Doctor Who - The Day of the Doctor 50th Anniversary Special Review

This review can also be found on Media Gateway.

At 5:16pm on Saturday the 23rd of November 1963, 4.4 million viewers turned on their televisions to watch a new science fiction programme about a curious old man who lived in a time travelling police box. No one would have believed the legacy that was about to be born... 50 years (and a couple of hours) later, the 799th episode of Doctor Who, The Day of the Doctor, was broadcast simultaneously across the globe, hitting screens in homes and cinemas in 94 countries to celebrate one of the longest running science fiction franchises in television history. And, as it so happens, one of my favourite science fiction franchises in television history. The amount of hype and anticipation that had been drummed up about this event was outstanding.

And so, just before 7:50pm on the 23rd of November 2013, I took my seat in the auditorium - surrounded by so many Doctors that I feared a rupture in space-time would open up and consume the cinema - and I donned a pair of ridiculous 3D glasses. The Moment had finally come. The Day of the Doctor was upon us.

Starring current Doctor, Matt Smith, previous Doctor, David Tennant, and hitherto unknown Doctor, John Hurt, the 50th Anniversary Special episode set out to mark this momentous occasion with something to remember. Did it feel like a fitting tribute to 50 years of Doctor Who? To be honest, I felt that An Adventure in Space and Time (a dramatisation about the inception of Doctor Who, written by Mark Gatiss, starring Jessica Raine as Verity Lambert and David Bradley as William Hartnell) was a far more fitting tribute to the show’s history, but that’s not to say that The Day of the Doctor wasn’t spectacular in its own right. The interplay between the three Doctors was fantastic, as the three actors play off of each other’s performances perfectly, and I was thrilled to finally glimpse a part of the Time War (although I’d love to see more. In fact, I’d love to see a series with John Hurt as the Doctor, whether it’s set in the Time War or not). And there was one particular moment - oh, one shining, brilliant moment - that sent a frisson running through my two hearts, but I’ll come back to that one later...

There are two stories at work throughout The Day of the Doctor: the Doctor and the Time War, and the Zygon foothold on Earth. First and foremost is the story of the Doctor who fought in the Time War, the man who was there at the fall of Arcadia and left burdened with a terrible decision, who is now brought forward in time to meet his future selves and see the man he will become. In possession of the Moment (it's interface played by the brilliant Billie Piper, although it would've been good to see more of her as Rose Tyler interacting with David Tennant's Doctor), the Doctor is prepared to take the fate of Gallifrey and the Daleks into his own hands and end the war that almost destroyed the Universe. This is the Doctor's biggest regret. Seeing John Hurt as the weary War Doctor, a good man at heart but carrying out a necessary evil, was fantastic. When Hurt was revealed as the Doctor at the end of The Name of the Doctor, I was bloody excited - doubly so that his Doctor (the ninth incarnation) was to be the focal point of the 50th Anniversary - and he delivered the role perfectly. He was as excitable and eccentric as his predecessors and successors, but with the gravitas of a man burdened with the destruction of his people, and his bemusement when dealing with his future selves was an absolute joy (“Why are you pointing your screwdrivers like that? They're scientific instruments not water pistols.” … “They're screwdrivers! What are you going to do, assemble a cabinet?”).

In addition to this, the other two Doctors (Tennant and Smith) were wonderful as ever. Their initial double-act - turned triple-act - was truly one of the highlights of the episode/film, as they play off of each other's energy, quirks, differences and similarities extraordinarily. Their ability to collectively go from eccentric and entertaining to dark and brooding was fantastic, and no moment demonstrated this as perfectly as the climax, as the three solemnly gather to use the Moment to end Dalek and Time Lord alike, and then snap into jubilation as they reach an alternative conclusion. This conclusion essentially saves Gallifrey (a point I'll revisit in a moment), hiding it and Time Lord society away in a pocket universe, and strongly hints that the Doctor will be returning home soon... I can't think of a more fitting way to conclude the 50th Anniversary episode!

The Zygon storyline, on the other hand, sadly didn't work quite as well. Mostly, it felt like filler in between scenes with the three Doctors, and although it progressed things with the Queen Elizabeth I plot and was - in a sense - the driving force behind the narrative, the whole thing felt a little flat. The Zygons are a good alien race to choose (their shapeshifting abilities allow for a number of duplicitous plots), but overall their inclusion didn’t feel necessary, and although it was a nice nod to a classic monster, they could easily have been replaced with almost any other enemy. I can't help but feel that the Daleks would have made a more fitting and engaging foe, especially as they are an icon of Doctor Who and are just as old as the show itself (not that they weren’t present in the episode, but it was only fleetingly during the brief segments of the Time War). The Zygon story also felt largely unresolved, with UNIT personnel and Zygon doppelgängers in a stalemate, neither party able to remember which side they belong to and beginning to negotiate an end to the invasion (although I imagine that’s a bit difficult if you don’t know which side you’re representing). Whilst this effectively disarms the initial Zygon threat, this narrative thread is suddenly dropped with the implication that - because temporarily neither human nor Zygon can tell each other apart - this facilitates peace and the whole issue is supposedly resolved. But what about when the Zygons remember that they are indeed Zygons? What prevents them from resuming their incursion on Earth? I doubt they’d just call off the invasion because for three hours they thought they might possibly be human…

Ah well, sometimes it’s best to let Zygons be Zygons (always wanted to say that).

But if the Zygon story felt like it had been dropped, it was only to make way for the episode’s grand finale with the three Doctors and the Time War, and the conclusion that’s likely to be a bit of a game-changer in future episodes (spoilers ahead, although if you’re worried about spoilers I’m not too sure why you’re reading a review!). Having had a good four hundred years to reflect on the moment he used the Moment to destroy both Time Lords and Daleks, the ‘current’ Doctor (Matt Smith, traditionally called the 11th Doctor) has been thinking of an alternative solution that will destroy the Daleks but save Gallifrey and the Time Lords from destruction, just tucked away in an isolated pocket Universe; out of sight, out of time, frozen in a single moment. With the aid of thirteen incarnations of himself (along with a brief cameo from Peter Capaldi’s smouldering eyes), the collective Doctors remove Gallifrey from the Universe, causing the Daleks to destroy each other in the cross-fire and secreting the Time Lords away, frozen in time. With the knowledge that his homeworld and his people are still alive out there, somewhere, the Doctor now has a new destination: home.

And the quest to return to Gallifrey couldn’t have come a moment too soon… With the Doctor now on what is actually his 12th incarnation (possibly 13th, if we count the meta-crisis Doctor from The Stolen Earth/Journey's End) he is approaching the end of his life. It's been stated in The Deadly Assassin that a Time Lord only has 12 regenerations/13 incarnations (whether this is an organic regeneration energy limit, technological limit or societal limit is unknown - I like the idea of it being organic energy, each Time Lord body only having the energy for 12 regenerations), so now that the Doctor is at the end of his regenerative cycle it's imperative he finds a way to prolong his life, and the survival of Gallifrey could be the key. In The Five Doctors, the Time Lords offer a new set of regenerations to the Master in exchange for working with them, and theoretically the same could be offered to the Doctor (perhaps as a token of gratitude for saving Gallifrey). Presumably, with Peter Capaldi taking the role of the 12th Doctor (13th incarnation) in the upcoming Christmas episode Time of the Doctor, he will then embark on his journey home, on a quest to find Gallifrey and, with luck, find a way to extend his life. Personally, I feel this would make a fantastic character arc for Capaldi’s Doctor.

Another implication of Gallifrey’s return is obviously the return of the Time Lords. This was something I’d hoped would happen when it was revealed that Gallifrey was returning in The End of Time, only for it to be sucked straight back into the final day of the Time War. This naturally opens up the possibility for many more stories about the Time Lords, how their society has evolved since their last appearance in the classic era, and how the Time War has changed them. Also, with the Daleks revived through the Progenitor device in Victory of the Daleks, and the prospect of the Time Lords returning, there is a chance the Time War may flare up again.

There is also the matter of Rassilon, and his Ultimate Sanction: to bring about the destruction of all of creation, ripping the Time Vortex apart, and to cause the Time Lords to ascend beyond the physical and exist as beings of consciousness alone. The Doctor stated in The End of Time that he had been aware of Rassilon’s plans and was left with no choice but to use the Moment, ending the Time War and preventing the Ultimate Sanction from being enacted (something that’s not really touched upon in The Day of the Doctor). This does raise a question about the Doctor’s reaction to saving Gallifrey instead of using the Moment. All three of them seemed overjoyed that the Time Lords will be saved, the Daleks destroyed and the Time War ended, but they seem to be forgetting the terrifying implication of what this could mean for the rest of the Universe if Gallifrey returns and if Rassilon is ever given the chance to carry out his plans. Presumably the Doctor has faith that there are enough people on Gallifrey who would be opposed to the plan to actually stop it, but that’s not a guarantee, or that he himself may be able to prevent it when the time comes (freezing a Universe-ending plot for an indefinite amount of time is arguably better than having the blood of billions of innocents on your hands, after all!). There’s also the potential that the Master - along with other renegade Time Lords - will return, as he was taken back to the final days of the Time War along with Rassilon and the rest of Gallifrey in The End of Time. As the Master was engaged in a fight to the death with Rassilon at the time, it’s also possible that the Doctor will return home to find it being run by one Lord President Master...

To be honest, I really could ramble on about this for hours.

