Lord Vader’s enthusiasm for Star Trek gets the better of him when he meets Mavic Chen and the Supreme Dalek from Doctor Who. Again, I give you another example of my vintage tastes with this unapologetic inclusion of sci-fi obscuriana. For those completely in the dark on classic Doctor Who, Mavic Chen was the equivalent of the United Nations Secretary General for the Earth / Solar System in the 41st Century. Art pictured on the right by Rick Lundeen.

dmp-kstoreUnfortunately, like all politicians he is plotting to take absolute power and establish a dictatorship with the help of the Daleks. Remember when Donald Trump was outed as being an ally of the Daleks recently? No? It will happen.

The Daleks are angry green blobs that ride around inside pepperpot-shaped tanks and have conquered most of the universe, as well as developing crude time travel technology. They are lovably one-track and evil, and absolutely the most predictably treacherous allies since the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact.

The specific episodes of Doctor Who that we’re drawing on here are The Daleks’ Master Plan, a 12 part epic from late 1965, staring William Hartnell as the First Doctor. Like all Who from that era, the sets wobble, the costumes are kitsch, every scene is shot with a single take, and the target audience is early evening family viewing. However, The Daleks’ Master Plan pushes the boundaries with some very dark moments and violence. It also has one episode of complete comedy which was produced for Christmas Day and allows itself to step outside of continuity and tone for a bit of a laugh. Otherwise, this is quite an epic and a lot of fun.

However, if you like taking your sci-fi really seriously, and have zero time for cheesy vintage classics, then don’t come complaining to me that it was crap. I warned you. I love the Daleks’ Master Plan and most black & white era Doctor Who (with the exception of the Myth Makers, the Massacre, and the Gunfighters). Like Alex Raymond’s Flash Gordon newspaper strips, Doctor Who has an escapist charm to it.

As many of you know, the BMS train is heading towards its final destination with the impending conclusion of Return of the Jedi. There are no concrete plans for BMS to continue beyond the Original Trilogy anymore. This is due to the limitations of my health and the need to produce work that we can actually sell and make a profit from in some way as opposed to this continuing fan material that is current form BMS.

What you see, with this current scene featuring sci-fi cameos is part of my love letter to the sci-fi and fantasy that mean something to me. We’ll be back to Han Solo and the Tiderium Shuttle scene soon enough, but if you don’t like the current digression from movie then try to look at it this way, I’m potentially introducing you to some obscure stuff that you might find interesting and decide to check out for yourselves. You might find something new to enjoy along the way. 🙂

Hey, you could always go see the $120 million dollar budget Fantastic Four reboot instead of reading BMS.

@-_,-@

May the Forciness be with you!