England Rugby were under no illusions yesterday. Failure was not an option. However, England have become the first hosts in Rugby World Cup history to fail to advance from the pool stages to the quarter-finals.
I have some sympathy with England, even though I was firmly supporting Australia. One of 3 quarter finalists from 2011 were not going to reach that same stage in this tournament because of the draw. Devastatingly for England fans, it is them that has missed the cut and so the postmortem has begun, despite them needing to play Uruguay next week in a match now made effectively meaningless.
Problems began even before the tournament for England. Manu Tuilagi, who had cemented his place as one of the starting centres, admitted to assaulting two female police officers after an altercation with a taxi driver in Leicester city centre and was appropriately removed from contention for the England squad. Next Dylan Hartley received yet another ban, this time for a headbutt, which ruled him out of the opening Fiji game and so he too was removed from the squad.
Despite these setbacks England were feeling positive having beaten Ireland and France in the warm ups and after overcoming understandable nerves a bonus point victory was sealed against Fiji.
The next game was crucial and there was huge debate about the backline selection. Rugby league recruit Sam Burgess was drafted in as a defensive force in the midfield to counter the physicality of Welsh pair Jamie Roberts and Scott Williams and performed reasonably well but made errors stemming from his limited experience of rugby union and particularly in the centre. England had control of the game but Wales produced the magic which England could scarcely dream of to create a try out of nothing and sealed a famous win against incredible odds.
Selection for the Australia game was equally debatable. Burgess was dropped, Brad Barritt moved back across to his more familiar inside centre birth, and Jonathan Joseph came back in having been injured the previous week. The outside half debate continued with Owen Farrell keeping the 10 jersey following a solid performance against Wales. Up front, Australia were bound to pick the phenomenally good Hooper and Pocock combination and England didn’t react to that. As a result Australia dominated the breakdown, Pocock with 3 notable turnovers. More surprisingly the England scrum was taken apart by Australia, highlighting the huge void left by the absences of Dylan Hartley and players such as Alex Corbisiero who has been plagued by injuries.
At half-time England were already 17-3 down having been cut open by Australia’s incisive running but had little response during the first 40. An inury to Jonny May called for desperate measures as George Ford was brought on to add some more creativity and positivity. A try from Anthony Watson was the result of the only meaningful moment of forward running and momentum but the Wallabies still had total control.
Chris Robshaw came in for substantial criticism last week for turning down the opportunity of three points to draw the game and this was his moment to stand up and lead the team. Instead he looked like a lone soldier trying to hold back a green and gold tidal wave. Much was made of his omission from the 2013 Lions squad but perhaps this performance proved that he was not equipped for the Australian back row battle and it was indeed the correct decision to make. Ultimately that is what happened, through no lack of effort but simple ability England were beaten two weeks in a row by better performances, more effective game management and higher skill levels.
This is where Stuart Lancaster comes into the debate. I have no doubts that his team were well prepared but when it came to vital elements such as team selection, which largely dictates strategy, things appeared muddled, with no definitive outside half or centre pairing to manage the game. The Foley/Giteay axis for Australia was composed and controlled the game perfectly. On the opposite side, Farrell received a yellow card, Burgess could equally have gone in the same moment, and that sealed the result. A well finished try from Giteau gave the scoreline a slant more reflective of the game and England were officially out.
It was disappointing to see fans leaving before the final whistle, the same supporters who had built up the players to ‘giants’ with few results or Six Nations trophies to support that, as popularised in a mobile phone provider advert, will now be knocking them back down. Perhaps like the national football team they are victims of their Premiership competition and the foreign imports in those squads.
In 2007 Gareth Jenkins failed to get Wales out of the pool stages and lost his job the following day. Hopefully, a time of reflection and review will occur before a decision is made on the coaching teams future. There is still that game against Uruguay to come after all.
Wales v Australia
Next week Wales and Australia will battle for who finishes top of Pool A. The positive for both teams is that they will fancy beating whoever they face in the quarter finals, be that South Africa, Scotland or even Japan given the way Pool B has developed. Wales would love to get a victory over the Wallabies and exorcise some recent agonising loses but would be confident facing a Springbok team short of their usual aura.
