Review of 'The Candle Man' by Alex Scarrow

I first encountered Alex Scarrow's excellent body of work two years ago. His titles are highly recommended (read my review of October Skies here), and I was pleased to discover his latest thriller, The Candle Man (Orion).

 I really tried to enjoy this book because I loved the writer's previous work and the novel offers so much to the Ripperologist in me.

The narrative begins promisingly on RMS Titanic, just after her rendezvous with the iceberg, then transports us to London's 'Autumn of Terror' in 1888.

And I really wanted Scarrow to proffer his own, original approach - unfortunately we are presented with yet another re-hash of the 'Royal conspiracy'.

This criticism is not detrimental to the novel however, which is as evocative as any worthy piece of Victoriana, and one of the author's many strengths lies in his (almost Holmesian) attention to period detail. I suspect that Scarrow - like many other writers since the 1970's - relishes in an admittedly compulsive and entertaining theory. Also akin to other proponents of this particular 'final solution', this novelist allows the final canonical victim, Mary Kelly, to escape her true destiny too.

Granted, this is a fictional account of the Whitechapel Murders and the historical minutiae is as accurate as you'd expect from Scarrow, but it's hard to forgive his most glaring error - the 'Double Event' occurs here two days later than documented (and I'm sure that the cover artwork depicts the Lusitania, not Titanic).

The story ends back onboard the sinking liner, and the mystery of Jack the Ripper is solved. Despite my negative opinions, The Candle Man remains a good read, and I look forward to Alex Scarrow's next title.

A Tribute to Mary Tamm (1950-2012)

It was reported this morning by her agent, that Mary Tamm had died after a long battle with cancer. The actress best known for her portrayal as the first incarnation of Romana in season sixteen of Doctor Who, was 62. Tributes have been led by Fourth Doctor actor Tom Baker, who said: "She was a darling companion and wonderfully witty and kind" whilst a "shell-shocked" Colin Baker wrote on twitter that she was "a funny, caring, talented, lovely and down-to-earth lady." Steven Moffat said that Tamm was "the ice queen on the TARDIS.. who thought the Doctor was her companion" and she has been remembered by other former time travellers Anneke Wills, Frazer Hines, Nichola Bryant, and Lousie Jameson.

Tamm was born in Bradford in 1950 to Estonian immigrant parents, and after graduating at RADA, she began her career at the Birmingham Repetory Theatre with Derek Jacobi, Joan Sims, and Ronnie Barker. She moved to London in 1972, and made her television debut in ATV's Hunter's Walk. Further TV roles in Coronation Street, and Return of the Saint followed. Then after film roles in The Odessa File, and The Likely Lads, Tamm was cast as the Time Lady, Romana - short for Romanadvoratrelundar. 

Tamm was not initially interested in playing a Doctor Who companion, but producer Graham Williams assured her that Romana was not intended as another "damsel in distress" - she was a 'Time Lady' who was as capable as the Doctor. However, Tamm left the programme after only one season because she felt that her character had in fact reverted to the traditional assistant function, and a proper transition to her successor, Lalla Ward was never planned.

Tamm later made guest appearances in The Bill, Jonathan Creek, Doctors, EastEnders, and had a regular role as Penny Crosbie in Brookside.

Romana featured in all six stories of the 'Key to Time' season, broadcast from September 1978 to February 1979, but Tamm returned to the role for Big Finish's Gallifrey audio drama series in 2005. Her latest recording as the Time Lady, was in Tales from the Vault, released last July, and a new, 7-part season of Fouth Doctor adventures featuring Tamm's Romana will be issued next year.

Mary Tamm is survived by her husband Marcus Ringrose, her daughter Lauren, and grandson Max.

Great Doctor Who Quotes #39

"When you run with the Doctor, it feels like it'll never end. But however hard you try, you can't run forever. Everybody knows that everybody dies and nobody knows it like the Doctor. But I do think that all the skies of all the worlds might just turn dark if he ever, for one moment, accepts it. Everybody knows that everybody dies. But not every day. Not today. Some days are special. Some days are so, so blessed. Some days, nobody dies at all. Now and then, every once in a very long while, every day in a million days, when the wind stands fair, and the Doctor comes to call...everybody lives."

- River Song, The Forest of the Dead (June 7th 2008)

Written by Steven Moffat

Great Doctor Who Quotes #38

"Amy, listen to me. I can't save you. I can't do anything to stop this... I stole your childhood and now I've led you by the hand to your death. But the worst thing is, I knew this would happen. This is what always happens... I took you with me because I was vain, because I wanted to be adored... Look at you. Glorious Pond. The girl who waited for me... But I'm not a hero. I really am just a mad man with a box. And it's time we saw each other as we really are... Amy Williams, it's time to stop waiting."

- The Doctor, The God Complex (September 17th 2011)

Written by Toby Whithouse

Doctor Who: Even More Series 7 News

Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill, Steven Moffat, and Caroline Skinner will all attend the Doctor Who panel at Comic Con later this month, where the forthcoming Series Seven will be previewed.

