Backwards

 

INSPIRATION

Backwards is a funny kind of story. It was written in 2005 before Doctor Who returned to our screens. It was intended to be one of a series of six adventures for the 9th Doctor and Rose (along with The Axis of Fear) Since I knew little about the characters of the new Doctor or Rose, this is less about the characters and more about telling an interesting story in an original way. 

It was inspired by the 2000 thriller movie Memento starring Guy Pearce as a man with no long-term memory whose life resets every few minutes so he has to take photos and leave notes in order to remember things.

I loved the way the director tells the story through flashbacks and you don't really see the whole truth until you've got back to the beginning, so to speak. And it's that kind of story telling that I've tried to emulate with Backwards.

Hopefully, it kept you guessing until the end - the flashback elements (in more muted colours) play fowards while the 'present' sequences play backwards.

CAST

This was only the SECOND AFT story featuring Character's 5" figures. The series 2 Rose had yet to be released. At that stage, there was a dearth of supporting characters in the same scale so the inhabitants of Kulkaron are gladiators bought in a 3 pack in a pound shop in Hull. They were originally intended to look a lot more alien.

Can you also believe that while Character had released the TARDIS interior playset (Sept 2006), there still wasn't a Police Box toy so the one used in this story was the money box, which was of a decent enough scale.

Mio's form-swapping device comes from Spy Kids 2 figures and makes numerous return appearances.

SHOOTING

The story was shot in late Summer 2006 with some pick-ups in September following the acquisition of the TARDIS interior. 

The paper sets were designed in photoshop.

EDITS

In order for the reader to distinguish between the past and present strands the colour saturation was taken down somewhat for the 'past' sections making them appear less vibrant. For the original publication, a "vortex" image was placed on the background behind the past sections.

The planet Kulkarron as seen from the air is a composite image of buildings in Greece.

The banners of Mio feature the Fonz actor Henry Winkler since I thought the figure looked a bit like him.

In the original script, after the Doctor has beaten up Karrick, Rose puts the Doctor in a car. He reads the note in the reflection of the window rather than a phone box before driving off. The confrontation with the guards then happens on a high bridge. When it came to shooting, I simply didn't have a car.

The story was original made up of individual jpegs for each panel. When it came to reposting the story in 2023, I re-edited it (25 May 2023) and gave it more comic-like appearance, a new title and a more coherent recap towards the end. The 'past' sections have blue frames.

TRANSMISSION

Backwards was original published in October 2006 with a fantastic cover by Luke Spillaine to whom I'll always be grateful.

At the time the story was quite odd and I worried that readers wouldn't get it. So I posted this reassuring panel on the homepage (below).

After the AFT was temporarily closed in late 2006, Backwards was offline until 11 June 2008.

It was reposted for the third time on 15 July 2023.

CONTINUITY

As it was written before series 1 aired, I had no clue about the other stories so it doesn't share any continuity with existing episodes.

It's clearly established that the Doctor has been to Kulkarron before and knows Mio personally, but this is presumably in another incarnation and certain before he met Rose.

The Logic Trap Part Two

 

CAST

A very simple cast for this one. Just the Tenth Doctor, Rose (series 2), Cybermen and Cyber Controller (Toys R Us exclusive. Or was it Woolworths?)

INSPIRATION

The AFT began life using home-made custom 4" figures but I was delighted when Character started making their 5" range. The trouble was, they were the ONLY figures in that scale at the time so finding supporting cast was next to impossible.

This was one of the stories I came up with to get round that. Essentially, a retelling of TOMB OF THE CYBERMEN.

I did consider using K-9 as the Earth robot but in order to get something new into the story, I created a papercraft robot. You can download and make your own (see below). Note the Torchwood logo on the side. A subtle series 2 touch.

SHOOTING

I've no idea when I shot this but probably at some point during 2006, soon after the Cybermen were released.

It was one of the first times I designed sets in photoshop, all based on the Tomb of the Cybermen.

The Cybermen's transmitter is the cloud city weather vain that came with the Saga Bespin Luke Skywalker figure in 2002 with the power box and cables from the vintage tripod laser cannon and vehicle maintenance engineer.

The control panel that the Cyberman is holding is the firing backpack from the Episode 1 Sith accessory pack. The Doctor's cloaking device is an accessory from a Spy Kids figure. His bomb is an accessory from a Corps Space figure.

The TARDIS console room appears in all its glory for the first time (it had been glimpsed in a previous tenth Doctor story BACKWARDS). Also appearing for the first time is the TARDIS money box as the Police Box. The proper TARDIS exterior had yet to be released.

EDITING

For its original appearance, the story was posted as individual panels so the layout isn't particularly dynamic. For this reproduction, I've put the images together into pages and added frames.

The opening EarthNet newsfeed was deliberately meant to look like the BBC website.

