Boring Old Lab One!

Origins

Back to Lab 1 as it has become fondly known as. Ian, ever the one to show off,  wanted to make a film but didn�t have the equipment. Mike wanted to make a film and did have the equipment but didn�t know what to make. So, Ian came up with a script that was loosely  based on some sci-fi premise. I used to go round to Ian�s so that he could bounce ideas around and get drunk whilst trying to type up what sounded good. So, with a written script, Ian set about getting various people together. The first Doctor and Jamie characters were filmed going through various parts of the script. Suddenly, without warning, they were deemed to be unsatisfactory or couldn�t continue with what was to become a mammoth project. Panic? Disaster? Not a bit of it! Ian had met these two characters who would  be ideal replacements. That is if they could remain sober enough to learn their lines and manage to get to a shooting or two. Initially Gordon and Stuart were sceptical and flatly  refused to confirm their commitment until they had met the rest of the cast and crew. A meeting was arranged on one of the early days shooting, because, God forbid, if they had refused then myself and Ian would have no qualms about taking their roles. As luck had it,  they came, saw what they liked and jumped on board what was to become known as Ad-Lib Productions.
At this time, the script went out of the window and a series of loosely connected scenes emerged using the tried and trusted method of Ian bouncing ideas around and getting drunk  whilst typing in my presence. What had started as a relatively serious attempt at some form of sci-fi scripting turned to a more comedic situation piece, but keeping true to it�s origins. This dramatic turn lended itself to the 2 new actors, and I use the term loosely based on their first attempts and what was to come. Gordon and Stuart became known to Ian
and myself through informal gatherings down in Atherton. It was through these gatherings, that the set pieces were tailored (pun intended) towards their unique style of acting that was to win them many friends and admirers, though groupies tended to stay away for some strange reason!
It could have gone on forever, but people were changing and moving on. What had become a pleasant way to spend a Sunday almost became a chore. A hastily written ending brought the  saga to a close. Various grandiose ideas and preparation were ditched in favour of getting it finished so that we had something to show for our labours.
It was finally released to much critical acclaim. Some of it very critical! Mostly from ourselves as we had stumbled upon a simple idea that could and should have been better.  We had made a start. More was to come, but not a bad beginning.

The idea of making a film was conceived in the Spring of 1984. Ian Taylor, Nigel Rainford & Stuart Johndoe, had formed the Bolton Doctor Who local group. Mike Hardman, a friend of Ian�s, had spent the sixties and seventies making home cine films. Mike had recently purchased a home video camera, which consisted of a portable video recorder and a separate camera. Mike wanted to make a sci-fi based film and Ian wanted to have a go at creating a Doctor Who. Ian wrote a script, which sadly no longer exists today, but bore no
resemblance to the finished product. The plot in involved the Doctor, in a new incarnation, and his companion, Turlough, landing on Earth to find it deserted. It comes to light that an alien entity, of which only the head exists, has taken control of the planet, by reanimating the dead, who are killing everyone.

Plans were made to film in Churchgate, Bolton, on a Sunday morning, possibly as early as 6 a.m., so as to achieve a deserted town.The only actual shooting that took place on this original film, was in an old church staircase, which was then being used as a paint storage shop. The scenes shot included the Doctor and Turlough wandering about, with the dialogue very similar to the scene at the end of the
finished movie. Also shot were various scenes involving �Zunks�, faceless cadavers controlled by  the alien head. Its difficult to say how the final film would have looked, but we will never know as there was a fall out in the group, which resulted in Nigel and Stuart no longer filming. Ian was left with a script, but no Doctor or companion. It was around August `84, that Ian met with 2 other Doctor Who fans. Stuart Glazebrook and Gordon Lengden, lived in Atherton, Manchester, and had been communicating via letter for a couple of months.

