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6 August 2015 at 22:18 #41594
@thekrynoidman I have a friend who always finished her DJ sets with that. I shared on Facebook earlier and there is a lot of love for Arthur Daley tonight.
6 August 2015 at 19:31 #41588Hi @cathannabel You’re not dim. Only the mods can start new topics. It’s something I instigated from the start to keep interaction focused, and save us from having to merge a thousand similar topics into one every day.
I’ve started a thread for The Unquiet Dead. Look forward to your contribution. It’s actually one of my faves, and I think it’s possibly Gatiss’ best.
If you want any more added then please let me know.
http://www.thedoctorwhoforum.com/forums/topic/the-unquiet-dead/
6 August 2015 at 11:26 #41576@thekrynoidman Read it today. You won’t be disappointed. And yes, I love the animated series too. I was lucky enough to chat to the producer at an early London Comicon, before it became a big thing. I told him that I loved the art deco look and he told me they liked to call it “Dark Deco”. I have “Mask of the Phantasm” and it’s great fun but it doesn’t have the gritty realism that, for me, is what makes Miller’s work so great.
@Purofilion Glad you’re off to do some reading. There are many other great comics I can recommend after you’re finished with Batman.
The movies will never match the original stories. For a fantastic insight into how great comic book stories can become terrible movies, this is really worth a watch. Kevin Smith is such a great orator.
6 August 2015 at 01:29 #41566@purofilion @thekrynoidman @jimthefish
Ah… Batman. One of my favourite subjects.
Me, I grew up on Batman as a really young kid. I wanted to be Batman (or Clint Eastwood). My parents’ sofa had arm covers that, when put on my head, gave me little points like Batman’s ears, and a very tiny cape. It was all my imagination needed.
But as I got a little bit older the Adam West TV comedy Batman seeped in to my consciousness and Batman no longer was cool (unlike Clint Eastwood – who has only relatively recently started to be uncool). And the comics were getting a little juvenile the older I got.
Then when I was 15 or 16 I read an interview with Lenny Henry (UK comedian, seen then as a lightweight or mainstream voice, but has gone on to prove himself as a great actor, and co-created Neverwhere with Neil Gaiman). Asked what he was currently reading he didn’t even try to be pretentious (or maybe he was being super pretentious). He said he was reading Frank Miller’s “The Dark Knight Returns”. He raved about it. Lenny will always be alright by me, just for that.
It sounded great so I asked my Mum if I could have the extortionate amount of £8.95 to buy a comic book/graphic novel. Almost thirty years ago that was a lot of money! Thankfully she loves me for all my faults. I bought it and suddenly Batman was cool again. In fact, he was cooler than ever, even although he was now an old man.
Inspired by a troubled New York at the time, the Cold War, and the possibility of nuclear holocaust, it’s the story of a retired Bruce Wayne who pulls himself, almost unwittingly, out of retirement to deal with the gangs of Gotham. And once he has dealt with them there are bigger problems such as Russia’s nukes and a ‘big blue schoolboy’ who follows all the President’s orders and who goes by the name of Superman.
The best Batman movie is “The Dark Knight Returns”. It’s just never been made into a movie. But buy the comic (or graphic novel). It has been made into an animated movie, but in my reader’s imagination it is better than the animation.
Miller followed it up with “Batman: Year One” which was a reimagining of the origin story. It is also an amazing piece of work and certainly well worth a read too.
It is purely due to Miller’s work that Batman became cool again. As the great Alan Moore says in his introduction to “The Dark Knight Returns”, “This Batman has finally become what he should always have been: he is a legend”.
And that’s how they got a Batman movie financed. Batman was cool again. No Miller, no Batman movies. I was so excited to see Tim Burton’s movie. I paid my money, bought my popcorn, and was utterly disappointed. It wasn’t “The Dark Knight Returns”. Where Miller was gritty and dark, Burton still had one foot in the Adam West camp, wanting to entertain the kids. The production design was great but everything else, even Jack Nicholson, was just pants. The second one, as @jimthefish says, trys to be better and is okay. But after that they get worse and worse.
