text:
ISSUE 2 VOLUME 3
Edited by David J. Howe A5 Format
David Howe, like today, was a very busy man back then in '79 as he was heavily involved with the running of THE DOCTOR WHO APPRECIATION SOCIETY and still had time to produce his own fanzine, 'ORACLE'. During his editorial he wondered how "I can't honestly see how they (Target) can justify 95p for it (Dalek Special). I'll say one thing though it makes you appreciate the novels!" He also was saddened at the news "that Beatrix Lehmann who played Professor Rumford in 'STONES OF BLOOD' died in July aged 76?" and asked, "-does this mean that 'Stones' was her last acting job?" His editorial went on to praise the current season of Doctor Who: "It's far better than most of Baker's stuff so far." and feels that, "I certainly couldn't predict the season poll (although it will probably be 'Destiny'...yes, those Daleks again)."
Martin Wiggins is probably best known today as the man responsible for many of the screen notes on the DVD releases but back in 1979 he was contributing left, right and centre in the fanzine world. Here, he had supplied two articles. With the first 'BLASTING FEVER' he decided to have a go at 'DEATH TO THE DALEKS' after watching the first episode with family friends, who never knew what a Dalek was, and that "...the ineffectiveness of the end of the first episode as it appeared on screen. As it was written, and as it appears in the BBC synopsis, the ending was on the order of total extermination. However, the film was miscut by a few seconds, with the result that the extermination had already begun, and the viewer had seen that the Daleks were harmless."
In his second article, SHADOW FROM THE PAST Martin looked at THE CLAWS OF AXOS and how the story was "...much more than a story about the dangers of tampering with the forces of nature...By use of the now over-worked Earth setting, they were able to juxtapose Axos with twentieth-century human civilisation. The result of this was yet another anti-technology story...The story therefore, took a stance against the mis-use of science by those not yet mature enough to understand it - something which shows the influence of Barry Letts with his conservationist ideas."
YOUNGER OPINIONS has Tim Westmacott interview his twelve year old neighbour, Tony Iannelli following "...some hardened followers of Dr.Who have voiced the opinion that the programme as produced these days is aimed more than ever at the sub-teens..." Questions about companions, monsters and past Doctors were used to try and jog Tony's memory about the series to find that he wasn't an avid viewer and what he thought of other Science Fiction on television at the time. "Finally, I asked Tony if he thought he'd ever stop watching the programme. After a pause he said, "Yes, perhaps when I'm older"..."
Gordon Blows reviewed the latest release from TARGET BOOKS - THE WAR GAMES and it seems was not best pleased by the end result: "...most of you will be more than aware, this novel was postponed from several months back whilst an extensive re-write was undertaken to Malcolm Hulke's original manuscript. Apparently, it was too long. Remembering that the serial was ten episodes, perhaps it would have been wiser to have released it as two books...The 'necessary' cuts are annoying and badly done...large areas of the story have simply been dropped and the characters within the adventure made to do things that they did not, so that they are in different places..." and went on to declare, "The final awakening of what this book could have been comes when you place ( it ) on your bookshelf alongside...'THE AUTON INVASION'...from Holmes/Dicks cost 25p and spanned 156 pages...'THE WAR GAMES' costs 75p and has 143 pages."
The highlight of this issue of ORACLE was THE MAKING OF 'DESTINY OF THE DALEKS' part 2 by David J. Howe and Peter Logan. The article follows Visual Effects Peter Logan's time working on the serial and including the extensive repairs that had to be made to the Daleks on more than one occasion and finding that the cost of making a new mask for Davros just proved too costly and thus resulted in a 'make do' with the original mask being used for the serial. The article features Peter Logan's original design sketches for 'DESTINY OF THE DALEKS'.
Extracts of THE SPACE PIRATES continued with episode six followed by a short story by John Fencher, A TWIST IN TIME and a couple of cartoons concluded this issue.
THE WEB PLANET
Edited by William Gallagher A5 format
Very few fanzines are produced without it's title on the cover and THE WEB PLANET was one of them. An illustration of Meglos in his guise as the Doctor adorns the cover drawn by Paul Trainer, leaving very little room for the any logo.
Martin J Wiggins continued his look at the picture strip adventures that featured in COUNTDOWN in STRIPPED ASSETS during the seventies and which featured Jon Pertwee's and Tom Baker's Doctor "Countdown aimed at a more mature audience then 'TV Comic'. and its stories were correspondingly more sophisticated. The need to attract attention by the insertion of cheap, processed thrills was dispensed with, strips being slower-paced and having more detail to details. This meant that they were able to develope their own mythology, care being taken never to make a flagrant breach of BBC continuity in the process - the most major example being the naming of the Doctor's car 'Betsy'."
INTERVIEWS: JOHN NATHAN-TURNER and TERRANCE DICKS were transcribed and conducted by J. William Hodgeson. The first with JNT comes across as if the man himself couldn't be bothered with the questions, but this could be down to the interviewer's interpretation of a quetion / answer session that was completed via post and not directly with the person themselves. However at the end of a very short interview giving very little away that probably wasn't already known amongst the fans, JNT kindly gave the interviewer a copy of his biography . Asked about his contribution to the TARGET BOOKS, and why it was that the books themselves seemed "...rushed and skimpy..." Terrance Dicks pointed out that, "What I write are faithful renditions of the script. Naturally, some work out longer than others, but I thnk with only six months to write a book, edit it and print it, deadlines can mean hurried works."
DALLAKS by Julian Vince was a parody of the popular American TV series, DALLAS and featured the Daleks in the main role of the Ewing family.
The fiction WESTERLEY MILL by Martin Malcolm continued with 'MURDER ON ICE' featuring the first Doctor, Susan and The Meddling Monk.
DOCTOR OOH from issue 161 of the popular MAD comic was reprinted. Something that a lot of fanzines did. This was then followed by a transcript of THE MUTANTS taken from revised rehearsal scripts, episode six. A photo of Tom Baker and a photo from THE DOMINATORS finished this issue.
VIEWS, NEWS & REVIEWS
Edited by Jonathan L. Pinkney – A5 format
A tightly packed 'News Page' gave us snippets such as a Tyne-Tees Television programme 'Northern Life' interviewing a fan, news of planned Target Book releases; Peter Davison's appearance on 'Saturday Superstore'; the new television network 'Channel Four' featured David Frost's 'End of the Year Show' in which the hit record 'Why Do Fools Fall In Love?' was played over a photo of Lalla Ward and Tom Baker; 'Points of View' had viewers complaining about the story 'Mawdryn Undead' time setting; the magazine programme 'Nationwide' celebrated the twentieth anniversary with interviews with Verity Lambert, Peter Davison, Jon Pertwee and Patrick Troughton.