After meeting a few times, Ian suggested to his friend and cohort, Eric Davies, that maybe they could be brought into the film. Willing actors were thin on the ground in those days. As a remarkable page of original notes show, recasting had put Ian in the role of the Doctor, with the Turlough character replaced by a Tramp, to be portrayed by Eric. Stuart and Gordon, (or Drog as he was affectionately known) were
to play the scientists. A further shoot had already taken place involving the reanimation of a corpse from a grave, and it was a nearby woods which provided a location  for a scene involving the finding of the alien head. Stuart and Drog were invited along to this shoot,
to see if they would like to be involved. They did. But they were not destined to be the scientists. Possibly based on their real personas being somewhat flamboyant, Ian decided that they could pull off being the Doctor and Tramp. The legend was born!

Grabbed by the Zunks by StuArt G.

Life in a Skirt by Ian Taylor

We hadn�t known Ian too long when we were invited to play the roles of �The Doctor� and his companion in �Lab 1.� We were aware of it of course, because Ian had shown us the takes so far during our regular Wednesday soirees, themselves dubiously titled �Hide the Banana.� We had to admit that that it all looked very interesting, apart, I felt, from the actual guys playing the parts of The Doctor and his companion, whom I thought were a little too effete and lightweight, wet if you prefer. It was obvious that they were going for the current TV Doctor look, that of Peter Davison, who at that time I perceived to be the worst Doctor so far - little did I know what was to come!
Anyway we met up with the Ad-Lib gang on a cold and wet Saturday afternoon in December �84� and trundled off to some obscure woods to observe them in action as they videoed a few Zombie scenes, then it was back to Ian�s pad which doubled as a scientific laboratory. Here we spent a riotous hour filming the magnificently named Eugene Prunty react - or not react, to be more precise - to a falling meteorite - �Groan, oh gawd no - do it again.�
After this fun packed afternoon, how could we fail to accept an invitation to join the Ad-Lib gang and play a role in the ongoing video, although it shows how green we were at the time because I recall discussing with Drog our ability to match the acting we had witnessed... Really! Eff you seen zer time�?...
However, my surprise at our being asked to play a role in the video turned to absolute shock when the scripts arrived, for we were asked to play the parts of the Doctor and his companion, with ME in the lead role... ME! The Head Honcho, L�homme numero uno, the Star part!!! I had initially expected a small part in the film, maybe as one of the monsters or maybe as a scientist, but to be offered the leading roles, well! Upon learning that we were required as the Doc & his mate, I had automatically assumed that the part of the Doctor would go to �the Looker�, and whilst not wishing to denigrate my good self in any way, I would always be the first to admit that Drog with his cork-screw hair and flashing smile was always ahead in that department. BUT, Ad-Lib is not Hollywood and so for once the lead role went to the one with character, charm, poise, humour, and not to the glamourpuss. Yah Boo Sucks to You Drog!!!!

Its an incredible revelation, that in sixteen years, I still find myself with the handsome, rugged, chiselled looks of a twenty year old. I�m due for an eye test next week. Whilst today, I strut around like a cocky cock, I was far from self confident about my appearance in 1985. There was certainly no way I was going to stick my noggin in front of any camera.
In fact, if I�m honest, this whole filming malarkey was born, not out of a desire to be creative, but because it was Doctor Who, and in 1984, I would have bought the toilet paper, hat, coat and slept with Matthew Waterhouse, if it meant there was an association with the Timelord.
I recall our first outing, with camera, armed with our youthful Doctor and even more youthful companion. I glanced at Mike (Hardman) throughout the day and thought I recognised the look of, �oh, for those glory days of the Seventies...�  We were filming dreadful stuff. Video virgins, fumbling badly, performing
dreadfully, and delivering lines with premature ejaculation. �Give it 4 seconds, before you say your lines! I have to edit this mess!� Happy days.

