First off, I didn't have any desire following the typical American-formula: Time-travelers having the misfortune of attempting to return to their proper Timeframe. Mainly because I always felt it was sort of like Gilligan's Island set in the Fourth Dimension. Or a transdimensional Lost in Space, so to speak.
Although you'll note I was later influenced greatly by Doctor Who, I had originally not gone by the British Broadcasting Company's (BBC) televised version. And despite what you may think, I once had no intention of roping Fanger with the Time Lord character.
The Peter Cushing Doctor Who
Amazingly, my first and only exposure to The Doctor was the cinematic Incarnate in the classic film, Doctor Who and the Daleks, which I had viewed at the Porter Matinee Cinema (now commonly known as the Dollar Cinema). For those who've never witnessed anything but the television version of the good Doctor, allow me to summarize the subtle differences:
The Doctor (referred to as Dr. Who) is an eccentric inventor, who lives with his granddaughters, Susan and Barbara in England. During a date with Barbara, Ian meets Dr. Who and is shown the most remarkable invention called the TARDIS.
Unlike its more conventional form, the movie version appears as if someone slapped together bits of World War II machinery with bits of some George Pal scenery for good measure. And the most peculiar way this device is launched is by its plane-like lever control, which Ian (surprise, surprise) trips and falls upon. Thus, propelling the craft through Time and Space, ending up on the planet Skaro.
Noted, the rest is similarly based upon the BBC-Doctor Who episode, entitled The Dead Planet.
At this point, you're probably wondering: where's the incident linking Fanger with Dr. Who? Similar to Fanger's ancestor, Fangdini, it all started with a contest, this time a legitimate one. Despite the movie discrepancies, The Doctor was nonetheless a sensation in Texas, and its popularity had spawned a local newsletter, The Gallifreyan Sentinel.
Due to new FCC regulations, the newsletter had required a children's section, and they needed a new character in which they could use with The Doctor. I forget what I had actually created for my submission to the contest, but due to a bully's unwittingly interference, Fanger had stolen the spotlight.
In this case, the bully I had to deal with had preferred psychological assaults than physical ones. Meaning he liked sabotaging my work whenever the chance had come up. Apparently learning about the contest as well, he had also recalled how I had temporarily lost some of my characters' rights to the school. Deciding to switch my original (now completely unknown) characters with Fanger, he had gone under the assumption the rights would immediately be turned over to the Sentinel. Therefore, I'd lose my precious character to the publication. But as with the Brain, the bully had never thought out most of his plans.
One thing he had overlooked was I always learn from my past mistakes. In doing so, when Fanger debuted in his past two series, I had the sensibility to copyright the character (In those days, if you wanted to unofficially copyright something, you merely drew the © symbol, with the year and the name. In my case, I started using the nom de plume Fangarian Productions, since I mostly did produce Fanger infinitely).
Notwithstanding, the contest judges fell completely in love with Fanger, and before I could realize what had occurred, I had found myself committed in writing the first Fanger/Dr. Who story. Even though the bully had fumed at my success, I was in a quandary. For the rules had stipulated I could only use the characters from the movie, but the location had to be somewhere in Texas, and had to specifically include the Daleks.
Regrettably I had drawn nothing but blanks, since this was the first time, since the days of Phoomy Man!, which Fanger had played second banana. But the real problem was what would be the gimmick for having the Daleks come to Texas. Destroying our oil fields had appeared stupid, since the Daleks have advanced in utilizing nuclear technology. I had conjured up one where the Daleks had taken over NASA, but even that concept had appeared far-fetched. Then an unlikely miracle had arrived in the form of an old movie poster.
Upon heralding the next Dr. Who movie, Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 AD, my friend, James, had detected an odd peculiarity in its promotional poster. Not shown in the film itself (bad habit with Hollywood, y'know), there in the background were domed-shaped Dalek bases. James had humorously compared these futuristic structures resembling our Astrodome, and out-of-blue, I had begun to instantly formulate the story of how the Daleks had invaded Texas.