With “Batman Begins”, Nolan went back to Miller and “Year One”, and other comics inspired by that story, and finally almost captured the “Miller” Batman, more or less. With “The Dark Knight” Nolan drew heavily on chapter one and chapter three of “The Dark Knight Returns” when Batman takes on Two Face and The Joker. “The Dark Knight Rises” has nothing to inspire it except a few bad Bane stories, and so is also a bit pants.
Interestingly, the new Superman vs Batman movie seems to be heavily based on “The Dark Knight Returns” from what I’ve seen so far.
So if you want a great Batman story read Miller’s comics – Returns and Year One. You won’t be disappointed.
All of the movies will disappoint, but the first two Nolan ones are better than the rest. I would stay clear of the others.
But read the comics.
Miller went through an amazing creative patch. His work on Daredevil for Marvel clearly inspired the recent Netflix series, which has had rave reviews. He also created “300”, retelling the story of the 300 Spartans, which made a huge impact when it was made into a movie. Before all the Batman comics he also did a comic called “Ronin” which is an amazing amalgum of samurai mythology and science fiction and is well worth checking out.
Shortly after he seemed to lose his talent for stories. He created “Sin City” which was okay, but it was downhill from there. His artwork has got more individual, but his stories have got more generic, or even reactionary. His “Holy Terror” (which is a joke on Robin’s “Holy *whatever*, Batman”) is about a superhero battling muslim terrorists and he wanted it to offend everybody. I was only offended by how bad it was in comparison to his earlier work.
So like Clint Eastwood and the Batman of the sixties, Frank Miller has also become uncool.
But please read “The Dark Knight Returns” and “Batman: Year One”. And his Daredevil stuff, and “Ronin”.
If you want movies – stick to Nolan’s first two. If you’ve read the comics the others will only disappoint.
5 August 2015 at 01:09 #41536@ichabod Found her on YouTube. Everyone should watch this. There is just a pure love of communication in this video.
5 August 2015 at 00:47 #41533@ichabod Many thanks for that. My grandparents were deaf so I have a real affection for all those people who make life more inclusive for deaf people. I was overjoyed to see signers on stage at Glastonbury this year. Because deafness is like sight really. Some have never heard, but there is a sliding scale and most “deaf” people have heard in their childhood or even adulthood, and most can hear a little bit. But having a signer helps.
One thing is sure, they can all feel the bass through their body at a gig. Which is why hip hop is such a great choice.
I shared it with my family on Facebook and they loved it.
4 August 2015 at 20:47 #41531@purofilion If you do ever fancy a change, just go up to the top bar, where it says “Howdy, Purofilion”. Hover over it and then hover over “Profile” in the dropdown. You get options to edit your profile (including display name) or your avatar.
4 August 2015 at 20:28 #41530Hi all, many thanks for all your kindness. I will try not to let you down again. You are a lot of lovely people. I’m glad this forum found you.
Having rolled back the site last night the work I did on it was lost, but I have now re-instigated the fix to the now infamous, with its own theme song, @pedant problem.
You will now see on the forums that each user has their @ name below their username, so hopefully no more confusion. It doesn’t look great in this format but in the redesign I’m working on it will look a lot prettier. I didn’t want to wait for the redesign to be finished before instigating this because I thought it was so helpful, especially to new users.
As I said in my now deleted post, this means that you can now change your display name just as you can change your avatar, and we will still know who you are. So have fun.
4 August 2015 at 00:34 #41520@bluesqueakpip Ah yes, this always makes me laugh when I f**k up! once again apologies to all those who lost posts.
3 August 2015 at 23:31 #41511Hi all,
I updated the site today and something went seriously wrong. I had to rewind the site to before the update so any posts made in the last 20 hours or so have been lost.
I apologise. Especially to @arbutus who wrote some hilarious new lyrics to “How do you solve a problem like Maria”, and all those who commented on Earthshock part 4.
Normal service has been resumed and I will be more cautious in future.
If you have any issues please let me know as soon as possible.
Many thanks and apologies again.
