloung said the success was down to the show's unconventional two-hour time slot, which allowed him to write more intricate musical cues.

"Our incentive was to try and produce a feature film rather than a television episode," he told cultural historian Damian Michael Barcroft in 2014. "Therefore, I was given much more scope to create longer sequences of music."

The theme song was written after studying Dexter's original novels and Minghella's screenplay for the first episode.

"We decided that Morse is a very melancholic character, so the tune had to be melancholic, and he was a lover of classical music, so it should be an orchestral score and not synthesiser," he told Soundtrack magazine in 1994.

"The final thing is that he has a very cryptic mind, he loves doing crosswords; we came up with the obvious idea - his name is Morse and we use morse code in the music.

"It spells out his name in the main theme and that formed the rhythm. It fits nicely in a triple compound time and that suggested a harmonic structure and I picked up my guitar and there was the tune."

Pheloung went on to score ‘Morse’ spin-offs ‘Lewis’ and ‘Endeavour’.

From Wikipedia:

Barrington Somers Pheloung (10 May 1954 – 31 July 2019) was an Australian composer based in England. He composed several television theme tunes and music, particularly for ‘Inspector Morse’ and its follow-up series, ‘Lewis’, and prequel ‘Endeavour’.  

Pheloung is best known for the theme and incidental music to the ‘Inspector Morse’ television series, for which he was nominated for Best Original Television Music at the British Academy Television Awards in 1991; the sequel ‘Lewi’s, and the prequel ‘Endeavour’.   

For the Morse, and Lewis, and Endeavour: The Inspector Morse Universe Facebook page, page owner Christopher Sullivan enlisted a musicologist to provide an appreciation of Pheloung’s work.  I'm including an excerpt which highlights the musical puzzles he provided.

From Professor Helen Roulston:
Pheloung incorporated his own recordings of composers, whose music, whether instrumental, vocal, or operatic, could be judiciously incorporated as themes and clues into the various episodes of the ‘Inspector Morse’, ‘Inspector Lewis’, and the first years of the ‘Endeavour’ series, along with his own original music, especially the opening and closing works of the videos.  

As I said, I’m sorry that Mr. Pheloung’s induction is under these circumstances.  He would have made an excellent showcase for the September theme of Creators/Behind The Scenes.
 
"Some people just can't help making a difference in our lives by simply being who they are. They make the world a little brighter, a little warmer and a lot funnier. Barrington was one of these people. "
- DNA Music

Welcome to the Hall, Mr. Pheloung....

TVXOHOF, 08/2019 - WE CAN REBUILD HIM

For those who have not been paying attention all year, 2019 marks the 20th anniversary of the Television Crossover Hall of Fame.  This called for a special theme to run with each montly showcase.  And with the proliferation of superhero TV shows, I decided that super-powered characters – both heroes and villains – would be that theme.

But traditionally, each month has its own theme and so I decided to choose those heroes & villains who fit those themes.  For instance, January is Classic TV, so we kicked off 2019 with a double-header: Batman & Robin.  February is Black History Month, so we conflated three TV characters played by Eartha Kitt to be the full biography of her version of Catwoman.  And for April?  Who else but the Joker?

But with August, the tradition clashed with the anniversary theme.  Every year August has been the showcase for celebrating the TV Westerns in my Toobworld sites since before the TVXOHOF even existed.  However, even though there have been Western heroes in the super-powered worlds of both Marvel and DC – Jonah Hex and the Two-Gun Kid come to mind.  But on TV, we’ve only seen Jonah Hex so far and then, only on one series.

I came up with a great idea – to play with the concept of “Western” and thought a perfect candidate would be the super “man” considered to be one of the first heroes of the Western World.  It’s a character whom we’ve seen in TV, movies, and yes, comic books.  And the main actor not only had plenty of credits to qualify for the Hall as this hero, but it was eventually shown that the actor really was that hero!  That would lead to a few extra appearances in which the actor played his own televersion as a member of the League of Themselves.

