Beyond the Roundels

An icon batch I was waiting to post until I'd done the latest retro_icontest challenge, and then nearly forgot about! Most of these have probably been posted here before, although not the retro_icontest The7Days challenge to icon seven different angles from the last seven things you watched. The angles were above, below, left, right, back, front, artist's choice. Plus, all the icons I made recently to complete 100fandomicons and retro_icontest's Island Rumble round, making icons from the same two screencaps & some alts.


Preview



( Rest under here )

Concluding my Incomplete Gifology of the career of James Maxwell with the 1970s, because I'm sure you were all thinking that your flists had been devoid of random grainy JM gifs lately. Luckily I can fix that!

( Cut for a lot of JM but grossly misleading lack of terrible facial hair )

Earlier this year when I watched Manhunt and Doomwatch, I planned to do this sort of primer for both (and for all my old things!), because I like doing them, they hopefully explain the obscure things I'm on about & they may even be useful. And then I did Manhunt, but was slow to screencap Doomwatch and then decided there was no point in posting things like that. Which is just silly, and, in short, here is my best stab at a guide to Doomwatch and why you might even want to watch it, if you don't mind beige TV!

(The fandom_manifesto tag below will take you to the others of these I've done so far, although I see that Photobucket ate the pics from the Enemy at the Door one.)

Anyway, welcome to the future. It probably wants to kill you...

Doomwatch


Doomwatch was a BBC drama series that ran from 1970 to 1972, created and script-edited by Gerry Davis and Kit Pedler (who invented Doctor Who's Cybermen) and produced by Terence Dudley.

It focused on the Ministry of Security's Department of Observation and Measurement of Scientific Work, nicknamed 'Doomwatch' (which is what the team also name their computer) as they investigated possible dangerous side-effects of new scientific discoveries from plastic-easting viruses to killer rats to the dangers of DDT and lead in petrol, often having an eerily prophetic tendency to predict the headlines and sparking more than one debate in parliament. According to the Cult of Doomwatch, when Channel 5 tried to revive the series with a modern version, they got some scientists to give them cutting-edge ideas for storylines... and found that all of them had been covered by the original.

Doomwatch was headed up by Nobel prize-winning mathematician and phyisicist, Dr Spencer Quist, backed by Dr John Ridge (a chemist who had worked for MI6), Colin Bradley (the down-to-earth, Northern (TM) computer specialist and general dogbody), young chemist Tobias (Toby) Wren and the secretary, Pat Hunnisett.

So, Our Heroes vs Whitehall and unethical scientists + real issues & science and environmental crusading + an occasional edge of horror = the cult phenomenon that was Doomwatch.

( You've done the impossible; now don't try and do the intolerable )

1. If you discover a plastic-eating virus, don't take it on a plane.

2. Don't breed mutant killer rats or blue moths. It never ends well.

3. Always wear gloves when handling fish.

4. If you're having a paranoid episode, consider moving out of your flat if you live in a tower block. If you're having a paranoid episode and you're an astronaut, don't go up in the rocket.

5. You don't want to be nothing but a brain. No, really.

6. Don't go pot-holing.

7. Always double check that you've told your computer not to kill you today.

8. Take jet-lag seriously and never sit next to a PR guy on the plane.

9. Advertising can kill you. Also, don't take sweets from strangers.

10. Avoid standing in lighthouses when jet planes are flying overhead.

11. Don't judge people by their DNA or any other unproven scientific theory.

12. It's absolutely okay to break into any and all labs/top secret research centres if the people running it won't let you in. They must be up to something, so it doesn't matter that Whitehall and Dr Quist will be cross when you inevitably get caught five minutes later and they have to vouch for you again.

13. Your secretary is not a guinea pig.

14. Don't wear floral shirts and kipper ties when you visit Whitehall. Try something approaching a suit.

15. Scientists are all a lot of weirdies. But don't tell them I told you that.

16. Science and progress are all very well, but human beings are the worst and will ruin everything. Please check your levels of pride, stupidity, arrogance, obsession, corporate greed, and ambition before continuing with your scientific project. Failure to do so will almost certainly be fatal for someone.