The Wall of Lies Number 127 Newsletter established 1991, club formed June first 1980 The newsletter of the South Australian Fan Club Inc., also known as SFSA

STATE Adelaide, November--December 2010 WEATHER: Warming Free Fake retailer blasts pretend actor by staff writers Young idiot threatens livelihood of many leeches on society.

WITH MATTHEW NEWTON’S AVO hearing, critics have claimed he has confused his life with the plot of miniseries Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities. Chief amongst these is Gaylord Boggs, who has played corporate entity “Gerry Harvey” for the chain store Harvey Norman since 1982. He also chairs the Union of Fake Celebrities, whose mission is to distract the stupid amongst us from how reality actually works. This was suggested by George Orwell in Nineteen Eighty-Four, with the characters Big Brother and Emmanuel Goldstein developing cults of personality as a form of social control. “If he [Posey Sweet-Trousers, who plays Newton] O doesn’t keep his trap shut then the game could be ut t N No Gaylord Boggs as senile old up for all of us, if the media found out,” Boggs told ow ! smack in the face Gerry Harvey. The Wall of Lies. “Who were you, again?” Doctor Who forever by staff writers

Thirteen or 507? ON TUESDAY 12 OCTOBER the British Film Institute held a preview of the Chameleon Factor # 80 upcoming scripted Sarah-Jane Adventures episodes Death of parts one and two. Fans who paid their nine pounds C o S m soon reported that the Doctor now claimed he had 507 lives. o in on g n! The 13 regenerations rule has been regarded as canonical and binding, despite much evidence to the contrary. This in turn was only established in the 1976 story The Deadly Assassin, and was greeted with similar negative comments in the nascent fandom.

In an interview with SFX, Davies seemed amused at the furore. “507 -- I could not resist!”, he said. “I was hooting. It'll never stick, though. That 13 lives is stuck in people's heads. It is, isn't it funny? Yet they only said 13 once or twice.” Continued Page 2 SFSA magazine # 27

What’s recovered Birth of a new magazine, page 4. and what isn’t, page 2. Doctor Who forever from Page 1

Whether this goes on to be any more than a throwaway line remains to be seen. The BBC’s frequently asked questions on the show claims the question is ambiguous now the Time Lords are gone. Davies has moved on from Doctor Who, and remains executive producer on The Sarah-Jane Adventures and . Current Who showrunner tweeted on 10 August that he was more concerned about the inconsistency in the Doctor’s ages, writing “Oh. he's MAKING IT UP, he has no idea.”, presumably about the Doctor rather than Davies. ABC has purchased the rights to the as yet unnamed 2010 Doctor Who Christmas special. It is scheduled for 19.30, 26 December on ABC1. They have repeat rights for series four and five, the associated Confidentials, the 2009/10 specials, Torchwood: Children of Earth, and are running out the rights (Clockwise from right) The R-16 rocket, to the first two series of Torchwood with the current repeats. explosion and wreckage, October 1960. Production company Stewart and Wall announced on 26 August that the sec- ond series of K9 would be 26 episodes long. TEN say they are interested in the next series. They were pleased with the performance of the first series but Sky Watch have no dates for repeats yet and do not know if it has been nominated for any awards. Anniversary of space disaster

Preservation Issues THE RUSSIAN FEDERAL SPACE AGENCY (Roscosmos) has issued a brief press release commemorating Huge recovery from Library of Congress the deadliest accident in space exploration. On 24 by staff writers October 1960 an attempt to launch an R-16 inter- Contacts HUNDREDS OF HOURS of lost British continental ballistic missile from the Baikonur dramas have been recovered from Cosmodrome (now in Kazakhstan) turned deadly Jamie Stidiford the Library of Congress in when the second stage was automatically triggered (President) Washington DC. Notable finds are while still on the launch pad. Automatic cameras [email protected] a 1965 version of 1984, the com- designed to capture the launch were triggered and plete The Victorians, Thirteen instead filmed the horror of a fireball consuming the Against Fate and Paris 1900, and rocket and technicians. Different sources have Martin Dunne Sean Connery in Colombe. claimed the death toll was as low as 60 or as high (The Wall of Lies editor) Also widely reported as recovered as 150, with Roscosmos stating the figure as 126. [email protected] was Connery in the BBC’s Anna The news was suppressed by the authorities. Karenina, however this has never Rocket designer Mikhail Yangel narrowly escaped been missing and was released on death by going into a safety bunker for a cigarette Tammy Vogel DVD in 2008. immediately before the explosion. Marshal MI (Magazine editor) In March television fan group Nedelin was killed but instead reported to have died Kaleidoscope was approached by in a plane crash. [email protected] the Library of Congress for aid in The Italian press agency Continentale broke the cataloguing the horde. This was story on 8 December, reporting that Marshal held as a collection donated by Nedelin and 100 others had been killed in a rocket Postal address: New York tv station WNET, and mishap. The incident became known as the PO Box 3227 consisted of dramatic plays and Nedelin Disaster and details continued to trickle out Rundle Mall SA 5000 series produced by the BBC, Granada and Rediffusion between over the next 29 years. On 16 April 1989 it was 1957 and 1970. finally officially acknowledged with an account The news was inadvertently bro- appearing in Ogoniok magazine. Mailing list ken in September by the British A second rocket explosion occurred at Baikonur on Film Institute when it distributed a 24 October 1963, killing seven people. This date is subscription: guide to the 7 November Missing now regarded as a black day in Russian space [email protected] Believed Wiped event. exploration and launches are avoided.