Lastly, for me, the crowning moment of the episode came towards the end, as the Doctor sits in the National Gallery musing that one day he’d quite like to be curator of the place. “You know, I really think you might,” says an all too familiar voice, and a frisson ran through the auditorium. There was a collective awe-struck silence, and a number of middle-aged men gasped. My face twitched with an involuntary smile. Tom Baker. Arguably the most iconic Doctor. I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t a magical moment, and not just because it’s Tom Baker and one of the few proper tributes to the show’s past in the 50th Anniversary Special. It’s implied (in a sense) that he is a future Doctor, having chosen to take on the form of his fourth incarnation (“In years to come, you might find yourself… revisiting a few [faces]. But just the old favourites, eh?”), and confirms that “Gallifrey Falls No More”, pointing the Doctor in the direction of a search for Gallifrey, telling him he has "a lot to do." It’s a wonderfully performed segment, and is quite possibly one of the main stand-out moments of the episode for me. Baker’s appearance also means that, if Baker was indeed playing a future, retired Doctor now under the name of the Curator, that the Doctor will find Gallifrey, return home and acquire enough regenerations to live long enough to reach retirement after an indefinite amount of regenerations. But who knows, eh? Who knows. *taps nose*

It’s a shame that other classic era Doctors (Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann) weren’t featured in the 50th, as it would have been brilliant to pay homage to the other previous eras in more than a few snippets of old footage. After all, Doctor Who would not have reached 50 if it weren’t for the 34 years of television that have built its legacy, and this is something The Day of the Doctor sadly missed out on. However, Peter Davison’s short film The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot is a fantastic piece and incredibly amusing, featuring Davison, Baker, McCoy and McGann as well as a great many of the actors who played their former companions, and is absolutely well worth watching. If you’re not going to be in something, this is the way to not be in it!

Ultimately, although The Day of the Doctor didn’t feel quite like 50th Anniversary tribute I’d been hoping for, and occasionally fell short narratively, it was an overall enjoyable and at times truly spectacular episode. The interactions between the Doctors was by far the highlight of the piece. It may not have spent much of its time paying tribute to the past, but it’s given us something to look forward to for the future.

Sam Hain: All Hallows' Eve

I've written a short story for Halloween, Sam Hain: All Hallows' Eve.

It's the first in a series of contemporary fantasy short stories which will follow the adventures and exploits of the eponymous occult detective, Sam Hain, as he and his companion, Alice Carroll, investigate the paranormal and supernatural cases across London.

All Hallows' Eve is completely free to download from the website. I'd appreciate any comments and feedback on this pilot story, and if you enjoyed reading it, please consider leaving a donation; it'd be greatly appreciated, and every penny donated will help support me to make more stuff up and write it down.

Click here to read Sam Hain: All Hallows' Eve.

www.SamHainsCasebook.co.uk

Winter London Film and Comic Con: An Interview with Garrett Wang

This interview can also be found on Media Gateway.

Garrett Wang is probably best known for his role in Star Trek Voyager as Harry Kim, having also reprised the character for the independent film Star Trek: Renegades which has just recently gone into production, as well as playing Commander Garan in the independent miniseries Star Trek: Of Gods and Men. Wang has been a science fiction fan from childhood, in particular Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica, and although he saw all the Star Trek films that came out in the cinema, he never really got into The Next Generation series prior to his work on Voyager (largely due to him only ever seeing the same episode whenever he attempted to watch it!).

It was fantastic to meet Garrett Wang at Winter London Film and Comic Con, and an absolute pleasure to chat with him about Star Trek and his work on Voyager.

Hello sir!

Hello! How are you?

I’m very well, and how are you?

Very good, thank you.

How’s your weekend been?

It’s been good, yeah.

Obviously you’re well known for playing Harry Kim on Star Trek Voyager. How was it working on that series?

It was like a dream come true for me, being a sci-fi fan. If you look at the sci-fi shows out there, very few members of the casts of any sci-fi show were sci-fi fans to begin with - I mean, they’re actors, not sci-fi fans! I find myself in the minority, that small club of people who were sci-fi fans before they got on their shows! So it was great to work on Voyager.

Had you been a fan of previous Star Trek series, like the original series and Next Generation, that had come beforehand?

I was a fan of the movies. I never really got into the original series because, for me my first sci-fi ever was 1977 Star Wars, and 1977 Star Wars visual effects is a thousand times better than 1966 Star Trek visual effects right? It was kind of hokey, kind of cheesy. Next Gen came on when I was in college, and the episode that came on was Code of Honor. That episode is agreed upon by all writers of Star Trek to be the worst episode ever. So that episode comes on and I’m thinking, “this is horrible,” so I turn the TV off. Six months later, I turn it on again to watch Star Trek The Next Generation, and it’s a repeat of Code of Honor. I turn the TV off. A year and a half later, I try to watch Next Gen, and again it is Code of Honor. Three times in a row I tried to watch Next Gen, and it was the same shitty episode! So I said, “you know what, this is a sign from God. God is trying to tell me something. Do not watch The Next Generation.”

Which is a good thing, because if I became a Next Generation fan, it would have adversely affected my audition for Voyager. I would’ve been so nervous that I think I wouldn’t have gotten the role. So I think it worked out fine. But since I’ve been on the show, I’ve gone back to see Next Gen, Deep Space, and I am a fan of those shows now. But I didn’t get into it beforehand because Code of Honor kept playing over and over again!

It’s like the Universe really didn’t want you to enjoy Next Gen!

Nope, the Universe certainly did not!

So how did you feel about the character of Harry Kim?

I think they should have let him do a little bit more than he did. I felt like any time the other actors got to go down and do like cool things, like the episode where we went to Earth and they got to wear normal Earth clothes, Kim was left on the ship. The episode where the Hirogen take over the ship and use it as a training tool for all their hunters, everyone gets to do a holodeck simulation where they’re wearing World War Two clothing, Neelix got to be a Klingon, Ensign Kim is wearing his regular Starfleet uniform maintaining all the sensor arrays, you know. I really wish I had a chance to be included in some of these episodes where they got to wear other clothes other than the Starfleet uniform.

And he was never promoted above the rank of Ensign!

No! It’s ridiculous.

He’s such an integral member of the crew! Why not?!

I have no clue. If you’re talking about who deserves to be promoted more than anyone else, it’s Kim! All the crap he went through, all the things he did… It’s Kim! Not Paris. Not Tuvok. Kim! It was quite annoying, not being promoted.

Seven years!

Seven years!

I think Starfleet ensigns are promoted in that time even if they’re not exemplary officers!

Kim should’ve just walked in and phasered everybody. “Take that! Take that! I’ve gone postal! AHA!” Kim should’ve gone mad in the last episode and just shot everybody, that would’ve been the way to go!

Haha! Psychotic Kim, would’ve been brilliant!
Speaking of which, is there anything you wished you could have done with the character?

Yes, shoot everybody on the ship! Psychotic Kim.

I wish they would’ve taken advantage of more comedy, more humour out of the human characters. They shouldn’t leave it up to just the Doctor to be funny, which is what it ended up being. They didn’t really let the human characters engage in comedic moments. And if there were comedic moments, they were horrible! I remember at the end of one episode, Paris looks at Tuvok and says “Tuvok, you’re a real freakasaurus,” and I thought, wow, that’s really not funny at all!

There was certainly room for more humour from the human characters.
Are there any particular moments that were your most - and least, for that matter - favourite moments throughout the series?

Least and most favourite moments…

Least Favourite Moment: Filming the shoot when I got bronchitis...

Bloody hell, that must’ve been horrible.

Yeah, that was not good.

And favourite moment would be being told by the producers that I would be the integral character in the 100th episode, Timeless, which was supposed to be, in their estimations, the best stand-alone episode of all Voyager episodes. So I felt somewhat valued that they chose me to be the main character for that episode.

Would you say Timeless was your favourite episode then?

It is. It is. In my estimation, it is probably one of the best, if not the best episode of Voyager.

Fantastic. And what other projects have you been working on recently? Anything in the works at the moment?

I’m working on a film called Unbelievable, it’s an independent film, sort of a comedy mixed with sci-fi, so… It’ll either totally flop, or it’ll be a cult classic for the rest of time, so we’ll see what happens!

Can you share anything about the film (non-disclosure agreements permitting!)?

There’s a problem with the Lunar Base, and astronauts have to go up there to fix it. There is a marionette puppet of Captain Kirk in it… It’s an interesting film.

Well I’ll be sure to keep an eye out for it! Thank you for your time, sir. It’s been a pleasure!

Thank you sir, and you.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

---

Garrett Wang's current projects, Star Trek: Renegades and Unbelievable are currently in production. You can find out more about Renegades here, and check out the Unbelievable Facebook page here.

Winter London Film & Comic Con: An Interview with Nicole de Boer

This interview can also be found on Media Gateway.

Nicole de Boer is probably best known for her roles as Ezri Dax on Star Trek Deep Space Nine, Sarah Bracknell Bannerman in The Dead Zone, and Joan Leaven in the cult film Cube. I was fortunate enough to be able to quickly interview de Boer whilst at Winter London Film and Comic Con, and it was an absolute pleasure to meet and chat with her.

Hello, Nicole de Boer! How’s it going?

Good, thank you.

How’ve you been enjoying this weekend?

It’s been great! It’s a really nice one. I always love coming to London actually.

Ah right, do you come to London often?

Yeah, over the years I have, for things like this.

Well, glad to hear you’re having a great weekend. Now obviously you’re known in Star Trek circles for playing Ezri Dax on Deep Space Nine. Had you been a fan of the show before you took on the role?

I hadn’t really watched Deep Space Nine, but I did watch The Next Generation pretty faithfully - I loved that show - so I was pretty excited to get the part. Getting to work with Worf and O’Brien…

And how did you feel about taking on the role of Dax? Did you consider how to approach the part to make her still recognisably Dax, yet also your own take on the character?

