Episode 77
I Know Very Little About Telebiogenesis
Sunday 12 June 2016
We said goodbye to Tom last week, and so this week all four of us are here to discuss Pete’s first story, set on a delightfully bucolic planet in the Phylox series. Time to dress up like a cricketer and lock yourself in a small cupboard — it’s Castrovalva.
Buy the story!
Castrovalva was released on DVD in 2007. In the US, it was available on its own (Amazon US), but, again, in the UK and Australia, it was part of the New Beginnings box set, which also included The Keeper of Traken and Logopolis (Amazon UK).
Notes and links
Famously, Bidmead was inspired to write this story by M. C. Escher’s 1930 lithograph Castrovalva.
Arthur Rackham was an illustrator of children’s books in the early 20th century. Edith Nesbit, more of whom in a few weeks, wrote children’s books at about the same time, including The Railway Children and Five Children and It.
We first mentioned the Bechdel Test in Episode 27. Does this story feature a scene where two named women have a discussion that isn’t about a man?
We’ve mentioned it a couple of times before, and it’s just excellent, so we’ll mention it again: Blue Box Boy, in which Matthew Waterhouse tells the story of his childhood as a Doctor Who fan, his time on the show, and his subsequent life on the convention circuit. (Amazon US) (Amazon UK) (Amazon AU)
Like Todd, you can impress your friends with an encyclopedic knowledge of Doctor Who’s ratings throughout history by consulting this handy guide on the Doctor Who News website.
Famously, Bill Oddie from The Goodies invented string; while The Goons invented two pieces of string.
Richard compares Castrovalva to the short story The Circular Ruins, written by Argentine magic realist author Jorge Luis Borges and published in 1940.
Fans of Peter Davison’s superb Antony Ainley impression will enjoy his audiobook version of Castrovalva. (Audible US) (Audible UK) (Audible AU)
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Brendan is on Twitter as @brandybongos, Nathan is @nathanbottomley, Todd is @toddbeilby, and Richard is @RichardLStone. The Flight Through Entirety theme was arranged by Cameron Lam. You can follow the podcast on Twitter at @FTEpodcast.
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Doctor Who in 10 Seconds
Fans of lightning-fast summaries of the stories of the William Hartnell Era will enjoy Doctor Who in 10 Seconds, in which the lovely Brendan summarises Doctor Who stories with considerable wit, verve and rhythm. And you even get to see him dance in the outtakes. Enjoy the spectacle by subscribing on YouTube.
Bondfinger
Our tenth commentary track on the Bond films is now up: it’s The Man with the Golden Gun. Okay, it’s not the best Bond film (be quiet, Nathan), but it’s quite a Rogertaining episode of Bondfinger. Other commentaries are also available, starting with Dr. No and even including the inexplicable 1967 film Casino Royale. You can find these commentaries on our website, and you can keep up with all the Bondfinger news on Twitter and Facebook.