An overcrowded TARDIS resulted in this article, 'Three's Company, Four's Ridiculous!' by Peter Martin, where he believes that the Doctor doesn't need to have a companion all the time and having three on board was just plain ridiculous: "It is a shame that Tom Baker did not press the producers to take heed of that esteemed theatre saying "Never work with children or animals"…because the end of Baker's run was akin to a Keystone Kops farce." Peter then goes on to give his views of the latest companions: Adric, "…was the most clichéd and wafer-thin character that has ever tumbled its way across the TARDIS floor." Nyssa, "…typifies everything that I don't like about a Doctor Who companion." The BBC guidelines stated that Nyssa was, "Tutored by her father in the advanced sciences…a skilled apprentice in bioelectronics…calm assessment, lightening judgment and nicely judged action" – in short, a replacement for Romana." and Tegan, "…we have for the first time in many years someone completely overwhelmed by the technology around her…Essentially, this is the human element again, which has always been preferable in my opinion to these Romanas…"
'VNR Fiction: The Moon of Millendior' by Michael Emmerson was the third of a four part story featuring the Doctor, Nyssa and the Sontarans. The 'Crossword' followed with the Target Book publications of 'Quiz Book of Dinosaurs', 'Logopolis', 'The Sun Makers' and 'State of Decay' being reviewed in 'VNR Book Reviews'
Colin Jenkins fanzine 'Vortex' and the Central London Local Group's publication 'E=MC3' were reviewed by Jonathan L. Pinkney in the 'Fanzine Forum'.
'The Works of Malcolm Hulke' An article, looking at the writer's work on the series, story by story with a small section looking at his other television contributions.
'The Scientific Approach' by Alec Charles looked at the character of Davros while 'The Generation Ship' is an excellent, well drawn picture strip by Ernie Phillips, featuring the third Doctor and of course the Master. The issue then concluded with a look at 'Season Twenty' and the stories which made up the anniversary season for that year. With 'The Twentieth Season' illustrations from Paul Vyse accompanied the article along with a wrap-a-round cover by him too.
STEEL SKY
Edited by Stephen Crooks – A4 format
'The 1972 Annual' a spoof review of a non-existent Doctor Who Annual by Antony McKay, something in which it appears, that the editor himself fell for: "The editor would like to make it clear that the '1972 Annual' article is Antony McKay's idea of a joke. The editor did not find it at all amusing as he was told after the 'zine had been printed."
Local Groups were also a main-stay of Doctor Who fandom in the 1980s one such group from Sheffield reported on their activities such as, how the group was formed following an advert in the DWAS newsletter, The Celestial Toyroom, by John Connors; slide shows of personal photographs featuring 'Dr.Who and the Daleks'. 'Warriors' Gate' to 'Logopolis'; The forming of this very fanzine; deadlines for the CMS Blackpool event of issue one; plus news of a proposed fandom film featuring Gundans!
Photographs from 'The Three Doctors', 'Day of the Daleks' and 'The Sea Devils' formed part of 'Visualiser'. John P. Jones' article, 'Pseudonym' looked at ways in which names had been used widely to name people and places, with the article not setting out to study a few instances in the usage of names but instead highlighted the many different aspects of the subject. A selection of photographs from the afore mentioned CMS Blackpool gathering followed the article, which was followed by a Trivia quiz about the 1970s story 'Inferno'.
'da Silva' looked at the transmission of Doctor Who by WPTV in South Florida and how it was trailed between programmes and how commercials are constantly run throughout the episode, even halfway through the credits! With constant voice overs by Howard da Silva how annoying can it get? Thankfully we have the BBC!
Another 'Visualiser' featured 'Carnival of Monsters', 'The Green Death' and 'Death to the Daleks'. 'Argolis to Logopolis' reviewed the 18th Season of Doctor Who, with the reviewer stating that "...after the rock bottom drivel of the last season, we were given the best Doctor Who season in years.' The Leisure Hive' was just incredible." With 'Meglos', the reviewer felt that, "Jacqueline Hill was ok as Lexa, though her pointless death with the "Oh Doctor, she saved my life." bit was cliché of the year." The reviewer's favourite story was 'Full Circle' with episodes one and two "…boasting lush exterior scenes…lavish interior sets…" and the story being "…very clever…"
'State of Decay' however was thought to be "…a classic…" but the reviewer's impression was that "…in places fairly boring". But having re-watched the story "…began to like it!"; 'Warriors' Gate ' was a "…breath of fresh air…" but felt that Romana's leaving was a little too rushed. " There was something about 'The Keeper of Traken' that I didn't like…the story was ingenious but I still particularly enjoy it all the same.", stating the reason as being, "I knew the Master would be in both 'Traken' and 'Logopolis' and I think this sort of ruined this for me."; 'Logopolis' part one was "…the best episode I have seen for ages.", and that "The actual regeneration was truly amazing…the end titles billed Peter Davison as the Doctor, finally severing Tom Baker from the role as the fourth Doctor: the Wanderer in Eternity."
The illustrations from Andrew Pixley, Paul Hickling and Stephen McKay were superb throughout.
Edited by Zach Waugh Assistant Editor: Jackie Gibbs - A4 format
The Sixties - The first of a two part article in which Mark Turner examined the strengths and weaknesses of Doctor Who's first decade. In his article, which covers the first 13 episodes, Mark declared that "Anthony Coburn could not have introduced the series better; he built up suspense throughout An Unearthly Child; he increases the audience awareness of the 'alienness' of Susan via the skillful use of Ian and Barbara's memories." but he also felt, "...that whilst the subsidiary characters were well serviced, the Doctor and co were poorly written for..."
In a very 'Sun' newspaper like way, a snippet of news ran alongside the article headed: 'Sixties Star' Eileen Way Stuns Panopticon. This referred to the way in which a panel at PanoptiCon IX that featured the actress was something of a damp squid in which she was unable to offer much about her various roles she had undertaken for Doctor Who and given the fact that she was"...made to sit facing the audience with the interviewer sitting behind her." Laying the blame firmly with the organisers.
