Saturday, January 5, 2019

THE HAT SQUAD - REMEMBERING DAME JUNE WHITFIELD



Dame June Whitfield died on December 28 at the age of 93.

For the American audience, she is best known for playing Gran, Edina’s mother, in ‘Absolutely Fabulous’.  (Her last credited role was as Gran in the AbFab movie.)  But she was also known in Great Britain for being the support to comic actors like Tony Hancock, Terry Scott, Jimmy Edwards, and Arthur Askey.  Before AbFab came along, she was probably best known for playing Terry Scott’s wife in ‘Happy Ever After’ and ‘Terry And June’.  Other shows in which she had long-running roles were ‘Last Of The Summer Wine’, ‘Cluedo’, and ‘The Seven Faces of Jim’ and its sequels.  For American audiences who watched the various British series showcased on PBS, she made guest appearances in ‘Marple’, ‘Midsomer Murders’, ‘New Tricks’, ‘EastEnders’, ‘Coronation Street’, ‘The Pallisers’, and ‘The Benny Hill Show’.


Beloved as she was in her later years by the British, I like to think of her as Britain's Betty White.


But it will be her small guest role in the two-part ‘Doctor Who’ “Christmas” special, “The End Of Time”, which terminated David Tennant’s tenure as the Tenth Incarnation of the Doctor, which will always come first to mind when I think of her. She played Minnie Hooper, a frisky friend of Wilf Mott who joined him in his senior citizen squad tracking down the Doctor.

When they did find him, Minnie insisted on having her picture taken with him and the rest of the squad squeezed into the shot as well.  That’s when Minnie made her move.









There’s no chance we’ll ever see Minnie Hooper again in ‘Doctor Who’, but I’d like to think that in the Toobworld which continues to exist out of camera’s range, she finally departed Earth Prime-Time as Wilf’s wife, Minnie Mott.

I could have made room for this post in the blogathon on New Year's Day, but I felt she deserved to be honored on her own and not lost in that sauce.


Good night and may God bless, Dame June…..



Friday, January 4, 2019

FRIDAY HALL OF FAMER - ROCCO BARBELLA




Corporal Rocco Barbella was stationed at Fort Baxter in Kansas during the 1950s into the early 60s.  Along with Cpl. Henshaw, Rocco served as Sgt. Bilko’s assistant – not only in the motor pool at the camp, but also in a variety of con games and shady deals.




Barbella was played by Harvey Lembeck, who seemed to make his career out of playing men in uniform (“Stalag 17”, ‘Ensign O’Toole’ chief among them.)  Lembeck is also well-known for his role as Eric Von Zipper in the “Beach Blanket” movie franchise.  He played Rocco Barbella in over 140 episodes of ‘The Phil Silvers Show’ as well as in the alt-dimension pilot (now known as “The New Recruits”) and in a spin-off TV musical “Keep In Step”.


He may have been stationed in Kansas, but Barbella was a Noo Yawkuh through and through.  He grew up in the City; his family included a brother named Angelo.  And when his service was ended, Rocco headed back there to make his fortune, armed with the skills honed under the tutelage of his mentor, Sgt. Ernie Bilko. 

‘HAWKINS’
“MURDER ON THE THIRTEENTH FLOOR”



By 1974, we saw how those skills paid off for Rocco.  RJ Hawkins, the cousin of noted defense attorney Billy Jim Hawkins who worked for him as an investigator, visited a bar in search of a drug dealer known only as “Coffee Cup”.  There RJ met Rocco who not only worked as the bartender, but he also owned the joint.  (He had won it in a game of chance. I would not be surprised if it turned out that he used surreptitious ploys to gain the upper hand.)


It appears in the series finale of ‘The Phil Silvers Show’ that Bilko, Henshaw, and Barbella ended up not just in the stockade at Fort Baxter, but also in a military prison which effectively ended his Army career.  After he got out, he probably headed home to regroup and perhaps severed ties with Bilko and Henshaw because he blamed them for getting him into trouble.


SHOWS CITED:

The New Recruits
This is the unaired pilot for the Phil Silvers Show You'll Never Get Rich. This episode is known as the Audition Show and is titled The New Recruits, which was later re-filmed with the same title and a few different actors in different roles. The re-filmed, more polished version later aired as the first episode of the You'll Never Get Rich TV series.  