Well it all happened pretty quickly, and they gave me some episodes to watch since I hadn’t seen much of the show, but they did say “you’re a whole new person; you’re Ezri Dax, and Jadzia will be one of many, like all the rest of them. Part of you, but we don’t want you to act like Jadzia, we want you to act like Ezri.” And on top of it, Ezri wasn’t trained to be Joined, so really you see mostly her personality. But I did notice that Terry [Farrell] walked with her hands clasped behind her back, so I decided I would do that as well, just to see Jadzia coming through a little bit. But other than that, I really had to go with what the producers wanted me to make it.

How did you feel about the character of Ezri as a whole?

I loved it. I loved that she had these challenges to deal with; it gives me something to work with as an actor, and I also did love that she had different personalities going on inside of her that we got to explore in certain episodes, like Joran the murder inside of her… That stuff was fun too.

Had DS9 gone on to film any further series, what would you have liked to see happen with Ezri?

I think it’d be really fun to come back now and see Ezri years later, more mature and definitely with a handle on the whole symbiont situation, and much more confident. And I would be a captain, of course!

Oh naturally!

That’d be great.

Although Ezri took a while to adapt, obviously not being trained to be Joined, it must have been fun as an actor to bring a new approach to the existing relationships between characters. A mix of being familiar with everyone, but only just meeting as well.

It was, yeah! It definitely was. The nice thing for me coming onto the show - as the show was already established - was that everyone else was supposed to know my character, but yet not know her, so the writers had me slowly meet everyone and I had scenes with everyone, so that helped me - as Nicole - get welcomed into the group as well. I had a nice, little lovely scene with almost everybody on the show introducing Ezri, which helped me a lot.

I particularly liked the relationship she has with Sisko, and with Quark, that was always fun. That was actually what I auditioned with, a scene between Ezri and Quark.

Ah fantastic. Did you have to audition opposite Armin Shimmerman, or was it just a cold read?

No, I didn’t actually. Just with a reader and the producers.

Out of your time on the show, what would you say was a real highlight for you?

Just the whole. I’ve worked a lot, but nothing of that magnitude. I’ve worked a lot on American shows, filming in Canada, but nothing like working on the Paramount lot, and the sets were absolutely incredible on that show. Mostly just to be in the same atmosphere as those actors; wonderful veteran character actors that I got to work with. It was a real learning experience for me, and I was very proud of it.

What was your favourite thing about DS9? Any favourite episodes to work on?

I enjoyed all of it. It was fun, but it was also a more serious set. We didn’t really joke around like on The Next Generation, it just wasn’t like that on our show, so when we did get an opportunity to have fun, that was nice, like the Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang episode where we’re all at Vic’s club; I just adore James Darren. That was really fun for me, just because it did get a little serious and tense and hard work, so that was a nice break just to have a good time.

I imagine it must’ve been a very serious production to work on, as out of all the Star Trek series DS9 had some of the darker storylines, which often spanned over many episodes. Which is something it did particularly well, also balancing that with the humour that we associate with the Trek franchise.

And there were so many lovely relationships, too. The father-son relationship with Sisko and Jake. I really liked Kira and Odo’s relationship, really beautiful. There was just so much interwoven depth, and that it was a series and not a string of stand-alone episodes, which made it different. It wasn’t really big at that time. Since then, that’s what all show’s have become; it used to be that producers would shy away from doing serials because they wanted viewers to be able to pop in and out at any time and not have to worry about the storyline and if they knew where they were, but now that’s what everybody does now, like with Abrams’s Lost and all that. You have to tell the whole story. But not a lot of people were doing that when Deep Space Nine was doing it, and that’s something I really liked about it.

And what other projects have you worked on recently? Any productions currently in the pipeline?

Well obviously I did The Dead Zone, it’s been six years since then, and Stargate Atlantis. Lately, I’ve done more like TV movies, like Lifetime TV movies, and then some bad SciFi movies which are totally to pay the bills!

Worst experience on one of those?!

Well, I try to make light of everything, but… They’re never bad, because I love the crews and we have fun. It’s just bad when they actually air. That’s the part that’s bad. I had fun enough while doing it, it was challenging to make some of these works not horrible, that’s a challenge.

But I was back on Haven again recently, which I think is a really good show, and I reprise my character on that.

I haven’t actually started watching Haven yet. I do keep meaning to get around to it!

It’s a good one.

How’s your experience been working on it?

Well I was in their very first episode, because that’s Shawn Piller - Michael Piller’s son (Michael Piller worked on Star Trek as one of the producers and writers, and then went on to do The Dead Zone with his son). Michael sadly passed away, and Shawn continued on with that company and with The Dead Zone, and after The Dead Zone ended, he started Haven. So they asked me to be on the first episode of Haven, which was really great, really fun, lovely people. And then three years later, they ask me back, so I was just back on it again this year, which was great. And I’m not dead, so who knows, I might be back again!

Fantastic, I guess we'll see! Well, thank you for your time, it’s been an absolute pleasure. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Thank you, and you.

Atlantis - The Earth Bull Review

This review can also be found on Media Gateway.

From the creators of Merlin comes a new fantasy drama series, Atlantis, set in a world of legendary heroes and mythical creatures. Last night, Atlantis premièred with its first episode, The Earth Bull, and despite not being immediately gripping, it does show some promise for the series.

Atlantis stars Jack Donnelly as Jason (presumably of Argonauts fame), a young man who takes a submarine down into the ocean in an attempt to find his missing father. But something most irregular happens to Jason’s sub, and he suddenly finds himself marooned - and inexplicably clothes-less - on an unknown shore. With nothing more than the pendant his father once gave him and a pile of clothes he finds on the shoreline, Jason makes his way inland and comes across a vast and impressive looking city.

After a wild chase through a market, involving a number of city guards and a two-headed lizard, Jason is rescued by a young Pythagoras (Robert Emms) and we learn that this is the city of Atlantis, before the fall. Although Pythagoras is more than happy to take in the perplexed Jason, his house-mate Hercules (Mark Addy) is less than enthused by this newcomer’s arrival…

From here, the story borrows elements from the legend of Theseus and the Minotaur, as the Atlantean people are brought before King Minos (Alexander Siddig) in an annual ritual to draw stones; a white stone means that one is safe, but a black stone means that they are one of the seven to be sacrificed to the Minotaur and appease the gods. Offering himself in place of Pythagoras (who drew a black stone), Jason is taken with six others to face the Minotaur, with only a spool of thread given to him by Minos’s daughter, Ariadne (Aiysha Hart), to help him retrace his path back out of the cave...

This opening episode of the series shows promise for the future. With impressive, detailed sets and costumes, and fantastically rendered CGI in the form of the Minotaur and the aforementioned two-headed lizard, Atlantis certainly has a wonderful aesthetic feel to it. The cast provide excellent performances throughout, with Emms’s slightly awkward, bumbling yet brilliant Pythagoras, Addy’s subversive take on Hercules, and Donnelly’s portrayal of a man finding his feet in this unknown land. They’ve set up a truly talented triumvirate to lead the show.

However, the story did fall short on a few occasions, and this could largely be due to it being the pilot and having to establish its Universe. Jason adapts to life in Atlantis exceedingly quickly, suddenly being able to perform such unlikely athletic feats as jumping on to the city’s wall, swinging from a pole to propel himself upwards, and he takes on the hero’s mantel fairly early on in the story. However, this could be connected to his special destiny that the Oracle (Juliet Stevenson) mentions to him shortly after his arrival on Atlantis. But at least he’s not particularly good with a sword (worse than Pythagoras, as it turns out)! There is also a substantial amount of expository dialogue from the Oracle, as she explains how Jason was born in Atlantis, that there’s a gateway between their worlds, and that he has many enemies here who would kill him if they found out who he was. This exposition does feel quite heavy, especially for the first episode, but it does help to establish the character and the story that is starting to unfold.

That’s not to say it wasn’t good, by any means. It was certainly an enjoyable opening episode, and the incorporation of various recognisable myths and legends was done exceedingly well (although I must admit the confrontation with the Minotaur felt a little anticlimactic). There are also some elements of intrigue introduced in this episode which will no doubt be expanded upon in future episodes: Who is Jason really, and what is his destiny? Who are those who would wish to stop him, and why?

All in all, the first episode of Atlantis was a good opening to the series; although the dialogue seemed overly expository at times, and the story occasionally fell short, it was an overall enjoyable viewing. Pilots are often a shaky start for any series, and The Earth Bull certainly shows some promise for the future of Atlantis. I’m looking forward to seeing how the rest of the series pans out.

If you missed the first episode of Atlantis, you can catch it on BBC iPlayer here.

Rush - Everyone's Driven By Something

This review can also be found on Media Gateway.

It's undeniable that the idea of sitting on top of a 450 horse-power engine, behind the steering wheel of an F1 car tearing around at 170mph is an incredibly thrilling prospect. And as tempting as that idea is, I came away from Rush with both the desire to put my foot down on the accelerator and yet also thankful that I don't actually own a car!

Directed by Ron Howard and written by Peter Morgan, Rush is based on the true story of Formula One World Champions Niki Lauda and James Hunt. Starring Daniel Brühl as the methodical, calculating and obnoxious Lauda and Chris Hemsworth as the charming playboy – and no less obnoxious – Hunt, the film tells the story of these two very disparate men and their intense rivalry. With stunning visuals and an engaging narrative about the fierce competition and personal drama between these two racers, Rush is a gripping cinematic tour de force from beginning to end.

The film follows the tale of the two acclaimed racing drivers, from Hunt and Lauda's first encounter at a Formula Three race in 1970 to the climactic events of the 1976 Formula One season, in which both drivers are willing to risk everything to best each other and claim the title of World Champion. Although the film is set against the stylish backdrop of the 70s Formula One racing world, Rush is not just about the racing; it’s about Hunt and Lauda’s rivalry, a story driven by their very different styles both on and off the tracks, and their personal approaches to life.