CONTINUITY

The story is set after AGE OF STEEL where Rose first meets the Cybermen but before ARMY OF GHOSTS/ DOOMSDAY. Despite the fact that these are 'parallel Earth' Cybus Cybermen, our story makes the assumption that such a look was also developed in OUR universe. Later Doctor Who episodes would confirm this.

The headlines on the opening page are mostly random but the 'Earth Reptile Parliament' refers to the Silurians speculating that they co-exist on Earth following the events of WARRIORS OF THE DEEP. London Seabase is a reference to climate change and an assumption at the time that London will be flooded by the 22nd Century.

TRANSMISSION

This story was originally posted in early 2007. It was reprinted on 4th and 11th March 2023.

The Logic Trap Part One

 

The Axis Of Fear Part Three

 

CAST

9th Doctor, Rose (series 1), Captain Jack (Empty Child). 

With Claudia Brown (Celia), Stephen Hart (Des), James Lester (Nightshade).

The Daleks are from the Battlepack.

This story had been kicking around for years and was only made possible in the end when Character Options released their Primeval figures. 

Keen-eyed action figure fans will notice that the dalek scenes feature the battle pack "disco dancing" 9th Doctor. There's a reason for that. See SHOOTING below.

INSPIRATION

When Doctor Who returned in 2005, I was planning a series of 9th Doctor adventures. Two were made using my custom 4" figures (The Unearthed Enemy and Tin Soldiers), one became a tenth Doctor story (Backwards). And then there was this one, The Axis Of Fear, although it started life as a Fifth Doctor adventure.

The script went through many changes and originally didn't include Jack. There were three men on the train plus Celia. Two of them were dispatched by Nightshade and his minions while the third man Adam realises he had an accident on his bike and ended up in a coma. Where, in the finished story Celia has flashbacks of being hit by a train, Adam's flashbacks involved a lorry.

The TARDIS originally appeared in the story with Rose finding it in the station corridors but when she opens it, it's just a shell. I took that scene out when a similar one happened on TV in FATHER'S DAY.

The Daleks weren't originally meant to appear. Chasing Nightshade into the tube tunnel, the Doctor encounters what claims to be a future incarnation of himself - brow-beaten and defeated. By this time in his life, Rose has been killed. "You can't save them all" this future Doctor claims. Of course the REAL Doctor realises this is an illusion created by the ghosts. Had the scene survived, I would have used a tenth Doctor figure to give the illusion credibility.

The character of Celia survives the event but remains cynical and hardnosed to the end. in her last scene she appears to wake up, having fallen asleep eating her lunch in the park. She sees a mother with her baby and laments how her career has forced her to sacrifice a home life. She holds the baby but it has the same monstrous face as Nighshade's creatures.

ORIGINAL STORYLINE

The TARDIS brings the 5th Doctor and Nyssa to a forest in the rain. They head for a spooky mansion at the edge of the forest only to discover they are expected for dinner along with several other bemused time and space travellers.

Their host is revealed to be the Master who challenges his guests to escape. Simply that- escape.

Frightened and despairing the guests scatter, some through the house, some into the woods where they are hunted by strange creatures.

The Doctor discovers that the TARDIS is now just a shell and cannot offer any sanctuary.

Running further through the forest he reaches a kind of glass barrier and beyond it is deep space...

Dabbling in a new dastardly scheme, the Master has become trapped in his own mind. He has summoned others including the Doctor to help him escape.

SHOOTING

The story nearly went into production in late 2006 when I shot the Dalek ship scenes. At the time, the 'disco' 9th Doctor was the only one available. But without a supporting cast, the story was shelved until early 2008.

On 15th March 2008, I filmed the hospital scenes back to back with pick-ups for a tenth Doctor/Martha story NEW ACQUISITIONS.

On the 5th/6th April, the story entered production proper with the scenes on the train, platform, adjacent corridors and the ticket office.

The last day was 3rd May with the escalator, some additional corridor scenes and the TARDIS interior.

EDITING

Originally Rose was meant to trap her top in the escalator but as I shot the scene, it made more sense for her to catch her jeans.

Aside from that, the story remained largely unchanged during the edit apart from one final twist cut at the last moment.

The dream creatures have chosen the Doctor to take over in Nightshade's place but the Doctor asks "what if I refuse?"

The frame (right) was cut, mainly because I was unhappy with the ageing on Rose. The Doctor counters, highlighting Nightsade's own fear of being trapped here forever before Celia interrupts, offering herself.

The ghosts' faces are photos of real clowns doctored in photoshop.

On its original publication, as with all AFT stories at the time, each frame was an individual image. For it's new appearance, I've put them all together in pages with borders.

CONTINUITY

The appearance of Captain Jack (especially in his RAF uniform) places this story somewhere between THE DOCTOR DANCES and BOOMTOWN but no other continuity is referenced.

TRANSMISSION

The story was originally published on May, June and July 2008. It had been brought forward to fill a gap created when the classic action figures were delayed.

It was re-presented on 21st, 28th January and 4th February 2023.

The Axis Of Fear Part Two

 

The Axis Of Fear Part One