Terry Nation: Creator of Worlds

Terry Nation certainly is one of the most highly pedigreed authors of UK cult television. Not only did he create series like Survivors and Blake’s 7, series that not only have influenced the cult culture of  today, but also are viable entities with Survivors having recently been back on the small screen as recently as 2010 and Blake’s 7 still going strong via audio stories and books.

Nation also created one of the most iconic monsters to ever wield a sink plunger in the infamous Daleks from Doctor Who, creatures that still hold a mystifying spell over children and have been doing so since 1963.

Alwyn Turner has published a new autobiography about Nation’s life and television career titled The Man Who Invented the Daleks, but Nation’s life story involves much more then hovering homicidal pepper pots.

Alwyn Turner recently discussed his new book with Doctor Who website Kasterborous , including what he feels is the main strength in a Terry Nation script:

“Nation’s focus was on creating exciting adventure stories. And there’s always a need for that. It’s what he grew up reading, and watching at the movies, and he extended the tradition of action tales very successfully. He once talked about coming out of a screening of the first Star Wars film (which was released in Britain the month before Blake’s 7debuted) and being green with envy at the special effects and the size of the budget. But those considerations aside, he was working in very much the same sort of field.

The sort of tale that makes you want to keep reading or keep watching to see what happens next and how it all resolves itself – that’s the essence of story-telling, and always will be. Escapist entertainment is seldom given proper critical respect, but it never goes out of fashion with the public.”

Turner also touched on his fondness for Nation’s work before he started writing for action and adventure series such as Doctor Who, The Avengers and The Persuaders, when he worked as a comedy writer, including working with comedian Tony Hancock:

“I knew the story of how Hancock walked away from the BBC and from his longstanding writers, Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, to make a series for ATV, with Nation writing four episodes.

It would be hard to make a claim that Nation was in the premier league of comedy writers. None of the episodes are completely satisfying, either in the writing or the performance – Hancock was drinking quite heavily at this stage – and certainly they’re not up to the standard of the Galton and Simpson work.

But they’re better than they’re given credit for. So much of Hancock’s story has been filtered through the BBC’s version of events, and the implication has always been that he did nothing of worth after leaving the corporation (an account that doesn’t do justice to his superb film The Punch and Judy Man). There are scenes in Nation’s episodes that are very nearly vintage Hancock, even if the whole shows don’t quite hang together. And there are moments when the magic is turned on and you can see why Hancock continues to be so revered as a comedian. Given the problems of working with Hancock in that period, Nation did a pretty decent job.”

The author was also asked about which was his favorite Nation penned work:

“In objective terms, I think the best writing is in the first three episodes of Survivors, the first episode of Genesis of the Daleks, and ‘Countdown’ from the second season of Blake’s 7.

But personally I have a fondness for much of his action adventure stuff in the 1960s and early-1970s. I don’t tire of watching Roger Moore and Tony Curtis sparking off each other in The Persuaders!, and I love the unglamorous grittiness of The Baron. And his 1972 play The Amazing Robert Baldick was a fine piece of work that could have developed into something of a classic if the pilot had resulted in a commission for a series.”

Also asked was why he feels that Terry Nation’s work has endured for so long a period:

“The best of his work still endures because of that element of story-telling. The conventions change, so that the trappings may look dated, but the essence remains: they’re cracking good tales.”

More on this interview with Alwyn Turner can be found at Cult Britannia’s sister site Kasterborous, including more on his most dreaded creation, the fearsome Daleks!

Alwyn Turner’s book, The Man Who Invented the Daleks: The Strange World of Terry Nation, can be bought at Amazon here.

(Via Kasterborous)