Also of note is Argentina’s fantastic result in Durban beating South Africa for the first time ever. Although the Boks will be disappointed by their performance huge credit to Argentina for their finishing of scoring opportunities and proving that having them joining the Tri Nations has done their team the world of good. Perhaps Argentina, confident of qualifying from their pool behind New Zealand, are a decent bet to make a World Cup semi final.
Anyway, back to Wales and the inevitable discussion of who will make the World Cup squad from this week’s performance. Short answer, very few.
I’ve decided to revisit some of the lost episodes from Doctor Who’s history which no longer exist in the archives by using the original audio recordings which have been remastered and released onto CD. It is also possible to find some very good reconstructions on the internet using images taken from the broadcast.
After the travellers return to the TARDIS and leave they take a pause to celebrate, despite being in the midst of an epic battle with the Daleks, toasting a happy Christmas with some champagne. The Doctor turns to the camera and wishes “a happy Christmas to all of you at home”, breaking the fourth wall and addressing the audience directly, the only time in the programme’s history that this has been done.
A particular highlight is the scene of the Daleks burning down the forest of Kembel, there is something very beautiful about a Dalek with a flame thrower, even in black and white, and it surprises me that it has not been replicated more frequently.
Following on from Doctor Who Magazine’s interview with Colin Baker I have my own musings on his Doctor and in fact feel that he is without doubt the most hard done by actor to ever play the role. Colin makes valid points concerning his reluctance to talk to DWM. Most Doctor Who fans often feel a need to quantify everything concerning the show, I too am guilty of this, regularly typified by DWM who carry out votes asking readers to rate Doctors, stories and merchandise for example. The problem with this is that everyone has different opinions. In the same issue of DWM as Colin’s interview is the result of their 2014 series survey. The best episode as voted by the readers of DWM from Peter Capaldi’s first year in the role was ‘Mummy on the Orient Express’. Now although I enjoyed the story I personally didn’t think much of it, the resolution was particularly poor, in my opinion, considering it to be a case of style over substance. However, credit where it is due the Foretold/Mummy was superbly realised and skilfully portrayed. I personally thought ‘Listen’ was by far and away the highlight of the series but that is only my opinion and apparently does not correlate with the opinions of the majority. The problem therefore with having votes of this nature means that for all the celebrated ‘favourites’ you have those at the bottom end of the scale. It is therefore no wonder that Colin Baker was left deflated when his Doctor was rated towards the bottom as is his debut story ‘The Twin Dilemma’.
There is no hiding from the fact that ‘The Twin Dilemma’ is poor, which is expected given the problems the production team had experienced with the script. For example, the twins are terrible. In their opening scene they speak very derogatory of their mother, immediately making them unlikeable and made worse when we discover they are mathematical geniuses. Boy geniuses in science fiction never appeal to the audience, modern US comedies yes, but not in science fiction. The costume design is also appalling, for example Kevin McNally’s character has a particularly garish multi-coloured top at one point and even Nicola Bryant’s costume looks like it has been thrown together. Mestor the gastropod is not brilliant either and the Jacondan’s do look like they have simply had feathers stuck to their heads.
‘The Twin Dilemma’ is one of the rare occasions where a new Doctor’s debut story is not the opener to a new season. In fact the only time this ever occurred before or since was with Patrick Troughton’s debut story, ‘The Power of the Daleks’. That decision was made to start the Sixth Doctor’s tenure with the final story of season 21, producer John Nathan-Turner feeling that “nine months was too long to wait to see the new guy”. This is the first decision which conspired against Colin Baker and sadly not the last. It was also decided that the regeneration process was to have a damaging effect and leave him disturbed. Following on from the previous incarnation this approach makes a lot of sense. However, this strategy doesn’t have the opportunity to be followed through properly. As a result you have a character that is a stark contrast to anything seen previously and as a result is deliberately unlikeable. The problem with that is the lengthy gap from March 1984 to January 1985 works against you. After that 9 month break the recollections of the viewer were of a character that is unpredictable and egotistical making it a difficult sell to get those people to engage with the programme again. Sadly the Sixth Doctor is often associated with strangling his companion and that remains a tough memory to break. But credit to the production team the lure of the Cybermen brought the viewers back and the remainder of Season 22 resulted in reasonably consistent viewing figures between 8 and 6.5million.