Following Tony Amis' piece of fiction 'The War Within A War', Jackie Gibbs continued with her third installment of 'Companion-Piece' this issue featured Zoe Herriot which followed with the third part of an interview with Zoe herself, Wendy Padbury. One of the questions that Kerry Gayle put to Wendy was "If you had stayed how would you have developed Zoe? I thought it might be interesting to have someone who comes from the future and knows so much and yet who is also rather immature and naive, to have her on Earth today and working with soldiers of all people. but I don't think she would have fitted in very well with the way Jon Pertwee played Doctor Who. She was too irreverent for it..."
Part Four of 'Remembrance of the Daleks' as visualised by Joe Nagle very much in a style similar to Lee Sullivan, ( who has drawn many a strip for Doctor Who Magazine ), and written by Ben Arronovitch. Following this excellently well drawn single page strip, Andrej Karczewski reviewed the story's sixties authenticity, thinking it would be an easy job in 'Remembrance of the Daleks: A pseudo sixties trip?' but found that that "...the one scene that actually felt as though it was really set in the 1960s was the one inside the war room."
'Missing?': The Greatest Loss - Cavan Scott reviews the most 'missing' story as well as looking towards the possible implications should it ever appear. In this issue 'Tomb of the Cybermen' was discussed: "It is a great pity that Tomb no longer exists...we have lost the great characters ever created...and also the magnificent sets, including the tomb itself...However, it may be a blessing in disguise. Before episode four of The Celestial Toymaker was found the story was hailed as a classic...many found that that their memory has cheated them and it didn't live up to their expectations." The second 'Missing?' article, 'A Bargain of Necessity?' by Ronald McDevitt asked whether any of them existed elsewhere and if so, how can they be located and returned? 'Missing?':...but not forgotten by Jackie Gibbs redresses the balance when it comes to missing stories and here reviews and remembers 'The Highlanders' 'Missing?': A classic no more? looked at whether the newly discovered episodes of 'The Ice Warriors' deserves the classic status it had been awarded while they were still lost "It is hard to fully appreciate this story due to the incoherence and visually erratic remnants of its episodes" so started Alan Morrison's article and ending with: "The Ice Warriors also contains a distinguished cast. But at the end of the day, whilst being far the most atmospheric of the Ice Warrior stories, I feel it is just an enthralling story, nothing more." with a foot note 'Best Forgotten?' "One aspect of the recovery of 'missing' episodes is that it could well turn out that we wish they stayed lost!" citing the best example of this being The Faceless Ones.
'Mediawatch-Troughton/Harryhousen' by Andrej Karczewski was a series looking at the stage and screen work of Doctor Who's leading players. In this issue: Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger which stared Patrick Troughton. Fiction: Inhumanity by Tony Amis. The Fifth Column was open to anybody who had a view to air on any Doctor Who-related subject. First up Alan Morrison looked at how fandom and politics don't mix! Andrej Karczewski takes a trip back to the halcyon days of the 1960s and unearths memories of psychedelia, Dixon of Dock Green and Dalek Suits in Child of the Sixties.
Aspects of Fandom by Joe Nagle looked at DIY Daleks and the not to be trusted Radio Times plans that appeared in the 10th anniversary special. Sensory Overload featured letters and comments from readers (and contributors!). Finally, Crossed Wires: Of Doctors and Diamonds was a piece of fiction by Andy Waugh, a crossover with 'Lost In Space'.
AGGADOR
Editedby Alec Charles A5 format
NOVEMBER 1963 by John Lamb was a review that looked at the series' very beginnings and what made the series such a success. TO BE OR NOT TO BE ( A CYBERMEN ) by David J. Howe asked the question: "When is a Cyberman, not a Cyberman?" and answered with, "When it's INVASION"
CELEBRATING IN STYLE by Peter Anghelides looked at the 10th anniversary series which featured the reunion of the first three Doctors. This was followed by the INTERVIEW SECTION which featured the writer Johnny Bryne, script editor and writer Eric Saward and actor Anthony Ainley who was asked, "Have you ever seen Roger Delgado as The Master, and do you model your performance on his?" to which Anthony replied: "Yes, I remember watching and being impressed by Roger. But it's important not to base your performance too strongly upon another actor's performance. If it comes from the actor's own gut, then it will be more believable."
Sandwiched between the interviews was an article by John Connors, THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS which was a retrospective look at season nineteen. John Nathan-Turner was delighted to offer a "few words for (this) fanzine." concerning the length of time it takes to put a series of Doctor Who together and news of season 20 informing the 'zine that Valentine Dyall will be back reprising his role as The Black Guardian. Was this a scoop for the 'zine I wonder. A final interview was billed as possibly the shortest interview ever from Janet Fielding. Six questions with six short answers ( mainly one word answers! ) including: "Were you pleased to see Adric go?" answered with "Unfair question." and another asked her for any news of the next series in which suggested "Best to ask JNT."
KINDA was reviewed by Ronald Binnie while J.J.Bentham aired the concerns of some fans with regards the planned celebratory convention being held at Longleat and how it would affect the Doctor Who Appreciation Society's very own convention PanoptiCon.
The final article CLIFF HANGERS by Alec Charles looked at the said endings to recent episodes and how they have changed over the years. "The new type of cliff hanger...is the 'devastating dialogue' one. There aren't sudden action stuff that shock you, but a few well placed words." Examples given included "No, Kassia. It has only just begun." from KEEPER OF TRAKEN and "I have the power of life and death over all of you!" from KINDA. The issue then closed with a superb piece of fiction from Jackie Marshall THE WITCHING TIME featuring the fourth Doctor and Romana. Superb pieces of artwork by Ronald Binnie, Tony Clark, Colin John and Alec Charles helped to illustrate the articles. Despite the hand written headings and poor printing ( copying ) which affected a lot of the artwork, AGGEDOR proved to be a well written and impressive read.
AUTON
Edited by Robert Hammond A5 format
A good humoured fanzine from Robert and friends. This issue featured Honorary Autoness, Sophie Aldred: A signing at Cafe Munchen by Sophie is featured with commentry by the Editor himself as he meets the young star in person. A quick chat and a signed photo and it's over before it began. Various photos of Sophie by J.J. 'Mad dog' Carlise are included with the article with typical good humoured captions to accompany them.