Daniel Brühl and Chris Hemsworth bring this true story of conflict and competition to life on-screen, consistently carrying off these roles and their juxtaposed personalities superbly, truly embodying their characters. At times it becomes difficult to distinguish the actors from the men they’re portraying. There’s a wonderful chemistry between the two, especially as their confrontational demeanor grows into a mutual respect. The film at first appears to focus on Hemsworth’s James Hunt, following his rise to F1 stardom, his promiscuous lifestyle, and his impulsive attitude towards both racing and his life. He has one goal in mind; to beat Niki Lauda, and take his place as F1 World Champion. As the narrative progresses, it gradually transitions to Brühl’s Niki Lauda, the polar opposite of Hunt, in his more measured and methodical approach to all walks of life, calculating and plotting his course around the track, maximising the efficiency of his car, and considering the risks and weighing them against his personal life and what he stands to lose.

The crux of the film is during the fateful incident at the Nürburgring on the 1st of August, 1976, during which Lauda suffers a near-fatal accident, having to be airlifted to hospital after his car careens into an embankment and bursts into flames. The narrative takes on a more sombre note from this point, as Lauda spends six weeks being treated for his injuries and watching as Hunt begins to dominate the rest of the season. It’s a heartbreaking sequence, phenomenally portrayed by Brühl and Alexandra Maria Lara as his wife, Marlene Lauda; her grief and concern for her husband is palpable, helplessly standing by as he struggles through his recovery, forcing himself to get back behind the wheel against his doctor’s orders, spurred on by his rivalry with Hunt. Despite Lauda being a fundamentally unlikable character for most of the film, these are some of the most emotionally impacting scenes in Rush, as one truly feels a sense of empathy for him.

It’s hard to have a similar sense of empathy during Hunt’s crisis, though, as he suffers a series of setbacks over the course of a number of races and reacts like a petulant teenager most of the time, but is nonetheless consummately portrayed by Chris Hemsworth. It’s not until he discovers that his wife, Suzy Miller (Olivia Wilde), is having an affair with Richard Burton that he regains his competitive spirit, and this, along with his growing respect for Lauda getting back into racing so soon after his accident (and remorse for being somewhat responsible), is where Hunt really shows some character depth. Although there isn’t a great deal of room for character development with James Hunt, Hemsworth delivers a great performance as the arrogant and impulsive Hunt, and there are some particularly touching scenes towards the film’s conclusion between Hunt and Lauda.

The greatest triumph of Rush has to be the story. Based on true events, Peter Morgan has taken two F1 legends, conveying public facts whilst also creating vivid and believable interpretations of their lives 'behind closed doors'. This sets Rush apart from other sports dramas, as it's not really about the racing; it's a multi-faceted human drama, a story of personal rivalry and tragedy, juxtaposed with the breakneck world of Formula One. This depth of narrative, combined with the thrilling racing sequences (which are much more exciting than watching real F1!) and stylish 70s aesthetic, makes for a truly engaging film.

Rush is as one would expect from its title; an adrenaline-pumping, pedal-to-the-metal action film, but set against this backdrop of golden age Formula One racing and underpinning this fast-paced thrill ride is a story of drama, intense rivalry, and fierce determination. It is nothing short of phenomenal.

Cloud Atlas - Everything Is Connected

This review can also be found on Media Gateway.

Cloud Atlas was one of the most highly anticipated films of 2012. It didn't première in the UK until February 2013, but regrettably I never went to see it when it was being shown in cinemas. However, a year on from its world première at Toronto Film Festival, I finally sat down to watch the film I'd been looking forward to for so long... Having read the book a while ago, I was immensely looking forward to seeing how they'd taken on the incredibly challenging task of adapting it for film; it'd be no mean feat, but if anyone could do Cloud Atlas justice, it would be the Wachowskis!

Created by Tom Tykwer,  Lana Wachowski, and Andy Wachowski, Cloud Atlas is the cinematic adaptation of David Mitchell's award-winning book. Starring Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Jim Sturgess, Ben Whishaw, Doona Bae, James D'Arcy, Hugh Grant and Hugo Weaving as a multitude of characters over six separate – but connected – narratives, the story takes place across different time periods over the course of 500 years, from the Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing in 1849 to 'Sloosha's Crossin' an' Ev'rythin' After' in 2321.

Unlike the book, which tells each story in a 'nesting doll' style (each story finishes halfway through and moves on to the next, and then the final half of each story is told in reverse order), the film is structured in a pointillist mosaic style, telling fragments of each story, often mirroring or juxtaposed with segments which are connected in the other time period. Although this initially feels very fragmented, as it doesn't seem to follow a linear structure, it becomes clearer as the film progresses and makes the over-arching narrative all the more understandable. Personally, I felt this style worked particularly well for the film, as if it had followed the book's structure we'd see the first half of Adam Ewing's story at the very beginning and not be concluded for another two and a half hours (in which time, one could easily have forgotten some of its significance)! This pointillist method helps show how everything is connected.

Cloud Atlas is by no means a traditional Hollywood film; you can't just leave your brain at the door, and it certainly pays off to devote your full attention to it throughout the piece. Each element of the story is integral to the next, and each individual piece is key to understanding the whole (what is any ocean but a multitude of drops?). The story itself I found to be a life affirming piece; a story of past, present and future; of how everything is connected; and of how a single act of kindness can shape the future in unforeseeable ways.

There are also elements of spirituality to the narrative, as souls cross ages like clouds cross skies (an' tho' a cloud's shape nor hue nor size don't stay the same, it's still a cloud an' so is a soul). Some characters (such as those played by Hugo Weaving and Hugh Grant) seem destined to repeat the same existence, being the forces that stand in the way of – and even openly try to prevent – each story's protagonist from accomplishing their goals, to varying levels of immorality. Meanwhile, Tom Hanks's characters tell a tale of spiritual redemption (from the duplicitous Dr Henry Goose to the kind-hearted Zachry) and Jim Sturgess plays those who fight for equality and justice (from lawyer Adam Ewing, who helps an escaped-slave stowaway and ultimately condemns slavery, to Hae-Joo Chang, a Korean freedom fighter in 2144 who frees the slave-clone Sonmi 451 and initiates a revolution). Keeping track of each actor and the characters they play throughout the film is integral to understanding the overall narrative, as various souls are reincarnated and carry on their spiritual journey across the ages, crossing each other's paths again and again, and finding their soulmates. I find the ideas explored in the film – and the book – incredibly intriguing, and will probably fully explore them and their implications in a future article (whether it'll be in this lifetime or the next is unknown at this time!).

Of course, it would be remiss of me not to commend the cast on their performances throughout the film, as each actor fully embodies a number of personae to portray their progressive life-times. I had to double-take a number of times throughout the viewing, as actors recur in all six of the film's plots, but are completely unrecognisable in some cases (not least Hugo Weaving when he turns up as a despotic female care-worker!). Hugh Grant is another who phenomenally covers an array of characters, and although he's definitely recognisable in the role of Lloyd Hooks, owner of a nuclear power plant on Swannekke Island, Grant is completely transformed in his other roles throughout the film (who'd have thought William Thacker from Notting Hill would become the savage leader of a cannibalistic tribe in 2321?!).

I could go on and on and on, as the fact of the matter is that every actor performs superbly throughout, completely unrecognisable from one role to the next as they not only capture each role but inhabit their characters perfectly. Unfortunately, to properly convey praise for each individual's performance would probably require writing many more pages than is really fitting for a film review, so I'll simply leave it as this: the entire cast provide brilliant performances throughout, consummately embodying their respective characters throughout six different stories, and each actor's fantastic portrayal helped make Cloud Atlas a truly, utterly sublime piece of cinema.

In many ways, Cloud Atlas is much more than another science fiction film; it's a work of art. It is an inspiring, thought-provoking and life-affirming piece of cinema, and is a genuinely remarkable film. It is – in the truest meaning of the word – awesome.

The Clock Strikes Twelve - Peter Capaldi Announced as the Next Doctor

Quite recently, I was fortunate enough to be invited to Elstree Studios for the recording of the pilot for a new entertainment show celebrating British television. The first episode of the unnamed show was to celebrate 50 years of Doctor Who. As a man who always carries a sonic screwdriver in his jacket pocket - ostensibly as a novelty pen, but truthfully because I like to pretend I'm a Time Lord - my automatic reaction was a resounding yes! I received my confirmation, and was told to arrive at 5pm on Sunday 4th of August, and filming was expected to start at 7pm. I was excited.

A couple of days later, my excitement grew. The BBC had announced that the actor cast to play the next regeneration of the eponymous Time Lord, the twelfth incarnation of the Doctor, would be revealed on Sunday 4th of August at 7pm. Instantly, I knew what this suspiciously unnamed show, with scant details other than some vague allusions to Doctor Who, was actually all about; there was a very high chance I would be in the studio with the Twelfth Doctor at the time of his reveal. This, for a man with slightly more Time Lord memorabilia than he would like to publicly admit, was an incredibly seductive prospect. I was pleased to have my wild speculation confirmed when chatting with Lizo Mzimba on the way to the studios, as we debated who would be the next actor cast in this most prestigious role.

In the half-an-hour special hosted by Zoe Ball, broadcast live simultaneously in a number of countries, special guests from the show's past and present, as well as some celebrity Doctor Who fans, spoke of their love for the show and imparted advice and best wishes to the Doctor-to-be. It was then announced that The Thick Of It star, Peter Capaldi, would be taking up the mantle as the last of the Time Lords.

"It's so wonderful not to keep this secret any longer. But it has been absolutely fantastic in its own way, so many wonderful things have happened," said Capaldi, speaking for the first time about the prestigious casting. "Being asked to play the Doctor is an amazing privilege. Like the Doctor himself I find myself in a state of utter terror and delight. I can't wait to get started."