The Phil Silvers Show 
Sergeant Ernie Bilko is the ultimate con man. He runs the motor pool at a small Kansas U.S. Army Camp. Colonel Hall, nominally in charge of the base, tries to keep Bilko's plans in check. Bilko runs every money making scheme that he thinks he can pull off. Midnight cruises on landing craft, tank rides, poker games, and an interesting deal with local service stations for spare parts for Jeep tires.  
143 episodes


Keep in Step
 
Bilko learns that a movie is to be made about him - but just who will play him?  (Broadcast live as a one-hour special titled "The Phil Silvers Pontiac Special: Keep In Step") 


O'Bservation - It may be part of the syndicated line-up now, but as it was first broadcast as a special, Toobworld Central is leaving it as a separate entity.

Hawkins
- Murder on the Thirteenth Floor
(1974) 
... Bartender



Hawkins defends the son of an old flame, who has been charged with murdering a drug-addicted young woman whom he had put into a room at the hotel his mother runs.

I suppose there could be other characters whom he played who could be Rocco Barbella, especially those listed only by their descriptions in their respective episodes.  Also, "Rocco" may have been just a nickname, so that opens up other options - characters listed only by their first names.  


Lembeck as Wally
'All In The Family'
[Could also be Rocco Barbella?]

But to make those work, I'd have to go pretzel logic on the splainins and I prefer to keep it simple.  The bartender works perfectly and is a credit that is already an extra.  Let's leave it at that.

Welcome to the Hall, Rocco! 


Thursday, January 3, 2019

STARTING THE YEAR WITH JUST ONE MORE THING



There's no denying how popular 'Columbo' still is, even after going off the air - for a second time! - sixteen years ago this month.  There are several Facebook pages dedicated to the show and to Peter Falk, and I belong to several of them.  But my favorite is Columbo-TV, which is based "across the pond" in the UK.  I've made a few friends from that group and they've been instrumental with the inspirations for several Inner Toob blog posts over the last few years.  And these friends from Columbo-TV didn't waste any time in bringing up something else for me to write up:

Catrin Jones:
Been watching 'Gavin and Stacey'. In the episode of Gwen's surprise party. I’m sure Bryn called Gavin "Columbo" on his way in. I have no way of proving this as I don't have the record telly thing!  

Well, I knew where to go for that info, but on my phone, the transcripts page is a hassle to copy and paste from and my phone doesn't have a search/find function to shorten the research.  And being inherently lazy, I wasn't going to get out of bed to fire up the laptop to get the exact quote.

But by today, Catrin went to the same site (Springfield! Springfield! Movie and TV Scripts) and retrieved the salient dialogue exchange.....

What are you doin'? All right, Bryn.
Hey, it's Woody from Toy Story! Don't get smart with me, Columbo.
What if Gwen and Stacey went by and saw you two? Eh? What? Get inside.  


Unfortunately, that's basically how you get the script at Springfield! Springfield!  No character names are given and you really can't tell where the cut off point is for one speaker to the next.

Luckily I have Amazon Prime and was able to bring up the specific episode ('Gavin & Stacey' - S2E05.)

So here's how it should have played out:


Bryn:
What are you doin'
Smitty;
All right, Bryn.
Gavin:
Hey, it's Woody from "Toy Story"
Bryn:
Don't get smart with me, Columbo.What if Gwen and Stacey went by and saw you two?
Smitty:
Eh?
Gavin:
What?
Bryn:
Get inside.    


It’s O’Bvious to see why Gavin called Bryn “Woody”.  (It was a Western square dance theme for Gwen’s surprise birthday party.)  But frankly, it’s a stretch as to how Bryn could compare Gavin to Lt Frank Columbo.  Gavin is wearing a bone-white windbreaker, not a rumpled, dirty tan raincoat.  Actually, he looked more like Kelly Robinson of ‘I Spy’.  (But outside of the Box, James Corden and Ruth Wilson – who wrote the script – probably didn’t see that as no longer being a recognizable touchstone like ‘Columbo’ always will be.)

Within the Box, it’s just like a flubbed reference that Bryn would make.


And for Toobworld Central, this is not a Zonk (Toob terminology for discrepancy) even though Gavin & Stacey live in the same alternate dimension as does Columbo.  I’ve gone over this before many times but it’s a new year and might as well refresh my positions for any new readers I might have.

