Who Reviews Happy 10th Anniversary Doctor - NuWho by Jeffrey Zyra

The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances

By Steven Moffat

“What's life? Life's easy. A quirk of matter. Nature's way of keeping meat fresh. Nothing to a nanogene. One problem, though. These nanogenes, they're not like the ones on your ship. This lot have never seen a human being before. Don't know what a human being's supposed to look like. All they've got to go on is one little body, and there's not a lot left. But they carry right on. They do what they're programmed to do. They patch it up. Can't tell what's gasmask and what's skull, but they do their best. Then off they fly, off they go, work to be done. Because, you see, now they think they know what people should look like, and it's time to fix all the rest. And they won't ever stop. They won't ever, ever stop. The entire human race is going to be torn down and rebuilt in the form of one terrified child looking for its mother, and nothing in the world can stop it!”

The Doctor and Rose are chasing a metal cylinder through the time vortex.  It is a high priority and The Doctor uses the TARDIS computers to lock in on it and follows it to Earth.  They land in London in the year 1941 during the height of German bombing blitz.  The problem is it will be difficult for The Doctor and Rose to find the cylinder as it is war time and the army is guarding it.  Rose wanders off and ends up getting caught hanging onto the rope of a barrage balloon as she was trying to help a kid on a roof wearing a gas mask.  She is soon rescued by the mysterious Captain Jack Harkness who knows where the cylinder is and wants to sell it for profit and wants to make a deal with Rose and The Doctor.

Meanwhile The Doctor is curious about the mysterious girl named Nancy who is walking around during the air raid.  She appears to know more about the kid with the gas mask than she is letting on and The Doctor is worried about what the kid is and can do.  Nancy tells The Doctor to go to the hospital and see Doctor Constantine. The Doctor arrives at the hospital and is shocked at what he sees.  He sees tons of patients that have the same symptoms as the kid with the gas mask.  Doctor Constantine tells The Doctor that the epidemic is spreading and not to let them touch you.  The Doctor realizes what is going on and if he does not act quickly the entire human race will be wearing gas masks on their face.

The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances is the story that got the behind the sofa feel back to Doctor Who.  For the first time during the reboot we were treated to a story that was dark and scary and that kid in the gas mask was downright creepy.   This two part story is what Doctor Who should be.  What makes you scratch your head is that Steven Moffat wrote it and it is unfortunate that he hasn’t really incorporated this style of writing more in the Matt Smith era.  Hopefully he does during the Peter Capaldi era but for me when Steven Moffat writes in this way it is very good and I generally will like it.  Ok I will 100% like it.

This story also introduces one of the new series better and extremely popular reoccurring character Captain Jack Harkness.  I like Captain Jack and watching again his first appearance made me think how different his character was but in a way not too different.  There was all the charm of the flirt and bravado of the playboy but also he showed a conscious towards the end when he knew he had to do the right thing when he realized he was responsible for causing all the problems with the nanogenes.  It is funny watching this story and thinking of what Captain Jack has become since with his own show Torchwood and his return to the show in Series 3.

What I loved about this story was that it was set during World War 2 which is a part of history that is recognizable and works well with the bombs and such which works with the plot of the story and adds to the spookiness of it considering everything is happening during an air raid and a majority of the population are in shelters.  So those wandering around not only have to watch for falling bombs but also the kid in the gas mask.  No take that for example.  Steven Moffat takes an ordinary object from that time period and makes it scarier than it originally was.  Bad enough people were wearing them in fear of being gassed by the Germans but now they were menaced by a little kid wearing one who had some freaky powers over the telephones.  Plus he kept saying “Are You My Mummy” all the time and it just freaked you out every time he said it.  Another example of taking something so innocent and making it scary.

Like I said this story gave us the real behind the story moment of the new series and it was a welcome sight in a series that was lacking in scary.  Plus The Empty Child /Doctor Dances gave us a really good ending that makes you feel good as Jamie was brought back to life and reunited with his mother. Like The Doctor says everyone needs a day like this and The Empty Child/ The Doctor Dances is the one that everyone needs to watch from time to time.  It is a true classic for the new series and the first of many for Steven Moffat.

Grade A

Cover Artwork kind permission of Daryl Joyce

Interviews Daryl Joyce - Illustrator by DJ Forrest

Your illustrations are brilliant, I love your website by the way, how did you get started in illustrations and what was your first design?

Daryl: Thank you very much. I was probably always destined to go into illustration, as my father was an illustrator/occasional editor for a magazine called Look and Learn in the 1960s. The magazine featured a huge number of artists including some very well known names: Frank Bellamy, Don Lawrence, Wilf Hardy, Angus McBride amongst many others, so exposure to such an array of very dynamic illustrative art had a big influence on me. Also at the time I loved stuff like Airfix and Aurora box art, and comics like Countdown that featured the art of Gerry Haylock and Harry Lindfield, and also reprinted Ron Embelton’s Gerry Anderson strips which had originally appeared in TV 21 comic. My exposure to art from as early as I can remember, as well as my genetic heritage, steered me towards illustration. It was the one thing – probably the only thing - that I ever really excelled at at school. I think my first design was a bug for Rentacure or something like that, when I was a teenager.  Although come to think of it I did draw a story book of my own when I was about 13 which a local printer took on and it was sold in a local book shop.

When you create the designs that you have on your website and indeed on your Page, are they actually hand drawn or are they designed using the computer, and how long would a design such as Daryl Hannah or the 8^th Doctor take to illustrate?