THE GAME a picture-strip written by Robert Hammond and drawn by J.J. Carlise reaches part three, featuring Tom Baker as the Doctor.DREAMSCAPE in which readers are invited to send in their 'Doctor Who' dreams!
ANSWERS featured Sophie Aldred.
Robert: Do you like the way Ace has developed since her first appearance in DRAGONFIRE?
Sophie: Yes I do - I've had really good reactions as well which means the character must have developed the way people wanted. I feel it's really stretched me as an actress.
The final question from Robert: How much longer would you like to play the part?
Sophie: As long as the character continues
By the time this issue was released, news of the series' end had been sadly, confirmed.
THE MESS featured the muses of Daniel Vickery and Robert Hammond who noted that "GHOSTLIGHT was very good - atmospheric but bewildering. The acting of Ian Hogg was much appreciated, unlike Richard Briers in PARADISE TOWERS who must have thought he was doing JACKANORY."
HERES THE '90s! by J.J.Carlise was a half-hearted look at the forth-coming 27th series with starts "...with the regeneration of the Doctor into David Bowie, complete with obligatory songs ( minimum two per episode )."
"However, the BBC realise that paying Mr. bowie to perform two songs on episode will push the T.V. license up to £650 a household, so the Doctor regenergates into Frankie Howerd..."
The issue concludes with a short piece of fiction by Robert Hammond, THIS ANIMAL HEART with an illustration by Deaky Wanderer. Artwork is featured throughout the issue with the likes of DIRTY HARRY, ASTERIX THE GAUL, 'ALLO 'ALLO and GHOSTBUSTERS all getting a Doctor Who make-over by Richard Johnston. SEASON 26 A PICTORIAL REVIEW featured artwork from Robert Hammond, Daniel Vickery, Richard Johnson and myself, Colin-John Rodgers.
THE SPACE MUSEUM
Editor: Andrew Byford A4 format
This the fifth issue begins with editorial stating the lowering of the cover price to 40p and an increase in page count to 52 pages! A rare case in those early days of fanzines, which was, at the time a costly exercise to produce.
This issue mainly reviewed the 18th season of Doctor Who, THE LEISURE HIVE, STATE OF DECAY, WARRIORS' GATE, THE KEEPER OF TRAKEN and LOGOPOLIS. All reviewed by Tim Westmacott, with dialogue extracts to accompany them. Several television snaps, which was the only way to illustrate the series at the time, were also included. Not very well produced but easy to make out from which scenes they illustrated but nevertheless, far better than some of the illustrations contained within.
The NEWS & INFORMATION section included an obituary to Ron Grainer who had died on the 22nd February of that year; news of DJ John Peel, mentioning the 'B' side of The Human League's 'Boys and Girls' entitled 'Tom Baker' which included a reproduction of the cover and described as "...it bears more than a passing resemblance to the Doctor Who theme though it is far removed ( in the style of 'Ultravox' ) from Peter Howell's arrangement as his is from the original." and came recommended! Also in the musical theme, the article included news of " 'The Mothmen' from an album of the same name and is called 'Tardis'. As one would expect, it includes passages which try to mimic the dematerialisation sound of the TARDIS, although the result is rather vague and impressionistic and is completely divorced from everything which ever came out of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop."
Other features included, BLACKPOOL '80 with a selection of photos from the said exhibition; REMEMBER WHEN... which featured Radio Times cuttings from 'Terror of the Autons' and 'The Mind of Evil' and a short piece of fiction by Tim Westmacott entitled RACE OF THE DALEKS.
Although the fanzine focused mainly on Doctor Who, this issue did include SPACE ODITIES...by Andrew Byford. A look at the television production of THE HITCH HIKERS GUIDE TO THE GALAXY.
Editor: Richard Walter A5 format
The TARDIS fanzine was available through the DOCTOR WHO APPRECIATION SOCIETY and was available on a regular basis.
Richard Walter began his editorial a little miffed that no-one had picked up on the previous issue's April Fool with an interview with David Agnew, a person that simply didn't exist!
This issue focused on the 19th Season of Doctor Who, Peter Davison's first season with reviews of THE VISITATION, BLACK ORCHID, EARTHSHOCK and TIME-FLIGHT. Rather than have the stories reviewed by one reviewer, members were asked to send in their reviews so that a wider view of the stories could be given.
THE VISITATION was accompanied by a superb illustration by Tony Clark featuring the scene in which the Doctor gives away the fact that he is not from Earth and that he knows of the Terileptil and their prison planet Raaga.
The issue also included an interview by Ian McLachlan with Julia Smith, director of THE SMUGGLERS and THEUNDERWATER MENACE. Ian asked her about William Hartnell and if it was obvious if he was finding the going rather tough? "Mr. Hartnell was a terrific professional and totally dedicated to the part he was playing. At times I think he honestly believed he was DOCTOR WHO. Any actor supporting a series over a number of years gets very weary, and his age must have added to this. He was finding it difficult remembering his lines which was one of the reasons he was given two companions instead of one. He was also given very athletic things to do by the writers and as a Director one had to save him as much as possible." Three years later, Julia Jones would bring about one of the BBC's flagship dramas EASTENDERS.
PHOTO SPECIAL: BLACK ORCHID A selection of photos from behind the scenes of the two part story. TARDIS INFORMATION SYSTEM: included letters and views from members and FiF - a new regular column by Gary Russell looked at fandom and fanzines. This issues column looked at merchandising: Gary asked "...what do you think of the stuff we've had recently? This includes the Marvel stuff, the Easter Egg, the wallpaper, non-fiction books, the EMI videos, the new records ( i.e. Theme Tune- which isn't new, but the cover is - and the K9 Theme ) the big World Publishers Five Faces thing etc. On the whole it all seems very standard. What a pity there hasn't yet been anything like the Weetabix sets, or any new badges of even a Viewmaster reel of CASTROVALVA! Do you wish there was more stuff, or are you satisfied with what we've got (?)" How things have changed eh?
Check out THE DOCTOR WHO APPRECIATION SOCIETY website which now includes their Archive of the society. At the moment the site features at look at some of the interviews conducted within the pages of their publications over the years in 'Voices From The Past' and documentation based around a number of DWAS events, including items of correspondence never before made public in the 'Conventions' section.
THE DOCTOR WHO REVIEW
Edited by Paul Mount A4 format
Back in 1979 producing a fanzine could prove expensive - print was not cheap and with THE DOCTOR WHO REVIEW, the publisher of this size chose one of the cheapest options available at the time. Double sided, typed up sheets which were photocopied with the occasional fully printed pages where photos were used to illustrate the articles contained within. This doesn't distract from the contents.