Of course, Peter Capaldi is no stranger to the Doctor Who Universe. Not only did he feature as Roman marble trader Caecilius in the 2008 episode, Fires of Pompeii, and as John Frobisher in Torchwood: Children of Earth, but Capaldi is also a lifelong fan of the show, having written in to the Radio Times in 1973 at the age of 15, hoping that in 1988 they would publish another Special celebrating 25 years of Doctor Who.

When asked about how he prepared for the audition for the role, Capaldi said: "It was quite hard because even though I'm a lifelong Doctor Who fan, I haven't really played Doctor Who since I was nine in the playground. As an adult actor I've never worked on it. So what I did was I downloaded some old scripts from the internet and practised those in front of the mirror."

Steven Moffat, lead writer and executive producer of Doctor Who, said casting Capaldi as the Doctor was an "incendiary combination".

"One of the most talented actors of his generation is about to play the best part on television."

Speaking of Capaldi's secret audition, recorded in Moffat's home, the showrunner said: "We made a home video of [Capaldi] being the Doctor and I showed it around and everyone said 'yes, that's the Doctor'."

Current Doctor Matt Smith, who is due to pass the torch on to his successor in this year's Christmas special, welcomed Capaldi's casting and pre-recorded a message for the new Time Lord: "I wish my successor all the best and say good luck and good on you for getting it, because I know he's both a huge fan of the show and a really nice guy."

"The casting made me ready excited and as a fan I think it's a canny choice," Smith said. "If I had to pick someone, I'd pick him because I think he's great. I'm excited because I know what's coming and he's going to have a blast."

Jenna-Louise Coleman (who plays Clara, the Doctor's current companion) also welcomed Capaldi's casting, saying: "I'm so excited Peter Capaldi is the man taking on the challenge of becoming the 12th Doctor."

"With Steven's writing and his talent I know we'll be making an amazing show with an incredible incarnation of number 12. I can't wait to start this new adventure."

Following the announcement, The Thick Of It writer Armando Ianucci took to Twitter to say: "There can't be a funnier, wiser, more exciting Time Lord than Peter Capaldi. The universe is in great hands."

Capaldi is scheduled to film his first scenes for the show this autumn.

I am immensely looking forward to seeing Capaldi's take on the Doctor's twelfth incarnation, and greatly anticipate what he will bring to the role. Congratulations, Peter Capaldi; I have no doubt that you'll be absolutely fantastic!

---

Anyone taking bets on how long until the Twelfth Doctor furiously refers to the state of the TARDIS, or even the Universe, as an omnishambles?

London Film and Comic Con: An Interview with Nana Visitor

Probably best known for portraying Major Kira Nerys in Deep Space Nine, Jean Ritter in Wildfire and Elizabeth Renfro in Dark Angel, Nana Visitor has played a wide range of roles in her career. I absolutely loved her portrayal of the outwardly strong and resilient, yet inwardly vulnerable and insecure, former freedom fighter Kira Nerys on DS9, and was greatly looking forward to meeting her at LFCC.

Unfortunately, I apparently left my brain somewhere else during the interview, and completely forgot what I was saying mid-sentence. I had to resort to apologising profusely, whilst I desperately fumbled around in my mind looking for where the rest of the interview had gone! I've transcribed the interview with my brainlessness edited out.

Regardless of my absent-mindedness, it was an absolute pleasure chatting with Nana Visitor. She’s a truly lovely lady.

Hello, Nana Visitor! How are you?

I’m good, how are you?

I’m good! Now, you’re well known for portraying Kira Nerys on Deep Space Nine. This year now marks DS9's 20th anniversary; what was it like working on the show?

DS9 was such a huge pleasure. The best part was I knew – at the time – that it was a special show. I knew that I might not be able to get this kind of writing/direction/producing again, so I relished it. And I'm glad I did, because I'm so proud of it. The new fans of the show that come through – and you see them at these things, people who've just discovered the show – and it proves that it has longevity.

Out of all the Star Trek series, it was arguably the darkest and grittiest. Quite often that darkness focussed around Kira, her family, and the Cardassian Occupation of Bajor. How was it for you, performing these stories that often got really dark and intense?

You know, it was hard to wash the grit off at the end of the night. It was a dark part. These days, she would probably be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, I would say, and be treated – that probably would have been a great storyline if during those days we knew the treatment for it.

So yeah, it lived with me. I remember having Kira dreams. At night I would have dreams of being chased by Cardassians and things like that. So yeah, it stayed with me.

Having Marc Alaimo in full Cardassian make-up chasing you down corridors...

Yeah! Nightmare!

How did you feel about Kira's character development? Going from the stand-off-ish Bajoran liaison to becoming essentially the commander of the station.

I thought it was appropriate. I thought it made relationship sense, it made evolutionary sense for her as a sentient being. She would gradually come to trust and know and respect these people.

Could you relate to Kira's character? Was there much of yourself in your portrayal of her?

Absolutely. The striving, the dealing with having flaws and having the humility to see them and admit to them, and do something about them or not... It was wonderful in that way.

How did it feel to play such a strong, resilient and independent character?

I wasn't really aware, I just knew how I thought she should be, and I did get some push-back from people saying that it wasn't Star Trek, it wasn't right and I was just being bitchy. But I decided long ago that my allegiance is with my character and people's perceptions are people's perceptions; there's nothing I can do about it. So I stayed pretty true to what I thought she was.

In terms of character development, how did you feel about her relationship with Odo?

At first, no, I didn't want it. I thought it was so wonderful that there was a real, deep friendship between male and female, and it was such a cliché on every TV show that you get two people together; it always ends up romantic as if friendships can't exist. But in the end, I thought it was a wonderful story and it was a sweet love. People seemed to really respond to it.

I felt very much the same way about it. At first I wasn't sure it was the best course for the characters, but as the story continued it seemed more and more like a natural development. Well, as natural developments come when it's between a Bajoran and a Changeling!

Anyway, thank you very much for your time. It's been an absolute pleasure talking with you.

And you too.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

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Unfortunately, my brainlessness chewed up quite a bit of time, and I would've loved to chat with Nana Visitor for much longer had most of what I wanted to talk with her about not been wiped clean from my memory! Nevertheless, it was an absolute pleasure to meet her: she's a genuinely lovely person (and very understanding of brain-dead interviewers!).

Visit www.nanavision.com for the latest news about Nana Visitor and her work.

London Film and Comic Con: An Interview with René Auberjonois

I’ve been a fan of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine for many years; it’s my favourite series set in the Star Trek universe, and ranks in the top five of my all-time favourite SciFi shows. Out of all of the series’ characters, I found myself most drawn to Odo, portrayed by the brilliant René Auberjonois.

Auberjonois has played a wide array of characters in his long and distinguished career, such as Father Mulcahy in MASH, Frasier Crane’s pink-satin-dressing-gown-clad mentor Professor Tewksbury in Frasier, and of course DS9’s security officer Odo, to name but a few.

When I heard that Mister Auberjonois would be attending LFCC, I knew I couldn’t miss the opportunity to talk with him. Although things had to be cut short due to a queue forming behind me, it was absolutely fantastic to chat with him: he is genuinely a most excellent gentleman.

Hello, Mister Auberjonois! A pleasure to meet you, sir. How are you?

Hello! I’m well, and you?

I’m well, thank you.
First of all, I just wanted to say how much I loved your portrayal of Odo on Deep Space Nine. As this year marks the 20th anniversary of the series, could you please describe a little about what it was like working on DS9?

Well, it was a gift. It came at a wonderful time in my life, and it was a great character to portray, and a lot of wonderful people to work with; not only the other actors, but the crew and the directors, the writers... It was getting to be part of an ensemble for seven years, which is a really rare opportunity in this very unstable business. It was great.

What would you say was your favourite thing about Deep Space Nine?

Well... The ongoing story, the complexity of the stories and the characters, and I liked the fact that compared to the other versions of Star Trek, I think Deep Space Nine is the most gritty and dark and perhaps neurotic. That appealed to me, because it's more complex.

And no matter how alien any of the characters were, there was always this sense of... Well, humanity is probably not the right word to use, but it's the only word we have! Every character had this sense of humanity about them, and Odo in particular started to develop a burgeoning sense of humanity that grew as the series went on.
How was it portraying Odo's character? Were there any aspects of yourself in the role?

Well, I think any actor who creates a character, there are aspects of his own personality that come through into the character. Not the complete picture of who I am, of course...

I'm not suggesting you are a shape-shifter!

Obviously I'm not a shape-shifter! There's a lot of Odo's sense of integrity I like to believe is part of the way I've learned to live in the world, and his sort of covered sense of humour is something that I feel I brought to the character. I'm a character actor, that means I play – and have throughout my life – many different characters, and Odo in his flexibility to be able to shape-shift, and the fact that he was masked in a way, seemed to me like a kind of symbol of what I do as an actor.

And as a character, he grew a lot throughout the series. Especially when he discovered his own people, he became a new person.
How did you feel about his overall character development as the series progressed?

It was always an adventure to get the scripts each week, to see how the story would evolve, and I would say that in the end his returning to his people – to the soup – was inevitable. He had been sent out by a planet, a community of creatures, that were very fearful and paranoid about what was out there. In the end he has to serve as the healing force, and return to where he had come from.

Well, as it appears there's a queue gradually growing longer and longer behind me, this'll have to be the final question. How did you feel about Odo's relationship with Kira? Was it a direction you could see the character going in?

Well, it was a surprise to both Nana and I. It was not anything we had anticipated, and it really wasn't anything that the writers had anticipated. It seemed to evolve out of their friendship, and it was a very interesting aspect which – to a certain part of the audience – was very important, and they responded to it with great passion. So, in the end, although I think both Nana and I thought “where did that come from?”, I think we were both very satisfied with that development.