‘Columbo’ is a TV show within this metafictional world in which TV shows take place.  We know that it is thanks to the many references to it in other TV shows and we know that the televersion of Peter Falk plays the role because of a reference by Laura Holt in an episode of ‘Remington Steele’ and by Peter Falk’s own appearance in an episode of ‘The Larry Sanders Show’.

In the ‘Columbo’ episode “Publish Or Perish”, Columbo expressed his interest in writing a book based on his case files.  I think he eventually did so although we didn’t get to see that happen (like his eye operation which was referred to in the 25th anniversary episode “A Trace Of Murder”.) 

So I think it did happen at some point after “Publish Or Perish” and the option was probably picked up almost immediately for a TV show based on it.  And it would prove to be a very popular TV series since so many other TV characters cite Columbo’s name in a similar fashion as the old phrase “No shit, Sherlock”.





My thanks to Catrin for giving me another reason to talk about Lieutenant Columbo and his place in the TV Universe.  (As if I needed a reason!) 

And thanks also to Michael Rotman and Richard Blythe who snagged the frame grabs.


BCnU!



Wednesday, January 2, 2019

TVXOHOF, - JANUARY, 2019 - BATMAN & ROBIN



In January, the TVXOHOF induction is of a classic TV character.  In June, we usually celebrate some kind of double act – twins, partners, things like that.  This year with our focus on superheroes, we’re combining both of those themes.

And who else would have been a Classic TV Duo?

The Dynamic Duo, of course!

BATMAN & ROBIN

In 2002, the year’s theme was actually duos.  I thought the Caped Crusader and the Boy Wonder would be a shoe-in for a berth somewhere in the year, but I found it surprisingly overstaffed for the year.  I knew they’d get in eventually, but I didn’t think it would take sixteen years.  Holy honor roll!  The Penguin and Mr. Freeze got in to the Hall before Batman & Robin!

From this point on, I’m letting Wikipedia take over.


Batman is a 1960s American live action television series, based on the DC comic book character of the same name. It stars Adam West as Batmanand Burt Ward as Robin – two crime-fighting heroes who defend Gotham City from a variety of arch villains. 

Adam West as Bruce Wayne / Batman: A millionaire whose parents were murdered by criminals, he now secretly uses his vast fortune to fight crime as Batman.

West later voiced an animated version of the title character on The New Adventures of Batman and well as Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show and The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians.

Burt Ward as Dick Grayson / Robin: Batman's faithful (if overly eager) partner and "Boy Wonder", a high school student noted for his recurring interjections in the form of "Holy ________, Batman!"  Ward voiced an animated version of this character on The New Adventures of Batman.

In 1977, Adam West and Burt Ward returned as voice actors for the second Filmation-produced animated series, The New Adventures of Batman.

In 1979, West, Ward, and Frank Gorshin reunited and reprised their respective roles on NBC for Hanna-Barbera's two Legends of the Superheroes television specials.

In 1984, West would once again reprise his role as Batman in animated form when he succeeded Olan Soule in the final two seasons of Super Friends.


In 2003, West and Ward reunited for a tongue-in-cheek television movie titled Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt which combined dramatized recreations of the filming of the original series (with younger actors standing in for the stars), with modern footage of West and Ward searching for a stolen Batmobile. The film included cameo appearances by Newmar, Gorshin, and Lee Meriwether, as well as Lyle Waggoner, who had been an early candidate for the role of Batman.


A film based on the television show, Batman, was released in 1966. The film was originally intended to be produced before the series as a way to introduce the series to the public. However, the series' premiere was moved up and the film was forced to wait until the summer hiatus after the first season. The film was produced quickly to get into theatres prior to the start of season two of the television series.

The film did not initially perform well at the cinema. Originally, the movie had been conceived to help sell the television series abroad, but the success of the series in America was sufficient publicity. The film was shot after season one was filmed. The movie's budget allowed for producers to build the Batboat and lease a helicopter that would be made into the Batcopter, both of which were used in the second and third seasons of the television show.

Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders
West and Ward announced at the Mad Monster Party that one or two Batman animated movies would be released in 2016 with the two doing voiced roles as their characters for the show's 50th anniversary along with Julie Newmar returning.

The trailer for Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders made its debut on August 17, 2016. The film was released on Digital HD and Digital Media on October 11, 2016 and on DVD and Blu-ray November 1, 2016.

