Terry Nation - The Man Who Invented The Daleks

[Monster X]

Currently listening to the audio version of Alwyn W. Turner's Terry Nation biography (2013). 

Not bad at all so far - only got up to the pre-Who years, yet it's still a fascinating look at the early '60s British comedy scene .

Anybody else here read this?

[burrunjor]

I've read it. It's great. The most shocking moments involve Tony Hancock (not surprisingly) as well as a confrontation between Nation and Whittaker.

[Monster X]

Jun 8, 2021 13:13:42 GMT burrunjor said:

I've read it. It's great. The most shocking moments involve Tony Hancock (not surprisingly) as well as a confrontation between Nation and Whittaker.

Thanks, burrunjor, glad you liked it. I'm also quite a fan of Tony Hancock, so I'm looking forward to that particular part of the book.

However, when I read 'a confrontation between Nation and Whittaker' -  I couldn't help but foolishly imagine the following:

"So tell us, Terry, 'ow did ya come up wi' t'Daleks?"

"I had seen the Georgian State Dancers - the girls who move with long skirts and appear not to move - they just glide. That was the kind of image I wanted to get"

" Eee, so you subjected them poor dancing girls to your white male gaze?"  

(My apologies to the memory of David Whittaker, TV script editor and writer extraordinaire). 

[burrunjor]

Jun 8, 2021 19:33:48 GMT Monster X said:

Jun 8, 2021 13:13:42 GMT burrunjor said:

I've read it. It's great. The most shocking moments involve Tony Hancock (not surprisingly) as well as a confrontation between Nation and Whittaker.

Thanks, burrunjor, glad you liked it. I'm also quite a fan of Tony Hancock, so I'm looking forward to that particular part of the book.

However, when I read 'a confrontation between Nation and Whittaker' -  I couldn't help but foolishly imagine the following:

"So tell us, Terry, 'ow did ya come up wi' t'Daleks?"

"I had seen the Georgian State Dancers - the girls who move with long skirts and appear not to move - they just glide. That was the kind of image I wanted to get"

" Eee, so you subjected them poor dancing girls to your white male gaze?"  

(My apologies to the memory of David Whittaker, TV script editor and writer extraordinaire). 

The Hancock bit is pretty f*cking shocking I should warn you LOL. I always knew he was a difficult man, but not to that extent. It is interesting the way that he and Nation had such a strong friendship though. Nation seems to have been the one who stuck with him during difficult times more than any other, but sadly Hancock's erratic nature eventually drove him away too. 

Terry Nation and David Whittaker have a fight over the direction the Daleks should go in. Best thing was it wasn't even over the tv show. It was over a comic book! It shows you how much they cared about those characters and in telling good sci fi stories back then, as opposed to now where as that parody Chibnall pointed out, the writers probably name monsters after the sound their phone makes. "PTING!"