DALEK INVASION: HOUSTON 2175 AD
1980 - PETER CUSHING (Movie Doctor Who)
As with the film itself, The Doctor is a famous inventor who lives with his granddaughters, Susan and Barbara, in England. Here, Fanger takes the role of being The Doctor's mysterious assistant. Although Fanger's origins aren't totally disclosed, the wolf hints The Doctor rescued him from a horrible fate pertaining to Earth's far-off future in the 96th Century. Unfortunately, nothing more is said about Fanger afterwards, except that he is a Paranormal and a mechanical genius. Naturally, The Doctor's rescue of his invalued assistant was made possible by his latest invention, the TARDIS.
The story unfolds with The Doctor and his Companions submitting the TARDIS at the Houston Invention Exchange, in hopes the remarkable apparatus can be used as an important tool for NASA. The Doctor believes it could help the space program not only comprehend Time Travel, but the nature of space as well. Inside the intradimensional contraption, The Doctor and Fanger demonstrate the TARDIS' unique facilities to one of the judges (who's strangely enough), known as Ian Smith. Regrettably, before the group can leave the apparatus, a freak lightning bolt strikes the TARDIS. The unexpected energy prematurely activates the machine, causing
the TARDIS to enter TimeSpace. The TARDIS instantaneously transfers The Doctor, Fanger, Susan, Barbara and Ian into the late 22nd Century!
Upon arrival, they witness the apocalyptic wasteland of Houston, were every known building and structure has been mysteriously destroyed in some fashion. The Doctor suspects their destination must be after the Third World War, but Fanger rebukes this claim, pointing out the Anti-Hiroshima campaign of 1996 had forbidden the use of nuclear weapons--especially after the Corpus Christi Crisis of 1984. Ian, however, notices one structure completely intact, is the one before them--the Astrodome. Cautiously, the group ventures into the famous Houston stadium.
After some inspection, Fanger and The Doctor theorize the Astrodome has now been converted into an underground city for the last remaining Humans on Earth (or at least, futuristic Texans). The group learns about 2067, the Dalek Wars had occurred, in which these inhuman invaders had decimated almost every major city and metropolis on Earth. Luckily, the Houstonians' ancestors had prevented their deaths by immediately using the Astrodome as a survival shelter for the remaining inhabitants from the wars.
Unfortunately, unknown to the Houstonians, the Earth is now populated by Dalek dome-shaped bases. To make matters worse, the Astrodome itself is mistaken for one of their arsenal bases by The Daleks. In order to save the Houstonians' existence, the intruders are cleverly repelled by The Doctor, and thwarted by Fanger's magic. After destroying the threat, Fanger shrewdly sends a falsified message to the Dalek Leader, claiming the Earth has become highly uninhabitable, and the irradiated atmosphere is lethal to their armor. Surprisingly, the Dalek Leader pulls out the remaining Daleks, deciding on not to destroy the Earth, for it might prove useful to them at a later date. Consequently, Fanger and The Doctor save the future city of Houstontropolis and the Earth from another Dalek Invasion.
Despite its first stupendous popularity, I've always considered this version was always personally considered as a poor one. One major reason was when I had conjured up this tale, it had concentrated more upon The Doctor, Fanger & The Daleks rather than Susan, Ian, Barbara or the Houstonians. Not to mention the blatant overusage of Fanger's mystical abilities for constantly saving the day. Due to this, I've always denoted this version as the Bewitched Dr. Who when referring to it.
The one good thing about this tale, however, it was these flaws educating me on what not to make Fanger: a Universal Problem-Solver.
Unlike its more conventional form, the movie version appears as if someone slapped together bits of World War II machinery with bits of some George Pal scenery for good measure. And the most peculiar way this device is launched is by its plane-like lever control, which Ian (surprise, surprise) trips and falls upon. Thus, propelling the craft through Time and Space, ending up on the planet Skaro.
