The History of Pop Music

Michael Putland's studio portrait of Dusty & the Pet Shop Boys, dressed as 1960's
journalists. The shoot was for the cover of the Nothing Has Been Proved
single, recorded for the film, Scandal (December 1988).

I've only just found this article, originally published in The Guardian on June 11th this year. Caroline Sullivan's series on the Top 50 key moments in pop history, places the Pet Shop Boys at No. 33. On August 10, 1987, they resurrected Dusty Springfield's career:

"The Smiths were the first to collaborate with an iconic 60s female singer – Sandie Shaw – but the Pet Shop Boys struck gold by hooking up with arguably the most revered vocalist of her generation – Dusty Springfield. Their single together, What Have I Done to Deserve This?, was a win-win situation: the band got kudos for enticing Springfield into recording what was the classiest record the PSB ever made, her career got a new lease of life, and it reached No 2."

Tartan Noir: Glasgow

The latest part of The A-Z of Crime on ITV3 represented the letter G with 'Glasgow'. Author Denise Mina, herself a Glaswegian, said that "Glasgow is the perfect city to write crime fiction for. It's small, there's a lot of crime.. a lot of poverty, and there's so many different textures.. Everybody knows everybody else.. people talk to each other.. what could be better really?" Her book, The Field of Blood (2004) is set in the city, and was recently adapted by BBC Scotland.

The "king of Tartan Noir" Ian Rankin, also remarked that Glasgow has "got a history of gang culture, and murder, grim death.. sectarian violence.. it's a fascinating city." The programme then states that the city was put on the crime map by long-running ITV series, Taggart (1983-2011). Glasgow is described here as a character in it's own right in Glenn Chandler's stories, and is still the murder capital of Europe.

New SFX Magazine Poll

A new poll in the latest SFX magazine has been published to find readers' Top 100 Sci-Fi Icons of the 21st Century. The results include 10 characters from the Whoniverse/Torchwood, and the highlights are as follows:

• 85 - Martha Jones
• 82 - Rose Tyler
• 71 - Rory Williams
• 52 - Donna Noble
• 44 - Gwen Cooper
• 41 - Amy Pond
• 27 - River Song
• 5 - Ianto Jones
• 3 - Jack Harkness
• 2 - The Doctor

Many 'icons' come from brilliant BBC shows like Being Human, and Life On Mars, and that other giant of British culure, Harry Potter took the No. 7 slot. The highest placed American character was Buffy Summers, at No. 4. Obviously, as a Whovian I'm biased, but I was stunned to see that the No. 1 position is taken by Mal Reynolds of Firefly! At least Sheldon Cooper would be pleased.

Review of 'Random' by Craig Robertson

Random is the debut novel of Craig Robertson, the latest in a long and distinguished line of 'Tartan Noir' writers. He once said that the Scottish "seem to be better at... reach[ing] the darker side of the human psyche... Many Scots also have a fondness for black humour that lends itself well to crime writing," and these crucial ingredients are certainly present in this excellent book.

Glasgow is being terrorised by a serial killer the media have nicknamed 'the Cutter'. His random attacks appear motiveless until we learn of his fascination with that ultimate murderer, Jack the Ripper. This anonymous killer's study of the Ripper is only revealed in chapter 16, and he provides the reader with the usual salient facts of the infamous case: "Some said the Ripper was over-rated... In purely numerical terms [they are] probably right. But what they all forget, is that Jack got away with it. The single most famous serial killer in history yet still unknown.

Some people think they know who Jack was... but they... can't know. They call themselves Ripperologists... Ask ten [of them] who killed those women and you will get eleven different answers... Five prostitutes... Victims of life. Jack killed... ripped them. But we don't know why [or] who. They say he was Queen Victoria's whoring grandson Eddy... driven mad by syphilis... it was the Queen's physician William Gull... her obstetrician John Williams. He was painter William Sickert... he was Carl Feigenbaum, a German sailor. He was an insane Polish Jew, Aaron Kosminski. It was the Ripper diary confessor James Maybrick or the bogus doctor Francis Tumblety. It was barrister Montague John Druitt, the abortionist Dr Thomas Cream, the Polish poisoner George Chapman or [Mary] Kelly's lover Joseph Barnett. It was them and it was a hundred others but it was none of them. It was Jack. No one knows who he was. Jack did what [he] had to do then he stopped. Disappeared... back into the London fog."