ALIEN PERSPECTIVES: THE DALEKS The first article from Timothy Robins basically looks at the history of the Daleks up to that point in time (before 'DESTINY OF THE DALEKS' even aired), "...the Daleks are returning to 'Dr.Who' in the new series beginning this autumn. Let us hope that the production team realise that the Daleks must appear nothing less than totally impressive to recapture the hearts and imaginations of today's possibly more sophisticated 'Dr.Who' viewers."
Connie L. Otty's article DOCTOR WHO IN CANADA and began the article with, "Dr.Who fandom in Canada is growing in leaps and bounds...September 1976...TV-Ontario began to broadcast some of the serials of the third Doctor, running one episode per week on Saturday evenings." The article explains that the episodes were left untouched, uninterrupted and uncut as how the BBC had shown them originally. However, the sequence in which the stories themselves were shown proved a bit confusing for the viewer. One minute the Doctor was free to roam the universe and then the next he was back to being grounded on Earth. One minute he would have Jo Grant as his assistant and then the next Sarah Jane. All very confusing indeed. With the constant repeat showing of the third Doctor's serials, Connie continued wondering when they too would get to "...see Leela of the Seveteem, when we can make our own decisions as to whether K9 should be aboard the TARDIS, and when we can finally see a real live female Time Lord!" All very different back then in 1979.
THE BOOK REVIEW by Paul Mount featured THE ROBOTS OF DEATH by Terrance Dicks. Paul was delighted that at last after two years since the serial was first shown, "...has at last seen the light of day...I admit that, from the moment of hearing that the book was scheduled, and with Mr. Dicks at the helm, I was apprehensive...I paused to wonder on more than one occasion how Terrance Dicks, not noted for bringing out the best in even the worst scripts...could handle this brilliant piece of work. However, a few pages into the novel and the reader can breathe a sigh of relief..." Although he was somewhat pleased with the result of the book he did however find several "...huge howlers...the most horrendous, of course, was in Chapter Six, where Cass, murdered in the previous chapter, is miraculously present as Uvanov prepares to interrogate the Doctor and Leela." Paul, like many reviewers of the TARGET range bemoaned the size of the novel and its price rise from 60p to 70p for "...the novel with the lowest page count, at a mere 101 pages of actual story, is rather unfortunate to say the least."
The main feature of the fanzine was THE DOUGLAS CAMFIELD INTERVIEW by Gary Hopkins. The article gave us a brief rundown of his life but covered his entire career with Doctor Who and his earliest memories of the series. "I can remember something in the first episode that bothered me. The gates to the junkyard, where the TARDIS had landed, opened of their own accord! They had attached strings to both gates and as the camera tracked forward, they opened! It seemed unmotivated, and still does. I reckon Waris blew that bit..." The interview included Douglas' thought about the characters in the TARDIS. "I thought the contrast between the Doctor and his granddaughter was effective, but the two teachers were too old...it would have been better if they were somewhat younger..." He went on to discuss all of his involvement with the series back then in the 60's and how "...He (William Hartnell) knew he had the cameras on him and took advantage and wished the audience a Merry Christmas. There was nothing I could do about it." 'THE DALEK MASTER PLAN' was the last story Douglas Camfield worked on with William Hartnell. Even thou he found him to be difficult to work with at times, he remembered that, "...He helped me get started as a director and I owe him a great deal. He was a remarkable man and I shall never forget him." With Patrick Troughton at the helm of the TARDIS, Douglas knew he was in good company: "...whereas Bill was more of a father figure, Pat was more of a brother. I remember happy times with Pat." The interview is full of anicdotes of his time spent on the series and proved to be very engaging at times and takes us right up to his last story 'THE SEEDS OF DOOM' and how a scene had to be cut: "One scene involved a man lying in a bed, gradually turning into a Krynoid. There was a bit in the middle that I wanted to include which had the camera on the man's face as he slowly mutated, but I wasn't allowed to have that in....There are still these people...supposedly cleaning-up television. But there is a switch on every set and the box can be turned off....'Dr.Who' is a fantasy programme, a fairy tale even - and our efforts ought to be seen in that context. I recon we trail a long way behind the Brothers Grimm..."
The latest non-fiction book from TARGET BOOKS, THE ADVENTURES OF K9 AND OTHER MECHANICAL CREATURES took up a full whole page in the middle of the interview with DOUGLAS CAMFIELD.
THE DOCTOR WHO SEASON GUIDE: PART ONE by Gary Hopkins quoted from various media reports of the show's early beginnings and came complete with full cast and production details as well as out-lines of all the stories of season one. During the early years of fandom, listings were the staple diet of any Doctor Who fan so it wasn't uncommon to pick up a fanzine and find a list of episodes, stories, actors and production staff.
In THE SIXTEENTH SEASON REVIEW by Paul Mount, the author discusses everything from the new girl, Mary Tamm as Romana to the stories that made up season sixteen and the Key to Time. "Graham Williams original idea finally reached fruition in the 16th season, but the question that must be asked is...was the idea a success?" He felt that the idea was a success and "...to my mind, more than sufficient, even if it did echo the plot of Terry Nation's 'The Keys of Marinus' of some fourteen years earlier." Paul discusses the role of Romana and the actress who played her: "Mary Tamm had an almighty battle on her hands with the role, considering that, Leela played by Louise Jameson, was undoubtedly the most successful of the girls, in the eyes of the public, if not in the often narrow-sighted eyes of the most die-hardened 'Dr.Who' aficionados." he also wrote that, "Mary Tamm quickly became dispirited with her role as Romana fairly quickly..." The stories and characters that inhabited them came under scrutiny, feeling that the last episode of 'The Armageddon Factor' was "...rushed..." and that the whole season was "...left totally open ended."
The final article 'THE DOCTOR WHO REVIEW' PROFILE was a way in which to introduce those behind the fanzine. The first being Paul Mount, the Editor himself. His likes, dislikes, favourite Doctor and favourite story are all discussed here.
