TV Gold

Thinking that there is volcanic action in the June 2006 release of 'Inferno' made me think of the story I was watching late yesterday afternoon.

A particular favourite of mine, Peter Davison's penultimate tale 'Planet of Fire' set on the volcanic active island of Lanzaroti, which doubles for itself plus the planet of Sarn.

Love the plot reveal points of Turlough's past (e.g. Malkon is my brother, my father's ship crashed on this planet), the fate of the Master (very small in a 'control box') and also Turlough's heroric life-saving of incoming companion Peri. It's a good performance from Nicola Bryant in her first story standing up to her uncle and then the Master/Kamelion. It's a good way to send off the troublesome, rarely seen robotic companion, shame he doesn't crop up in a Big Finish audio or two. Oh yeah and Peter Wynguard as Timanov, chief elder of the Sarns plays his character well.

Could make a good DVD release, maybe with a location visit/location history extra amongst the bonus features.

Following a recent viewing of Peter Davison?s penultimate ?Planet of Fire? story I looked around the library the other day for information about the tropically arid island Lanzarote that was used, to great effect, to represent itself and the distant planet Sarn distinctively enriching the desolate rather primitive feel of the environments detailed in the script of this 1984 four-parter. Although much varied use of location sites are used throughout its entire length there is, for me, one scene shot on location that remains in my memory above all others.

For those familiar with this tale you might recall one of the first scenes between Sarn elder Timanov (Peter Wyngarde) and his young and uncertain follower Malkon (Edward). From their high vantage point the two look out on the spectacularly vast vista beyond with the intended alien feel of the scene further strengthened by haunting instrumental music (stock music composed by J.Leach and ?From Other Lands No. 12? published by Music de Wolfe Ltd, and the track used is band seven, ?Zapateado?, from side one, ?Spain?) as the learned, deeply religious figure attempts to reassure his tribe?s new ?chosen one? regarding his duties as leader of their people. For me this (and the brief pre-conversation interior shot) is probably the most captivating, distinctive and memorable scene of the entire story and, having learnt that this particular location is called ?Mirador del Rio?, my thumbing through the bookcases came up with the following two extracts:-

Taken from page 23 of ?Landscapes of Lanzarote? by Noel Rochford (ISBN:1-85691-100-4):

?A porthole window set in a stone wall enclosing the car park is all that gives away the Mirador del Rio, built on the site of a 16thh-century watchtower. This well-camouflaged viewpoint is embedded in the top of the Risco (Cliff) de Famar. From here you look straight out over the Rio channel onto the bare and barren ? yet strangely beautiful ? Graciosa Island, which sits just below. This is a view unequalled on Lanzarote, and one of the best vistas in all the Canaries.?

A slightly longer paragraph came from pages 30-31 of ?Nelles Pocket Lanzarote? (ISBN:3-88618-777-2):

?From the terrace of the panorama restaurant Mirador del Rio, designed in 1973 by Manrique, you can enjoy another interesting perspective. The restaurant is cleverly built into the rock and is, on first glance, not recognizable as such. Its construction was celebrated in the architectural world of the time as a brilliant achievement. Crowds of visitors still flock to this modern 497-meter-high eagle?s eyrie, with its impressive interior decoration. Amongst the decorations are works of art that could only have been created with great effort and under difficult technical conditions. Through the panorama window or from the windy terrace outside, you have an extraordinary view of Salinas del Rio, an abandoned saltworks, as well as the uninhabited islands of Montana Clara, Roque del Oueste and La Alegranza and to the east ? Roque del Este, all of which are nature reserves that are protected by the government.?

Hope this is of some interest...

I'd really like to see The Keys of Marinus get a dvd release.
I'd love to have a commentary from the surviving cast members-I think it's a highly under-rated story, and it deals with quite a lot of emotional subjects-including the unwanted advances by the trapper towards Babs.

I'd also love The Mind of Evil to get an airing-although I read on Ian Levine's forum that someone has found some old films of studio scenes from this story-I don't know wether to believe it or not, but it would certainly make a good extra imo.

So the original plan was to release a Peter Davison story instead of 'The Mark of the Rani' which came into the schedules at short notice due to Davison being unable to contribute to recording a commentary.

It is undoubtedly understandable why the Restoration Team should delay a Davison release for such a reason if you listen again, as I did last night, to commentaries like the one that can be found of 'Earthshock'. A fairly dull, mostly slow moving Cyber story which thanks to the input of messers Davison, Waterhouse, Sutton and Fielding had me rolling around my settee in fits of laughter . What a pleasantly enjoyable evening (Monday 9th October) was with these four people!