We are then given our first clue to this killer's reasoning. Inspired by the Royal conspiracy, his fourth murder was actually motivated by revenge (the death of his daughter), and concealed amongst the other 5, which were truly random. The theory (advanced by Stephen Knight in 1976) is explained by this fictional killer: "It goes that 3 men worked together... Their plan... was to cover their true intentions by creating the myth of the Ripper. [They] were high establishment... connected to the Royal household and were set on protecting its interests... The bottom line is that... [Mary] Kelly knew too much and was prepared to tell. She had to be silenced. But the killing of Mary alone would have left a trail... motive could eventually have led [the police] to the truth. So the plan was devised... Kelly and her friends were slaughtered and the murders made to look the work of a complete madman. The silencing of Kelly was hidden amidst the other four. She was the needle. They were the haystack."

Robertson's random killer can see "the beauty of it... made to look like madness, but in reality it was clinical, reasoned... I respected the logic" enough to emulate it.

This murderer is not a Ripper copycat (see ITV's Whitechapel drama, and many more examples in written fiction for those [i]) but the media frenzy generated by the original Ripper, and the lure of an 18th century urban myth is strong enough to inspire news reporting even now. The contemporary newspapers christened and publicised the crimes of the Blackout Ripper (1942), Jack the Stripper (1964/5), the Camden Ripper (2000/02), the Ipswich Ripper (2006), and most famously the Yorkshire Ripper (1975 to 1980) and his hoaxer, Wearside Jack (1978/9). The Random killer taunts and manipulates the press as did the original Ripper via a series of letters 'From Hell'. He posts severed fingers to the police, then later to a reporter (also akin to the real Ripper's bloody parcel to George Lusk), and then dubs himself 'the Cutter' (just like the 'Dear Boss' letter signed by 'Jack') because he hates the media's nickname 'Jock the Ripper'. This name is also used by fellow 'Tartan Noir' writer, Val McDermid in Killing the Shadows (2001).

Perhaps the most important aspect of the Whitechapel murders was the birth of tabloid journalism (alluded to in From Hell as creating the 20th century), and their almost symbiotic co-existence. Murder was part of life in Victorian London, and the Ripper's crimes may have been forgotten by history if it wasn't for newspapers like The Star. This was the first time that such a story attracted such attention, and even in the absence of today's omnipresent media gathering, the Ripper quickly went global, and his influence has remained since.

We need to study the Whitechapel Murders in their wider context, not only the 5 canonical victims, but those committed between April 1888 and February 1891, to fully appreciate the 'power of the press.' This coverage has perpetuated for 123 years, and it only fuels the modern fascination with the world's most notorious murderer [ii] .

Later, the Cutter's potted history of Scottish murders could easily be observations by the author on the emergence and current success of Scottish crime fiction: "Scotland gave the world television and the telephone, penicillin, the pneumatic tyre, the steam engine and the bicycle, radar, insulin, calculus and Dolly the sheep. But we are also right up there with the best of them when it comes to killing people... The best small murdering country in the world. Stick that on your tourist posters." Tartan Noir is indeed part of this "fine tradition" and is a significant Scottish cultural export.

Notes [i] Unlikely Killer by Ricki Thomas features the 'Kopycat' Ripper, and in Michael White's The Art of Murder, another serial killer is actually inspired by Jack's secret journal. Here, the original Ripper escaped to America, a theory investigated at the time by both the police and a hungry press.

[ii] Channel Five documentary, Tabloid Killer (24/6/10) examines the massive press coverage of the Whitechapel Murders.