Thank you for your time, it was an absolute pleasure, sir. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Thank you, and you too. Take care.

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I wish I could have spoken with René Auberjonois for longer, about his current work and his support for Doctors Without Borders, but unfortunately I had to move on due to the queue forming behind me. It was absolutely brilliant meeting him: he's a truly fantastic gentleman.

Visit www.renefiles.com for the latest news and updates about René Auberjonois’s and his work.

London Film and Comic Con 2013: An Overview

This past weekend, the annual London Film and Comic Con took over Earls Court Two, bringing a host of celebrity guests, comic book artists and purveyors of unique merchandise to the venue. This year's event boasted a wide array of guests, with stars from the likes of Doctor Who, Game of Thrones, Star Wars and Star Trek. As this year marks the 20th anniversary of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (my favourite of the Trek series), LFCC 2013 celebrated the occasion with a great selection of the stars from the show; needless to say, I was looking forward to meeting the cast of one of my all time favourite SciFi series!

Once more armed with my dictaphone, a notepad and a sonic screwdriver that doubles as a pen, I set course for Earls Court Two.

Earls Court Two is somewhat of a place of nostalgia for me. I first came to this venue two years ago for my first ever London Film and Comic Con (actually, that's a lie – I really first came to Earls Court to audition for the role of Tom Riddle in Harry Potter many, many moons ago, and was less than successful, but that's another story!). LFCC 2011 was my very first convention, and also the first event I covered as a member of the press, having only started writing for Step2TV a month beforehand. There hasn't been another Showmasters' event held at Earls Court Two until now, so it was strangely nostalgic to be back there again this year... They say you always remember your first, and I still vividly recall my first interview: it was with Mark Sheppard (Battlestar Galactica, Supernatural, Doctor Who). We had a long discussion about his character on Battlestar, Romo Lampkin, followed by a slightly shorter conversation about his favourite cheese (manchego).

It was also at LFCC 2011 that I first met friend, colleague and co-conspirator Josh Harris, where we talked at length about Doctor Who whilst stood next to the DeLorean waiting to interview Christopher Lloyd (there's a time travel joke in that somewhere...). Befittingly, for LFCC 2013 Josh and I rallied at Clapham Junction and made our way there first thing Friday morning to set up the stand for Subversive Comics – for whom Josh works – and for me to pick up my press pass for the weekend.

Friday night marked the beginning of the event, opening with a preview evening where a handful of the guests were providing autograph signings and photo opportunities. The venue wasn't overwhelmingly busy, but considering that this was just a two hour preview there was still a considerable amount of people – a large amount of whom had already come in costume! I spent my evening taking a look around the various stalls that had been set up, chatting with some of the visitors and exhibitors, and attempting to plan out the weekend ahead.

Day Two, Saturday. It was ridiculously, unnecessarily hot. I know a lot of people enjoy the heat of the sun, but whenever this time of year comes around I turn into an angry summer goth. In hindsight, it was probably an unwise decision to wear black jeans with a black t-shirt and black jacket... It was impressive to see the amount of cosplayers who remained dedicated to their costumes and their roles in this weather – I can't imagine it's particularly comfortable being a PVC-clad Catwoman or full-armoured Iron Man in heats exceeding 28°C!

I attempted to grab a couple of interviews with a number of the guests for the afternoon. I had my eyes set primarily on the cast of Deep Space Nine and Stargate (Amanda Tapping and Jason Momoa; unfortunately, Michael Shanks and Claudia Black had to cancel their appearance).

The first guest I was able to interview was René Auberjonois. Amongst the many, many roles in his long and distinguished career, Auberjonois is probably best known for his portrayal of my favourite character in Deep Space Nine, Odo, and Father John Mulcahy in MASH (and, if you dress him in a pink satin dressing gown, you may remember him as Professor Tewksbury from an episode of Frasier). I was fortunate enough to grab ten minutes with Mister Auberjonois, in which we discussed his time working on DS9 and how he felt about Odo's character. Unfortunately things had to be cut short as a queue had started to form behind me, but it was an absolute pleasure talking with Auberjonois for the time I had. He's a genuinely excellent man.

In addition to meeting the fans and signing autographs throughout the weekend, Auberjonois was also collecting donations for Doctors Without Borders, a secular humanitarian-aid, non-governmental organization whose volunteers provide urgent medical care to victims of war and disaster regardless of race, religion, or politics.

My second interviewee was Nana Visitor, Kira Nerys on DS9, and chatting with her proved to be one of my most memorable interviews to date! We started to talk about her experiences working on DS9 (including the resultant nightmares of being chased by Cardassians), and things were running smoothly... Until I forgot what I was saying mid-sentence. My brain literally ground to a halt. All I could do was profusely apologise for my apparent lack of brain cells, and prolifically perspire in the sudden uncomfortable heat I was experiencing. Thankfully, Visitor relating her tales of also occasionally forgetting what she's saying (arguably in a worse situation, performing on Broadway and completely freezing up) gave my absent mind some space to breathe and cobble together some vague semblance of the interview I had initially planned out. It may not have been my finest hour, but it's certainly an interview I'll remember for quite some time! Visitor is a truly lovely lady, and an absolute pleasure to chat with.

Sunday being Sunday, things were a bit more relaxed – and nothing was more relaxed than London Underground's service that morning! I arrived a bit later than I had the day before, and set about attempting to arrange the interviews for the day. Among those who I planned to chat with were Avery Brooks (Captain Sisko, DS9), Amanda Tapping (Sam Carter, Stargate SG1 and Dr Helen Magnus, Sanctuary) and Jason Momoa (Ronon Dex, Stargate Atlantis, Khal Drogo, Game of Thrones), however I had been informed that their agents were incredibly restrictive about interviews. Again it was advised to try again towards the end of the day when hopefully the extensive queues would start to grow shorter. As such, I decided to return to having a look around the convention, occasionally returning to the guest area to try my luck with the queues.

I stopped by the Sea Shepherd stall to see some friends I'd met at previous conventions and at Sea Shepherd demonstrations and protests, and I was fortunate enough to meet one of Sea Shepherd's esteemed Captains, Peter Hammarstedt. I have the utmost admiration and respect for the work that the Sea Shepherd crew do to protect our oceans' wildlife, and I honestly can't stress enough how important everything they fight for is.

On the note of good causes, Amanda Tapping was also promoting the charity she started up with writer/producer Damien Kindler and Jill Brodie, Sanctuary for Kids. I was unable to formally interview Tapping over the weekend, but I was able to introduce myself and tell her how much I admired the work she was doing with S4K. Sanctuary for Kids is a charitable organisation dedicated to helping children in crisis across the world, raising money and working with small charities such as the Watari program in East Vancouver, Nepal Orphans Home, Asha Nepal, Next Generation Nepal and SOPUDEP in Haiti.

After speaking about the work she does with S4K, Tapping noticed my Sea Shepherd badge. Of course, her Stargate co-star Richard Dean Anderson is a very prominent supporter of Sea Shepherd and a member of their Board of Advisors, having worked with Sea Shepherd founder Captain Paul Watson for many years. So we also discussed Sea Shepherd's work, how she herself had also met Captain Watson, and the Captain's present situation following his unjust arrest in Germany last year under false allegations. Despite not being able to interview her properly, it was fantastic finally meeting Amanda Tapping, and even more so to discuss the causes we both feel passionately about.

Around mid-afternoon came the event I'd been looking forward to for most of the weekend: the Q&A with the cast of Deep Space Nine. The guests for this interstellar line-up for the Q&A were Avery Brooks, Alexander Siddig, René Auberjonois, Andrew Robinson, Armin Shimmerman, Nana Visitor, Salome Jens, Aron Eisenberg and Max Grodenchik. Among the things discussed were how the cast first got into acting (Auberjonois said it was because he “didn't know any better,” Shimmerman simply answered “girls”), and if they had to choose a different character to portray, who would they be (Auberjonois: “I would have been Morn.” Shimmerman: “I wish you had been.”). The mystery of what happened to Captain Sisko's baseball at the end of the series may also have been partially solved, as the subtle clues – and Brooks's suspicions – all seem to point towards Nana Visitor...

All in all, LFCC 2013 was a brilliant and memorable event. I met and spoke with a number of fantastic people, and had an overall highly enjoyable weekend. Interviews and transcripts of Q&As will be up soon, and will be linked to below.

For more pictures from LFCC 2013, please visit my website at www.bronjames.co.uk

London Film and Comic Con returns with a new winter event in October this year. 
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The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

In his first adult novel in over eight years, famed fantasy author Neil Gaiman takes us to the landscape of his childhood for a journey of memory, magic and survival in a world just beyond the veil of reality... To the Ocean at the End of the Lane.

Anyone who knows me knows of my love for Gaiman and his work. From Stardust and Neverwhere to his episodes of Doctor Who, I've thoroughly enjoyed the strange, fantastical – and yet seemingly real and tangible – worlds that Gaiman conjures up. The Ocean at the End of the Lane is a perfect example of this: a world that's simultaneously completely fictitious and yet entirely and believably real. This is, in part, due to the fact that Gaiman draws on elements of his childhood for the setting and impetus of this dark and fantastical tale, and his usual engaging narrative style immediately sucks you in.

Told through the memories of our narrator, a forty-something man recalling a time in his life through the eyes of his seven-year-old self, the narrative is as much about childhood and growing up as it is about a world of fantasy and monsters. The book tells the story of the protagonist encountering beings from other worlds, things that exist just outside of our reality (and may very well be more real than what we call reality), but more than that, it tells a story about the powerlessness of childhood, as we attempt to make our way in a world we barely understand. This is probably the biggest thing that separates this book from children's fiction. In Gaiman's more child-friendly works, such as Coraline, he tells children that they can be powerful, that they can triumph over darkness and overcome seemingly impossible odds. But in The Ocean at the End of the Lane, the protagonist is burdened by the role he unwilling has to play in this story, and is powerless against the extra-dimensional entities he's faced with, let alone against his own parents!

