The Afterword

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  1. No, I’m not trying to attract the attention of The whole Afterword, with that title (šŸ˜‰). The two are due to meet in an episode of the upcoming Dr Who season. I thought, perhaps, The Afterword would be beside itself with excitement and love an opportunity to discuss this cultural fusion in fine detail.

    However, I tired of Dr Who (& Star Trek & Star Wars) when I became an adult (roughly 1982, since you ask, when I got a responsible job). Dr Who is a children’s show, isn’t it. It seems that many Afterworders did the same with The Beatles. Thinking about it, maybe none of us care.

    Is anybody bothered?

    • Having had 62 years of them, so far, I’m now in an ongoing state of Beatled-out-ness.
      But anyway..
      So you’ve been adulting since 1982, Tigger?
      How do you rate it?
      Personally speaking, I’ve found it a bit disappointing.
      Not at all how I imagined it as a child.

      • Well. Not great, actually, but 1982 was the year I was mature enough to have a job and a girlfriend and Dr Who didn’t interest me any more. By the time I had kids, they never took to Dr Who for some reason.

        • I grew out of Doctor Who before I was at secondary school.

          I definitely remember the John Pertwee era but very quickly jumped ship – almost the complete reversal of anyone my age, happy about that – when Tom Baker took over.

          That said, I like the two films immensely, especially the second one with Ray Brooks and Philip Madoc, and, if I can get the DVD situation together (i.e. buy a new one), I’ve a whole host of Hartnell, Troughton and early Pertwee episodes, which I bought for peanuts, to watch.

          Oh, and the “Who Is Dr. Who?” CD on rpm is absolutely brilliant, especially the pictures of Katy Manning.

  2. Doctor Who having gone all woke a few years back, the individual Beatles
    will presumably be played by black, Asian, differently abled and LGBTQIAA actors

    • That will be the first time I’d have watched it since at least the dire if it happens. When’s it on? How woke? Half-woke, I’m not interested. 100% woke with bells on? I’m in. Where? When? Don’t leave us hanging. I’d change the channel from GB News for what you’ve just described.

    • There is a photo in the link. It pays homage to With The Beatles. All four Beatles appear to be male and white but look nothing like the real ones did in 1963. Ringo seems to be the youngest. At least two of them exude weary middle age, rather than exuberant youth set to take over the world.

  3. This is where Kubrick is so useful.

    War film. – Paths of Glory.
    Dystopian-thingy end of the world blah-blah thingy. – Clockwork Orange.
    And, with regard to this thread, Sci-fi. – 2001: A Space Odyssey.
    How many hours are saved by the very occasional revisit to Stanley’s oeuvre? Bleedin’ thousands! What else is needed?

    Re: Pop Music.
    No minute is wasted recalling The Beatles.

  7. I think Justin Bieber would be a better guest on Dr Who.

    There’s a story about another Beatles guest appearance that almost happened. On Saturday Night Live Loren Michaels held up a check for $2000 and said if the Beatles would come be on the show together, he would give them that check. That night Paul happened to be visiting John at his apartment in New York. They saw the bit on TV and thought about calling for a cab to drive down to NBC to claim half the check, but they decided they were too tired.

  9. I am a great fan of Russell T Davies and the fact that he is now back working on Dr Who makes me rather keen to see it.

    He’s one of the best scriptwriters in the UK: Queer as Folk, Bob and Rose, A Very English Scandal, It’s a Sin etc.

    And what he did when he brought back Dr Who was remarkable.

    Here’s a Radio Times article outlining the changes he introduced:

    https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/doctor-who-russell-t-davies-changes-reboot/

    I was an avid watcher of Dr Who DVDs during the Eccleston/Tennant and Smith years. So much panache and campy humour.

    Since he left the show, I lost interest. But I am definitely keen what he has up his sleeve.

    The Beatles? In anyone else’s hands I would be very doubtful. In his hands, it will at very least be interesting.

      • Good question. Not out of the question @Tiggerlion. He’s 21 now and certainly likes sci fi but anime is his big thing. But he goes his own way and likes to discover things himself rather than me recommending them.

        But first I have to find a way to watch it.

        We don’t have BBC Prime so I hope it comes out eventually on DVD. I know I could create a bogus ID to lure the Beeb into believing that I lived in the UK but I’ve never had the motivation. Sloth is my middle name.

  11. Casting Taylor as the Doctorā€™s companion was ingenious, Tigger, but I have an even better idea if we are looking for a pop star. Janelle Monae as the Doctor. And Lady Gaga, Kerstin Wiig or Nikki Minaj as the companion. Imagine a reboot of the Tardis as a gigantic boob!

    Janelle can act and is wonderfully outrageous.

    Would the Been go for a graphically Sapphic Timelady??

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