The fifth tale in this anniversary sequence of stories, ‘Smoke and Mirrors’, is quite definitely grounded in Peter Davison’s first series with the Doctor again failing arrive at Heathrow Airport in favour of answering the summons of an old friend. In fact, there are enough in-story continuity references to site the tale firmly between ‘Kinda’ and ‘Earthshock’.
We’ll make this quick. Faster than a speeding bullet, even. DK’s Superman: The Ultimate Guide to the Man of Steel doesn’t pull its punches in covering the 75 years of heroics by arguably the most famous superhero on and above the Earth. The result is a gorgeous and thoroughly comprehensive history of the Big Blue Boy Scout.
Even before the massive and graphic werewolf-led terrorist attack that occurs in the early pages of Benjamin Percy’s Red Moon, there’s a palpable sense that something terrible is about to happen. A concrete slab of dread that weighs on top of your imagination, and it remains there long after you’ve drifted beyond the epilogue and relaxed your grip on the cover.
Authors Tara Bennett and Paul Terry deserve a great deal of credit for simply coming up with the idea of a book that exists within the reality of Fringe.
For many CultBox readers, Peter Cushing is instantly recognisable for a number of roles. For many he was Star Wars villain Grand Moff Tarkin, the ruthless Imperial Commander running the Death Star in the original movie who appeared to be Darth Vader’s boss. Like Sir Alec Guinness, he lent the film an air of credibility amid the laser bolts, droids and spiritual mumbo-jumbo.
‘Dreams of Empire’ is the second entry in BBC Books’ Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Collection. Written by Justin Richards, a long time contributor and creative consultant for the range, it features Patrick Troughton’s Doctor alongside companions Jamie and Victoria, pitching it in the earlier part of his tenure.
On television ‘The Rescue’ was a rather modest affair. A two-parter set after the drama of ‘The Dalek Invasion of Earth’, its primary role was to provide an introduction Vicki (Maureen O’Brien) who was cast in the wake of Susan’s departure.
In this on demand digital age, we can stream Hollywood movies to our mobile phones and pre-order the DVD boxset of a television show before it has even aired. As Doctor Who approaches its 50th anniversary, the show is reaching ever-greater heights of popularity and international exposure. Amid all this, it somehow seems impossible to comprehend that there is a large swathe of the programme’s early episodes now lost to posterity.
Doctor Who’s ‘Destiny of the Doctor’ series reaches its fourth instalment with ‘Babblesphere’, a tale for Tom Baker’s Doctor and Lalla Ward’s Romana. Written by Jonathan Morris, the play is performed by Ward with Roger Parrott.
Arriving on the Earth colony of Hephastos, the time travellers come across a replica of the palace of Versailles encased in a geodesic dome and set amid a harsh volcanic landscape. Within, they find an artistic commune where the perils of social media are writ large.
This is pretty gruesome stuff in places and certainly the kind of broader territory that Doctor Who could only tackle in expanded media.