This weekend, my wife and I watched “The Evil of the
Daleks.” While only Episode 2 of this
seven-part serial remains, the Loose Cannon production team reconstructed the
missing episodes by matching the existing audio tracks with photographs,
computer generated animation, and even some of their own live-action
video. They also included some
interviews with actor Sonny Caldinez, the sixth Doctor Colin Baker, and writer
John Peel on the DVD.
Sonny Caldinez, a big actor with a warm smile and a deep
laugh, related some of his favorite memories from his acting career. For the British TV series “Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle,” he played a mummy in the story “Lot 249.” This episode was based on Doyle’s 1892 short
story “Lot No. 249,” about an Oxford student who reanimates an Egyptian
mummy. According to Wikipedia, this is
the first time in history a writer portrayed a reanimated mummy as a “sinister,
predatory figure.”
Sonny remembered riding along in a bus to a pub, where the
rest of the crew went inside to eat their lunch. He had been told he couldn’t eat, as the
production team didn’t want to spend another three hours redoing his
makeup. But he got tired of sitting on
the bus, so he decided to make “a grand entrance.” He threw open the pub door, and as it slammed
into the wall, he staggered inside. To
his delight, the diners seated closest to the door, who were not involved in
the production, reacted to the mummy’s entrance with screams and cries of
alarm. Unfortunately, the prosthetics
covering his lower jaw fell off. So he
ended up eating lunch, and spending another three hours in the makeup chair
that afternoon.
Many writers yearned to write a Dalek novel for “Doctor Who,”
but Terry Nation, who created the monsters for the TV show, always refused to
grant them permission. In his interview,
John Peel related how he finally gained Nation’s trust, and started writing
books about the Daleks, including novelizations of Doctor Who stories, such as
“Evil of the Daleks.” Eventually, Nation
granted him permission to write some original Dalek adventures.
I particularly like what Terry Nation told him in regard to
the novelization of “The Dalek Masterplan.”
This first-Doctor story was twelve episodes long, so John Peel called
him up and mentioned that he was wondering whether he should write it as two
short novels or one long novel. When
Nation asked him his preference, Peel said, “Two novels.” When Nation then asked him why, Peel said,
“Because it means two advances instead of one.”
Terry Nation laughed. “Now,” he proclaimed, “you’re thinking like a
writer!”
This morning I finished the hardcopy revisions for a chapter
of my dragon novel I started working on last Friday. This afternoon, I’ll put those into the
computer. For the most part, I’m
concentrating on dialogue, grammar, and story logic during this pass. I’m also writing down thoughts for the next
pass, when I plan to concentrate mostly on the concepts and characters. I feel as if I’m progressively refining and
enriching my story, as if I’m building it up, layer by layer. I know it’s not right yet, but I believe I
can shape it into a form I’ll be proud of. I just wish I could work faster, finish the novel
more quickly. Maybe, on the next novel,
I can try a different methodology that’ll speed up the process. Or maybe this is the fastest pace I’m capable
of. I just know that I won’t be content
until I’m publishing at least one novel a year.
I may never write a story as influential as Arthur Conan
Doyle’s “Lot No. 249.” I may never
create a character or race as beloved as Terry Nation’s Daleks. Still, I’m doing my best to “think like a
writer,” and finish my first dragon novel, so that I can sell it (and
hopefully, get an offer for a couple more books).
Dragon Dave
