Can’t Stop the Serenity 2007

un·der·dog
1. One that is expected to lose a contest or struggle, as in sports or politics
2. One that is at a disadvantage

You’ve gotta love the underdog. David or Goliath? Smiths Salt-n-Shake or Kettle Chips? Corner shop or multinational conglomerate? Muppet Treasure Island or Pirates of the Caribbean? Give me the little guy fighting for his right to party anytime.

The story of the good ship Serenity is one that starts way back in 2002, when the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Joss Whedon, created a new series outside the Buffyverse called Firefly. No teen angst or vampires here, just a rag-tag group of renegades slooping round the universe trying to make a dishonest living.

This had hit written all over it. Then it got cancelled after 11 episodes and the dream was over. RIP Firefly, we hardly knew ya.

Then, in 2005, Whedon managed to get a deal together to produce a movie version of the series – Serenity – with the original cast. The underdog lived to fight another day, David to the TV execs Goliath. Or something.

Fast forward to 23 June 2007 in the Filmhouse in Edinburgh and I’m watching the charity screening of the film at Can’t Stop the Serenity with an audience of Browncoats (the name given to the fans by the fans). It’s Joss Whedon’s birthday and the aim is to screen the film in around 47 countries around the globe to raise money for Equality Now.

I own the DVD but never got around to watching it, so this was a great chance to see it on the big screen. The audience were excited, the organisers, all fans, really enthusiastic.

I’m glad I went along, mainly because I got to see the film the way it was meant to be seen, but also to get a glimpse into a fandom that loves their wee show to death. I’m not sure what it’s like on a larger scale (I’m sure there are pockets of nastiness somewhere on the web if you look hard enough) but this was a good place to hang out on a wet Sunday in Scotland.

Shiny.

Rona Munro talk

Today I made my way along to the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh to hear a talk by Rona Munro. She’s a prize-winning Scottish writer who has written for radio, television (she wrote the last Classic Doctor Who story, Survival, back in 1989) and films, most notably Ladybird, Ladybird.

In her role as Senior Playwriting Fellow at the Trav, she held a masterclass in Surviving Film and Television. While I did want to hear what she had to say about her experience in the world of fim and telly, I also had an ulterior motive for attending…more of which later…

The event took place deep in the bowels of the theatre with a chair, table and glass of water waiting for Ms Munro. There were only about 20 of us in the audience, and it started pretty much on time.

She explained that she had information prepared but that she’d probably divert from this substantially. She then ran through her own background in the business (reminding that it is just that – a business) with a few milestones such as Doctor Who and the process of having her film script bought and made given a bit more detail.

A few points that stood out for me were:

• love what you write – don’t write without passion
• give your work status – set aside a time and place to write
• get something out there, be it a radio play, theatre script, short story

There was more, but a lot of it was common sense. She had some strong words about the way that writers are treated by producers and hates (make that HATES) the trend for treatments being needed for anything to get commissioned.

All in all a fascinating hour-and-a-half in the company of a highly respected, funny and self deprecating woman.

And my ulterior motive for going along? Well, I remember watching that Doctor Who story in my bedroom when it first aired back in 1989. It was winter, it was dark outside, it was scary. So I asked Rona to sign my Survival DVD cover, thinking I’d be thrown out by security.

But she kindly agreed and had good memories of the show and her time working on it. Then I had to leave…somewhere my tea was getting cold…

The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.

If you’re looking for a Western/sci-fi/comedy/action cult TV series, you could do a lot worse than The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.

Set in the Wild West of the 1890s, Bruce Campbell stars as the titular Brisco, a Harvard educated lawyer turned bounty hunter following the murder of his father by the John Bly gang.

Running for only one season in 1993, Brisco merged elements of Indiana Jones (the series was co-created by Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade screenwriter Jeffrey Boam), 1930s Saturday Matinee serials, the 1960s TV series The Wild Wild West and The X Files, to create a bizarre world of its own.

Most of the 27 episodes follow Brisco, his “partner” Lord Bowler (Julius Clary) and sidekick Socrates Poole (Christian Clemenson) as they try to round up the Bly gang. They occasionally sidestep this hunt to take on other adventures, giving a nice bit of variety as the series goes on.

Watching so many episodes in a row on DVD makes you appreciate how much effort went into making the show – it’s packed full of stunts, jokes and one-liners that keep the stories ploughing ahead full steam (or rocket if Professor Wickwire (John Astin) is involved) while the sc-fi elements are never too OTT to divert from the Western themes.

Bruce Campbell is a fantastic lead and it’s a real shame it was never commissioned for a second series. So get on the trail for a copy of this set, get those six-shooters ready and saddle up…or at least stick it in the DVD player and enjoy a few hours of great telly.