In 1987, the contenders for the role of the Seventh Doctor had been narrowed down to two people: Sylvester McCoy, and his mentor Ken Campbell. Sylvester got the role, when BBC decided that Campbell (whose audition channelled Doctor Manhattan from the recently-published Alan Moore comic Watchmen) was too scary for children. Yes, this really happened. But what if Campbell had got the job? In the universe next door, he did. Join us for the adventures of… The Lost Doctor. In this beautifully produced hardback book, in the style of old Christmas annuals of the 1960s and 70s, we bring you stories, games, facts, and fun, from The Universe Next Door. Support us here.
Click here to grab your copy from PEAKRILL PRESS
Video by Lawrie Vause. (c) Paris Toxteth
Ken Campbell writes:
In 1987, I was invited to audition for the part of a certain traveller in Time and Space. Didn’t get it, and suggested that they take Sylvester McCoy in my stead, who I considered a protégé, as without me, he’d never have thought to stuff ferrets down his trousers.
Anyway, some nits eventually decided to do an audio fan series about what my ‘lost series’ would have been like in ‘the universe next door’ It’s all quite impressive. In the series, I am accompanied on adventures by Robert Anton Wilson‘s cryogenically revivified daughter Luna, and a cyborg who is from a fungible race on a planet that’s one giant consciousness (as you do); I’ve…
- met Dadaists
- walked through James Joyce’s brain
- meditated on the aftermath of Hiroshima
- saved The Beatles from the machinations of a star-spanning Walrus
- fought sentient cephalopods
- investigated what lies beneath Silbury Hill
- watched from a grassy knoll as a certain US president was assassinated
- and, principally, battled the eternally evil members of The Guild of Temporal Assassins and the mysterious ‘Client‘ they work for.
Surprisingly, this does all make sense.
They got a bloke to impersonate me (Tom Baker – no, not that one), and won backing from some impressive people – Daisy, my daughter and holder of access to my life’s archive, the KLF (sort of), Alan Moore (who didn’t say NO) and some apt contributors: my old impro group ‘The School of Night’ (including Alan Cox as Dr. John Dee), Philip Olivier (as John Peel), Nabil Shaban (as a malevolent octopus), John Higgs, Kermit Leveridge (as the 23rd Doctor). You get the idea.
By some kind of strange alchemy this idea generated some notable artwork and some scintillating musical contributions (including some techno, some accordion playing, some whistling in harmony, funk, and a Beatles pastiche – you really get the idea).
The ’creative team’ came up with the idea of doing an annual celebrating this – both a nostalgic call back to your childhood reveries and a bit of subversive randomness. There are stories and comic strips, scientific tales and novelty games in it, as well as some extra surprises. And it’s a lot better quality than we were all expecting. So, back it for the novelty value! I lion tame a giant parrot in it! Or talk to some underwater robots! Or whatever it is I do.
Cover art by Chris Barker