18 July 2015 at 20:53 #41271Just putting this out there. Made me smile. Earthshock part 3 coming tomorrow!
I am proud of Steven Moffat http://t.co/Fm3UJx7pZz
— Ian Levine (@IanLevine) July 18, 2015
17 July 2015 at 23:45 #41260@denvaldron Cheers (as we say in the UK, my US colleagues tell me they find it a bit awkward but I feel it has more resonance than just a thanks). I Went to see ‘Dark City’ in the cinema and thought it very imaginative, almost Gilliam-esque. I’d worked on a low budget film with Rufus Sewell a few years before, was keeping any eye on what he got up to afterwards, and was pleasantly surprised.
I shall check out ‘What We Do in the Shadows’ as soon as possible.
17 July 2015 at 23:12 #41258@denvaldron I know, I don’t know how I missed it. Haven’t looked up what sort of release, or even reviews, it got in in the UK though. On the other hand, I seem to recall being rather busy around 2004 and I’ve settled down a bit now so that may have something to do with it.
I’ve almost finished watching it a second time tonight (as it’s quite short) and it is still an incredible piece of work. I can see myself watching it again tomorrow, just in case I missed anything.
17 July 2015 at 21:16 #41256I read about this Sundance award-winning movie called “Primer” today that I’d never heard of until now (why not?). It was discussed in The Guardian’s comments on a bad review of “Terminator Genisys”. So I watched it when I got home.
It’s a really low budget film, shot for $7,000, so the sound isn’t always great, shots are sometimes out of focus, sets sometimes look a bit cheap. But it has the most amazing ideas about time travel. It’s one of those films so complex you probably have to watch it three or four times to really make sense of it. But it is really very good.
Young engineers Aaron and Abe stumble upon time travel, which lets them go from A to B (oh, how I laughed). But when they start using it, things really get complicated. It makes you realise why you need a Time Lord on hand to sort things out every now and again. In the end there are at least seven timelines to deal with.
This is what really made me want to watch it – the great xkcd:
Maybe one for our very own @bluesqueakpip ?
I’d recommend it. It’s on Netflix if you have that, and someone has also posted it on YouTube (just make sure you up the speed to 1.25).
13 July 2015 at 20:18 #41170@linds738 Not round here you’re not. Welcome. We have a few topics you might like to start with if you scroll down the Home page – your first memories of Who or your favourite companion.
Or just jump in to any thread you fancy.
Just remember, if you hear of any spoilers, they belong in the spoilers thread.
Look forward to reading your contributions.
9 July 2015 at 22:52 #41091The first proper trailer has just been published. For those averse to Spoilers – even BBC approved ones – let’s keep discussion of it here in the “BBC Approved Spoilers and Trailers blog:
http://www.thedoctorwhoforum.com/trailers/bbc-approved-doctor-who-series-9-spoilers-and-trailers/
Remember that it is ONLY for BBC approved spoilers – all other spoilers from other sources go in the proper Spoilers topic.
5 July 2015 at 15:16 #40968@jimthefish Did the “Which sci-fi hero are you?” and result – came out as Mal Reynolds (Firefly). “You like to play the joker occasionally, but when the chips are down you can be relied on to do the right thing. Sure, you’d rather stay out of other people’s business – but sometimes you just have to misbehave.”
Think I’ll take the rest of the day off.
5 July 2015 at 15:09 #40967@jimthefish Loving the pink beret. Keep it sexy!
2 June 2015 at 14:36 #40485@pedant Many thanks. Has been dealt with. Am currently having a few days off so thanks for looking out for the site.
18 May 2015 at 21:16 #40185@denvaldron Many thanks, and no problem. We’re all still learning here – this is new. We’re trying to do something different. We’re trying to be a place where we’re all friends with a shared interest, and what we have in common is what brings us here.
I would like this to be a party for my internet friends. And at my party no one gets angry with anyone else. I’m not saying you did, but between you and Jim there was a tension that I wanted to dissolve.
Honestly, everyone here wants to be your friend (I hope) and have discussions like friends do.
18 May 2015 at 20:38 #40181@jimthefish @cathannabel @denvaldron
I’ve been a bit busy with other things (working on a new social network for a friend… thinks he’s going to be the next Mark Zuckerberg) so have taken my eye off the ball recently. For that I apologise. And for the lack of a Peter Davison episode this weekend. Will be one next weekend. Promise.
