Tony Gallichan is Mildly Perturbed by... Twenty Six Years
Who is the Distant Stranger?
A gloomy February.
I've listened to Genesis of the Daleks. I've listened to BBC Space Themes. I did the same back last year when the Lesiure Hive started. My stepfather is sound asleep in the armchair. He's waiting for a friend. A friend who likes a drink..... My mum doesn't approve - somewhat hypocritical of her, to be honest. The tape is cued up and ready - no nonsense with the title music, just a 'Father? Where are you?' and then a quick burst of Howell-around...
Mr %^&*) is here - don't let him in, DON'T let him in!
That last can be very clearly heard on the tape...I know, I still have it, lol.
So, February the 28th, 1981 - almost twenty six years to the day of this update. Yup, it was gloomy and overcast. And yeah, I was sitting there in antici......
pation. The Radio Times hadn't exactly been helpful, to be honest. And DWM had spoken about Heath Death...was an area of grass going to cop it? I only found out later that was a missprint, lol. Then there was what had happened the last two Saturdays. The Saturday before last had seen Dr Who end and me get straight onto the phone to my best mate saying...er..actually, now I think about it, yelling, 'Did you see? ITWASTHEMASTERITWASTHEMASTER!'. It had only been a brief glimpse but I was convinced. The next Saturday had seen me proved right - oooh, but I'm a smug git, lol. Then the cliffhanger mentioned above. And yeah, I did think the Watcher was an Auton at first. Oopsies. But the music...well...the music stuck in my head for a long, long time.......
2.6 metres off target. What a landing!
I go swimming - well, I'm meant to go swimming, but my friend can't go. I only find out when I reach his place. So instead of wasting our one pounds on sweets or such nonsense, we go for a far healthier nonsense. Can't remember what he got, but I bought Doctor Who and the Space War. This was before the Five Faces season of repeats.
Pull To Open
Disaster! Because I bought a book instead of going swimming, I obviously lied to get the money. Therefore Doctor Who is banned. All DWW/Ms are removed. So are all the target books. The annuals. The TARDIS and Tombo toy thingy. Everything.
Doctor Who is now taboo. My one escape from the world of home. This was before the Five Faces season of repeats. Came as quite a blow to me, I'm sure you can understand that. I was about 13 and very impresionable and Doctor Who was everything to me.
However, I did manage to salvage the tapes....
Is this your vehicle, sir?
Earthshock Part two: I'm back from hospital but things still aren't going well. I get thrown, throat first into the sharp end of a wooden chair. I go to my father for help and end up living there for a year or so.
I knew there'd be a perfectly rational explanation for all this...
Hmm, things aren't going too well, either at school or at home. Damaged goods. Pity my poor father. Admitadly, my sister didn;t help as she enjoyed being a complete bitch to me. Oh, I cant blame everything on other people. I was a definate handfull, no two ways about it. I came very close to being expelled from the private school I attended. It was only an apology that saved my bacon.
The message was very faint.
My first proper job and also first proper girlfriend. I have the happiest day of my life with her - even now I look back at it and smile...nothing goes wrong. No arguments. Nothing to feel a fool about. Just a sweetcorn fight and she started it! This was the summer of 1984. Lovely time. Yeah, I didn't get on with the battleaxe who worked behind the counter with me, but everyone else was lovely. I did manage to slice my finger open on the meat slicer though..oopsies, lol. I had money of my own - and boy, did I hit the Ultravox section of the local record shop, lol. I had friends and was enjoying myself. And yeah, i still have a soft spot for the girlfriend in question. She's been married now for nearly 20 years, has children that must be almost grown up. Goodness, when did I get old, lol. But I still have a certain fondness for her. And certain music was still going through my head....
But all this is familiar...
My last day at Sea Cadets. I've just been promoted, passed all the exams - and considering for the wireless/telegraphy exam my instructor has ignored the Sea Cadet standards and judged me by Royal Navy standards I've done somewhat well. Tomorrow I join the RN itself. Off to HMS Raleigh in Plymouth. My mother and stepfather are too busy having a holiday in France to see me off. Hmm, I'm noticing this musing is a bit gloomy. Honestly, I'm trying to lighten it's tone, promise, lol.
Listen, that ship was deliberatly disguised.....
