Yes, the Rainbow Photos Are Back

New Mills, Derbyshire,

October 29th 2013

New Mills, Derbyshire,

October 31st 2013

A New Release: The Happiness Patrol Take Part In the Hal Tapes Museum of Microcassette Art Project

Here is our appallingly titled contribution to the Hap Tapes Museum of Microcassette Art project.

Improvised and recorded live onto our malfunctioning Dictaphone this is essentially a semi-random collection of found noises and samples with a train ride from Dinting to Broadbottom thrown in for good measure.

Is it any good? Don't ask us. You can however listen to and download it here:

http://museumofmicrocassetteart.bandcamp.com/album/moma064-everything-you-always-wanted-to-know-about-jesus-but-were-afraid-to-ask

As Hal has spent quite a lot of his own money paying for this project please make some sort of payment, even if it's just £0.50/$0.50, if you choose to download the album

Lastly, thank you once again Hal for allowing us to take part in this project.

1.0 Outside

Track listing:

1. John Magill "You're Still Wrong"

2. The Happiness Patrol "100% Bull Plop (Filler Track)"

3. Rejekted Kauses "Fire Proof"

4. August Traeger "Assemblage a2"

5. "nxfxtxex re-mix John Magill"

6. The Happiness Patrol "From the Outside"

7. Vziel Projet "Ovtside"

The album will also contain the 7 track "Messing With Bob's O.C.D." EP by the Happiness Patrol.

Want a copy? E-mail us at the address below:

Here's a download link for the whole 14 track affair:

http://thehappinesspatrol.bandcamp.com/album/10-outside-the-happiness-patrol-messing-with-bobs-o-c-d

Doctor Who: Gonna Watch the Lot, an Update of Sorts

I'm sure maybe one visitor to this blog will have noticed that 1 year and 4 days into this experiment I have fallen a somewhat behind with progress updates. Well it doesn't really matter anymore as I've fallen so far behind with them it's rendered further detailed updates kind of pointless.

Having just this hour finished watching the final episode of penultimate season 14 story "The Robots of Death" the totals now stand at:

447 episodes out of 791
084 of which were recons
027 of which were audio recordings

"The Talons of Weng Chiang" followed by "The Horror of Fang Rock" next after which the quality and consistency of the stories takes a noticeable dip and though there is plenty to look forward to over the next 12 seasons of classic Who there is the niggling knowledge that the series has peaked. Which is a shame...

Apostate Preaching Work

I used to be a Jehovah's Witness. I left the cult many many years ago, but only recently found the courage to actually examine what happened to me during my membership and realise the extent to which I was emotionally blackmail and subjected to mind control techniques. I'm working on a post detailing some of the history and beliefs of this vile destructive cult but have no idea when (if?) I will be happy with it.

This guy, a certain JWFairyTales from Youtube, came up with this great idea to help spread the truth about the Truth. Not sure what use it is posting it here but I know I'm going to print up some fliers to distribute among my friends and neighbours.

Doctor Who Gonna Watch the Lot: Series 2 Part 2

Good grief, I really am getting somewhat behind with these updates. I've nearly finished series 8 and yet here I am posting an update for the last 4 stories in series 2. Oh well call me lazy and half arsed if you will. I don't care. 

Running total so far:

294 episodes out of 791
084 of which were recons
027 of which were audio recordings

The Crusade (episodes 1 & 3 survive, episodes 2 & 4 watched as recons)
The Tardis lands 12th century Palestine where a holy war is in progress between the forces of King Richard the Lionheart and the Saracen ruler Saladin. Barbara is kidnapped so the Doctor, Ian and Vicki make their way to King Richard's palace in the city of Jaffa.


An above average historical story.
7.5 out of 10

The Space Museum (all 4 episodes survive in BBC archive)
The crew find themselves trapped in what turns out to be a somewhat low rent looking intergalactic museum of space stuff.

A genuinely creepy episode one which finds them trying to cheat their apparent fate as exhibits in said museum gives way to a moderately tedious tale with really crap alien baddies and almost as crap goodies.
3.5 out of 10 (8 for episode 1)

The Chase (all 6 episodes survive in BBC archive)

Now this is more like it, a strictly for the kids 6 episode runaround that finds the our heroes randomly traveling around the universe to such places the top of the Empire State Building, a abandoned haunted house fairground attraction, a desert planet where they meet that guy who went on to play Shelley in the classic 80's sitcom dressed in a wet suit covered in fishy fins and eventually the Mechanoids.

