Tramalot Part III

The Fourth of July Two Thousand and Fifteen. Saturday.

The Airport Line

BARLOW MOOR ROAD

'Off... Off Greymalkin... Off...' he panted, grabbing the warm fur in both hands and trying to fling the enormous creature aside...

 Ian Marter always altered things in his novelisations. He renamed the Sontaran Styr and had this weird dream sequence with rats and a giant cat. Brilliant. The TV story was filmed on Dartmoor so why not read it at Barlow Moor Road?

SALE WATER PARK

He held up the Zygon device between finger and thumb. 'Here, boy, here!'

 There is a lake in the Water Park. Fortunately, it does not contain a monster. I think.


NORTHERN MOOR

'Ah, a gentleman at last. Doctor von Verner at your service'

 Culloden  is a Northern Moor. Check it!


WYTHENSHAWE PARK

'Dad, this  is Gordy,' said Kate with the broadest smile she had ever given him. 'Gordy, this is Grandad. Say hello.'

 Was stuck again, so here's another joker. Downtime was another Nineties straight-to-video story to fill the echoing void left by Doctor Who's absence. This one had quite the pedigree - written by Marc Platt, author of the last TV story made up to then and directed by series veteran Christopher Barry it featured several characters from its parent that weren't owned by the BBC: The Brigadier, Sarah Jane Smith and Victoria Waterfield all portrayed by their original actors. The Yeti were the monsters and it's here that the character of Kate Stewart, now head of UNIT in the new series, first appeared.


MOOR ROAD

'Sure,' she said, in relief. She sucked a smear of lipstick from a front tooth. 'Great tits, though.'

 Barry Letts, for shame! Another joker, this time an adaptation of the second Jon Pertwee radio serial that was eventually transmitted on Radio 2. I don't remember such vulgar language in the on air version. It was a different time.


BAGULEY

He fished a paper bag out of his pocket. 'Here, would you like a jelly baby? No, I suppose not!'

 Hmm, this is a bit of a rough patch. A bag of jelly babies at Baguley. I promise you, my favourite, the absolute best one is coming up in a few stops time.


ROUNDTHORN

'What have you done to her?' shouted the Doctor. 'Janis thorn. Something you hadn't thought of, Doctor.'

 I am certain that Janis thorns are round.


MARTINSCROFT

'Half a dozen will have to do,' said Ashe. 'Put a guard on the Martins' dome, just in case.'

 Come on! There's more than one person called Martin in this book, so it fully ties in with the pluralness of the stop's name. That ain't too bad, if you ask me. Also, since this is the first book with Jo and the Master in it serves as an introduction story for them both even though they were well established by this time on telly.


BENCHILL

Later, forced to leave Telos, the Cybermen took refuge on the long lost sister planet of Earth... Mondas.

 There you have it. The books, especially those written by the Cybermen's co-creator Gerry Davis, definitvely state that Telos was their home planet, contradicting the telly. Continuity, schmontinuity. This was my first Target novelisation. It features the Doctor's companions Polly and Ben, who must be very cold because this story is set at the South Pole. Benchill. Boom! Admit it - you're impressed with that one. It's certainly my favourite.


CROSSACRES

'I could tell you... that I came from another world. Ruled by insects. Or that my friends and me recently visited Nero's Rome. Before that, we were in an England far into the future.'

 Crosses and crusades. So it goes...


WYTHENSHAWE TOWN CENTRE

Peri followed his gaze three hundred feet down to the sight of Blackpool, spread before them like a toy town, the trams clattering along the promenade towards the funfair in the middle distance.

 Most of the jokers seem to be on this line. Another novelisation of something that never was - the abandoned first story of the original 23rd Season. Big Finish produced an audio version years later, but this novelisation was written by former producer Graham Williams who was responsible for the original script.


ROBINSWOOD ROAD

'Trapped like this, like a sponge decaying in some murky sea... No, even a sponge has more life than I do.'

 Scripted by Terrance Dicks who asked for his name to be taken off as editor Robert Holmes had changed it too much for his liking. Dicks told Holmes to replace his name with a bland pseudonym and thus was created Robin Bland's one and only credit. Dicks wrote the novelisation, though, so he must have made his peace somewhere along the way. Probably when he received the cheque.


PEEL HALL

Kane didn't move. He watched, as the shutter opened wide, then he stepped into the burning light.

 Kane was played by Edward Peel.




SHADOWMOSS

The Shadow's voice echoed through the tunnels, as though the asteroid itself was speaking. 'I too serve a Guardian, Doctor. A Guardian equal  and opposite to your own. The Black Guardian. He Who Walks in Darkness.'

Yeah, the Black Guardian's servant was called The Shadow. Pretty easy, that one.


MANCHESTER AIRPORT

'In this place all things obey Kalid. Come!' He led the Doctor to the crystal in the centre of the room, and began to chant. 'Vizaan, vizaan, zanoor minaz...'

 I didn't realise when I took this photo that the Concorde that was used in this story - G-BOAC - is the one that has been retired to Manchester Airport! Well, there you go!

Hokay, time for a quick rail journey into the centre of Manchester and then out on the Altrincham line.

More soonliest.