So how much do we actually know about the new season? Radio Times reported that the series - again split in half, either side of the Christmas special - will consist of "at least" fourteen episodes. Moffat stated in DWM that there will be no two-parters, and fellow producer Marcus Wilson said that two 'classic' era monsters will make a return appearance - the Ice Warriors are likely candidates.

The title of episode 1 is confirmed as Asylum of the Daleks, and will feature the Special Weapons Dalek, last seen in 1988. Written by Moffat, and directed by Nick Hurran, the season opener will launch at the BFI, then be screened later in Edinburgh, before a probable TV premiere in late August, or early September. Nick Briggs again provides the (many) Dalek voices. 

Episode 2 - Dinosaurs on a Spaceship? - is penned by Chris Chibnall, and helmed by Saul Metzstein. The cast includes Harry Potter film actors Mark Williams and David Bradley, Rupert Graves (Lestrade in Sherlock), and Riann Steele as Queen Nefertiti.

Written by Toby Whithouse and directed by Metzstein, part 3 stars Dominic Kemp, Adrian Scarborough, Ben Browder, Andrew Brooke, Garrick Hagon (Ky in The Mutants), Rob Cavazos, and Joanne McQuinn. Provisionally titled The Gunslinger or A Town Called Mercy, and set in the American Wild West, the story was filmed in  Spain.

The next installment - thought to be called Cubed - is also scripted by Chibnall, directed by Douglas Mackinnon, and sees the return of Williams as Rory's dad, Brian. Other guest stars are Jemma Redgrave (as Kate Stewart), Steven Berkoff, and Ruthie Henshall.

The Ponds leave the programme in the fifth adventure, which is set in New York - location filming took in Central Park - and features the Weeping Angels. Alex Kingston reprises her role as River Song here, opposite co-stars Mike McShane, Rob David, and Bentley Kalu.

New companion Jenna Louise Coleman, rumoured to be named Clara, debuts in this year's Christmas special, which is again written by Moffat.

The eight unplaced episodes for 2013 include Phantoms of the Hex (working title), from Luther creator and Spooks writer, Neil Cross. Dougray Scott (Matt Busby in David Tennant's United), and Jessica Raine head the cast, directed by another newcomer, Jamie Payne (Primeval, and Survivors).

NuWho veteran Mark Gatiss has contributed two scripts for next year. The first is helmed by Mackinnon, and stars David Warner (see my Titanic blog), Liam Cunningham (Game of Thrones), Josh O'Connor, and James Norton. His second serial, rumoured to be called The Crimson Horror, features Dame Diana Rigg (Emma Peel in The Avengers), and her daughter Rachael Stirling. Catrin Stewart returns here as Jenny (from last year's A Good Man Goes to War), so her partner Madame Vastra (played by Neve McIntosh) can't be far away.

Great Doctor Who Quotes #37

“He never raised his voice. That was the worst thing… the fury of the Time Lord… and then we discovered why. Why this Doctor, who had fought with gods and demons, why he had run away from us and hidden. He was being kind… He wrapped my father in unbreakable chains forged in the heart of a dwarf star. He tricked my mother into the event horizon of a collapsing galaxy to be imprisoned there… forever. He still visits my sister, once a year, every year. I wonder if one day he might forgive her… but there she is. Can you see? He trapped her inside a mirror. Every mirror. If ever you look at your reflection and see something move behind you just for a second, that’s her. That’s always her. As for me, I was suspended in time and the Doctor put me to work standing over the fields of England as their protector. We wanted to live forever. So the Doctor made sure we did."
- Son of Mine, The Family of Blood (June 2nd 2007)
Written by Paul Cornell

A Tribute to Caroline John (1940-2012)

It was announced today that the actress Caroline John had died of cancer, on June 5th, aged 71. She was best known for her role as Liz Shaw in the ground-breaking seventh season of Doctor Who (January to June 1970). Tributes have been led by current show-runner, Steven Moffat.

John was born in York in 1940, and after training at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, she worked in theatre. She toured with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre, before landing the part of Cambridge scientist, Dr Elizabeth Shaw.

Liz was recruited to the newly created UNIT team as their scientific advisor, and John joined the programme   along with a brand new leading actor - Jon Pertwee as the Doctor. John was cast by outgoing producer, Peter Bryant, and  Liz was conceived as a an interlectual equal to the Time Lord. Ironically, it soon became apparent to the show's new production team, helmed by Barry Letts, that this type of companion was actually unsuitable, and  Liz Shaw was written out after just one series. 

John starred in the first four, Third Doctor stories: Spearhead from Space, The Silurians, The Ambassadors of Death, and Inferno. She reprised the character on TV in The Five Doctors (1983), and Dimensions in Time (1993), then later for Big Finish's audio adventures (from 2007). Liz Shaw also featured in the Mark Gatiss scripted P.R.O.B.E. video spin-off series (1994-96).

John was married to Doctor Who co-star, Geoffrey Beevers, who first played the Master in The Keeper of Traken. They starred together in A Very British Coup (1988), and Poirot (1989). They had three children. John's funeral was held in London this week.