This is a publication of SFSA: the South Australian Doctor Who Fan Club Inc., a non profit organisation. No attempt has been made to supersede the copyright of any holders of trademark or copyrighted 20/11, 15/1/2011, 19/2 images, text, or information. Whilst every care has been taken to ensure that the contents of the newsletter is accurate at the time of printing, SFSA cannot accept any liability for inaccura- cies that may appear. Meeting details are subject to change at short notice.

2 www.sfsa.org.au November-December 2010 Printed by the Federal Printing House NEWSLETTER Volume 1 December 4 Pub meeting 17.30 NEWSLETTER Venue: Settlers Tavern, 249 Montague Rd, No. 2 DECEMBER 1980 Transmission schedule Ingle Farm, Ph: 8263 1077 November to December 2010 December picnic TBA “Exterminate” the Daleks cried during war Torchwood on ABC2 Mondays 21.55 January 1 2011 Pub meeting 17.30 But their war cry was not long Followed by Torchwood Declassified Venue: Buckingham Arms Hotel lived, Thanks to the Doctor ~ 1/11 The Daleks we saw no more ~ Something Borrowed 8/11 ~ From Out of the Rain 15/11 Archive But had they been defeated? ~ 22/11 Once and for all ~ 29/11 SFSA Magazine But again we heard the Daleks ~ 6/12 Issue 1 December 2000 call Again war and vengeance ruled us all. Doctor Who special ABC1 Sunday 19.30 Editorial Joana Fuller ~ Untitled Christmas special 26/12 Editor: Steven Cooke

Check local and daily program listings There have been quite a few changes in our club recently. The last major change to take place was the re-packaging of the club Club in order to attract new members. ... The argument for a change in the club focus was passed by 8 votes to 4. Now we have In September we played Atlantis and a new magazine to reflect the new focus of Absolute Balderdash. In October we the club, called SFSA. I hope that this mag- enjoyed Apples for Apples. azine can do something to continue along this new direction that the club has set itself, and will help to promote the club and Membership ideals of science fiction fans everywhere. Annual membership rates are $15. The constitutional name of this club is still The next meeting will be held This entitles you to one year’s subscrip- The South Australian Doctor Who Fan on the 11th of January 1981 in tion to the club’s publications: bimonthly Club, but it may be referred to as SFSA. Rymill Park Adelaide, at 11 AM The Wall of Lies and SFSA magazine, till around 4 O’Clock...Brian and the Doctor Who themed yearbook [A decade on, SFSA Magazine and Alford has kindly consented to Chameleon Factor. Also included are SFSA/SADWFC Inc. are still going strong, stage a Doctor Who-A-Thon at discounted entry fees to SFSA meet- validating Steven’s vision.] his house on Sunday the 22nd ings, and discounts at various stores of February 1981... around Adelaide. [Screenings and even meetings have periodically been held at Publications members houses, usually to deep regret.]

