Starting Science Fiction

For some reason I haven't got much writing done this week. Maybe it was returning to work and being on frantic catch-up or still adjusting to the clocks changing. Whatever it was, this post is my most creative activity this week.

So what am I going to write about while my cat tries to push the laptop off and repeatedly turns the Caps on. The little @@%%$$. Well how about where my love for Science Fiction came from.

When I was out playing there were a handful of things that could drag me in. One was to watch an Apollo launch or landing. Not fiction I know, unless you believe those stories of secret filming in the desert. No I don't, I have a life. I would sit in front of the black and white TV with my Mum while she explained what was going on.

Another was Captain Scarlet. Forget Stingray or Thunderbird, that old Captain was cool and I still do Mysteron impersonations if I get my hands on a few torches. Each week I sat there, eager to see how he would escape those impossible, guaranteed death situations. OK. I was young, alright? My faith that he was in real danger each week was as indestructable as he was. And then there was Captain Black. I'm sure Darth Vader was based on him. I watched the remakes too but they just weren't the same. No strings for a start.

Dr Who has been part of life since, well my life started. The sofa was kept away from the wall just for Saturday night where we junior members of the family would hide. Peeking around to find out what the screams were about then diving back with horror. Nobody in the family would dream of missing it, right up until they cancelled the show. I was horrified when I heard it was to be reworked. How could they touch it? It was sacred?

Dave read all the advanced info because I couldn't bear to look then kept telling me it would be fine but I insisted the kids watched some of the originals before they saw the new stuff. Thankfully my fears were over nothing and it is now as regular a family event as the old stuff was. I think the highlight was the Daleks moving from their ships to the Satellite 5. I saw the trailer and screamed. "Oh my God they %%&& fly in space." I don't swear as a rule but well, that one deserved it.

I can remember watching the first trailers for Star Trek and wondering what on earth it was. I'd never seen anything like it. Again I was hooked. The gang of kids I played with were all fans too but when we built our own spaceship (a tree that had a convenient wall round it) I was always Captain Kirk. Can't remember if it was because I knew the most, because we'd picked up on the filtered down equality stuff or just no-one dared to demote me.

And Dad would make sure I watched any old movies that were on. Quatermass, Day of the Triffids, The Day the Earth Stood Still, War of the Worlds. Of course I was already in when they came on. The Mother Police on the estate would soon be whispering if any Mum was so slack as to let their child out after dark.

I would also run in to watch Marine Boy but the less said about that the better. Just pretend you never read that bit, OK?

But... you cry... that's all TV and Film. Well I did move onto books and devoured them but even an advanced reader takes a while before they can handle Azimov and Heinlein. Let alone Philip K Dick and Harlan Ellison. So my love of SF started with TV.

Don't know if this post counts as creative now I've done it so lets just call it a stream of conciousness. Have a great week.