In many ways, that's the scariest part of this book: not the entities and not the struggle against the darkness, but the overwhelming sense of futility and hopelessness felt by the narrator. It takes you back to those times in childhood when the world was far bigger and scarier than you could even begin to imagine; a world inhabited by giant grown-ups who were invariably right; a world in which you very rarely were able to have any real form of influence or control (a large reason why I buried my head in books in my formative years, and have yet to truly emerge into the “real” world...). It's a powerful way to convey a story, especially one where sometimes the monsters feel more like a metaphor for the unknowably daunting challenges of the real world we begin to discover as we grow up. To feel the vulnerability of childhood from an adult perspective is a sombre and humbling experience, and is something that Gaiman accomplishes brilliantly in this book. The Ocean at the End of the Lane may be a book for adults, but is very much written for the children these adults used to be.

Not only has the book been ranked Number 1 Bestseller
by the New York Times, and signed by the man himself,
it has also earned the highly-coveted position on my
Coffee Table of Excellence™!

The story which frames the allegory of childhood is also a fantastically realised world of magic, wonder and darkness. We're introduced to the magically mysterious yet earthly and everyday Hempstock family who live on the farm at the end of the lane. The youngest of them, Lettie Hempstock, claims that her duck pond is an ocean. The oldest can remember the Big Bang. These characters are so matter-of-fact about things that would otherwise seem abnormal that you don't even question it, you just allow yourself to be carried away into their weird and wonderful world; a world that's always one step beyond logic.

There are also, of course, dark, monstrous things from beyond our narrator’s reality, things that should never have been summoned to this world, that are brought forth when the lodger commits suicide in the family car (an event based on a true story from when Gaiman himself was seven - whether the entities that are summoned and the events which then unfold are also true remains unknown!). I shan’t go into more detail about the narrative that ensues, because this is a story best left unspoiled and delightfully surprising, but what I will say is that it is incredibly engaging. I devoured the first ten chapters as soon as I got the book on the night of the 17th of June (to be honest, I can’t even remember getting home; one minute I was in the theatre, then I was seven-years-old and encountered the thing that called itself Ursula Monkton, and the next I was back home!), and persuaded myself to read only one chapter a night to prolong the experience.

From what started life as a short story for his wife, Amanda Palmer, The Ocean at the End of the Lane has become a genuinely brilliant novel. Through this story, Gaiman conjures up those oft-forgotten worlds of magic and adventure, capturing the essence and innocence of being a child again, but also leading us to that bittersweet taste of childhood’s end. It is a wonderful and poignant tale, and worth every tug at the heart-strings.

It's an adult fairy tale, a modern day myth, and a bloody good read!

You can read a transcript of Neil Gaiman’s Q&A at the Royal Society of Literature on the 17th of June, talking about the inception of The Ocean at the End of the Lane, here.

An Evening with Neil Gaiman: Memory, Magic and Survival

The magnificent Neil Gaiman has been doing that thing again recently where he flies all around the world in a remarkably short space of time, like a novelist Father Christmas, visiting all the good bookshops and literary societies to give them the gift of his latest book: The Ocean at the End of the Lane.

I was fortunate enough to catch Gaiman on his whistle-stop tour of the UK for a Q&A at the Royal Society of Literature (and a couple of nights previously in the Apple store on Regent Street), where he discussed his first adult novel in over eight years and how it came to be. Chairing the Q&A was the Guardian's literary editor, Claire Armistead.

Tell us about The Ocean at the End of the Lane.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane is the first novel I've ever written completely, one-hundred percent entirely accidentally. Any other time I've written a novel, I've known I was going to be writing a novel, I knew what kind of a novel it was going to be, I knew the shape of the book, and then I went off and wrote it. I knew that Stardust was going to be a thin book that would feel like a fairy tale; I knew that American Gods was going to be something the size and shape of a brick, and that it would be a big, rambling thing; I knew that Anansi Boys was going to be a funny book about the length of a P.G. Wodehouse novel, because that was the kind of thing I wanted to make.

But The Ocean at the End of the Lane... It was last year and my wife, the inestimable Amanda Palmer [there's a whistle from the audience] – thank you, she is very whistle-worthy – she had gone off to Melbourne, Australia. She had gone to Melbourne to make an album, which eventually she finished, it's called Theatre is Evil, and I didn't expect really to have a problem with this. I thought, 'I'll go off and write.' And then I discovered that when your wife goes off to make an album, she winds up in another relationship with the album that she's making, that kind of excludes you. I actually understood this, because I'm pretty much like that when I'm writing a novel; I batten down the hatches and everybody else in my life just shrugs and waits for me to come back out again. But in this case I was really missing Amanda, and she was gone, she was sending me happy texts, telling me how her album was going, and that was about it... And I thought, 'I miss her. I'll write her a short story, that's what I'll do...'

Some years ago, about 2003, I bought a mini. And I really liked the mini; I loved things about it, like the fact that I was in proportion to the new minis out there, roughly the same size that I as a small boy had been to our little mini. There was a very nice consistency to that. I remember just talking with my dad – he'd come out to America – we were talking about minis. And I said: “You know, you used to have that lovely, little white mini. I loved that car. Why did you get rid of it?”
He went, “Ah. I've never told you that story, have I?”
And I said, “No. You have never told me that story.”
“Well, we had a lodger. He was South African. He'd come over from South Africa, and he'd smuggled out lots of money with him from his friends that he'd promise he'd bank for them. He had lots of money with him. He came to England, and he discovered the casino in Brighton. Initially, he lost all his money, and he only planned to dip into his friends money until he'd made all of his money back, but then he didn't have anything. He came home, stole our car, drove it down the lane and he killed himself in it.”
And I said, “What?!”
“Yep. I sold the car that afternoon. I knew your mum would never get back in it, ever again, and that was the end of that car.”

My reaction to this anecdote was not sorrow for somebody who had died, it was instead this weird seven-year-old resentment that something interesting had happened that I hadn't known about! I was the kind of kid who thought interesting things happened in books, but never happened in real life, and something had happened and I hadn't known... So that sort of sat there at the back of my head, and I kept thinking 'wouldn't it be interesting if I had known' or 'if that were a story, where would that story have gone?'

Then Amanda goes away, and I missed her, and I thought, 'you know, do a story. I'll do Amanda a story.' She doesn't really like fantasy very much, but she likes me, and I tried taking her to places I had lived before, just to show her what they look like. I kept having to go, “but this isn't actually what it was like when I lived here, because now they've built houses all over it.” So I thought, 'I'll take – not the family, but the landscape – of the world I grew up in and I will have a character who is a lot like a seven-year-old me, who lives in books a lot, and I'll set it in that landscape, and it will be a short story. Then I'll send it to Amanda, and then she'll be happy that I've done this thing for her. Then I'll get on with the real work that I'm meant to be doing while here in Florida, like writing an episode of Doctor Who that makes the Cybermen scary, and the other stuff that I'm meant to be doing.'

So that was my plan. It was a really good plan. After several weeks, I looked around and thought, 'you know, this isn't a short story. It's a novelette. They're about 10,000 words, it'll be one of those.' And somewhere in the middle of the following week I thought, 'well, it's obviously a novella.' Then I kept writing it. A few weeks later, I sent an email to my lovely editor Jane Morpeth over here, and my editor Jennifer Brehl in America saying, “I just need to warn you: I appear to be writing a novella. I have no idea what we'll do with it once it's done, but just so you know there's this thing that I'm working on.”

And then I kept writing it... Amanda finished her album... She came to Dallas to mix her album, and I flew in and spent the first couple of days sitting in coffee shops just finishing the book, and then I started typing it. Every night, I would read her what I'd written before bed, and then she'd fall asleep. I have told people that story and they go, “weren't you upset?!” I say “No!” I loved it. She'd wake up the next morning, and I'd ask her where she'd remember up to, she'd tell me and I'd start from there.

When I'd finished the end of that week, I'd finished typing my second draft, and I did a word count. I sent a very surprised email to Jane and Jennifer saying, “I appear to have accidentally written a novel.”

So that was the book. Not necessarily what was going on inside my head as things were being written, but those were the circumstances in which the book was written. It was, from my perspective, a very small, personal book, and I wasn't expecting the reactions I started to get.

I did a signing the other day in Bath, that started about nine-thirty (pm) and finished at one (am), and there were actually people coming up on stage at one o'clock in the morning saying “it's really good.”

[He reads an excerpt of the book – I won't transcribe it, you'll just have to read the book, which you should anyway, it's really bloody good.]

It's interesting that these monstrous creatures make their entry by giving away money. Is this a sort of anti-capitalist statement?!

Not really. It's much more to do with how peculiarly important money can be when you're a kid, because you don't actually have an income source. I, as a kid, was fascinated with money, because I couldn't really understand it; you got it from your parents. Sometimes you'd be really lucky and somebody would come to stay, a friend of your dad's, and they'd actually give you half a crown. Power! I could go into a sweet shop and buy everything I wanted! I could go into a bookshop and buy two books!

So I loved the idea, because we have the suicide and the suicide is driven by money, and I liked the idea of a creature who was by its own rights not evil, trying to do good by people – trying to give people what they wanted at least – giving people money in ways that possibly were not entirely the best form. So that was really where that began, and then of course as the story carried on I had to find out what it was that was giving them money, and once I had created a big – I don't want to give away too much, you've got to read the book – but you encounter relatively soon Ursula Monkton. Ursula Monkton was enormously fun to write. And she always comes with both names; occasionally she's referred to as the thing that calls itself Ursula Monkton, but I liked the idea that she was like Mary Poppins.