This artwork was used for the outer cardboard box which contained the 3 tapes which made up the 14 episode 23rd season. Despite being constructed in a manner based loosely on Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’ those three story strands are each represented in the artwork, by Drathro, Sil and a Vervoid. In addition the over-arching plot concerning the trial of the Doctor is also represented with the inclusion of the Valeyard. It is the image of the Valeyard which gets the cover on this list. The detail and visualisation of the three alien creatures is excellent but it is the way that Michael Jayston’s eyes appear to be piercing from the surface, staring out at the viewer which makes this design notable. It also features a very strong image of Colin Baker, resolute and focused, indicating the severity of the predicament in which he finds himself in during the story.
Although this story is not highly regarded the VHS cover designed by Colin Howard is excellent. Kroll looks imposing, dominating the frame and towering over the Doctor and Ranquin in a far more convincing manner than is achieved during the story. It is also one of few artworks where the artist manages to portray the environment in which the story takes place. In this case the long grass, rising to above Tom Baker’s waste, and the watery swamp give you a feel for the story without knowing any of the plot. It is also always appreciated when we get images of the lovely Mary Tamm, in her penultimate story on Doctor Who, this time looking over the Doctor.
Again, not a widely regarded story but once more Colin Howard manages to deliver an impressive piece of cover artwork. What makes this piece so succesful is the image of the Doctor and Mel, wrestling with the pool cleaner robot. The expressions and grimaces are incredibly accurate, you can practically hear Bonnie Langford screaming. Similarly the Chief Caretaker, the wonderful and much missed Richard Briers is also beautifully included. Other notable details such as the deterioration on the tower blocks and the water also add to the overall appeal of the cover. The shape of the cover is also broken up with a curve outline, something not seen on other artwork.
This is the only video cover which was released after 1996 to make this list. After the Paul McGann TV movie was broadcast the BBC decided to change the style in which video covers were made. Instead of commissioning artists to create a unique piece of artwork, digital photomontages were used instead. The majority of these are largely uninspiring and insipid with very little flair. However, this example for Planet of Fire does get onto the list. The strength of it lies in the realistic effect of the flames engulfing the leading characters. Although it is not particularly representative of the product of the story but it certainly matches the title.
This cover equally features all three of the lead actors from the story, including in her first appearance The Rani, played by the effervescent Kate O’Mara. Anthony Ainley also makes the cover along with Colin Baker. One of the strongest features of the artwork is the background, the green star field permeating across the cover. Although hidden by text we also see the Rani’s Tardis console. This was a fantastic design featured in the story, which sadly did not return. Instead of the hexagonal shaped console we’d seen since 1963 this console was circular, with a central time rotor constructed of conjoined hoops. Other features also include Stephenson’s Rocket, which doesn’t feature as predominately as the mine shaft that is used for the cliff-hanger of Part 1. Colin Baker’s Doctor features centrally in the composition.
This is one of the earliest video releases, only the 7th title, from 1986 and as a result it has a simple photo montage cover design. Although simple, featuring only Daleks in a strong ‘V’ formation it actually suggests a story featuring lots of the evil pepperpots from Skaro. However, this is something which ultimately the story doesn’t deliver. The artwork features five Daleks, but the story only sees three make an appearance but this shouldn’t be looked on as a negative. Video artworks for Dalek stories often mean them sharing the limelight with their Time Lord nemesis or the Exillons or Davros, a trait which continued into the DVD range. But on this occasion the cover is all about the Daleks, they fill the frame, menacing in their formation. As the most successful alien creation on the show it is only right that they take centre stage for once.
This is Andrew Skilleter’s first entry onto the list, an individual synonmous with Doctor Who artwork. He produced covers for the Target and Virgin novels, plus the iconic Five Doctors Radio Times cover. This particular example for the Deadly Assasin is very strong. Tom Baker is the central focus and his facial features are captured perfectly. Equally well realised is the decomposing Master, his creepy elongated fingers stretching over the Doctor. The shadowed figure of Goth also replicates a strong image seen during the story, as is the triangular sights. Also included is the seal of Rassilon design which is subtle with Tom Baker taking the central focus with the threatening Master looming over him.
