Time Lore Addendum

Available on the Geek Syndicate Network, Time Lore Addendum is a semi-regular Monthly podcast hosted by David Monteith, assisted by myself.

In the 'cast (banner designed by me!), we review Doctor Who stories produced by Big Finish Audio Adventures set in and around the Television stories being discussed in the main Time Lore podcast.

The Classic Series (1963-1989, 1996)

One of my earliest television memories is of Doctor Who. I recall a scene in which Peter Davison, as the fifth incarnation of the wandering Time Lord stood on a mist-filled plain, said something to an off-screen opponent then pressed a button on a small device in his right hand and vanished from sight.

Years later, my brother bought The Five Doctors on VHS Video Cassette and as I watched it, the scene I remembered unfolded before my eyes. Skip to 02:40 in the following video to see the scene:

Most people have the Doctor they grew up with as their favourite. I am not really an exception to this as MY Doctor was the Seventh - played by Sylvester McCoy from 1987-1989. That said, I firmly believe that the BEST Doctor was the second, Patrick Troughton.

He had the enormous task of replacing a principle in a successfull TV show and really, the future of the show was balanced on his shoulders. Patrick Troughton is still the defining Doctor in my eyes.

The New Series (2005 - ????)

In 2005, Doctor Who returned to the television screen headed by Welsh writer Russell T Davies and with Christopher Eccleston playing the role of The Doctor. The series proved to be a massive success and Davies ran the show until 2009 after four series and a series of special episodes.

Writer Steven Moffat (creator of comedy Coupling and lead writer / showrunner on the recent Jekyll series and Sherlock Holmes) took over as show-runner in 2010. In my opinion, the series has gone from strong to stronger since his tenure began.

The Next Level

Available on the Geek Syndicate Network, The Next Level is a podcast that generally airs every fortnight. It is hosted by Amaechi Oduah with myself and Barry Nugent on co-host duties.

In this podcast, we cover recent gaming news, look at upcoming releases and review the games we have each been playing. Every other episode or so, we discuss one specific element of the gaming world, such as recent conventions or awards ceremonies or particularly important news items.

Console Gaming

I am one of those people whose house contains a number of consoles. We have X-Box 360s, a Playstation 4, Wii together with older consoles like the Nintendo Gamecube and Nintendo 64. My XBOX Live gamer card is presented below:

On consoles, I enjoy Action-Adventure games, Shooters and Roleplay games. Favourites include Mass Effect 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum and the Zelda series.

I also own a Nintendo 3DS which is proving to be a fun hand-held. While the 3D effect works great, I find the implementation on some games a little distracting at times.

Desktop PC Gaming

I also game on the good old PC. On this format I enjoy indepth and open world Roleplay Games, Strategy Games and God Sims in addition to Flight Sims.

My current computer is probably getting to the point where it needs serious upgrade or replacement but runs The Witcher 2 without too many complaints.

The Noble Outlaw

The stories of the outlaw that we currently know and love - of an unjustly outlawed Saxon robbing from the rich, giving to the poor and defeating the machinations of King John and the Sheriff of Nottingham is a far cry from the character presented in the early ballads.

In some instances, the hero of old takes excessively violent action against his foes - for example in the only ballad to feature "Guy of Gisbourne" Robin defeats the bounty hunting knight, then chops his head off and disfigures it so much that not even Guy's mother would recognise him!

There is little "robbing from the rich to give to the poor" either. Usually, the outlaw band enrich themselves rather than the poor folk in the area - and since they can afford to loan the princely sum of £400 to an honest knight then the outlaws themselves could not be considered poor!

It seems that just resisting injustice and cocking a snook at authority was originally enough for an outlaw to be seen as a hero. Over the years, as mentalities have changed, Robin has evolved to suit and this is why the Legend is so enduring.

Fact or Fiction?

If I'm honest with myself, I think that the Robin of the ballads and stories as an individual is complete fabrication. However I do believe that the exploits of other real people may well have informed the ballads and even the evolution of the legend itself.

To my mind, Robin is an ideal from a time gone by - much as King Arthur and even The Doctor have come to represent something greater than humanity normally offers and yet to which it can aspire and even achieve. I hope that there is a spark of Hood in all of us.