Old Favourites

Currently watching a Doctor Who episode, dating back to 1975. Not quite from before I was born ...

Like when watching Blakes 7 again, it's curious to see what time has done to these old shows. A good story always depends on the writing behind it. What tends to date are the machines that make up the backgrounds. Things like CRT screens and open reel magnetic tape drives. Big mechanical switches instead of keyboards, trackballs and touch screens.

One thing we've seen with the latest Doctor Who series is their occasional tipping of the hat towards the older series. Things like Daleks with force field shields and the ability to fly. Oh, there's also how one of them dealt with being hit by a paintball gun :-)

Memorable line - "This is not war. This is Pest Control" - Dalek to Cyberman.

The current episode on at the moment is Revenge of the Cybermen, from 1975. One thing I've spotted is the faking of a miniature screen - the sets and outfits look a little dated but you can mostly ignore that by keeping your eye on the story.

One of my favourite authors is Robert Heinlein, who had the rare gift shared by the best sci-fi authors of making the technology a secondary support to the main story instead of being the primary focus. The best authors always work on strong characters and Heinlein writes some of the strongest. He sometimes appears dated, by mentioning tapes and punch cards but again that's what was known in the day. The important stuff like planetary orbital physics, biology and sociology are all present and totally correct, if a little opinionated.

Why watch and read the old stuff ? Things like the early Doctor Who and Heinlein are things that I'm a little too young for. The book I'm reading at the moment, Time Enough For Love, was written a year before I was born and contains such gems as :

"Money is a powerful aphrodisiac. But flowers work just as well."
"Be wary of strong drink, it may make you shoot at tax collectors ... and miss."
"Never underestimate the power of human stupidity."
"Never try to outstubborn a cat."
"Natural laws have no pity."
"A generation which ignores history has no past - and no future."

I'm currently re-reading Time Enough For Love and having a second look now that I've read a lot more of Heinlein's Lazarus Long books. I stayed up far too late last night reading the Tale Of The Adopted Daughter, which makes up a hundred or so pages of the middle. It's one of the few passages that can draw an honest tear, firstly due to the fate of Buck but mostly due to inevitable conclusion to the tale. It's the story of the love between a man who for all intents and purposes lives forever and the adopted daughter who has a far more normal lifespan. He knows what he's getting in to when he agrees to stay with Dora but stays with the adopted daughter for love. Including leaving his settlement with Dora to set out as pioneers because that's the only way they can be open and honest about their relationship and age.

There's more in the book - and it's a very worthy read if you can find it. Our booksellers nowadays seem to like ignoring that last Heinlein statement above, by ignoring the older books.

Right - back to Doctor Who and a bit more chilling out :-) I'm off work next week, taking a spell away from the office. I'm pretty tired at the moment, so this will be a welcome rest and recharge. I'm also hoping to watch the end of the Olympics tomorrow. Britain have done really well over there, it's just a shame that the schedules haven't really been compatible with viewers in the UK.