Although not a highly regarded story Warriors of the Deep did see the returns of both the Silurians and their sea dwelling cousins. The colour of the artwork, a deep green, reflects the deep ocean floor where the story takes place, specifically the sea base, located appropriately at the bottom of the composition. Whether you agree with the redesigns of the two main monsters or not one has to admit they do look impressive on this cover with exquisite detail. Even the Myrka looks intriguing, a creature which failed to deliver on screen but seen in an appropriately selective way. The Silurian ship adds balance to the composition with the Doctor taking centre position. However, the image of Peter Davison is clearly taken from a still taken during the production and doesn’t work effectively on the cover, his eyes looking in the general direction of the Sea Devil but not specifically at him.
This is a brilliant cover. Simple in it’s construction but incredibly effective. Realeased in 1989 it demonstrates how the compositions improved gradually over time from the Day of the Daleks release with more elements being added and the overall composition improving. This cover includes a great image of Tom Baker, looking delightfully apprehensive and also has the space station Nerva, orbiting the planet Earth. However, the absolute success of this cover is the Wirrin. An alien creature, brilliantly depicted, lurching and threating over the whole planet. It is a very evocative image and works beautifully. The text at the bottom is also placed properly, all other releases having in centrally which often obscures parts of the design. That method could actually have worked on this cover but the fact it is moved over to the bottom right corner balances the whole image very succesfully.
This is a great cover which would’ve caught the eye of any shopper at their local video store. Largely this is because of the rich purple background which doesn’t correlate to anything seen in the story but works perfectly with the rest of the configuration. Both Jon Pertwee’s Doctor and Roger Delgado’s Master are perfectly brought to life, Pertwee’s hair and Delgado’s goatee beard in particular look fantastic. The Autons also get a respectable presence with the faceless Auton policeman looking menacing and the oversized carnival mask equally prominent. The centre image of the radio telescope signalling to the Nestenes is an interesting selection but does provide an adequate focal point to the composition.
This cover is one of a few which featured both on the VHS release but also as the cover to the Target novelisation. As discussed previously, it was an executive decision that the covers for 1960’s Doctor Who stories must reflect the black and white nature of the video material. As a result the design was largely monochrome but still has fantastic creativity. The blending of William Hartnell and Carol Ann Ford’s faces is beautifully executed and rightly receives the focus. Hartnell in particular is beautifully captured. The bottom of the frame recreates an iconic moment from the closing seconds of the very first episode, the TARDIS landing on the unknown landscape. This is picked up brilliantly with the TARDIS itself being in colour, the prominent blue standing out from the rest of the composition despite the fact it would obviously have been monochrome on the video.
This is a fantastic piece of artwork which just so happened to be used as a video cover. The incredible highlight is the visualisation of the recursive occlusion seen during the story. Such an abstract image must have been incredibly difficult to achieve but is pulled off spectacularly with the Fifth Doctor moving through the myriad of staircases. The image of Peter Davison in his first televised appearance as the Doctor is suitably prominent, even if his hair doesn’t seem as blonde as in real life. Anthony Ainley’s Master also gets an appearance, firing his TCE weapon and his TARDIS also stands at the top left corner of the composition. The colour is also very strong and rich but ultimately the quality of the artwork is in the abstract recursive occlusion visual.
Missing, presumed dead! Returned to BBC Video after over 20 years.
This is my all-time favourite Doctor Who video cover. It features one of the most iconic images of Jon Pertwee’s Doctor, a photograph taken during the making of this story with a Sea Devil reaching for his shoulder, which incidentally I have framed and on my wall at home, much is my fondness for it. Pertwee’s facial features and expression are captured perfectly. Similarly, the legendary Master, Roger Delgado features in the artwork and is visualised expertly, holding his calling device which adds another detail, as does the prison castle. The real highlight however is undoubtedly the Sea Devils. It is not very often that we were treated to multiple versions of the same monster on a cover. But in this case we have a trio of Sea Devils, all from different angles providing a more rounded view of these iconic monsters. The background is an appropriate blue colour; highlighting the nautical nature of the adventure but for some reason the DVD release had a pink colour scheme.
Bedwyr Gullidge 