Fans don't seem to like this serial as it makes precious little sense and frankly the Daleks are certainly at their least menacing and least intelligent (with one Dalek even earning the somewhat un-PC fan name "Learning Difficulties Dalek") but in my opinion it is great fun and a personal favourite. Sad to say this is Ian and Barbra's last story.

8 out of 10

The Time Meddler (all 4 episodes survive in the BBC archive)

Arguably the finest surviving story of the William Hartnell era. The Tardis and it's crew arrive in 11th century England and encounter the Meddling Monk (as played by Peter Butterworth) a fellow time traveler who makes takes enjoyment in twisting historical events to his own ends.

A genuinely entertaining and fast paced 4 parter, we should be glad this story has survived.

9.5 out of 10

Doctor Who Gonna Watch the Lot: Series 2 Part 1

Oops. Really should update this thing a little more often. In reality I am about to start listening to the BBC CD of series 4 serial 3 yet here I am just getting around to uploading my oppinions on series 2.

Running total so far:
144 episodes out of 789
040 of which were recons
017 of which were audio recordings

Planet of Giants
Due to an inflight accident of some type the Tardis and its crew are shrunk to around one sixtieth of their proper size and over the course of 3 episodes find themselves involved with a not that interesting story of murder and industrial fraud.

A somewhat atypical start to season 2 this story appears to be universally disliked. On the down side the plotting is sluggish even by early Who standards. There is no interaction between the Tardis crew and the real size cast and Barbara is uncharacteristicly thick. On the plus side the sets and model work is perhaps the best seen in 60's.
5.5 out of 10

The Dalek Invasion of Earth
I guess this Dalek story is just as important as the first in that if it had flopped that would have been the end of our pepper pot inspired friends as far as Who was concerned.

Having decimated the Earth's population by bombarding it with plague carrying meteorites the Daleks embark on an ambitious plan to hollow out the planets core and convert it into a giant Death Star type intergalactic killing machine.

Though it has it's slack moments (such as the Tardis crew spending 15 minutes of the first episode not noticing the 8 foot tall “Do not dump dead bodies in the Thames” poster behind them) this story is a vast improvement over “The Daleks” and rattles on a reasonable rate of knots.
7 out of 10

The Rescue
2 part filler story designed to introduce new companion Vikki (not to confused with Victoria who turns up in series 4) who's turned up as the replacement for Susane who left at the end of the previous story.

The Doctor, Iain and Barbara save Vikki from an an alien meanie by running away. That's it. On the plus side the bad guy's mask is really rather good and must have looked pretty creepy when first seen in old 410 PAL. On the downside Barbara has another uncharactaristic thick momment where she shoots Vikki's pet alien crocodile slug thing dead despite Vikki literaly screaming down her ear not to so.
6 out of 10

The Romans
Only two of the 9 so called historical stories made between 1963 and 1966 are still complete in the BBC archives (“The Time Meddler” doesn't count due to its overt SF elements), this and “The Aztecs” being the two.

The Tardis lands in the times of the Roman empire where the Doctor and his companions take residence in an abandoned villa. The Doctor finds himself mistaken for a famous lyre player and sent off to Rome itself to play for the Emperor.

Apparently criticized at the time for it's overtly humorous approach this story has since went on to become a firm fan favourite and I can see why. Though perhaps not quite as good as “The Aztecs” or the lost stories “The Myth Makers” and “The Massacre” this four parter is almost as good as surviving Hartnel stories get.
8.5 out of 10

The Web Planet
I think I adore this story as it is genuinely odd, darn right weird even and contains probably the only “death by sticking your arse in a hole to stop everybody else drowning in a flood of acid” scene in TV history. Then I actually sit down and watch the darn thing again.

The Tardis lands on the planet Vortis and the crew get caught up in war between the Zarbi (giant ants) and Menoptra (giant butterflies). This goes for 6 intermittently interesting but lovely to look at episodes. All episodes contains almost continuous use of the most hated sound effect in Doctor Who history.
6.5 out of 10