Batman vs. Two-Face
A sequel to Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders called Batman vs. Two-Face was released on October 10, 2017. The film starred William Shatner voicing Two-Face as the main antagonist.  Adam West died before it was released; however, he did complete his voiceover work before his passing. This was one of Adam West's final roles before he passed away from leukemia.


So Batman and Robin are being inducted not only as the January Classic TV members, but also as multidimensionals.
Greetings and welcome, Old Chums!




THE 2019 TVXOHOF INTRODUCTION - 20TH ANNIVERSARY


2019 marks the 20th anniversary of the Television Crossover Hall of Fame.  And this year for the monthly showcases we’re going to showcase the superheroes of the greater TV Universe, and not just those to be found in Earth Prime-Time.
Many of these characters are not only multiversal (to be found in more than one metafictional universe like books, movies, TV shows, and in this case, comic books), but they are also multidimensional within the TV Universe.


With most of our Friday Hall of Famers, we’ll be continuing to induct our usual roster of TV characters and members of the League of Themselves who may definitely qualify for membership but who don’t have enough “oomph” to warrant a monthly showcase until I absolutely ran out of other options.  And hey, Time is limited so I want to get as many others into the Hall while I can. 

The Friday Hall of Famers also include those whom I think should be included but who would need a bit of technobabble splainin on my part to make it almost seem legit. 

But on occasion I will also include a few others from the superhero motif whom I think deserve to get in even without the full qualifications (but which, again, I can splain away).

With each monthly induction of a superhero (or sometimes, a super-villain), I will still be following the themes of the past:

  • JANUARY - Classic TV
  • FEBRUARY - Black History
  • MARCH - (usually) League of Themselves
  • APRIL - The Fool
  • MAY - Queen of the May
  • JUNE - Double Acts
  • JULY - Anything Goes
  • AUGUST - Western
  • SEPTEMBER - Behind The Scenes
  • OCTOBER - Horror 
  • NOVEMBER - Newsmakers
  • DECEMBER - Winter/Holiday
There will still be the annual entries for the Birthday and Christmas Honors List.

So let’s have at it! 




Tuesday, January 1, 2019

WHO-VIDS: LAST PAGE





And so there we are - the end of another "Who's On First" blogathon.  I hope you enjoyed it.  

If you happened to read any of my suggestions for fanfic and decide to write them up....  Please send me a link to where I can read them and hopefully showcase them here next year in the blogathon.

Thank you for your Time!

WHOVIANS OF THE HAT SQUAD 2018





"The Hat Squad" was the name of a short-lived detective series years ago but I have purloined the title for my tributes to those in the TV business who have passed away during the year.  (I publish the list every New Year's Eve here in the blog.)  For me, it's a reference to my tip of the hat to all of the people who contributed to this fictional world of the Toob.

This year, there seemed to be quite a few who had connections to "the Whoniverse."  I don't know if there were more than usual - Time may be wibbly-wobbly, but it still marches on and so there will always be 'Doctor Who' personnel lost as we travel forward to six decades of the show, one second at a time. 


DEREK KELLER
(August 5, 1942 – January 11, 2018)

Kaufman - a soldier who served under Group Captain Ian Gilmore of the Intrusion Countermeasures Group during the Shoreditch Incident in November 1963. He brought several anti-tank rockets to Coal Hill School at the orders of Gilmore. (“Remembrance of the Daleks”)

BELLA EMBERG
(September 16, 1937 – January 12, 2018)

Mrs Croot - an old woman who knew Jackie and Rose Tyler. Elton Pope asked her where Rose lived and she told him.   (“Love & Monsters”)

PETER WYNGARDE
(23 August 1927 – 15 January 2018)

Timanov - the stern and devout religious leader of the planet Sarn whose inhabitants were descended from a colony of exiled Trions who believed in Timanov without question. (“Planet Of Fire”)

NICHOLAS HAWTREY
(August 19, 1932 – February 14, 2018)

Quinn - the deputy governor of the human colony on Vulcan.who became the governor after Hansell’s death. (“The Power of the Daleks”)

SIR KEN DODD

(8 November 1927 – 11 March 2018) 

The Tollmaster - The Tollmaster was the sole employee at toll port G715.  When the Seventh Doctor and Mel arrived at the toll in the TARDIS, the Tollmaster informed them that they were the ten billionth customers and had won a Nostalgia Tours trip to Disneyland, 1959. 


