THE UNLIMITED POTENTIAL OF SATURDAYS

For me, science fiction and saturdays were always inseparable. Growing up in London in the early 1970s, I was raised on a televisual diet of cartoons like Scooby Doo and The Fantastic Four, and exciting live-action American shows such as Planet of the Apes, Logan’s Run, The Fantastic Journey and Project UFO. These kept me interested in all things fantastical and otherworldly, but Doctor Who was the high point of the week for me and my brothers.

 

My mum worked during the day, so Dad would take command of the living room, subjecting us to hours of World of Sport and Grandstand. Often, we’d escape into the streets to play. But as soon as the late football results came in, we’d all race back into the house, and impatiently sit there buzzing with excitement for the next programme. There was no setting the video recorder or Sky Plussing it back then.

Often, we’d read in The Sun about the upcoming story or a new monster, and that would only add fuel to the fire. One week, I’d read about “The scariest monsters ever seen in Doctor Who!” accompanied by a fuzzy black and white photo. The story was The Nightmare of Eden and these terrifying new monsters that were certain to get Mary Whitehouse on the phone again, were called the Mandrels. Or Mendrals. Both spellings appeared in the article so I had to wait and see.

I had become accustomed to the monsters of Doctor Who looking somewhat home-made, as if Lesley Judd had slapped them together with sticky-backed plastic and cotton reels on string, but when the Mandrels appeared, I had to admit, they looked pretty impressive! Bear in mind, this was my ten-year-old self appraising them, not (sigh) a slightly more cynical 43-year-old professional designer. They were giant, hulking things, with fluorescent green eyes, shaggy hair, claws and scales. Like Yeti that had quit the pies and gotten down to the gym. They also had this odd clam-beak-thing instead of a mouth, so they looked a little cute, like a doe-eyed platypus. What do I think of them today? Well, not as ridiculous as I thought they’d be after all this time. Sure, they stagger around, waving their immobile limbs as these creatures are wont to do, but they’re certainly not the worst things to come out of a Blue Peter scratchbuilding session. I think The Slitheen might hold that title, where tens of thousands of pounds on animatronic suits and CGI enhancement still can’t sell a flatulent green blob. And anyway, the Zygons did the same thing only a million times more terrifying.

 

The story had two major weak points for me, even then. One was that Lalla Ward had replaced the divine Mary Tamm as Romana – haughty, smug and too ‘public school’ for me. Then the inconsistent and lacklustre voice of K9 from David Brierley. More John Inman than John Leeson. But Tom Baker’s beloved Doctor was always the focal point – to this day he seems to be having fun with it (having Douglas Adams as a script editor helped here, methinks), playing the detective always one step ahead of the rest and often snappy and impatient with his co-stars. I’m aware that this was not always just an act.

 

What totally passed us all by was the fact that the story was all about smuggling illegal drugs. The Mandrels are effectively drug mules and the narcotic here – ‘Vraxoin’ never struck me as a thinly veiled version of ‘Heroin’. Life (and people) were much simpler then; to the Cooper family, it was just ‘Doctor fights escaping scary monsters.’ Again.

 

One of many typical families sat around the telly on a Saturday evening, I recall my mother yelling at us for sitting far too close to the screen, sandwiched between my brothers. No cowering behind the sofa for us – we didn’t want to miss a thing! My experiences of Doctor Who in the Seventies are closely linked to memories of dinner time – home made burger and chips, ketchup, bread and butter, salt and vinegar, and a sticky vinyl tablecloth. I can still look at a sauce-drenched chip on a fork and think – Creature from the Pit because my Dad came up with the name ‘Erato Tomato’ for that story’s titular monster.

 

I suppose the advancement of my teenage years, the discovery of freedom, cinema, Star Wars and the opposite sex led to the demise of my Saturday nights as they then were. In addition, the show moved from its Saturday slot and although I very much enjoyed Peter Davison’s youthful, exasperated take on The Doctor, There was no real reason to get home by five o’clock on a Saturday any more. We’d already seen the Daleks and the Cybermen take on Tom, and these more generic stories were getting a little samey.

 

Now that it’s returned to its familiar Saturday evening slot, Doctor Who is, I’m sure, making new mental connections for the country’s children, ensuring that Saturday tea-time is synonymous with time travel and the TARDIS. Although the skateboard, Chopper bike and flared jeans have also made comebacks of a sort, it’s not quite the same. But then I’ve travelled in time too – forward another thirty-two years. But for ten-year-olds living through it today, I hope the magic is just beginning.

In fact, I’ve been to the future, and I can say for sure that it is.

 

Did.

 

Oh, you know what I mean.

By Terry Cooper

About the guest blogger: 

Terry Cooper was born in London in 1969, and moved to South Wales in 1980. Training as an artist and illustrator, he has worked for film and TV production companies, providing artwork, storyboards and voiceover work for many years. A 2 year long detour into the world of pop music led to his rap group 'Best Shot' being signed to Warner Music where they toured the UK with East 17 and performed at the 'Smash Hits Poll Winners Party' in Wembley Arena in 1994. Luckily for him, most  people have never heard of him.In 2006 he formed a CGI character animation company called Strangetown Animation, based in Cardiff. In 2012 he formed part of the team who restored the 'Lars Homestead' building from Star Wars in Tunisia. His first novel, a science fiction comedy entitled 'KANGAZANG!' has been described by STARBURST as 'Better than [Douglas] Adams'. He is currently writing the third and final part of this trilogy, due for release in 2013. He is single, but has two children and a phobia of dogs.