VIPOD MOR
Edited by Graeme Galloway - A5 format
The second issue of the Doctor Who fiction fanzine consisted of a mix bag of ideas. 'The Tharil, the Rani and the SIDRAT' by David Tulley had a certain 'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe' feel to it, long before Steven Moffet came up with his idea for Christmas. 'Haunting' by Graeme Galloway captures the third Doctor's era very well, featuring his assistant and a future Doctor (the 7th) making an appearance. Horus, last of the Osirians makes an appearance in 'The Secret of Horus' by David Mudle, alongside the sixth Doctor and Mel. Horus wants his mind to exist forever and the secret lies within his tomb on Phaester Osiris.
'The Ship' by Emma Stevens features the first Doctor and his grand-daughter, Susan. The TARDIS arrives aboard what appears to be an empty ship, but the ship itself turns out to be a living, intelligent, entity that wants the TARDIS for itself. 'Tegan's Tale' by Jamie Woolley follows Tegan after her departure from the Doctor and Turlough, her meeting with Sarah Jane Smith and memories of The Mara.
Dokter Ooh returns in 'The U.N.I.C.E Factor: The Insipid Tim Lad' devised by POD. A light hearted piece of fiction, based on our beloved series. Fiction and reality begin to blur in 'Dream a little Dream' by Lesley Halliday which features Sarah Jane Smith or is it Elisabeth Sladen? The second part of 'Network of Blood' by Graeme Galloway continues to tell the adventure of the Doctor and Mel and a revelation that the killer is none other than the Doctor? 'Escape from Xeriphas' by Roddy McDougall ties some loose ends up with the Master's encounter with Kamelion on Xeriphas.
Other features included a 'Letters' section where readers were able to forward some feedback on the first issue; 'Time and the Rani' was reviewed in 'Book Review' and illustrations by Paul Mudle and Nigel Thomas were scattered throughout the issue – superb!
The fiction contained within the pages of 'Vipod Mor'still stand up today some 20 odd years later – timeless in fact. It needs to be available on line for all to see.
THE CELESTIAL TOYROOM
ISSUE 7 JULY
Edited by Dominic May
Assistant Ian Bresman -A4 format
Not really a fanzine as such, but the newsletter from the Doctor Who Appreciation Society is included here as this was where many fanzines were advertised to the fan club's members and a way for members of the society to interact with each other.
'DAGO DOCTORS' was the main headline as details of season 22 were announced. 'The Two Doctors' by Robert Holmes would feature Patrick Troughton and Frazer Hines. 'The Varos Project' detailed the loss of Pat Mills' 'Space Whale' "…but definitely not cancelled, and it may appear later in the season." And then went on to announce its replacement with Philip Martin's 'Vengeance on Varos'.
A season of 'Summer Repeats' were announced with a re-run of 'The King's Demons' and 'The Awakening' but it was unlikely that there would be any black and white episodes repeated.
'People' gave us details of some of the stars from the series including Tom Baker appearing in 'The Doctor's Dilemma' by George Bernard Shaw at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford, Surry; Mary Tamm appearing in 'Good Morning Bill' by P.G. Woodhouse at the Richmond Theatre and Peter Davison appearing on tour in 'Barefoot in the Park'. The publication of Jon Pertwee's first autobiography 'Moon boots and Dinner Suits' was to be published in October of that year.
News continued on page two with 'PanoptiCon VI Postponed'. The annual event from the Doctor Who Appreciation Society lost out to a more commercial event in America, 'Spirit of Light'. The event organisers had moved their dates to the same weekend as that of 'PanoptiCon VI' which would have been the 21st anniversary weekend of the series. But as a lot of the proposed guests had agreed to attend the 'Sprit of Light' event and the PanoptiCon organisers being unable to find new dates, the event was therefore cancelled. In those days, guests at a 'PanoptiCon' were simply paid their expenses with no other offer of additional payment. 'PanoptiCon' therefore lost out to its more competitive American counterparts.
Other news on 'Season 22' confirmed directors for the stories in production. 'Across the Water' brought you news from abroad. In this case it reported John Nathan-Turner's visit to Australia in search of missing episodes but to no avail and his attendance at a convention in Rochester, New York State, along with Nicholas Courtney and Terrance Dicks.
'Marvel' was a piece of nonsense to fill the gap along with a newspaper cutting from the 'Gazette and Post' dated 7th June 1984 featuring the making of 'Attack of the Cybermen'. The 'Editorial' from Dominic May called up its members to send in their 'Season Poll' cards, apologies for the lateness of the newsletter (again); that the latest issue of 'Cosmic Masque' had sold out. An advert for issue 18 of Gary Russell's fanzine 'Shada' plus announcements from members, one such announcement came from Bill Baggs wanting to hear from any members interested in acting, directing or scriptwriting.
Another advert for the fanzine 'DWBulletin' followed by some more newspaper cuttings. 'The Exhibitions' were reviews of the then current Doctor Who exhibitions in Blackpool and Longleat. The 'BBC Archives Extra' looked at the missing episodes from the Pertwee years. Even more adverts from fans for fanzines as well as an advert asking if any members were interested in a Doctor Who coach tour of locations in London used for the series.
The Target book 'Planet of Fire', two Police Box models from Langley Miniature Models, the video release of 'Revenge of the Cybermen' and 'Doctor Who – The Unfolding Text' all came under review in the 'Merchandise' section. Also news of future releases from Fine Art Castings, Stuart Evans' Dalek kit; Royal Dalton's range of fine bone china plates featuring each of the Doctors, Susan Moore's sculptured figures of the Delgado and Ainley versions of the Master; Andrew Skilleter's range of bookmarks; pencil cases and playmats and that John Nathan-Turner is to write a book for Piccadilly Press with Andrew Skilleter supplying the artwork.
"The latest re-prints of Target Books have been numbered according to alphabetical order." Was announced with the newsletter pages, with the reviewer finding it "…rather silly…" and a review of the leather bound version of the book 'Key to Time' by Peter Haining revealed that the images of the Doctors on the cover were "…all looking very glum."
Results of the '1983 Fanzine Poll' revealed the top 7 fanzines of the time featuring in reverse order: 'Frontier Worlds', 'Eye of Horus', 'DWB', 'Skaro', 'Cygnus Alpha' with 'Aggador' taking second place and 'Shada' taking the prime spot with Adrian Greenfield feeling that it was "…at its best in 1983." A regular column, 'Fanzines In Focus' looked at the latest issues currently available, with 'Telos', 'Mondas', 'DWB' and 'Laserson Probe' all coming under the scrutiny of Alan Hayes and finally 'Space Rat' which encompassed not only Doctor Who but also 'Blake's 7' and 'Hitch-Hiker'.