Lets be honest here. the RN isn't all it's cracked up to be. I failed part one training because I couldn't fold my cloths properly. I'm serious. Remember, it's 1984 and unemployment is running high. They can afford to pick and choose....So, back to Jersey and luckily I impressed my previous manager enough for him to give me a glowing reference. I'm..oh dear...I'm, ahem...The Head of Cheese. No...seriously...stop tittering at the back. I'm taking ove rthe running of a cheese counter in one of the busiest supermarkets in Jersey. Promoted over the top of a woman who has been working there for ages and knows the job backwards. She should have been put in charge. but the firm was sexist - I kid you not, the men even got paid more then the women. Now, back then I was even worse a man manager then I am now, lol....Age has mellowed me. I caused some ruffled feathers and strain started to show.
At last I've cut you down to size....
Well, I had a nervous breakdown, lost my job, lost where I was living, but I've managed to get into a hostel. However, the two women running it take great delight in belittling the residents - lads around my age who have had problems at home etc. This is 1985.
The Cheeseboard is the world...
Yeah, alright, I should have used that quote earlier, but what the hell. It's 1986, Im back together with the girlfriend mentioned above. We've got engaged, I've got a fair job, data entry clerk.....of course, the whole thing goes tits up, but then, it would, lol.....those Cosmic Forces again, eh, Dunn? Come 1987 Ive managed to get myself a new job and it was the best company I ever worked for. I did get made redundant eventually, but I've never had a boss cry when he;s had to let me go, either before or after that. Anyone saying it was tears of relief will be hit.... :P
Things are looking up!
Enough's enough. I move to Manchester. It was lovely and sunny in Jersey. It's snowing when I arrive in England. Hmm. I get involved in security work and the job takes me to Milton Keenes, then London..I manage to catch armed robbers! Seriously. I didn't actually know they were armed robbers at the time, oh no...it was only after I found out......I may have had to have a sit down and a cuppa after hearing that....Security is a mugs' game. If you ever get the chance to be a security guard say NO! Loudly.
...a cold, high place.
Fandom is great! However, at the back of my mind I'm starting to get the feeling I'm considered the fool, as usual. Then I go making a huge mistake. It's a mistake I regret, deeply, to this day. I've suffered greatly because of it and I'm still punishing myself over it. I really should learn to forgive....
Because he is here...
I've moved to Crawley, and after spending time on Karen and Keith's floor find my own place. In my tape collection is a C90...the first one has wandered off over the years, but I still have parts 3 and 4 and a uk gold recording of the actual thing. Then I make another mistake, this time to do with a female fanzine editor who shall remain nameless. If there is still any doubt, I was telling the truth the whole time. Hmm, this makes it sound like somthing illegal. It wasn't, however, the way people treated me you'd think it was. Basically, she came to stray with me for the weekend and things happened between us. She then said they hadn't and it was a case of 'Oh, how could he dare go around saying things like that about her?'. Long story and no, I haven't forgiven her.
You will hear nothing.
Yes! they're releasing some of series 18 onto cd. Not Logopolis, however. Bugger.
Bubble memory's non-volatile.
So, its Schubert's unfinished symphony, is it? took me long enough to bloody well find that out, didn't it? LOL. Then they announce the dvd is being released. Isolated music score! YES! Of course, aptly, theres a delay with the ordering of it so I end up having to wait 2 weeks extra, LOL.
It's the end.....
Hmm, yup, this musing is deffo gloomy. I'm sorry about that. Mind you, considering the tone of the music involved, it matches, I suppose. I honestly didn't mean for this to sound so gloomy, but I get the feeling that maybe, hopefully, something cathartic may happen now...who knows.
So, I'm now sat in front of my computer. I've recorded the isolated music track from the Logopolis DVD and turned it into a soundtrack cd, all gaps edited out. Over the years I've listened to my audio recordings of the story and the music has burnt its way into my head. Not just because I've heard it so many times, but because it IS so good. So very, very atmospheric. And now I have it at hand. I can play it whenever I wish. No talking or effects over the top. No crackling or hissing. No worries about the tape breaking. I've been through the wars over the years and have got the scars to prove it. All through it THAT music has played through my mind. Somehow this feels like an end of an era.
An end that spells a new beginning for....
Tony Gallichan is now going to be hassling the Restoration Team to press for an E-Space trilogy box set. With isolated music scores, of course.....