A “splendidly entertaining” biography of the British tv writer acclaimed for his invention of a fictional alien race for Doctor Who (Dominic Sandrook, author of State of Emergency—The Way We Were: Britain 1970–1974). The Daleks are one of the most iconic and fearsome creations in television history. Since their first appearance in 1963, they have simultaneously fascinated and terrified generations of children, their instant success ensuring, and sometimes eclipsing, that of Doctor Who. They sprang from the imagination of Terry Nation, a failed stand-up comic who became one of the most prolific writers for television that Britain ever produced. Survivors, his vision of a post-apocalyptic England, so haunted audiences in the Seventies that the BBC revived it over thirty years on, and Blake’s 7, constantly rumored for return, endures as a cult sci-fi classic. But it is for his genocidal pepperpots that Nation is most often remembered, and now, more than 50 years after their creation they continue to top the Saturday-night ratings. Yet while the Daleks brought him notoriety and riches, Nation played a much wider role in British broadcasting’s golden age. He wrote for Spike Milligan, Frankie Howerd and an increasingly troubled Tony Hancock, and as one of the key figures behind the adventure series of the Sixties—including The Avengers, The Saint and The Persuaders!—he turned the pulp classics of his boyhood into a major British export. In The Man Who Invented the Daleks, acclaimed cultural historian Alwyn W. Turner, explores the curious and contested origins of Doctor Who’s greatest villains, and sheds light on a strange world of ambitious young writers, producers and performers without whom British culture today would look very different.

Terry Nation was one of the most successful, prolific, and celebrated writers for popular television that Britain ever produced. His late 1970s science fiction seriesSurvivorsandBlake's 7have been durable, cult and critical hits, both being remade 30 years later. His most famous creations, theDaleks, ensured, and at times eclipsed, the success ofDoctor Who. Indeed, almost half a century after their first appearance in 1963, new additions toDalekmythology continue to be made, while the word itself has entered the Oxford English Dictionary, passing into the language as the name of the most famous race of aliens in fiction. While his science fiction work remains at the core of his appeal, Nation also had a role to play in the early days of radio and television comedy—as part of the legendary Associated London Scripts, he wrote for Spike Milligan, Tony Hancock, and Frankie Howerd—and in the internationally successful adventure series of the 1960s:The Avengers,The Saint,The Persuaders!, and others. This account of his life and contributions will shed light on a fascinating melting pot of ambitious young writers, producers, and performers without whom British culture today would look very different.

It was the eleventh day of the school holidays and Rebecca was bored. But events take a dramatic turn for the better (or worse) when she finds herself transported to a distant planet whose people are terrorized by jelly-like monsters called Ghosts. Suggested level: primary, intermediate.

After his pregnant wife is senselessly killed in a clash between the mysterious super-powered 'costumes', ex-Navy SEAL Jon Hayes fights to discover the truth about their identity and origins. For Jon Hayes, the super-powered 'costumes' are just part of ordinary life in New York City, until the day his pregnant wife Melanie is senselessly killed in a clash between Captain Light and The Jade Shade. But as Hayes struggles to come to terms with his loss, and questions for the first time who the costumes are and where they come from, the once sharp lines of his reality begin to blur... If Hayes wants to uncover the shocking truth about the figures behind the costumes, and get justice for his fallen family, he'll have to step out of the background, and stop being a bystander. File Under: Superhero Fantasy [ It’s Clobberin’ Time | Hayes One | Panel Beater | No Capes ]

YA. Featuring the eighth Dr Who on an island in the East Indies in a lost city. 11 yrs+

We live forever, barring accidents. Just like everyone else in the universe. The Doctor travels back to the Ancient Days, an era where life flourishes and death is barely known... Then come the Kotturuh – creatures who spread through the cosmos dispensing mortality. They judge each and every species and decree its allotted time to live. For the first time, living things know the fear of ending. And they will go to any lengths to escape this grim new spectre, death. The Doctor is an old hand at cheating death. Now, at last, he can stop it at source. He is coming for the Kotturuh, ready to change everything so that Life wins from the start. Not just the last of the Time Lords. The Time Lord Victorious.

Science fiction-roman.