Den, the kool kids do not like to smack around the newbies. I’m not cool and, if I’m honest, non of the others are either :-). I know that you’ve had bad experiences here in the past and when you came back it wasn’t great either. I’m sorry that’s happened as I really respect what you do. I’ve told regular members off for being rude to you before and one of them hasn’t been back so I have no favourites.
I apologise. No one is smacking anyone around on my site. This forum mostly consists of people who like each other, or should do. Argument and disagreement is purely intellectual and should be discussed as such.
This is a site where people are nice to each other (mostly – mistakes are made). “I’m either polite or I’m not” is not the attitude. I’m trying to create something different – no flame wars, no trolling, an actual nice place to visit where you will find debate but not angry or abusive argument.
JimTheFish is a great guy, DenValdron is also a great guy, all of us have more in common than we have differences, or we wouldn’t be here. If we can all talk to each other as friends sat around the dinner table, rather than political opponents on other sides of the despatch box, I’d be happy.
Let’s try and keep the tone of this site different from many others.
7 May 2015 at 16:40 #39945@jimthefish I envy you and that peaty goodness. I hope you enjoy tonight, I’ll be staying up. Not having a vote in Scotland I have just had to hold my nose and vote for Labour (marginal seat so a vote for Greens could let in Lib Dems who I have fallen out of favour with). I did try to persuade everyone I know in Scotland to vote SNP though.
7 May 2015 at 01:28 #39927As Ben Elton used to say “A lIttle bit of politics”. But just wanted to urge everyone in the UK, no matter what your political persuasion, to get out and vote. Get off your arse and put a cross in a box. I don’t care who you vote for, but cast a vote for someone.
7 May 2015 at 01:09 #39924Just wanted to urge everyone in the UK, no matter what your political persuasion, to get out and vote. Get off your arse and put a cross in a box. I don’t care who you vote for, but cast a vote for someone.
6 May 2015 at 23:45 #39921And I love you all, wherever you come from. And I hope, if you’re in the UK, your vote counts for something tomorrow, even if you disagree with everything I believe in.
Please vote! Now here’s a nice song…
6 May 2015 at 23:24 #39920An election? As a Scot I hadn’t noticed we’re finally being noticed. Oh, what fun.
There may be a reason the SNP might do quite well. Grew up near Bathgate (which is in the lyrics), and know many Scots who have left for the USA. I’m in London so probably fit in there too.
6 May 2015 at 08:08 #39911Hi @janetteb Many thanks. The site hardly costs me anything at present. However, I’d like to keep it that way if possible. If problems persist I’ll look at other server options and let you all know.
Craig
5 May 2015 at 20:41 #39896Hi all,
I received an email from the web hosts just now and we are eating up their server space. In order to stay in their good books and not have to pay a lot more money I have installed a new caching plugin, and temporarily removed the “Latest Activity” from the sidebar to reduce load on the database.
You can still view latest activity via the “Activity” link in the main menu.
I know it’s not great, but hopefully all can be restored soon once I get to the bottom of the issue. But please let me know if you have any problems with the site in the meantime. I’m in slightly uncharted territory. :-S
5 May 2015 at 19:54 #39891The genius that was Delia Derbyshire, who created the Doctor Who theme tune from Ron Grainer’s score, would have been 78 today. You can listen to her private tapes here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00rl2ky
Also, there’s a nice little documentary on The BBC’s Radiophonic Workshop here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b041y0tl
I’m told these are available to listen to worldwide. I love the idea of the Radiophonic Workshop. It’s one of those things the bean counters would argue was a useless waste of money today. Thank God for the BBC.
5 May 2015 at 18:38 #39888@ichabod No probs 🙂
@denvaldron Many thanks and I completely understand. I have enjoyed those of your reviews I’ve had time to read although have not quite found the time to watch any of the films yet. But I will. I have also appreciated your earlier writing on this site, and your writings on Edgar Rice Burroughs elsewhere.