PAMELA ANN DAVY
(September 7, 1933 – June 3, 2018)

Janley - one of Lesterson's assistants on Vulcan and a member of Bragen's rebel group who wanted to use the Daleks overthrow Governor Hensell. (“The Power of the Daleks”)

LESLIE GRANTHAM
[30 April 1947 – 15 June 2018]

Kiston – mechanical engineer in a mercenary company working with the Time Lord’s enemies.  (“Resurrection of the Daleks”)

WILLIAM HUGHES
[1998-July 9, 2018]

The Master as a young boy – stared into the Schism and went mad.  (“The Sound of Drums”)  Also appeared in the ‘Torchwood’ episode “Sleepers”.

HELEN GRIFFIN
[??, 1959 – June 29, 2018)

Angela Price (AKA Mrs. Moore) - a former 9-to-5 employee of Cybus Industries who discovered the truth behind Lumic’s top-secret project.  She joined the rebellion as a member of the “Preachers” and acted as their techie and van driver.  (“Rise of the Cybermen" & “The Age of Steel”)

ALAN BENNION
(18 July 1930 - 23 July 2018

Three Lords of the Ice Warriors - as Slaar in “The Seeds of Death”, Izlyr in “The Curse of Peladon” and Azaxyr in “The Monster of Peladon”.  

JANET HARGREAVES
[May 31 1937 - August 4, 2018]

Mother – One of the audience of three watching the Psychic Circus on Segonax.  The family turned out to be the Gods of Ragnarok.  They imposed deadly consequences on those who do not meet their exacting standards. (“The Greatest Show In The Galaxy”)

RIO FANNING
(November 7, 1931 – August 12, 2018)

Harker – 
the bosun on Lord Palmerdale's luxury steam yacht. He was one of only four people to survive the yacht's crash on Fang Rock. He found Ben's body in the sea while tying up the boat. (“Horror At Fang Rock”)

JOHNNY BARRS
(March 1, 1933 – August 31, 2018)

Fuller – an inmate of Stangmoor Prison.  He recaptured the Third Doctor and Jo Grant after they had escaped from Charlie and Lenny Vosper. He brought them to Harry Mailer and later kept guard over the Doctor and Jo. (“Mind Of Evil”)

JACQUELINE PEARCE
[December 20, 1943 - September 3, 2018]

Chessene – seen in one of the Doctor crossover episodes with the Second and Sixth Incarnations of the Doctor.  (“The Two Doctors”)

PETER BENSON
[13 June 1943 - 6 September 2018]

Bor – one of the Vanir, guardian of a leper colony (“Terminus”)

ZIENIA MERTON
[11 December 1945 – 14 September 2018]  

Ping-Cho – A young Chinese girl in Marco Polo’s retinue who befriended the Doctor.  (“Marco Polo”)

The Marriage Registrar – as seen in ‘The Sarah Jane Adventures’ ("The Wedding of Sarah Jane Parts 1 & 2")

RICK JAMES
(?? – September 24, 2018)

Cotton – 
an aide to the Marshal of Solos. Unlike the Marshal, they wanted Solos to be granted independence from the Earth Empire. (“The Mutants”)

ANTHONY COLBY
(?? – October 4th, 2018)

Saracen – a warrior in service to the Saladin (“The Crusade”)

GEORGE A. COOPER
(March 7, 1925 - November 16, 2018)

Cherub - a pirate and Captain Samuel Pike's first mate aboard the Black Albatross. 

ANDREW BURT
(May 23, 1995 – November 16, 2018)

Valgard - one of the Vanir on Terminus.  He challenged the leadership of Eirak, who agreed to step down if Valgard would bring the Fifth Doctor back from the Forbidden Zone, which he eventually did. ("Terminus")

JOHN GREENWOOD
August 8, 1929 – November 17, 2018

D’Artagnan & Sir Lancelot – creations of the Master of the Land of Fiction as opponents against the Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe.(“The Mind Robber”)

JUNE WHITFIELD
(November 11, 1925 - December 28, 2018)  

Minnie Hooper – Wilf Mott’s elderly but sassy friend who had her eye on getting Wilf down the aisle.  But she wasn’t averse to getting a bit “cheeky” with the Doctor. AKA Minnie the Menace

DAVID FISHER
[13 April 1929 – 10 January 2018]

[from Wikipedia]
David Fisher was a British professional writer for television.