Richard Franklin's'Recall UNIT or The Great T-Bag Mystery' was advertised for the 20th-25th August which featured not only the main UNIT team but an appearance from Jon Pertwee himself. David J. Howe's Reference Department had a regular column which offered complete reference works to all the episodes of Doctor Who. The 'Tom Baker Competition' in which members could enter by writing a limerick relating to Tom Baker's era in Doctor Who to win a copy of 'The Boy Who Forgot to Grow Down' a collection of limericks compiled by the man himself.
'Fandom' invited local groups to send in their reports of what their groups got up to, this issue featured a report from the Merseyside Local Group, and the Central London Local Group followed by another piece of nonsense 'Stop Press' just to fill a gap. The outgoing Local Group Supervisor handed the reins to John Connors with a full list of local groups up and down the country (where are they now?).
David Saunders was the DWAS Coordinator with a regular column 'Coordinator's Corner' and spoke about JNT's visit to Australia and through his column announced John Connor as the new Local Group Supervisor and a reminder that "…prospective Tardis editors have until the end of June to apply for the position." 'Swap Shop' and 'Pen Pals' concluded the current issue of 'The Celestial Toyroom' newsletter.
MYTH MAKERS
Myth Makers: Retrospective
Follow the Doctor through time and space as he visits Tibet, Camelot and Kir-ithnan the Court Changeless. Meet gumshoe Robert Ford, world hero Fitz Kreiner and Stan Steel the Pilot of Tomorrow. Encounter the living machines of the Dreamspeakers, and sit in on an intergalactic poker match played for dangerous stakes.
Myth Makers: Retrospective features 12 highlight stories published in Myth Makers between 1991 and 2001. The lavishly illustrated anthology is available for free in .pdf format.
Detailed information on pre-2002 Myth Makers back-issues is also available.
ZYGON
Edited by Doug Smith A5 format
With it's superb, stricking logo issue 3 was released during that turbulant period in Doctor Who history the 18 month hiatus. The editor Doug Smith comments on the hiatus encouraging the fanzine readers to "...write to the BBC in order to try and get the delay in season 23 lifted... if I thought it was going to get us anywhere. Unfortunately I think the BBC are too intransient to even consider a 'Dallas' style back down."
CLOTHES MAKETH THE MAN by Guy Clapperton looked at the costumes worn by the sixth Doctor and his companion Peri the latter coming in for a good dressing down by its author: "...Peri first donned the gear we all know and drool over because it is our Peri Postcard which the beeb has sent us. And a right old mess it looks...a companion showing plenty of leg and boob in a pink outfit evidently designed to woo the dads away from making the tea and getting the ratings up. Certainly it wasn't designed for interstellar fighting activities."
PRODUCTION VALUES examined certain aspects of production and assessed their importance on the series as a whole. "I say 'production' rather than 'story' because I think that the actual story need not be particularly good for a successful production" stated it's author Richard J Smith,"...and by 'production' I mean all the elements which go into making the set of episodes in question a success or a failure." Praise for Chris H. Bidmead's dialogue indicating FRONTIOS but not his plots and the opposite is said of Eric Saward's serial in this case RESURRECTION OF THE DALEKS.
Martin Richards examined THE WEEKDAY DOCTOR with a look at Peter Davison's tenear as the fifth Doctor, and the highs and lows of the weekday serial. The remainder of the fanzine looked at the 22nd Season of Doctor Who with reviews from a number of contributors including John Connors, Martin Day and Robert Franks amongst others. Each review was scattered throughout with an interview about the season with it's producer John Nathan-Turner, something of which I don't think I've seen anywhere else in a fanzine. Artwork by Robert Franks, Colin-John and Doug Smith.
MOONBASE
Edited by Philip Chant A4 format
One of the first fanzines I ever bought was MOONBASE. An A4 duplicated fanzine running to 16 pages and stapled down the left hand side was fully typed out using a good old fashion typewriter, something which a lot of fanzines were back then.
Following a lengthy editorial, the first issue contained an episode by episode review of THE STONES OF BLOOD followed by THE GALLIFREY FACTOR, a script extract from THE WAR GAMES as the Doctor tries to evade capture from the Time Lords. The BOOK REVIEW PAGE listed all the, then available Doctor Who books from TARGET BOOKS and given star ratings out of four by the editor, who wasn't sure if THE WEB OF FEAR should be awarded four stars or just the one! Readers could test their knowledge with the DOCTOR WHO QUIZ and Doug Macleod looked at the impact of Doctor Who on the other side of the world in THE AUSTRALIAN VIEW OF DOCTOR WHO. The DOCTOR WHO NEWS page featured news of Lalla Ward's appointment as the new Romana, Patrick Troughton's suspected heart attack and news of Elizabeth Sladen's nomination as the fourth most popular horror actress! In INVESTIGATION INTO 'THE ROBOTS OF DEATH', Chris Boucher revealed many untold points about the Sandminer, its crew, and where he obtained the overall plan for the story.
It's hard to say if ever there was a second issue. We have to remember that back then, things were pretty expensive and the production of a fanzine was extremely so. You were lucky to break even in those days and somehow it probably is today in the 21st Century, which is probably why there are so few around today. If you know of any further issues then contact us at infernofiction@gmail.com
THE INFERNO MAGAZINE
Editor: Colin-John Rodgers A5 format
The first issue and my first real attempt at a fanzine. Somewhat crudely put together . Thanks to advertising through the pages of The Doctor Who Appreciation Society's newsletter, Celestial Toyroom, I received many contributions that filled the fanzine's pages.
This issue featured RESPECTABLE REPTILES - THE SILURIANS by John Connors. A retrospective look at the first appearance of The Silurians in the story of the same name and how different these "monsters" were from the aliens that the Doctor had faced over the years: "It was a story with amply demonstrated the narrow minded opinion of large sections of mankind and allowed us the rare chance to see a sympathetic monster for a change."
At the time of the publication, information of the nineteenth season was beginning to come out of the production office from CASTROVALVA to THE VISITATION and so were included here in this publication, listing the story titles, writers, directors and guest stars.
DOCTOR WHO - THE XETON PROCESS a six part story by Christopher G. Cornwell featured the third Doctor and the Brigadier who were pitted against, not only The Master but the Autons too. ( The story may feature in a future issue of INFERNO FICTION ).