Doctor Who: The Doctor's Wife Preview

Neil Gaiman's Doctor Who episode, The Doctor's Wife, is probably the most anticipated script of Series 6. This acclaimed writer (pictured left) has hinted that his character Idris (Suranne Jones, pictured centre) is an "old acquaintance with a new face" and the story is a "love letter to the fans". Gaiman also told DWM that his adventure begins with something or someone we have not seen since The War Games (1969). The official BBC press release provides this synopsis:

"The Doctor receives a distress signal from an old friend. Could there really be another living Time Lord out there? Hopes raised, he follows the signal to a junkyard planet sitting upon a mysterious asteroid in a Bubble universe, populated by a very strange family, as the time-travelling drama continues.
The Doctor, Amy and Rory are given the warmest of welcomes by Auntie, Uncle and Nephew. But the beautiful and insane Idris greets them in a more unusual fashion – what is she trying to tell the Doctor? As the Doctor investigates, he unwittingly puts his friends in the gravest danger."

So who or what is Idris, and can she really be the Doctor's wife? In Welsh mythology, King Idris was a giant whose seat was Cader Idris, a mountain ridge in Snowdonia. He was an astronomer who had the power to mete out madness, death, or even poetic inspiration. Idris was also an Islamic prophet (known as Enoch to Christians).

The name itself is of Celtic origin (Latin=Idrus, English=Ider), meaning "ardent" or "righteous". Of most interest to Whovians, is the literal interpretation of this boy's name: "running lord" could easily apply to the Doctor himself. Indeed, at the top of the new season opener, The Impossible Astronaut, the Doctor declares that he's been "running" all his life.

There has been much speculation that Idris is a TimeLady. Then who, or how? Or is she in fact a manifestation of a/the TARDIS? Remember the proto-TARDIS travel machines employed by the WarLord's race for their War Games? The acronym SIDRAT was used just once in that mammoth story, and it's meaning was only revealed 10 years later in Malcolm Hulke's novelisation: Space and Inter-Dimensional Robot All-purpose Transporter.

If they survived the fate of the unnamed Aliens, did the SIDRATs end up on Gaiman's scrapyard planet? Or did the TimeLords confiscate the rogue time capsules and augment them with TARDIS technology to create an advanced, organic version (akin to the Type 102, see below), codenamed Idris? Why bother? Did they just scrap these inferior models, which were the result of stolen tech, and short-lived anyway?

The BBC Books' Eighth Doctor adventures (EDA) range (1997-2005) featured a companion, called Compassion. She was born on 26th century Earth as Laura Tobin, and her race, the Remote, were originally human. Compassion first met the Doctor in Interference: Book One, and by the time of her final story, The Ancestor Cell, she had evolved into a living TARDIS (the Type 102). The Doctor and Fitz even used her to flee the TimeLords via her own Randomiser, and built-in weapons system.

The revelation that Idris is in reality a time-machine in humanoid form (or even a reengineered stellar device) doesn't seem so outlandish then (what became of the Hand of Omega after destroying Skaro)? However, in Rise of the Cybermen, the Doctor says that his was the only surviving TARDIS in the universe, and we last saw secret TimeLord tech when the Daleks stole the Genesis Ark.

The Doctor's Wife is broadcast on BBC1, on Saturday May 14th, and features the return of the Ood.

The cast also includes Big Finish co-star Adrian Schiller (Uncle), Elizabeth Berrington (Auntie), and Michael Sheen (voice of House), who also appeared in The Deal (2003, Channel 4) as Cherie and Tony Blair. Their co-stars were Who guest actors David Morrissey, Ian Hanmore, John Normington, and Clare Clifford.

New John Simm Interview

At the recent press launch for Series 6 in New York, Steven Moffat was asked if Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock) could play the Master when he returns. Moffat remarked that John Simm wouldn't want to relinquish the role just yet, a view supported by an interview with Simm in today's The i newspaper.

Talking to James Rampton, Simm discusses why he enjoys portraying anti-heroes: "I'm drawn to the dark side" says the actor, who won a whole new following when he played the Master, Doctor Who's unhinged, bottle-blond nemesis. "I prefer the Master [to the Doctor]... to be able to match David Tennant's Doctor-he couldn't be a pantomine villain twirling his moustache. He was insane, manic; but still the Doctor's equal... Such fun to play."