We have tried to create a space where you will not find “flame wars, argument for the sake of argument, personal attacks and all that passive aggressive bullshit”. We occasionally falter, nobody’s perfect, but overall I think we do very well, especially compared to some other sites.
Your opinions are very welcome and I hope that you will find this site a friendly place where you will not find the need to ever be unpleasant. On this site many of us ARE more than a collection of electrons. It’s why I use my real name and my email address is open to all. Some of us have even met up in real life. I hope you find it, as many have, a welcoming place to continue to visit and participate.
5 May 2015 at 17:05 #39883@bluesqueakpip @denvaldron @ichabod @pedant and anyone I may have missed.
There seems to have been a bit of growing tension recently. Could I please ask everyone to respect each other’s opinions? I’d like the discourse on here to remain convivial. We’ve done a great job of that so far and I’d like it to continue. As it says in our Etiquette, “if you don’t agree with someone please take a deep breath and remember that it is purely a difference of opinion, we’re all different after all.”
I don’t want to see fights (and thankfully haven’t yet), especially as I value all of your contributions. If you disagree with someone I’d rather you politely explain why, rather than trying to convince them that your opinion is the correct one or, as my mother is fond of saying “If you can’t say something nice…”
I’m not blaming anyone, I just think the tone has shifted slightly and I’d like to try and pull it back to where it was.
12 April 2015 at 15:24 #39551@jimthefish @bluesqueakpip Last time we had City of Death for Tom, so I thought it might be okay to go back to the Gothic Horror stories – there are quite a lot of them and I like a lot of them! 🙂
I’d be quite happy to avoid Genesis, just for fun. I’m actually quite keen on doing The Deadly Assassin, just because we haven’t done a Time Lords story yet and it might be quite interesting for those reasonably new to Who. But am completely open to other ideas.
11 April 2015 at 14:53 #39530Dear all,
As we have reached the finale of The Dæmons it’s time to consider what we might like to watch from Tom Baker’s time in the TARDIS. In no particular order, here are a few classics that spring to mind.
The Ark in Space
4 Episodes. By Robert Holmes. Hugely influential on sci-fi. There may have been no ‘Alien’ if not for this story.Pyramids of Mars
4 Episodes. By Robert Holmes and Lewis Greifer. A classic of the Gothic horror era in which an Egyptian God manifests itself in a Victorian manor house.Horror of Fang Rock
4 Episodes. By Terrance Dicks and inspired by a real-life mystery. The Doctor battles an alien shapeshifter in a lonely lighthouse.The Brain of Morbius
4 episodes. By both Who legends Terrance Dicks and Robert Holmes. Features the Sisterhood of Karn, who latterly created the War Doctor.The Deadly Assassin
4 Episodes. By Robert Holmes. Set on Gallifrey. Lets us see what a bunch of petty idiots the Time Lords really are.Logopolis
4 Episodes. By Christopher Bidmead. Tom’s last story, in which he actually teams up with Anthony Ainley’s Master.And then there is, of course, Genesis of the Daleks.
I await your input!
11 April 2015 at 14:22 #39528Hi Ed, we use BG Who on here to refer to the Doctor Who stories Before the Gap (BG). What some people call New Who, or the modern series, we call AG Who, for After the Gap. It makes the new series feel more of a continuation, than a reboot.
I’m afraid your chosen username, because of the quirks of this website, makes it impossible for people to tag you in discussions. You may want to delete that account and start again with a username that doesn’t include the @ symbol.
6 April 2015 at 20:26 #39448@bluesqueakpip @pedant @jimthefish @Purofilion and any other Buffy fans.
I’ve started watching iZOMBIE, which is a new show on The CW, in the US, and it reminds me a lot of Buffy. It’s only three episodes in so it could go all pear-shaped, but so far it’s quite fun.
It’s based on a comic book and is about a young woman who gets turned into a zombie. So she starts working at the Seattle PD morgue so she can eat brains. But when she eats a brain she takes on the personality of the dead person and has visions of their death, so she helps solve their murder.
It sounds ridiculous, I know, but it’s all done quite tongue-in-cheek, in that Buffy way.
There’s also another zombie out there, the only other one that exists, and he’s bad, and very much like Spike.
