Like lots of folks I'm a fan of Doctor Who. Now truth told I'm a fan of the classic series and while I find virtue in the newer stuff I've discovered it sort of wears me out with attempts to heart-wrenching and poignant a little overwhelming at times when I just want some good old science fiction adventure. But I know I can be cranky about such things. One of the better Doctor Who shows I've seen in recent years was An Adventure in Time and Space which tells a almost certainly romanticized tale of how the show came to be and how William Hartnell (performed wonderfully by David Bradley) came to play the first Doctor. In that show I met Verity Lambert for the first time and learned of her significant role in launching the series. Without that special I don't think I'd have understood the picture above of Lambert embracing a Dalek, the genocidal alien cyborgs that made the show a hit.
And then I found another one with Jill Curzon lovingly astride a Dalek. She was Peter Cushing's niece in the 1966 theatrical Doctor Who movie Dalek's Invasion of Earth 2150. I just got to see relatively recently and liked it quite a lot, much more than the first of Cushing's Doctor Who movies. I find I like the Doctor on Earth which is why Jon Pertwee is arguably my favorite Doctor.
And then I was reminded me of another Dalek image, this one with Katy Manning ("Jo Grant" the spicy assistant to Jon Pertwee's Third Doctor) embracing one of the machines in a decided state of undress. (Those are nice boots you have to admit.) I assume now that this image, aside from being provocative as it showcases a former Companion in the all-together, is an homage to the original Lambert and Curzon photos. Either that or pictures of handsome women clutching alien death machines is a British thing I'm not yet fully cognizant of.
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That's an interesting point, RJ; was Katy deliberately referencing the earlier photos, or do Daleks have such massive sex appeal that women just can't help but drape themselves around them? Tough question.
ReplyDeleteIt's a question that deserves much further research. I'm willing to give up my time to look into this extensively. I'll need a standard Dalek and a bevy of handsome young women and we can begin the work with proper scientific rigor.
DeleteCount me in - though I'd prefer pretty (at least) young women rather than just 'handsome' ones.
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