Mary Poppins from Hell.

Absolutely! But Mary Poppins is always Mary Poppins. She's never Miss Poppins or Mary, she's Mary Poppins. I thought, let's do one of those, but much darker. Mary Poppins is basically a sort of beneficent God that comes into the Banks children's lives. And I thought, 'what happens if the thing that comes into their life is nowhere near as beneficent?' That was the starting point for Ursula Monkton, who is a monster.

Can you tell us something about the different ways you start work on stories for children and stories for adults, and if there's ever a fork in the road where you have to decide which of the two to follow?

What a great question, and it's absolutely relevant to this one... When I started it, I had no idea. I wasn't actually categorising it as children's fiction or adult fiction, I just went “I'm writing a book, this is fun.” Actually, I didn't, I went “I'm writing a short story, this is fun.” I didn't have to worry.

As it went on, I started to have to actually think about things I'd never thought of before in terms of what makes adult fiction and what makes children's fiction. Occasionally in the margins of the notebook I was writing in, I'd leave little notes to myself. I remember writing... I don't actually remember writing it, but I do remember noticing in my handwriting the words “in adult fiction, you're allowed to leave in the boring bits.”

I think one of the things that decided me on the idea that this was adult fiction that I was writing, even more than the material because you are seeing everything from a child's eyes anyway, was the idea that in children's fiction I am perfectly happy to make villains as dark as I like, to make things as dark as I like, but I always feel that a book needs to be about hope. It has to be about ways you can cope with the darkness, ways you can deal with it. The quote from G. K. Chesterton that I made up that begins Coraline, where I say that “fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” That is the important thing about Coraline.

This is not a book necessarily about defeating dragons. Definitely not a book about telling kids they can be powerful. It's actually a book for adults who have forgotten about the powerlessness of childhood. You have your own wonderful things you can do, but you're also living in a world inhabited by giants. You've turned up in this place where you didn't even speak the language; you were definitely not issued an instruction manual or anything when you turned up. You're just here, and there's this occupying power, and they're enormous. You can't even argue with them, because they can always pick you up and move you. So I wanted to try and put that into my story as well.

One of the things that people keep saying to me about The Ocean at the End of the Lane when they've read it, is they tell me about things that they had forgotten about being a child. That made me ridiculously happy. The stuff that you forget just because you don't go there, and then you can read a book where you are taken there, and suddenly bits of your childhood that you'd completely forgotten can come back.

Let's talk a little about the farm and Lettie's family, the Hempstocks. You get an idea from that extract that she's older than she might be for an eleven year old. Where did they come from? Are they witches?

The Hempstocks began for me when I was about 8 or 9, when somebody – probably my mum – told me that there was a farm down our lane that was mentioned in the Domesday Book. So it was almost a thousand years old. As a kid it didn't occur to me that a thousand years ago the farm would have looked very different, I just assumed that this nice red-brick farm had been standing there for about a thousand years. And then I thought, wouldn't it be interesting if the people who lived there had lived there for a thousand years. And that thought never quite went away.

They were called the Hempstock family, and they had lived on the farm down the lane for about a thousand years, and they were sort of very old, very magical, and nobody ever noticed them. I liked that. As I became an adult, I kept expecting to write a story about them, but a story never turned up with them in. So every now and again, when I was writing something else, I would put one of the Hempstocks in: Daisy Hempstock turns up in Stardust; and then when I was writing The Graveyard Book, I put Lisa Hempstock – who's witchy – I thought, 'good, she's witchy, she'll be in there.'

I think, looking back on it, what I failed to notice about the Hempstocks and the reason I never wrote a story with them in, is I had never written a story set in my lane before. So suddenly, I had this idea: I'll do a story set in my lane, and my father's mini – obviously, there will be bad stuff.

What are they, are they witches? No, they're not witches. Somebody asked me last night - the screenwriter of the film of this, or the person who will be writing the script, I won't say who it is because I don't think it's been announced yet – but his first question was, “is there anything that I should be researching to understand the Hempstock family? Is there any myth you can point me to?” and I said “no.”
“Are they Pagan? Are they magical, Pagan...?”
“No. They pre-date all that. That's new-fangled stuff to them.”

I like the idea that, Old Mrs Hempstock – the oldest of them – remembers the Big Bang. Lettie claims that her duck pond is the ocean, and she says they came across it when they came from the old country, and her mother says that Lettie can't really remember properly because the really old country sank beneath the waves. And Old Mrs Hempstock says that the really old country blew up. So I loved the idea that they were just very earthy, very practical ladies, who dragged their farm half-way across the Universe from the dawn of time, ripping weird stuff up and bringing it with them, and plonked it down at the end of the lane. That's what the Hempstocks are. And they're looking after things. Quite how much they're looking after you never really know...

Certainly keeping bad things out.

Definitely keeping bad things out. They obviously have a job, and part of their job involves just making sure that bad things that come in get dealt with.

Leading on from that... In much of your work, the mythical and the modern merge and conflict. Do you feel that myths are still important in modern culture, and why? Are you creating them, are you tapping into something, or...?

I love myths. I'm a huge myth-junkie. I've loved myths since I was six years old, I may have loved them before. I remember being given a copy of Roger Lancelyn Green's Tales of the Norsemen and just going “This... is brilliant. This is so much cooler than anything else.” Then I got to the story where Loki and Thor and a kid named Thialfi take refuge for the night in a very peculiar house: it's got five branching passages and a big branching passage, they can't really make sense of the geography of it, and it turns out it's a giant's glove.

I saved up my own money, and bought a copy of Roger Lancelyn Green's Myths and Tales of Ancient Egypt...

Which appears in the book.

Which appears in the book! And I have that book still. I just loved that, I loved these animal-headed Gods, loved those stories. So I have always been fascinated by myths; I've always loved letting them drip and trickle into my fiction. There's a moment in The Ocean at the End of the Lane where our narrator is reading some myths, and he says what he likes best about myths is that they aren't for adults, and they aren't for children, they just are. That is still how I feel about them. I can go back and read old myths, I can go back to – these days I don't go back to the Roger Lancelyn Green ones, I go back to the Prose Edda or the Poetic Edda – but I can still get the same joy and thrill as I did as a kid.

There's a thing that comes out very strongly in the way that you talk about children's books in this, that they have huge, violent back-stories. The character says that he loves books about Egypt, because it's about animal-headed Gods that cut each other up and then restored each other to life.

Definitely part of the fun of myths is that nobody is particularly sugar-coating anything for anyone, and kids love terrible things happening. There's that terrifying satisfaction on the face of a kid when something really awful happens to a bad person, it's like “yes,” and you'll read like Grimm's Fairy Tales: “And the Queen was forced to wear iron shoes, and they heated until they were red hot, and they clamped them on her foot and then they made her dance until she died.” It's only when you become an adult that you start going, “oooh, that's not really very nice.”

I love that children's books run all the way through this book, and my publishers actually got in touch with me at one point because they wanted to make sure that any permissions had been gotten for the quotes from classic children's books that I had in the book, and I had to admit that I made them up.

When I was a kid, I read everything; absolutely anything I could find lying around, I would read it. But we had all of my mother's books, that my mother and my aunt read. We had books about girls who could not leave their ponies when the Nazis came. I got to make up some of those in this book, when he goes off to read them, so that was enormously fun. There's a point when you get Sandie, who has been sent off by an administrative error because she's Sandie -ie rather than Sandy with a Y, and has gone off to the wrong school, but it's all worked out very well because she's discovered that her geography teacher is a Bolshevik spy.

But there's a difference between your main character in this and those main characters, in that your main character is powerless. He doesn't fight the good fight and win, whereas the classic trope thing is that they do.

Absolutely. I'm very proud of my main character. It's true, though. He screws up a lot. Several of the things he does actually cause more bad things to happen. At one point he gets himself into deeper trouble – he does escape, a brief escape – he climbs down a drainpipe. He's learnt to climb down drainpipes because kids in books climb down drainpipes, and he feels he has an obligation.

And you've made that point, that it's not a plastic drainpipe like we have today, it's a good old solid drainpipe. There's another point you make, like you say, it's the oddest thing that we used to have gas fires in rooms. It's much odder than a witch or a ghost turning up in your room.

I think it's because I was writing the book, sitting there writing it, and I'm going “well, okay, if this thing had happened to him he would now be drying off... He'd be in the bedroom...” I kept the geography, very much, of the house and the grounds – I played with it a little bit, it's fiction, I moved things around – but basically it's pretty factual. I got to thinking that he would have done what I would have done. I would have gone into the bedroom, I would have lit a match, lit that gas fire and dried off in front of that– you know, that's really weird, the idea that you'd have a five year old and a seven year old with their own gas fire. That's kind of dangerous. In fact, looking back on it, I had a pair of red pyjamas that had a huge hole in the sleeve, and somehow managed not to drip burning plastic from nylon pyjamas that caught fire from that fireplace onto anything, except me...

And I thought, that actually seems more unlikely than anything else that I have written so far, and there's some really weird stuff in this book. So I put that in. It's just something you wouldn't do today. Wouldn't happen. I'm sure Health and Safety people would turn up at your house... With clipboards.

So you can write about horrific things as long as they're in the realm of the imagination, but as soon as it involves reality...

It was fine. I do not want anyone to think that my parents were in any way not looking after us, because this was just how it was! It was just a house that had a gas fire in the children's bedroom... So yes, I'm very good at fiction, but when it's real then that's very weird...

---

It was an absolute pleasure to listen to the writer whose work I have admired for some time discuss his latest book at length, and I found myself feeling considerably more inspired with my own writing afterwards. Gaiman's fantastic new book, The Ocean at the End of the Lane is now available from all good bookshops and online, and is absolutely well worth reading. My review of the book can be read here.