Just thought I’d put it on your radar.
6 April 2015 at 20:17 #39447@Purofilion I don’t have a problem with crowdfunding – it’s what people do now. It gets movies made. I’ve contributed to a few crowdfunding projects myself. Although none reached their target so I never actually spent any money.
Always backing the wrong horses!
Also, at some point I may ask for donations to help run the site – but that doesn’t seem like it will happen any time soon – it doesn’t cost me much at present. Only if it grows much bigger.
And if I ever run a marathon again I may ask for donations. Although that’s unlikely as well! Those things kill you.
So I don’t have an issue with Doctor Who themed fundraisers, although it seems our friend Master has deleted his account and his fundraiser. So you may well have called him out on it not being genuine, or Indiegogo did, as the fundraiser page doesn’t exist now either!
2 April 2015 at 18:13 #39401@papermoon Yes. Apologies. Just been a bit busy this week following my birthday. Normal service will be resumed shortly.
28 March 2015 at 11:57 #39269It’s my birthday today so getting a bit sentimental about the past, and Scotland. Vote SNP! And got a great record-themed card from my parents cos I’m a 45. The kids won’t understand that.
And just to continue, sorta, the theme of songs that sound the same – Primal Scream with the original track that inspired Loaded, and then Loaded, which shows what inspired remixers can do. Ah… the dancing to this…
27 March 2015 at 21:48 #39264Just on the topic of songs that sound alike, did you know that Tom Petty just won a legal action and now gets royalties and a writers credit from Sam Smith for “Stay With Me”. Was just a coincidence, supposedly!
27 March 2015 at 20:23 #39263@thekrynoidman They did work together on the album. I should’ve said “they” rather than “he”.
27 March 2015 at 19:45 #39261@thekrynoidman When that Jet track came out everyone, and I mean everyone, said “You’ve ripped off Iggy Pop”.
Iggy Pop, to his immense credit, didn’t care and admitted he basically stole it from The Supremes.
26 March 2015 at 20:07 #39239@whohar Good to see you back. And I really should have got back to you about your script. Apologies – one of those life getting in the way things (then completely forgetting about it). Sorry! Glad you feel it’s come on well and will submit it to the BBC. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you – it’s a really original concept.
I don’t have a geographical breakdown of members but I can give you a geographic breakdown of visits over the last year if that helps. As for anyone who would answer a request for location, that would probably only be regular posters and at the moment that’s not too many people. Reading a few posts usually gives location away.
Anyway, here’s the breakdown for visits over the last year for the top 25 countries:
United Kingdom 64,618(46.83%)
United States 34,718(25.16%)
Australia 8,319(6.03%)
Canada 6,918(5.01%)
Germany 4,027(2.92%)
Netherlands 2,066(1.50%)
France 2,044(1.48%)
Brazil 1,283(0.93%)
Italy 1,038(0.75%)
New Zealand 827(0.60%)
Spain 766(0.56%)
Finland 732(0.53%)
Ireland 725(0.53%)
Sweden 601(0.44%)
Turkey 576(0.42%)
India 562(0.41%)
Poland 555(0.40%)
Switzerland 486(0.35%)
Russia 447(0.32%)
Japan 348(0.25%)
(not set) 344(0.25%)
Belgium 334(0.24%)
Norway 323(0.23%)
United Arab Emirates 304(0.22%)
Croatia 280(0.20%)23 March 2015 at 12:48 #39136@whisht, when you come back, you come back with a bang! 🙂
Hopefully not too obvious. Is great though. Will steer clear of Ruby Tuesday though!
21 March 2015 at 20:52 #39046@whisht Thank you. [applause] Not on my behalf, but on behalf of all of those who have contributed to make this such a lovely place.
Its a nice place to discuss and chat
I really want it to stay that way. And I really appreciate your post. Thank you, again.
21 March 2015 at 14:05 #39031Ha ha 🙂 @purofilion The sentiment is indeed nice. Unfortunately I have issues with how the Aboriginal Australians have been treated. They would be better served in deeds not in words. But… the world is a complex place.