"So would Simm like to get out the peroxide and play the Master again? "Well, the new Doctor, Matt Smith, is young, so they'll probably get someone from Skins to play the Master now" grins the actor. "All the same, Steven Moffat is a fantastic writer, so if he phoned, I'd love to have another go at the Master. Put that in please!"

BBC1's new 3-part thriller, Exile, starring Simm, Jim Broadbent, and Olivia Colman (see Doctor Who Vs. Hot Fuzz http://ecklefecken.blogspot.com/2010/10/favourite-films-1.html) airs next week.

A Tribute to Elizabeth Sladen (1948-2011)

It is with utter disbelief and shock that I sit here and compose this memorial blog to Elizabeth Sladen, only two months after the loss of that other Doctor Who ambassador, Nicholas Courtney. Confirmation of her death followed massive internet speculation on twitter et al, last night, and Whovians, young and old, are stunned. Tributes, led by Russell T Davies, continue to pour in from all over the world. John Barrowman of Torchwood called her the matriarch of Who, and to Tom Baker, she is "Darling Lis". Sladen has also been remembered by Steven Moffat, David Tennant, Finn Jones, Matt Smith, Noel Clarke, Mark Gatiss, Stephen Fry, Nichola Bryant, Colin Baker, Mary Tamm, Murray Gold, Alexander Armstrong, her agent Roger Carey, and the offices of Corrie, Newsround, and the Liverpool Playhouse. The Sun said she was "the greatest Doctor Who girl ever" and most fans would agree.

Liz Sladen was born Elizabeth Trainor in Liverpool, on February 1st 1948. She attended drama school for 2 years after leaving grammar school, then began work at the Playhouse, where she met her future husband, Brian Miller. Sladen's first, uncredited, screen appearance was in the film Ferry Cross the Mersey (1965) as an extra, then she moved to repertory theatre, in productions like Othello. Her first television work was on ITV Playhouse (1968), then 6 episodes of Coronation Street in 1970. She later appeared in Doomwatch, Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, The Bill, and Peak Practice.

When Katy Manning decided to exit Doctor Who in 1973, Z Cars producer Ron Craddock recommended Sladen to his counterpart on Who, Barry Letts. She was cast as journalist Sarah Jane Smith, and her debut story was The Time Warrior, which also introduced her future nemesis, the Sontarans. Sladen stayed with the programme for three and a half seasons alongside Jon Pertwee, then Tom Baker, before leaving in The Hand of Fear. She returned as Sarah Jane in the show's first ever TV spin-off, K9 and Company (1981), then in The Five Doctors, Dimensions in Time (1993), and Downtime (1995). Sladen also featured in The Paradise of Death (for Radio 5), and The Ghosts of N-Space (Radio 2, 1996), opposite Pertwee and Courtney again, and also in 2 series of Sarah Jane Smith for Big Finish audios (2002/2005) with her daughter Sadie.

With the successful revival of the series, Sladen was invited back for School Reunion (2006), with John Leeson who returned to voice K9, and the current TimeLord, Tennant. This led RTD to create the award-winning The Sarah Jane Adventures, which began with a special on New Year's Day, 2007. Four full seasons followed, and the drama remains the most watched show ever on CBBC. Series 2 included Courtney's final TV appearance as the Brigadier, whilst the Doctor also returned, in S3 (Tennant) and S4 (Smith, here with Sarah Jane's predecessor, Jo Grant played again by Manning). Sladen also worked on Doctor Who again, on the S4 finale episodes, and had a cameo in The End of Time, Part 2. It is unclear if the BBC will screen the 3 remaining Sarah Jane stories, but CBBC plan to screen a tribute programme this Saturday.

Phil Collinson and others have noted Sladen's unique ability to enchant and inspire two generations of children, 30 years apart, and that legacy is immense.

Elizabeth Sladen died yesterday after a long and private battle with cancer, and is survived by her actor husband of 42 years, and her actress daughter.