Daryl: That would depend on the era I made them, anything that predates 2000 is hand drawn, painted artwork. But much of the later stuff, although mostly painted in the traditional way might have been done as separate elements, scanned then composed in a graphic program. Some additional work on colours and gradients is likely too using that method. The two you mention are completely traditional and would have been painted over three or four evenings after a couple of days sketching.

You’ve illustrated for the Doctor Who story books, (both of which I have) there’s an illustration of David’s Doctor on page 73 of the 2009 storybook “Corner of the Eye” which I’ve seen him in pose before, as a photograph, it’s almost uncanny the likeness you have, how did you achieve that effect as it looks almost lifelike?

Daryl: My memory of that image is that I’d initially drawn the Doctor lounging on a sofa, but the editor didn’t like it and it was hurriedly reworked on the deadline day. Looking at it now, I’d say it was all traditionally painted, but there are some lighting effects on the face which I would have done on computer.

How did you get involved with Doctor Who?

Daryl: My earliest memory of television is Doctor Who (Yeti in the underground) so I’ve always had a deep affection for it. It has a magical sense of adventure about it, combined with just the right amount of menace and humour. I drifted away from it over the years but started to enjoy it again when the eras I had grown up with started to come out on video. Shortly afterwards Alister Pearson started to provide beautiful art covers for these releases and it rekindled my interest in illustration and Doctor Who. I started submitting artwork to the BBC and Marvel’s Doctor Who magazine in the 1990s. DWM became part of Panini’s portfolio shortly after and became a full colour magazine with in-depth article about the history of the programmes. The fact that the series hadn’t been on TV for a long time meant presenting a new take with familiar photos was – I suppose- becoming visually stale so the time to get some original art into the magazine was ripe. After regular contributions to DWM for a few years, an artist dropped out of the BBC Doctor Who ebook project and I took that on. Around the same time I did some work for Big Finish and Telos Publishing, so I got exposure via most of the Doctor Who concerns of the time. One job tended to open up opportunities for another.

What has been the most difficult illustration to do so far?

Daryl: The first new series Doctor Who annual I think in 2005. I was abroad for a few months when I was asked to do it and happily took on the job, but I hadn’t seen the new series. I also ended up having problems with the computer I was using out in Dubai, and had my passport stolen. It became a bit of a complicated situation and  when I finally got back to the UK I only had a few days to complete all of the artwork. It worked out fine and I was fairly happy with what I’d done, but the annuals always seemed to have very tight deadlines – sometimes you’d know what the deadline date was but were still waiting for the finalised script before you could even start drawing roughs for consideration. That’s the nature of it though. I remember having to work through the nights and only catching a little bit of sleep in order to fit it all in. Some of the art work definitely suffered for it, on balance about half of the illustrations I did for the annuals I’m happy with, the others I’m less keen to look back at.

Have you always been interested in art, drawing and illustrations?

Daryl: Yes, it’s the only thing I feel I have any inherent skill for and it’s always been around me. Creativity is very important in my life.

Like anyone who is involved in the Arts, from creative writing to creative artwork how do you relax, switch off from the work or do you still find yourself doodling on your days off?

Daryl: I quite enjoy working my way through a classic TV series boxset on DVD. Music has been a fairly big part of my life for a long time too, and I love film so I’ve started writing an eclectic mix of soundtrack-ish music on my computer. For more spontaneous musical fun I play drums in a punk band. I also run a life drawing group and it’s relaxing to draw quickly without any plan.

Your artwork has featured all of the Doctors to date, will you be featuring illustrations for the 12^th Doctor?

Daryl: I’m sure I will paint him, although nothing official has been asked of me for while. I really like the idea of an older Doctor though so even if nobody commissions me I’d be surprised if I didn’t tackle him once I see what sort of character he is and what sort of threats he’ll face. The same goes for John Hurt’s War Doctor as he clearly had a long life before he regenerated.

You have a website and you have a Facebook Page, are there any other sites where the fans can follow you?

Daryl: I put most of my stuff on DeviantART under the name Harnois75 – and under the same name for music on Youtube.

When I announced we were going to be interviewing you for the website fans recognised you from your 8^th Doctor illustrations, is he one of your favourite Doctors, and how many illustrations have you covered for him?  I like the one with the Autons.

Daryl: I believe that’s the only one I‘ve done of McGann’s Doctor. I think he was great in the role, although I’m sure he gets a better chance to shine in the audios. Unfortunately I’ve yet to hear any of them. A terrible admission as I think he was very well cast. It’s great that his Doctor featured in the little prequel to Day of the Doctor. Through that you got a sense of a whole era (or two) that had been missed by the television audience. I did have art featured throughout Panini’s 8^th Doctor special, but they were to illustrate some of the ideas that were struck upon prior to the TV movie of 1996 so weren’t based on McGann.

Do you have any new projects that you’re working on at the moment that you can share with us?

Daryl: I’ve done a few blu ray covers this year and hopefully there will be a few more, limited edition blu rays of classic genre films. Nothing related to Doctor Who is planned at the moment.

What was the last book you read?

Daryl: Who Goes There by J. W. Campbell.

You cover mostly Doctor Who but would you or have your illustrated Torchwood characters before?

Daryl: I haven’t tackled any Torchwood characters as yet. I would if I was asked.

When you were 12 who was your Doctor and can you recall a favourite or scary moment from that era of the show that sticks in your mind?

Daryl: When I was 12 the Doctor would’ve been Tom Baker in Hinchcliffe’s gothic era. Lots of favourite scary moments from then and before, many of the tension building scenes that led up to the cliff-hanger endings remain imprinted on my mind, but the Peking Homunculus stalking Leela is one of the ones that’s most memorable.

Photo art

With kind permission from Daryl Joyce