He wrote the scripts for four serials of 'Doctor Who'. He first contributed "The Stones of Blood" and "The Androids of Tara" during that show's sixteenth season, and "The Creature from the Pit" for the seventeenth season. His final 'Doctor Who' story was season eighteen's "The Leisure Hive".

MICHAEL PICKWOAD
[July 11, 1945 - August 27, 2018]

[From The Guardian]
The work of the production designer Michael Pickwoad, who has died aged 73, gained an enthusiastic following from Doctor Who viewers in the 21st-century reinvention of the cult sci-fi series. He employed creativity and what he described as “cunning” to compensate for the lack of a blockbuster-film budget.

Between 2010 and 2017, during the eras of Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi as the Time Lord, he worked on 71 episodes over five series, including the 50th anniversary and eight Christmas specials.

DERRICK SHERWIN
(April 16, 1936 - October 17, 2018)

[From Digital Spy]
Derrick Sherwin – former producer and story editor on Doctor Who, the last surviving producer of Doctor Who from before the Tom Baker era.   – has died, aged 82.  Between 1968 and 1970, Sherwin served as story editor and scriptwriter and later producer on the BBC sci-fi series.

He was originally offered the role of story editor in 1967, with the following year's 'The Web of Fear' the first story to air under Sherwin.  He also contributed a number of scripts to the series, writing another '68 story, 'The Invasion' – which famously introduced the United Nations Intelligence Task force (UNIT) to Doctor Who. His successor as script editor, Terrance Dicks, has also credited Sherwin with the creation of the Time Lords, who were introduced in Patrick Troughton's final story 'The War Games' (written by Dicks and Malcolm Hulke).

Sherwin served as producer of both 'The War Games' and Jon Pertwee's debut 'Spearhead From Space' – he was not only involved in casting Pertwee as the third Doctor, but also introducing a new era of the show that saw the Doctor exiled to Earth, as well as a transition from black-and-white to colour.

Sherwin – who originally worked as an actor throughout the 1950s and '60s – appeared on screen in 'Doctor Who', playing a UNIT officer in 'Spearhead From Space' in 1970.

BILL SELLARS
(June 5, 1925 - December 19, 2018)

[From the Guardian]
The scripts for the 'Doctor Who' story "The Celestial Toymaker" (1966) needed emergency rewrites very close to production but, despite this, the offbeat and unusual story is fondly remembered. [Bill] Sellars pulled off a casting coup by persuading Michael Gough to play the Toymaker, and the story’s nightmarish subversion of children’s parlour games makes it stand out as an intriguingly atypical entry into the series’ canon.  

FENELLA FIELDING
[17 November 1927 – 11 September 2018]

As for her connection to 'Doctor Who', she used that sultry voice to narrate the 1999 documentary "Carnival Of Monsters".  (Not to be confused with the Third Doctor adventure by the same name.) 

(For me, her high point was as the voice of the Village in 'The Prisoner') 

RUPERT LAIGHT
Rupert Laight was a writer of Doctor Who fiction. He wrote two two-part stories for 'Sarah Jane Adventures' - "The Gift Parts 1 & 2" and "Lost In Time Parts 1 & 2".  He also provided the voice of Solomon in "Excelis Rising."  (I'm not sure that picture above of the young man with the dog is him or not.)

PETER FIRMIN
(11 December 1928 – 1 July 2018) 

[From The Guardian]
Peter Firmin, the creator of popular children’s television programmes including 'Bagpuss' and 'Noggin the Nog', has died at home in Kent surrounded by his family.

The 89-year-old had been working until early this year on a £5m reboot of the 'Clangers', another animation for the BBC that he made with his creative partner of 50 years, Oliver Postgate.

Why have I included him here?

While incarcerated in a terrestrial prison as seen in the 'Doctor Who' story "The Sea Devils", the Master was watching 'The Clangers'.

THE WARDEN: 
What are you watching?
MASTER: 
It seems to be a rather interesting extra-terrestrial life form. 
WARDEN: 
Only puppets, you know? For children. 
MASTER: 
Oh. 

And finally....

