vivdunstan

Here are my three main reads at the moment: "Our Mutual Friend" by Charles Dickens (an umpteenth time reread), "Eerie East Anglia" collection of weird/spooky short stories from the British Library, and Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson's fantasy / timey wimey / space epic "The Principle of Moments".

I thought I'd write up some brief thoughts on these, ranging over the TV series, Big Finish audios (which are now newly rereleased), the annual book and Look-In comic strips. Note there will be slight spoilers below, so beware. As a reminder Sapphire & Steel was a British spooky/scifi TV series, airing on ITV between 1979 and 1982. Lots more information is available on its Wikipedia page

From the original TV series, which had six stories, two of them are strongest for me. The second story, set in an abandoned railway station, and the fourth story, the one with the man without a face. Both unnerved me far more than anything else in the TV series, and leave thoughts of lingering horror long after! This is a good thing though. The series achieved its aims. But it is also terrifying. The railway station is one of the stories with some of the darkest plot elements in it. And the images in the other story, especially for a young child as I was when first watching, are almost primal in their horror.

From the Big Finish audio series there are a number of stories that stand out for me. The first is the opening one, The Passenger, where we newly meet the recast Sapphire & Steel on a train journey. In many ways it's a best of, with lots of familiar elements from the TV series reused well. But it also acts effectively as a great introduction to the new series. And nicely introduces an ongoing fellow element, Gold, played by Mark Gatiss.

Another highlight story early on in the audio series for me was All Fall Down. This was set in a historical archive, where objects are potential triggers for the past. Obviously this appealed to a historian like me. But it's also a really good storytelling idea for Sapphire & Steel, giving a tight location combined with atmospheric triggers leading to the past. Nicely we also encounter Silver, another element from the TV series, again played by David Collings.

My two favourite stories from the second Big Finish audio series are The Surest Poison and Water Like A Stone. The first revolves around the history of a valuable old watch, and again includes shifts through time. The other story is set in an abandoned theatre, and introduces yet another element, Ruby, played by Big Finish stalwart Lisa Bowerman. Who recurs in stories after this one.

The third season of the audio series was more of a mixed batch, though I did like the experimentation of opening story Second Sight. But for me the strongest stories were definitely in the earlier years. And I would highly recommend any of the audio series to TV series S&S fans.

I reviewed the 1981 Sapphire & Steel annual for a fan publication, so have detailed notes on that too. It is - like Doctor Who annuals from the same era - plagued with some seriously dodgy artwork and non likenesses. Like them it was a World publications book! However there were some nice text stories. And I'd like to especially mention the fourth story set in an astronomical observatory, but again with historic elements. This was the strongest story for me in the book, and very atmospheric.

There was also an ongoing series of Sapphire & Steel comic strips in Look-In children's TV magazine. I loved these, but haven't seen them for many years. There used to a (dodgy) digitised version online, but I think that vanished long ago. Fingers crossed for a reprint, perhaps from Chinbeard Books who have reprinted the Robin of Sherwood Look-In comic strips. I have an especially vivid memory of one of the Sapphire & Steel comic strips involving a ship in a bottle, and Sapphire and Steel somehow getting trapped on the ship. But I'm not sure how reliable that memory is. It was a great series of strips though.

Wow! Just learned about 1967 book "The Technicolor Time Machine" by Harry Harrison. As one bibliographer writes: ''Movie producers get hold of a time machine, and decide to shoot a Viking epic on location - in the 11th century AD. A thoroughly madcap romp in its author's best vein''. Crikey! Found it through my usual pulp books supplier. But I'd need to read it in ebook for disability reasons. And it is on the Kindle for £3.99 from the Gateway Essentials range. Buying!