THE CONDON PLAN was a superb picture- strip by Ian Palmer and Mark Smith and featured the Draconians and the Ogrons. Unfortunately, by the second issue the artists were, sadly unable to complete it. However, I have managed to utilise some of the artwork for ORDERS ARE ORDERS by Nathan Mullins.
ENSLAVE AND BE ENSLAVED in which Robert Franks looks at WARRIORS' GATE's time sensitive creatures the Tharils. PANOPTICON IV REPORT, my first convention and so was ( at the time ) the best convention I'd ever been to! The issue also included a newspaper cutting from the DAILY EXPRESS in 1977 in which Tom Baker stated "I've had enough," he said, " I think I've done my bit." in reference to him quitting the role and of course history tells us otherwise ( thankfully ).
Paul D. Solman looked at the "squat, powerful creatures with but one purpose, to conquer- the Sontarans! " The issue concluded with a word search ( I was heavily into puzzles at the time! ) with artwork by James Watt and myself.
ARK IN SPACE
Editor: John C Harding A5 format
ARK IN SPACE was produced by the Dundee local group. Local groups were formed by the Doctor Who Appreciation Society giving local fans a chance to get together to discuss the show and its rich history, many of which produced their own fanzines.
The Editor commented on season 18: "In keeping with everyone else, I loved LOGOPOLIS. It was jammed pack with brilliant, continuity-concious dialogue. However, I found it to be internally split into two sections, and 'externally' it jarred with the Season as a whole. As a swansong for Tom it was superb, but it does not affect me as the superb KEEPER OF TRAKEN does - which I, just to spite 'Our Master', am already exalting as a classic."
The second part of TARGET EARTH by Martin Wiggins looked at the evolution of The Cybermen. FIRST IMPRESSIONS: a series of articles by Alan Early, "looking at some of the initial responses from his local press to the this new programme - Doctor Who." The first extract dated December 7th, 1963 from a local Yorkshire newspaper stated that the series had "lost its way. The first inslament promised much, but in the second, the debate between the fur-clad ancients about how to make fire was so tedius that it encouraged our minds to wonder - and think; and thinking is the one thing that audiences should not be allowed to do when they are watching Sci-Fi...
...I suspect that 'Dr. Who' is now lost and gone forever." However with the following serial THE DALEKS, the same journalist soon found himself eating his words in an article dated January 11th 1964. "As for spine chillery...well, I take it back...about 'Dr. Who' having got off to a bad start it would never recover. It has recovered...it also produces some first-class sensations...after the Dalek 'Intelligence' had been seen lifted unseen from its robot and placed in a blanket on the floor, the episode closed with something very horrible...beginning to crawl from under the blanket...Lovely stuff!"
The first three stories of Season 18 was reviewed in TVIEW by Chris Dunk, Paul Trainer and Martin Wiggins. THOSE CHANGING TIMES featured a Radio Times cutting of the Cybermen from THE TENTH PLANET and a letter, from a viewer also featured in a later edition about the same serial. (Mrs) Ruth Hoult, Newcastle upon Tyne said: "I must offer congratualtions on the very authentic sets and characters - you can really believe in them. In fact I think I enjoy watching the Cybermen more than the Daleks."
A short article about the Cybermen, THE AUTOMATED ANTHROPOMORPHS by Jeremy Bentham also featured. Fiction included A MATTER FOR CORRECTION by Tim Westmacott, which featured not only the fouth Doctor, K9 and Romana but also the third Doctor. An article by Martin Wiggins looked at THE BLACK ARTS in Doctor Who. THE COMPANION FILES features a profile of Steven Taylor, companion to the first Doctor by Brian King. Letters and artwork from readers of ARK IN SPACE were included with this issue closing with a tongue-in-cheek article from a certain Jean-Marc L'Evenin-Officier - 'MEDECIN QUI?'
DYNATROPE
ISSUE ONE
Editor: Robert Franks A5 format
Panopticon 5 reviewed by Thomas Doran
Thomas describes the event which took place in Birmingham, the first outside of London and very successful event it was too. Episodes to see at the event were 'Prisoners Of Conciergerie', episode six of THE REIGN OF TERROR and THE DALEKS being shown over the weekend between interviews with:
Terrance Dicks - who discussed the changes he had made to 'Meglos' for its novalisation
John Nathan Turner; Fiona Cumming and Peter Grimwade, explaining why The Master was disguised as Kaled ( yep, we still don't know! ); Peter Davison also graced the stage as did Douglas Camfield.
"after lunch while chatting with other attendees later on, I heard strong rumours that Jon Pertwee was going to come, I looked forward to the rest of the day with even more enthusiasm..." noted the reviewer.
Other interviews were conducted with Nicholas Courtney and John Levene followed by the showing of the video ' Jon Pertwee Extraordinare' ; "my earlier hopes were confirmed. Pertwee made his way up the isle admist the most authusiastic applause of the weekend. he strolled up to the interview desk and exclaimed in a booming voice 'I AM THE DOCTOR!' "
Thomas ends his review with the idea that the event should be held every other year in London thus giving others outside of the City a chance to attend at various locations around the country.
An interview with Anthony Ainley: He ( Anthony Ainley ) worked with Geoffrey Beavers on THE KEEPER OF TRAKEN: Has he ever met or worked with the Master's other tv incarnations - Roger Delgado or Peter Pratt?
"No, but I once sat next to Roger Delgado in a pub. We didn't know each other - I remember he was explaining VAT to a friend!"
THE GOLDEN YEARS - a retrospective look at the sixties
WHAT HAPPENED AFTER - Following the showing of THE THREE DOCTORS and CARNIVAL OF MONSTERS as part of THE FIVE FACES OF DOCTOR WHO, Robert Cook jogs the memory about the stories that had originally followed them in 1973.
PHOTO SPECIAL- EARTHSHOCK A series of screen pictures from the story.
DOCTOR WHO- CRYSTALS IN THE SNOW A picture strip adventure written and superbly drawn by Thomas Doran featuring the original Tardis crew.
TARGET REAISSANCE - retrospective look at the Target Book range of Doctor Who novels which were hugely critisised for being very poor in quality and here discusses the use of the original tv authors putting pen to paper and novelising their own material for publication.
With a selection of newspaper cuttings reproduced from the 60's and 70's and a superb cover by Thomas Doran, DYNATROPE looked very promising indeed!