In 1984, I fell in love; with Stuart and Gordon. No seedy stuff, you understand. I was in love with who
they were, what they did, and of course, their association with Doctor Who. It was like having Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker living six miles away. I put the boys on a pedestal so high, they needed plenty cider to quell their fear of heights. After a ding dong with my original lead actors, which was mostly my fault, it usually was, I was stuck with forgetting the whole thing or recasting. Now, if you�d asked me a month ago, who was the choice to play the Doctor, I would have answered, �Stuart�. Wrong. A cast list from that time puts myself in the hallowed role, with Eric typecast as a tramp. Stu and the Drog were meagre scientists. The only reason I can give for this is the
usual one. I had wrote the role and was the one who knew it best. Or so I thought. Whether it was a case of getting to know the Boys better, or a case of chickening out; the roles were switched. A rewrite of later scenes brought in Jamie as a companion, to be played, incredibly by a woman!

For the costume, I was allowed to formulate my own look, and so I decided to base it on that of my favorite TV Doctor before he disappeared up his own arse, the very early Tom Baker, with a passing nod to another great TV show, The Prisoner, which I was very much into at that time. Now as for where those amazing trousers came from.... !
As for the character of our hero, well, I don�t recall the scripts being too �fleshy� and so I guess he was very much the crazier side of myself. I am still not sure if it was an accident, but the first part of the film is quite serious in tone, up until the arrival of the Doc & the Tramp, whereupon all seriousness took a flyer out of the window as slapstick, sheer goofiness and an over willingness to talk to the camera and involve persons behind it came very much to the fore. We were allowed input to even the written scripts and often lines and whole scenes would be added �on set� as it were. But as we were such a friendly and boisterous team, fuelled on by the ever present bottles of cider and whisky, I guess humour came to the fore quite naturally, and as long as we enjoyed filming what- ever occurred, we saw it as good for after all the Director didn�t object - he joined in!!!
The actual filming was done over such a long period that literally in between shots I appeared with a new and ridiculous perm which would appear & disappear through the film! I even contracted pneumonia, coming literally within hours of a swampy death and, whilst still recovering was dragged onset at Bolton�s ABC Cinema where our cameraman Mike Hardman was employed for another cold afternoon�s filming where I even had to double up in the costume and facemask of a Zunk monster, lying in a pile of Zunks, twitching away and trying very hard not to piss my sides. Great Days - tha� knows!
I remain a little sad to this day, however that we (Ian) couldn�t be bothered to finish the film off properly. But he got bored with the project I think, maybe understandably, and so the film just tailed off like . . . s  o  m  e   .   .   .   .   M  o  n      t      y           P       y          h

There was a good reason for what seems initially to be barmy casting. I was drunk  most of the time. In an obviously more sober moment, I cast myself as Jamie, which meant I could feed my megalomaniac lust and
satisfy my cross dressing curiosity. In a kilt made by my mother, a sleeveless body warmer worn inside out, and
my hankie stuffed in one of my hiking socks, the Doc`s Scottish companion was born.
In this first film I had very little to do, really. A script reveals a lot more scenes involving Jamie and the Doctor meeting the alien head, being chased by the DWAS exec, and the poor wee Highlander falling off a cliff. As it was, my only scenes were all shot on one day at the cigarette tunnel, and generally were a montage of what we obviously thought at the time were amusing skits based around being chased. This was my first time in front of a camera without a mask on, a shock to the world and a scare to me. I loved to hide behind masks, but I found it was easy to hide behind Jamie`s character, too. Hence I played him to extremes, hamming him up and having a whale of a time! Kraigatowa!

Lab 1 Thoughts by Eric Davies

So where did it all begin? First a bit of background. Well for me it all began in 1979 But that�s 5 years before we started filming I hear you cry! Ah yes, well that was the year  that I met a certain Mr Ian Taylor. It was at my first place of employment in Bolton. I could go into details and probably will one day but for now let�s concentrate on Labyrinth Of The Blud Devils. Suffice to say that if I hadn�t met Ian and he hadn�t been �bored� with the job I managed to hang on to for 4 years, and he hadn�t gone to work  in a video store (no Blockbusters then you know), then he wouldn�t have met Mike Hardman who mentioned that he had done some filming in his youth and was still active. Filming that is,  or would like to be.