Chapter 17
Have You Seen The Muffin Man?
Muffins - I recommend orange, lemon, lime and poppy seed.
These go down well in the green room during recordings at Big
Finish. Chocolate too, of course. And last Christmas, I
invented muffins with mincemeat filling.
I was getting bored with the same three Time Lord Chapters
being trooped out like a mantra in homage to the sainted
Robert Holmes: Prydonian, Arcalian and Patrexes. So I added
the Dromeian Chapter (probably Social Democrat) and the
Cerulean Chapter (Blue in colour, Green in policy.) Neither
have been heard of since.
Lord Ferain's Alternative History of Skaro picks up on the
possible alternative Dalek history timeline created by the
Doctor's intervention during Genesis of the Daleks, as
described in Paul Cornell, Martin Day and Keith Topping's
indispensable Bible The Discontinuity Guide.
The masonic symbols in Ferain's office imply secret rituals
and dark deeds (and the police force too.) Rassilon was
originally described as an architect. Although that suggests
he was the architect of Time Lord civilisation rather than
just a few high rise blocks and a leisure centre round the
Citadel. I'll stop this thread now before my brain runs amok
with scenes of mighty Rassilon arguing with the builders over
how many mirror tiles he wants in the bathroom or how long a
tea break should be.
I didn't want to stage the equivalent of the "M briefs Bond
for his latest mission" scene in a boring old Presidential
office. Having a tea party inside Monet's Impressionistic
water lily paintings is much more up Romana's frivolous, yet
stylish, garden path. Or perhaps the idea of a garden path.
Rather better than going to Monet's actual garden at Giverny
(complete with loads of tourists.) Or you could go to the
Orangerie Museum in the Jardin des Tuileries in Paris, where
the oval rooms containing Monet's pictures encircle you so
that you feel as if you're inside the paintings (complete with
loads of tourists.) Only you can't at the moment - a sign on
the door says Closed For Refurbishment Until 2004. So I
apologise to Daryl. This scene is probably a nightmare to
illustrate, only I get the impression(!) that he's looking
forward to it.
I like the idea that the Time Lords' exclusive power comes
at a price. If Gallifrey is already slightly outside the
continuum of the rest of the Universe, surely a good
observation point, then the Time Lords' investment in the
stabilising influence of Omega's Black Star has only made
things worse. The power that neither fluxes nor changes is
slowly, slowly grinding the whole of Gallifreyan existence to
a halt. At this rate, the Time Lords will eventually be frozen
in Time themselves and the rest of the Universe will come to
look at them instead.
