Lessons Not Learned - The Video Nasties

Been quite a while since I've done one of these, but it's time to take a look back at another case of when things went tits up in the film industry, and what lessons were utterly failed to be learned from it.  Now usually with these I look at what Hollywood and such didn't take to heart from the mess, but this time, the lessons in question weren't learned by society in general, and indeed it's just one case of a very familiar song and dance, one that we're seeing quite a few versions of play out at the moment, just with different singers and dancers.  So we're heading back to the eighties, but not the neon lit cool tourist version of nostalgia, but the bleak and horrible reality; Stranger Things, this is not.  MUSIC!

It's the End... but the Moment has been prepared for.

So, not the best of Doctor Who news, huh?

Now before I start, the absence of a horrible, almost certainly AI generated, cover or thumbnail should tell you that no, this isn't going to be one of those articles playing armchair TV executive trying to analyse the reasons why this decision was made, and it's DEFINITELY not going to say it's because of "woke".  (Erg!  What's really galling about all of those is the fact it's clear that the makers have no idea what woke is meant to mean, it's just a noise of disapproval for them!)  Also, even though these are the thoughts of someone who went through what I guess we now have to call "The Original Wilderness Years", this isn't going to be me dictating how you should feel about the whole thing, no "MAN UP"s here.  It's a shock to many of us, a time of confusion, of scary uncertainty, I get that entirely, it's something to take in.  What this is going to be is just my tuppence worth, what lessons we could learn from the last time the series entered a hiatus, and where to find hope for the future.  Let's dig in, shall we...

How many seconds are there in the Wilderness Years?

October Horror Movie Challenge 2025 - Fundraising Begins!

Yes. IT'S TERRORRRRR TIME AGAIN!!!!

The thing that will not die from the depths of the IMDB message boards, the October Horror Movie Challenge, will return once more in a month's time, and I'm telling you about it now because, by doing a bit of good nice and early, you can have a big influence on how it all goes.

Just One More Thing... - The Adventures of Kal-El of Krypton Across the Phantom Zone

 So, that new Superman movie is pretty damn good huh?

Honestly, the newly reformed DC Studios couldn't have had a better title for a relaunch.  Fun, thrilling, gorgeous to look at, a perfect course correction for portraying Supes on screen.  Plus, the fact it's pissing off so many of the right wing online is ideal for me.  (They are probably extra angry that they are portrayed as :REDACTED FOR SPOILER: even though it's pretty damn spot on.)  However, musing about it, I realised that this film actually borrows an interesting narrative trick that's only been used a few times before, one that's adds an interesting little meta layer to proceedings.  To explain what I mean, let's look back some four decades and change to a sci-fi film that was somewhat less successful at the box office than Superman currently is; namely The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across The 8th Dimension.

I swear, I actually do have a good point to make with this!

October Horror Movie Challenge 2024

Cue the song!

Time once more for the thing from the depths of the old IMDb message boards that just refuses to die, like some Jason Voorhees knock-off, The October Horror Movie Challenge.  The rules as always are very simple; across the 31 days of October, watch at least 31 horror movies, and of those at least half, so 16 or more, must be ones you are watching for the first time.  Well, I have a huge stack of titles to see, almost all of which will be first time viewings.  I’ve got a bunch of older classics, some Euro horror rarities, a big stack of video nasties, and more to go through in a semi-randomised order.  

Also, as you can see, I''ll be watching these with some new friends.

Whovember - 2020 to 2023

Our last Whovember!  What a journey it’s been, looking across sixty years of this remarkable franchise, with bits and pieces from so many forms of media!  Let’s wrap up with another TV episode and a pair of boxsets from Big Finish…

Whovember - 2017 to 2020

Two days left, and three years apiece, we’ve in the home stretch!  We’re into the Chibnall years, and before I carry on, I will say that I like Jodie’s era overall, there’s plenty to love in here.  I can get the writing not being to everyone’s taste, but I won’t say it’s better or worse than parts of the Davies or Moffat eras, just different.  Besides, if you want to see bad Who writing, go watch the depths of Eric Saward’s time as script editor.  Anyway, besides the point, let’s get into these choices…

Whovember - 2013 to 2017

Another bumper crop for Whovember today to make up for lost time, four more years today, and three each Wednesday and Thursday, let’s jump right on in…

Whovember (delayed!) - 2009 to 2013

Sorry folks, got a bit behind; hit by a stinker of a cold Friday night (as did EVERYONE at work!), just about over it now (I can actually… think now).  Plus, what lucid time I did have was taken up by raving about The Star Beast (Wasn't it great?).  So, making up for lost time, the next few days, I’m going to cover four years in each of the remaining blog posts, which will take us up to 60 by the 30th.  So, let’s jump right in with…

Whovember 23: 2007 to 2009

Today’s the anniversary day!  A fine Wholiday for us all!  Not long now until an all new age begins...

