Eric Sykes, CBE: 4 May 1923 - 4 July 2012

I would imagine not many young folks really remember Eric Sykes. Although, I suppose if I said he was the Old Muggle Caretaker in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire some might say "Oh him!" but still not really know who he is.

Eric Sykes was a big influence on British comedy in the 1950's and 1960's. He wrote some of the funniest episodes of The Goon Show alongside Spike Milligan. For those of you unfamiliar with the Goons, it was a British radio comedy from the 1950's which starred Peter Sellers alongside Spike Milligan and Harry Secombe. He would later star in many British sitcoms during the 1950s' and 60's alongside both Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers as well as a movie roles during that time. He also had a few key roles in some of the films of that era. A couple of them as the comic side kick to gap toothed British comic Terry-Thomas.

Although most of his starring roles seemed to dry up after 1989, he continued to keep busy appearing in various supporting roles such as the mini-series Gormaghast in 2000 as well as movies such as Goblet of Fire and the Others. Just to name a few.

What's kind of a shame nowadays is many young people don't bother with old movies or old television shows because they think just because it's considered "old" it's going to be boring. So many movies, shows and actors get swept under the carpet because our society has sadly become so narrow-minded when it comes to the past. We miss out on so much because we're not willing to give something we're unfamiliar with a chance. And we create opinions on things that we don't know much about.

But if you happen to enjoy Monty Python and Saturday Night Live (which Loren Michaels has mentioned was influenced by Python), then you have Eric Sykes work from those early days of radio and television comedy to thank for that.

2012 is kind of turning into a rough year as far as the passing of many beloved celebrities. Just yesterday it was Andy Griffith and now today Eric Sykes.

I should mention on a side note, that Eric Sykes was in fact the basis for the butler Maladay in my graphic novel The Spaghetti Strand Murder.

But I'm very sorry to hear about Eric Sykes passing. A lot of his writing with the Goons and his influences on later British comedies has influenced me greatly.

More Holiday Art Auctions

The image above of Willy Wonka and Charlie Bucket is just one of several new pen and ink illustrations on E-Bay. I will be adding more items shortly. Click on the link below and Happy Bidding and Happy Holidays:
Bret's E-Bay Art Auctions

Doctor Who: the Movie

David Thewlis as a possible big-screen Doctor? Possibly!!

Well rumor has it that Harry Potter director David Yates has been linked to a big-budget Doctor Who movie. And such names as Hugh Laurie, Gary Oldman, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy and Ewan McGregor have either been linked to the title role or in the case of Hugh Laurie are who many fans have expressed a desire to see in the title role.

As much as I like Hugh Laurie, my choice for the Doctor would actually be Peter O'Toole, Edward Petherbridge or his former Fry and Laurie partner Stephen Fry.



But actually David Yates has a great deal of actors who have worked with him in the Harry Potter series that I think would be great in the title role. David Thewlis (picture above) being on the top of my list. Others being Jim Broadbent (who has expressed an interest in the role for years), Jason Issacs, Bill Nighy, Rhys Ifans or if they want to go more William Hartnell type Grandfather figure Michael Gambon.

I even think Yates has the right idea of going the route both the Peter Cushing Dalek's films or even the JJ Abrams Star Trek film having the film be it's own entity rather than linked to the series.

In the case of the Star Trek films, I really don't feel fans of the classic would ever simply forget everything they knew about Star Trek and accept the new movie as gospel. Or try and take the route of Superman Returns and have it be a continuation of a series with a different cast.

However by establishing the film being an alternate timeline, it doesn't alienate the old fans by making them accept this is Star Trek now and the classic series doesn't count.

Because that'll never happen.

But by creating this parallel universe, as it were, it allows old fans to still have their series while people who might find the old series a bit too slow might enjoy this high speed version of the show.

It's something I've found with people who have become fans of the new Doctor Who series. They can't get into the old series because it is so slow and stagey and the special effect... well... make the classic Star Trek series look cutting edge.

But the charm of Doctor Who has always been a healthy mix of campiness and strong writing. THAT'S the biggest reason why the classic series lasted from 1963 till 1989. It's inventiveness.

However, I have no intention of turning this into a Star Trek vs. Doctor Who debate. Both series's have lasted due to very devoted fans.

Nevertheless, I feel creating a film (or a series of films) as it's on entity rather than having it linked to the current series is the way to go. I think as long as they keep current aspects of the Doctor Who history while going in a different direction and not writing off the series, I believe it will keep fans relatively happy.

Or at least I'd accept it.

Although, I think it might be fun to bring back Tom Baker as an alternate "older" version of his Doctor.