Could you get rid of Tony Abbott though, please? The rest of the world laughs at him. You should see the coverage he gets. That would be a good start.
21 March 2015 at 13:16 #39026@janetteb I’ve spoiled the plot for you now!
It really is a great book. And one that can improve your reading of other stories, be they books or film or TV. I often watch things now and think “Ah, they added that because of Campbell”.
It’s about how, all over the world, we are one people with shared experience. We may have completely different lives but there are still many elements that are universal. The things that divide us are nowhere near as great as the things that unite us.
That really is something that should be plastered on every billboard.
21 March 2015 at 12:34 #39021@johnathan As @jimthefish points out, this is a site for discussion. If someone states something and other people disagree then that is an interesting point for us to consider and ruminate on, not one to run away from and wail about being attacked. Or delete an account.
My personal opinion is that the whole religious argument is ridiculous, but I can see why someone would think that. My belief is that these stories were being told thousands of years before Christianity. Christianity just took all these stories, repackaged them, and sold them as new. And, boy, were they a success.
There’s an old adage that there are only seven stories in the world. Joseph Campbell took that further with his book “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” which is really worth a read. In it he basically argues that there really is only one story (at least only one story that really resonates with us as human beings) and it existed long before Jesus Christ was written about.
In its basic form it’s a story of someone in immaturity who receives a call to action to change their life – that can be to fall in love, kill the bad guy, or anything in between. They are scared or wary, but they eventually make the dramatic choice to leave their reasonably comfortable but dull world and enter a new one. They go out into a new world, make new friends, gather a group, and conquer many obstacles on the way to achieving their goal.
During their journey they have a moment in which they “die”. This moment can be literally or figuratively – usually all hope is gone and the goal seems impossible. But, miraculously, they come back to life and finally, using lessons they have learned during the journey, they achieve their goal. They can return home mature.
This story is told around the world in many forms and is still enacted for real in places such as Africa and South America where young tribesmen have to leave their villages as boys, achieve some task, such as kill an animal, and then return as men. It appeals to us all because it is part of our initial development and yet still seems relevant today, and it’s universal.
So Jesus set out on a mission, gathered a gang, was seemingly killed then rose from the dead and conquered all. It’s great story telling but it’s part of a tradition that dates back many thousands of years. And it still works today.
Luke Skywalker is given a mission, doesn’t want to leave, but when his Uncle and Aunt are killed he goes out into the world. He recruits new friends and they help him on his mission. In the trash compactor he “dies” – he’s under for a long time – but then he is reborn an adult, and eventually saves the day.
So I could say Luke Skywalker is based on Jesus. Or I could say that both Luke Skywalker and Jesus are based on something more fundamental to our experience of being human beings.
They’re definitely both great story telling, as is Doctor Who, as are all the stories that resonate with us.
17 March 2015 at 18:14 #38911I don’t think this has been posted yet. A tongue-in-cheek list of the worst Doctor Who stories ever.
I love “The Girl in the Fireplace”, in which “The 10th Doctor Who uses a magic fireplace to groom a child.”
http://www.mirror.co.uk/usvsth3m/it-is-a-childrens-show-5269489
14 March 2015 at 22:08 #3879014 March 2015 at 16:14 #38773@arbutus I have a confession to make. I studied law at Edinburgh University (although I never became a lawyer), and one of my Honours courses was Medical Jurisprudence, half-taught by Alexander McCall Smith. He inspired me in many ways. I had lectures from him throughout my four years there. He is exactly as he appears, a wonderful, insightful, engaging man.
At the time he mentioned that he’d written some books, some for children, some for adults. I didn’t go looking for them. It was only after I graduated and moved to London that I started to see people reading his books on the Tube. I was so happy as he’d finally gathered a bit of momentum. And then it snowballed and he was everywhere. Honestly, everywhere. I was so happy for him.
I have had in-depth discussions about the rights and wrongs of abortion, euthanasia, the death penalty etc. with him. At a Christmas Party he taught me how to do a Masons’ handshake (he’s not in the Masons – he just knows stuff). It was great that he was always willing to share.
And yet I still haven’t read one of his books (except his textbooks). It’s really something I should rectify.
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