Terry Nation - the Top Ten Scripts

A personal choice of Terry Nation's ten best scripts, listed in chronological order:

The Saint: 'The Inescapable Word' (1965)
'It destroys all life, but leaves no trace of radiation. The classic death ray.'

The Baron: 'Countdown' (1967)
'Latin? I speak it with a fluency which can only come from a very superior English education.'

The Avengers: 'Legacy of Death' (1968)
'When it was known that your friend Steed had inherited the knife, men gathered like birds of carrion from the four corners of the Earth. Avid, covetous, rapacious, all desperate to own that cursed blade.'

Department S: 'A Cellar Full of Silence' (1969)
'Do you remember that devastating explosion that Mark Caine was involved in, in Epilogue to Hong Kong, after pursuing that beautiful blonde, Hussy Abundant, halfway round the world, and it was the explosion that blew her wig off and he realized it was a man?'

The Persuaders!: 'A Death in the Family' (1972)
'Are all the Sinclairs buried here?'
'No. Only the dead ones.'

The Incredible Robert Baldick: 'Never Come Night' (1972)
'He cannot resist the inexplicable. Almost any happening qualifies for his interest as long as it is out of the ordinary.'

The House in Nightmare Park (1973)
'Do I play the piano? Does Paganini play the trumpet?'

Doctor Who: 'Genesis of the Daleks' (1975)
'They talk of democracy, freedom, fairness. Those are the creeds of cowards, the ones who will listen to a thousand viewpoints and try to satisfy them all. Achievement comes through absolute power. And power through strength.'

Survivors: 'The Fourth Horseman' (1975)
'There was a state of emergency declared, but it was too late. There was nobody left to implement it. They even tried to set up a seat of government in the country. There was no hope of that, of course. The administrators died along with the rest of them.'

Blake's 7: 'Countdown' (1979)
'It happens to be the truth. If there had ever been a time when I could have given my own life to save her, I would have done it. The only grain of consolation that I have is that Anna knew that.'

Terry Nation reviews

There have been a couple of reviews of The Man Who Invented the Daleks in the press, which is very nice. Here's Roger Lewis in the Daily Mail and Andrew Martin in the Financial Times.

SFX review

I can't find a copy of it online, but the current issue of SFX magazine has a nice review by Russell Lewin of The Man Who Invented the Daleks. Four stars, he gives it, and says that 'It's a book SFX readers should love'. I hope he's right.

PS The review can be found here.

First reviews - continued

As I understand it, my book on Terry Nation is not yet available (though advance orders are bieng taken by Amazon), but there are another couple of reviews I'd like to record. The one I mentioned earlier by Paul Magrs has been joined by comments from Lance Parkin and Paul Connell. Thanks to all.

Mail on Sunday

My forthcoming book on Terry Nation, The Man Who Invented the Daleks, is featured in today's Mail on Sunday. Which is very nice of them. And indeed of Tom Daniels, who wrote the piece - my thanks to him.

British Politics Review

The British Politics Society - who are based in Norway - publish a quarterly newsletter titled British Politics Review. And the new issue, just posted online, has some good material in it. As well as an article by me about exporting British rock and roll to America.

First review

Another year, another book. Not quite yet, of course, but in a couple of months my book about Terry Nation should be available. And in the meantime, my thanks to Paul Magrs for posting the first review.

Books of the Year 2

From the Sunday Times, 28 November 2010, on the subject of Rejoice! Rejoice! Britain in the 1980s:

'Among a host of recent books on the 1980s, Turner's stands out as comfortably the most entertaining. From long-forgotten one-hit wonders to episodes of Hi-De-Hi!, from the antics of Ian Botham to the disasters of Heysel and Hillsborough, he gives us a panoramic portrait of a country caught beween old and new. The dominant figure is, of course, Margaret Thatcher, and Turner's political analysis is balanced and shrewd.'

If I knew then what I know now

When I wrote Crisis? What Crisis?, my book about the 1970s, I drew a comparison between the BBC TV adaptation of I, Claudius and the leadership struggle within the Labour Party following the resignation of Harold Wilson. The victor of that contest was James Callaghan, who I identified as Claudius, Old King Log, the man who came through the competing factions despite circumstances being against him.

And a couple of people reckoned that, even in a book awash with fanciful comparisons, this was a bit too fanciful.

But I've just been reading Jack Kibble-White & Steve Williams's excellent The Encyclopaedia of Classic Saturday Night Television and in their entry for Look - Mike Yarwood they mention a sketch he did called I, Callaghanus.

I don't remember that sketch. And I'm not sure whether I'm annoyed that my comparison isn't original, or pleased that my judgement is vindicated. But anyway, I wish I'd known, because I would surely have mentioned it.

Books of the Year

It's the time of year when the great and good get to nominate their books of the year in the more serious periodicals. Having never it on to any such list, I'm hugely excited by Dominic Sandbrook in the New Statesman, who names Tim Pears's Landed and Craig Brown's Lost Diaries, and adds:

'I also loved Alwyn Turner's splendid Rejoice! Rejoice! Britain in the 1980s, which not only re-creates the weird world of the Falklands war, the miners' strike, alternative comedy and the Filofax, but finds room for Mike Gatting, Zola Budd and To the Manor Born.'

Since I don't write for such august publications, I don't have the chance of reciprocation, but I would take the opportunity to say that Mr Sandbrook's State of Emergency is the only new book I've actually bought this year, which is as big a tribute as I can pay it. Normally I wait for books to turn up in charity shops, but I was keen to read his account of the Ted Heath years in Britain. And damn fine it is too.

Trash Fiction

I have to confess that I don't take the Sun every day, and consequently I often miss out on big breaking stories. So it was only when going through some old copies of the newspaper that I came across the fact that on 24 November 2006 they were kind enough to nominate my Trash Fiction as website of the week:

'A glorious celebration of those tacky exploitation paperbacks from the Sixties and Seventies, as well as TV and movie novelisations. Saucy, tasteless and truly astonishing they got published. Marvel at the covers - and that anyone bought them!'

That's very sweet of them. I shall endeavour to keep abreast of the paper more often.

Rights Statement

This is what publishers call a rights statement, and what the rest of us call a press release:

"Sam Harrison of Aurum has acquired The Man Who Invented the Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation by Alwyn W. Turner.

"Terry Nation was one of the most successful, prolific and celebrated writers for popular television that Britain has ever produced. His science fiction series Survivors and Blake’s 7, from the late-1970s, have been durable cult and critical hits, one being re-made thirty years on and the other constantly rumoured for return, while his villainous creations the Daleks ensured, and at times eclipsed, the success of Doctor Who.

"Scheduled for Spring 2011, The Man Who Invented the Daleks will focus on Nation’s work in the 1960s and 1970s, charting a career that also saw him join the legendary Associated London Scripts, become chief writer for a troubled Tony Hancock and play a key role in hit international adventures series such as The Avengers, The Saint and The Persuaders!.

"Sam Harrison said: ‘In his acclaimed histories Crisis? What Crisis? and Rejoice! Rejoice! Alwyn has proven himself one of the most stylish and authoritative writers on British popular culture working today. In drawing together the various strands of Terry Nation’s life and career, this book will offer a captivating window onto the creative melting pot without which British television today would look very different.’

"Anyone who knew and wishes to share their memories of Terry Nation can contact the author at: alwyn@alwynwturner.com "