SFSA #26 Fandom Thirtieth anniversary! Help South Australian Discounts Doctor Who fans have a Convention!!! Pulp Fiction 10% off comics and graphic novels Facebook group

Events Started by Allison Lowe 25 May 2010 November 6 Pub meeting 17.30 Venue: Buckingham Arms Hotel http://www.facebook.com/#!/group .php?gid=125018130859847 November 20 General meeting 15.00 Venue: Adelaide High School

www.sfsa.org.au November-December 2010 3 Subscription due if Sometimes Unfamiliar a red dot appears in this box from SFSA Magazine 1, December 2000 by Martin Dunne elusive script ‘Battleground: Earth’, but only offering tangential ...On the face of it, Earth: Final Conflict is a well written and exe- evidence. One of these is a typewritten page of musings by cuted television series. I always have time for Canadian produc- Roddenberry, or as put forward here -- “A list of controversial and tions, they deserve all the encouragement they can get. complex questions proposed by Gene Roddenberry in an effort However, I had just read a scandalous biography on to evoke transcendent thought and opinion.” -- “How can we Roddenberry1, and so was ultra-sensitive to more Roddenberry overcome prejudices? What is Death? Should we orchestrate in my life. Suddenly, here were the first two episodes of a whole war? Is patriotism a disease? What is the difference between new Roddenberry show! I was amazed, according to the biogra- sexuality and love? When does duty end and morality begin? phy Gene had had approximately one good idea in his entire life. For example, when Paramount turned back to him to write a Star Trek film in May 1975, the best he could come up with was a bro- ken UFO beaming false prophets down to Earth2. So where was this coming from?

As I sat through ‘Decision’ (written by Gene Roddenberry) I start- ed to have that deja vu feeling of having been down this path before. A hard-boiled detective is conducting security for an alien liaison who promises huge technological benefits in exchange for friendship and cross-cultural pollination, then chooses the detective as his(?) bodyguard, leading to the quandary of who to trust -- the alien, the xenophobic human resistance, or his own innate cynicism? There is not one mention of the cited original script ‘Battleground: Earth’ in the muck-raking biography, even though is goes into some detail about all his failed pilots and ideas (for pilots that would have failed). There is something else though. The same month the pathetic “false prophet” idea was rejected, he was approached by a UFO cult to write an (ulti- mately untitled) screenplay about the imminent arrival of their alien friends/messianic saviours of all humanity, the Nine. As his Star Trek movie script hadn’t sold, Roddenberry put aside his atheism (more anti-theism), which extended to para-normal phe- nomena, and followed the money.

Now check this out. In “the Nine” breakdown, middle aged writer/producer Alex McNorth needs money to fight The Studio for control of the film being made from his hit tv show Time Zone, From Newsletter Vol 1 No 2, Dec 1980 following their rejection of his script. He is approached by the Who’s ethics pre-dominate in a relationship mine or yours? What scholarly and reputable “Second Genesis” organisation, who does it mean to be human? Do machines live? What use is reli- offer him cash in hand for a screenplay about their alien gion? Is love the exclusive property of heterosexuals? Just friends/messianic saviours of all humanity, the Nine ... the big because we can do something, should we? What is the differ- differences between “the Nine” breakdown and the Earth: Final ence between dreams and reality? What is consciences? Is Conflict pilot is action replaces sex, and that the quandary is there a case for drug dependency? What is the difference between the protagonist’s own scepticism and overwhelming between male and female power? Are ethics the same as evidence. Roddenberry never finished the script, turning his morals? What does it mean to be human?” breakdown over to Jon Povill to write for a pittance. Povill added the Gene character beaming up to his Time Zone starship to Kirk There is something so innately naive and well-meaning about the Nine's butts, and added the suggestion that the aliens may this paragraph that I cannot help liking the man ... Right or wrong have subliminally given McNorth the idea for the tv show -- about the origin of Earth: Final Conflict, there is no denying that something the real life Roddenberry would have had them in production company Atlantis have made a silk purse out of a court over. sow’s ear.

A fan site3 gives a different version of events -- Gene was fully And Gene finally made detective. committed to his new project conceived “about 1977”, but it and enthusiastic Twentieth Century Fox had to wait its turn behind 1 Joel Engel, Gene Roddenberry: The Myth and the Man Behind his work on Star Trek, which unfortunately consumed all his time Star Trek (Virgin, London, 1995) until his shock death (fourteen years later). Fortunately, his 2 He blamed the failure of the script on the studio’s bigotry rather semi-deified wife found The Lost Script, saving us all from a less than it being dull, p. 155, Engel, Gene Roddenberry (1995) Roddenberry future. Taking Trekkies as fair warning, we can 3 http://www.earth.finalconflict.com/script.htm forgive/ignore any minor re-writing of history on their behalf. So, 4 Gene has at least some measure of immortality granted by to get the story straight from the horses mouth, I turn to Mrs. becoming an internet site! Majel Roddenberry Barrett’s site, roddenberry.com4. The site is 5 www.roddenberry.com/creations/efc/efcquest.note.efc.html quite cagey about the origin of Earth: Final Conflict, citing this

4 www.sfsa.org.au November-December 2010