CLINT WALKER
[May 30, 1927 – May 21, 2018] 

'Doctor Who'
"The Chase"

In 1966, an Alabama tourist named Morton Dill was visiting the top of the Empire State Building when he met the Gallifreyan Time Lord known only as the Doctor (first incarnation) and his three Companions: Barbara, Ian, and Vicki. Because they had materialized out of thin air, and were all "cramped" into such a small space, Morton assumed that they were movie people from Hollywood.

And so the first thing he wanted to know was if they knew Cheyenne Bodie.

I included this because Clint Walker, who played the lead role in 'Cheyenne', died on May 21 of this past year.  'Cheyenne' ran for over 100 episodes from 1955 to 1962 and Walker reprised the role in several of the other Warner Bros. TV Westerns plus in 'The Gambler IV: Luck of the Draw' and an episode of 'Kung Fu: The Legend Continues'.  Like the Doctor, he is a member of the TV Crossover Hall of Fame.

I thought I had a pretty complete list of the dearly departed.  But a fellow Toby - Toby Hadoke, who definitely knows his 'Doctor Who' - recently posted a video with even more names.

He shared that tribute video on YouTube....



Good night and may God Bless them all.....


 

FANFICCERS' FRIEND + MY FRIENDS IN TOOBWORLD


As you’ll see as you look through today’s offerings for the “Who’s On First?” blogAthon, many of the posts fall into the Fanficcers’ Friend category.  That’s where I offer suggestions for storylines to use in your ‘Doctor Who’ fan fiction,  I doubt anybody has taken me up on any of those suggestions in the past, although there was one who did a story on this little-known law in Connecticut which I suggested a few years back.  But I think they stumbled across that law independent of my suggestion.


Every so often I also run another feature – “My Friends In Toobworld” – in which I suggest what the televersions of my friends are up to in the TV Universe based on photos of them in TV-oriented situations.  For instance, Brian posing with Jay Leno, Jon and his lovely wife with the Batmobile in the background, and my favorite topic – Mark and Michael’s continuing space-time adventures with the TARDIS.

So, today… I’m combining them with this post.

Late December of 1999, San Francisco.

Loren Kraut is a friend of mine from the UConn Department of Drama.  1974-77.  She moved to the City By The Bay and now performs out there, doing stand-up comedy.

Around that time, the Seventh Incarnation of the Doctor had to make an emergency landing of the TARDIS in San Francisco while transporting the ashes of the Master back from Skaro (where the Daleks had executed him.)  The details are all in the 1995 TV movie which saw the regeneration of the Doctor into his Eighth Incarnation and involved his escapades in bringing down a reborn Master as the year 2000 was ushered in.  (I’m not saying it was the new millennium as that would not occur until January 1st, 2001.)

There was a lot of artron energy backwash from the TARDIS during that time, which is the excuse I use for a lot of anachronisms which occur in the TV Universe because of production errors.  (A good example – the sight of a TV antenna on a house in Downton, Yorkshire, in the 1920s.)

Within the reality of Toobworld as an alternate universe, those bubbles of loose artron energy are responsible for the pixelated scenes that frequently pop up in our digital age of TV transmissions.  Sometimes those can be quite severe, but they quickly pass and the people affected by it never even notice that it happened.  Usually there are no adverse effects.

Usually.

And this is where my friend Loren comes in….


On October 19th of 2018, Loren boarded bus #8860 and got a Muni Ticket transfer which she had to use within two hours.  No problem in that; I’m sure it was something she did on a regular basis.  But for whatever reason here in the Real World, she was issued a ticket for Thursday, January 1st, 1970, rather than one for Friday October 19th, 2018.  It was probably some kind of computer glitch.

That was in the Real World, Earth Prime.

But over in Earth Prime-Time, something else was happening.  Loren’s televersion was boarding that bus just as a rogue pool of artron energy backwash from the TARDIS nearly twenty years before swept across them like a tumbleweed.  And after all of that time, the artron energy had become stagnant in its pool and proved to be far more dangerous than just a momentary pixilation alteration.  Loren and the other people on that bus would be swept back in Time to January 1, 1970, with no way they could see for getting back to the Future.

If it sounds like fun and you want to give that premise your own touch as a ‘Doctor Who’ fanfic writer, feel free!  And should you eventually post it online, let me know where to go to read it.  I’d be keenly interested!

This post is dedicated to my friend Loren….

Allonsy!