DWM #508: The 70s

[Rob McCow]

Of those covers, I only like the TV Action one! Why have they used a black and white picture? They could have at least added some fake colour.

The photo of Mark and Katy is nice but the layout is a bit of a mess. Overall: Boo.

[Andrew Curnow]

I'm enjoying this issue a great deal, but am scratching my head over something. I know that Underworld and Nimon have links to Greek myths, but Jonny Morris' article seems to suggest The Armageddon Factor does too. Am I being really thick, what's the 'source material' of Factor?

[Stuart Wallis]

I thought I knew a bit of Greek legend, but I'm stumped. Our minds must be too highly trained for all this, that or Mr. Morris should stick to his animal magic...

[Nyder]

I'm very much enjoying this month's - especially the 2 main interviews and the "Time Capsule" thingy - I remember November 1977 very well :-)

[Dino]

As an occasional buyer, I really lucked out with this issue!

[Stuart Wallis]

...

[Stuart Wallis]

I'm very much enjoying this month's - especially the 2 main interviews and the "Time Capsule" thingy - I remember November 1977 very well :-)

Yes, it was the last time most of us were sober...

[Jon Masters]

Loved this month's April Fools with the new Time Team. Fancy getting them to compare a whole post 2000 story of 45 minutes with just the first 25 mins of a 20th century one, and letting them point out how they're slow and laboured because they weren't made by RTD or MOff. Brilliant !

Hang on - my copy says June on the front cover.......

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

I think my biggest annoyance with the change of time team (and indeed abandoning the long running format) is that there was no indication in the November issue that it would be the current team's final appearance and they were one story short of the mid-season break. I'm wondering whether this decision was imposed on the editorial team by Panini after the debacle with the Watcher last year.

[Andrew Curnow]

Good point, there was no obvious 'full stop' to the previous Team - I wonder if the four of them are still watching episodes together, wondering why DWM isn't answering their calls...?

I don't mind the change of format as such, and I can see that in a way they're just opening up the 'Liked That - Watch This' boxout from the previous Team. There are some interesting comments made on the two 'old' episodes, and I was intrigued to see that whereas 'old' fans would probably rank Spearhead above TATRani, this group don't appear to have that preconception.

What I think it lacks, though, is some kind of 'analysis' or context - if a final page to the piece summed up the views, and addressed such things as why 'audience identification' may have been different in 1970 to 2005 (re the comments about Liz) or the role of the cliffhanger, I think that would have given both a more rounded view but also a little more insight. As it is, 20-something moans/misses the point of cliffhangers is just left unchallenged, unquestioned, and unexplained.

I liked the final summing up that Who is all one big story (that's how I see it).

On a slight sidebar, maybe it is a generational thing - or rather a 'this generation' thing. When I was a kid, we'd watch 'old' programmes like Dads Army (which yes, I know was still being made then, but was an old programme in the sense of it had been on for a long time) and wouldn't have thought not to. Whether because of fewer channels, or it being more of an effort to get up and change channel, I don't know, but I think we young 'uns were certainly more accepting of the parental taste in TV choices (whether that's good, or bad, I wouldn't like to say) whereas Claudia literally never watches anything we watch, and would never dream of seeking out any old programme that I said was good.

[MacNimon]

Good point, there was no obvious 'full stop' to the previous Team - I wonder if the four of them are still watching episodes together, wondering why DWM isn't answering their calls...?

On a slight sidebar, maybe it is a generational thing - or rather a 'this generation' thing. When I was a kid, we'd watch 'old' programmes like Dads Army (which yes, I know was still being made then, but was an old programme in the sense of it had been on for a long time) and wouldn't have thought not to. Whether because of fewer channels, or it being more of an effort to get up and change channel, I don't know, but I think we young 'uns were certainly more accepting of the parental taste in TV choices (whether that's good, or bad, I wouldn't like to say) whereas Claudia literally never watches anything we watch, and would never dream of seeking out any old programme that I said was good.

I haven't picked up DWM for a good few months, it's an occasional purchase for me at the moment but the current issue with the feature about the new Target books is appealing. Hopefully I'll be able to get hold of a copy before they disappear from the shelves. I didn't realize that the Time Team had changed format, I'm intrigued to read it but disappointed because it was always one of my favourite features.

I understand totally where you're coming from, Andrew, regarding generational tastes. When I was growing up, my dad always talked about old tv series and comics...often scoffing at my tastes with comments about things not being as good as when he was young...he often talked about how exciting and gripping Quatermass was, much better than (then-) modern Doctor Who - which he reckoned at that time was trying to copy Quatermass. Steptoe & Son? Not as good as Hancock's Half Hour. Hitch-Hikers Guide To The Galaxy? Couldn't compare to Jet Morgan in Journey Into Space. 2000AD and the new rebooted Dan Dare? Not a patch on the original Frank Hampson serials - of course my dad grew up with the original Eagle. But what all this did was whet my appetite for all this stuff which assumed legendary status to me over my childhood years, and as the years went on I eventually got the chance to see, listen to and read much of this stuff all of which have made a lasting impression on me...all of the above sit side-by-side in my affections these days with the stuff I grew up with and loved. Listening to my dad opened my eyes to a world of great stuff which I would maybe never have discovered, and my life would have been poorer for it.

My daughters, though, and grand-daughter? They never listen to a word I say, they just roll their eyes when I try to steer them to something 'old' which I know they would like if they give it a chance. But they're quick enough to say "Dad, I think you'll like this..."