We still have sixteen years to cover before we’re done, so let’s jump right into things; firstly, I am going to be taking one more little peak at the comic strip, followed by another range from Big Finish…

Whovember 22: 2005 to 2007

Into the Tennant Years now.  I should mention that though we have the TV series back on and regularly, I will still be having stuff from the various spin-offs on here too, as Big Finish and such didn’t just go “oh well, that’s Who covered, never mind, pack up lads” when the series started, they instead upped their game.  Plus, do you really need yet another analysis of Blink on the Internet?  So I thought I might focus on a few other things going on too, stuff that might be a bit overshadowed by TV Who, let’s do a little bit of redressing the balance.  So then, we’ll start with a Tennant episode, before moving onto a different season opener, broadcast not on BBC One, but on Radio 7 (what Radio 4 Extra used to be called).

Whovember 21: 2003 to 2005

So, here we are with the start of New Who!  A whole new era, bringing in a new generation of fans... and a lot of whining from older fans, naturally.  Yeah, no hobby is immune from old men yelling at clouds.  But anyway, let's look at this turning point, with one of the last truly great stories to come out of the Wilderness Years, followed by looking inside number nine...

Whovember 20: 2001 to 2003

We’re hitting the 40th anniversary today; both momentous in itself, but also for what happened during that year, when in the corridors of power at the Beeb, a great decision was made.  But before that, let's look at a story that, though only on audio, has profoundly influenced one of the series’ star monsters.

Whovember 19: 1999 to 2001

 Oooh, I’ve been looking forward to this one, as I now get to talk about Big Finish, yay!  Now they actually got started a few years earlier with their Bernice Summerfield ones, and they did their first fully licenced Who ones in 1999, here we’ll be looking at their first two full years of the main monthly range of audios.

Whovember 18: 1997 to 1999

This is exciting, as today we get to look at some actual televised Doctor Who from the era, and also it’s the first time in this list I’m going to be talking about a very influential strand of spin off media, the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip.  Again, I’m going to be talking in reverse order about these years, to allow for some spoiler space, so let’s dig into the first TV episode of Doctor Who by Steve Moffat…

Whovember 17: 1995 to 1997

Today we’re covering an interesting time in fandom, as these years include the TV Movie being broadcast.  I won’t be covering it in here, but I will be talking about plenty of Eighth Doctor stuff later on.  I’ll just say that the TV Movie’s biggest mistake was trying to have so much of the show’s “lore” in the plot, as Who has never been about that, and it makes the film a terrible place for a new viewer to start, something that should have been the main goal.  Still, there is a lot to like in there, and it did lead to an interesting new age of Who spin-off fiction; speaking of…

Whovember Part 16: 1993 to 1995

I’m going to do something a bit weird today, I’m actually going to talk about my Year 32 choice, then my year 31 choice.  Why?  Well, with Year 31, I’m picking one of my favourite New Adventures, but the problem with it as a story is that it’s really hard to talk about without having to reveal a bit of a spoiler, so by putting them the other way around, I can add in a bit SPOILER SPACE section for the book.  Right, after my usual case of making things too complicated for myself, let’s dig into my choices.

Whovember 15: 1991 to 1993

We’re covering Who’s Thirtieth Anniversary year this time, which means we’re past the halfway mark!  Let’s jump on into another New Adventure, and then tune in to Radio 2…

Whovember 14: 1989 to 1991

 A major turning point, we are into The Wilderness Years, so as such, I think it appropriate to set my stall out early…

Thanks Randy.  Now then, let’s look at the tail end of Classic Who, and an early gem from where the franchise went next…

Whovember Part 13: 1987 to 1989

We’re coming to the end of Classic Who, there’s only one more small bit to cover after today before the end of the series, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves, let’s look at today’s choices.