Seven and Six
Seven and six isn't the price of an item from a pre-decimal shopping list, nor am I at sixes and sevens this month. Seven represents the classic BBC scifi series Blake's 7 and Six represents the 6th regeneration of Doctor Who.
June sees the birth dates of Jan Chappell and Colin Baker, seen appearing here together in the Blake's 7 episode, 'City at the Edge of the World' (1980)
Jan Chappell - 7th June 1945 (Brixton)
Jan Chappell trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Her first film role was in Ken Russell's 1971 horror drama, 'The Devils'. She has appeared in numerous popular TV shows, including 'Reilly, Ace of Spies', 'Boon', 'Lovejoy', 'New Tricks' and 'Spooks'.
The role she is best known for is that of the telepathic alien, Cally, in three series of Dalek creator Terry Nation's Blake's 7, which followed the adventures of the renegade crew of The Liberator. The show is considered a cult scifi classic. In the early 80s it attracted regular viewing figures of 10 million in the UK and was shown in 25 other countries. Cally, as played by Chappell was one of its most popular characters. She returned to her home borough of Lambeth when the walkways under the South Bank Centre were used as locations for the fictional gambling resort Freedom City in the episode entitled 'Gambit'.
She also appeared in the Doctor Who spinoff movie 'Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans' which was released on video in 1995 and also starred Doctor Who companions, Carol Ann Ford and Sophie Aldred, Michael Wisher, the original Davros, and fellow Blake's 7 actor, Brian Croucher.
Colin Baker - 8th June 1943 (Waterloo)
Colin Baker took on the role of the villain, Bayben the Destroyer, in Blake's 7's second series, appearing in several scenes alongside Chappell. Prior to that he had also appeared in 'People isn't Everything' the second episode of the short lived scifi series, 'The Adventures of Don Quick'.
Before taking over as Doctor Who from Peter Davison (also Lamberth born) he was known to fans of the show as the man who shot the Doctor. Playing an officious guard on the Doctor's home world of Gallifrey he famously shot Davison while trying to place him under arrest, leaving fans on a cliff hanger, wondering if Doctor Who might actually be dead. Luckily the next episode revealed that Baker conveniently had his gun set to 'stun'.
Baker played the Doctor from 1984 to 1986. In his first appearance he picked up a cat badge, pinned it to the lapel of his colourful outfit and stroked it for luck. It became a tradition amonst fan to send him different types of cat badges, which he duly wore on the show in acknowledgement of the gesture.
His tenure unfortunately coincided with the tenure of Michael Grade as Director General of the BBC. Grade had a dislike of Doctor Who and Baker in paricular. After placing the show on hiatus he issued an ultimatum, stating that if Baker wasn't replaced the show would be cancelled. Baker was duly replaced with Sylvester McCoy. It didn't sit too well with him and he refused to appear in the episode in which the Doctor regenerates into McCoy. A decision he later said that he regretted.
He was back playing the Doctor in 1989, taking over from Jon Pertwee in the lead role of the stage play 'Doctor Who - The Ultimate Adventure'. For each appearance he would wear a diffent cat badge from his collection as a tribute to the fans. He also played the Doctor in a number of audio episodes and wrote a Doctor Who story line for Doctor Who Magazine. He reprised his role in 'Dimensions in Time' for Children in Need in 1993 and appeared as himself, alongside Davison, McCoy and other cast members in the 50th Anniversary spoof, 'The Five Doctors-ish - Reboot'. His most recent appearance was in Jody Whittacker's last Doctor Who episode, which also featured Davison, McCoy and Paul McGann. Since 2011 he has held the position of President of the Doctor Who Appreciation Society.
Other News
I will be talking about Doctor Who comic strips and some of the writers and artists involved in them on my Dredd, Dare and the Mighty Tharg guided evening walk on Monday 10th June. You can book here.
I've also launched a Lambeth Fanstastical substack which you can subscribe to here.
Comments
Post a Comment