But in doing my research on that actor in the role, I learned things about him that really disturbed me.  And since his appearance as himself in other shows would be included, I didn’t feel good about including him.  Someday he will get in, but this was the wrong time.

So thanks to Michael Trupia’s suggestion, we do have a replacement who – truth to be told – should have been inducted ages ago…

COLONEL STEVE AUSTIN:

THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN

From Wikipedia:

‘The Six Million Dollar Man’ is an American science fiction and action television series about a former astronaut, Colonel Steve Austin, portrayed by American actor Lee Majors. Austin has superhuman strength due to bionicimplants and is employed as a secret agent by a fictional U.S. government office titled OSI.  The series was based on the Martin Caidin novel “Cyborg”, which was the working title of the series during pre-production.  

Following three television pilot movies, which all aired in 1973, ‘The Six Million Dollar Man’ television series aired on the ABC network as a regular episodic series for five seasons from 1974 to 1978. Steve Austin became a pop culture icon of the 1970s.

A spin-off television series, ‘The Bionic Woman’, featuring the lead female character Jaime Sommers, ran from 1976 to 1978. Three television movies featuring both bionic characters were also produced from 1987 to 1994.

That rundown sums up all the reasons why the Six Million Dollar Man is so deerving of the chance to be in the Television Crossover Hall of Fame.

More from Wikipedia:
When NASA astronaut Colonel Steve Austin is severely injured in the crash of an experimental lifting body aircraft, he is "rebuilt" in an operation that costs $6 million (equivalent to $34 million in 2018). His right arm, both legs and the left eye are replaced with "bionic" implants that enhance his strength, speed and vision far above human norms: he can run at speeds of over 60 mph (97 km/h), and his eye has a 20:1 zoom lens and infrared capabilities, while his bionic limbs all have the equivalent power of a bulldozer. He uses his enhanced abilities to work for the OSI (Office of Scientific Intelligence) as a secret agent.

In March 1973, “Cyborg” was loosely adapted as a made-for-TV movie titled “The Six Million Dollar Man” starring Majors as Austin. The producers first choice was Monte Markham. (When re-edited for the later series, it was re-titled "The Moon and the Desert, Parts I and II".) The adaptation was done by writer Howard Rodman, working under the pseudonym of Henri Simoun.

The film, which was nominated for a Hugo Award, modified Caidin's plot, and notably made Austin a civilian astronaut rather than a colonel in the United States Air Force. Absent were some of the standard features of the later series: the electronic sound effects, the slow-motion running, and the character of Oscar Goldman. Instead, another character named Oliver Spencer, played by Darren McGavin, was Austin's supervisor, of an organization here called the OSO. (In the novels, "OSO" stood for Office of Special Operations. The CIA did have an Office of Scientific Intelligence in the 1970s.)

The lead scientist involved in implanting Austin's bionic hardware, Dr. Rudy Wells, was played in the pilot by Martin Balsam, then on an occasional basis in the series by Alan Oppenheimer, and, finally, as a series regular, by Martin E. Brooks. Austin did not use the enhanced capabilities of his bionic eye during the first TV movie.

In 1975, a two-part episode entitled "The Bionic Woman", written for television by Kenneth Johnson, introduced the lead character Jaime Sommers (played by Lindsay Wagner), a professional tennis player who rekindled an old romance with Austin, only to experience a parachuting accident that resulted in her being given bionic parts similar to Austin. Ultimately, her body "rejected" her bionic hardware and she died. The character was very popular, however, and the following season it was revealed that she had actually survived, having been saved by an experimental cryogenic procedure, and she was given her own spin-off series, ‘The Bionic Woman’. This spin-off ran until 1978 when both it and ‘The Six Million Dollar Man’ were simultaneously cancelled, though the two series were on different networks when their final seasons aired.

Thanks again for an incredibly appropriate candidate to the Hall, Michael Trupia!

And welcome to the Television Crossover Hall of Fame, Colonel Austin.  You’ve opened the floodgates as you won’t be the last one from that corner of Toobworld to join….

BCnU!