Noted, the rest is similarly based upon the BBC-Doctor Who episode, entitled The Dead Planet.
At this point, you're probably wondering: where's the incident linking Fanger with Dr. Who? Similar to Fanger's ancestor, Fangdini, it all started with a contest, this time a legitimate one. Despite the movie discrepancies, The Doctor was nonetheless a sensation in Texas, and its popularity had spawned a local newsletter, The Gallifreyan Sentinel.
Due to new FCC regulations, the newsletter had required a children's section, and they needed a new character in which they could use with The Doctor. I forget what I had actually created for my submission to the contest, but due to a bully's unwittingly interference, Fanger had stolen the spotlight.
In this case, the bully I had to deal with had preferred psychological assaults than physical ones. Meaning he liked sabotaging my work whenever the chance had come up. Apparently learning about the contest as well, he had also recalled how I had temporarily lost some of my characters' rights to the school. Deciding to switch my original (now completely unknown) characters with Fanger, he had gone under the assumption the rights would immediately be turned over to the Sentinel. Therefore, I'd lose my precious character to the publication. But as with the Brain, the bully had never thought out most of his plans.
One thing he had overlooked was I always learn from my past mistakes. In doing so, when Fanger debuted in his past two series, I had the sensibility to copyright the character (In those days, if you wanted to unofficially copyright something, you merely drew the © symbol, with the year and the name. In my case, I started using the nom de plume Fangarian Productions, since I mostly did produce Fanger infinitely).
Notwithstanding, the contest judges fell completely in love with Fanger, and before I could realize what had occurred, I had found myself committed in writing the first Fanger/Dr. Who story. Even though the bully had fumed at my success, I was in a quandary. For the rules had stipulated I could only use the characters from the movie, but the location had to be somewhere in Texas, and had to specifically include the Daleks.
Regrettably I had drawn nothing but blanks, since this was the first time, since the days of Phoomy Man!, which Fanger had played second banana. But the real problem was what would be the gimmick for having the Daleks come to Texas. Destroying our oil fields had appeared stupid, since the Daleks have advanced in utilizing nuclear technology. I had conjured up one where the Daleks had taken over NASA, but even that concept had appeared far-fetched. Then an unlikely miracle had arrived in the form of an old movie poster.
Upon heralding the next Dr. Who movie, Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 AD, my friend, James, had detected an odd peculiarity in its promotional poster. Not shown in the film itself (bad habit with Hollywood, y'know), there in the background were domed-shaped Dalek bases. James had humorously compared these futuristic structures resembling our Astrodome, and out-of-blue, I had begun to instantly formulate the story of how the Daleks had invaded Texas.
DALEK INVASION: HOUSTON 2175 AD
1980 - PETER CUSHING (Movie Doctor Who)
As with the film itself, The Doctor is a famous inventor who lives with his granddaughters, Susan and Barbara, in England. Here, Fanger takes the role of being The Doctor's mysterious assistant. Although Fanger's origins aren't totally disclosed, the wolf hints The Doctor rescued him from a horrible fate pertaining to Earth's far-off future in the 96th Century. Unfortunately, nothing more is said about Fanger afterwards, except that he is a Paranormal and a mechanical genius. Naturally, The Doctor's rescue of his invalued assistant was made possible by his latest invention, the TARDIS.
The story unfolds with The Doctor and his Companions submitting the TARDIS at the Houston Invention Exchange, in hopes the remarkable apparatus can be used as an important tool for NASA. The Doctor believes it could help the space program not only comprehend Time Travel, but the nature of space as well. Inside the intradimensional contraption, The Doctor and Fanger demonstrate the TARDIS' unique facilities to one of the judges (who's strangely enough), known as Ian Smith. Regrettably, before the group can leave the apparatus, a freak lightning bolt strikes the TARDIS. The unexpected energy prematurely activates the machine, causing
the TARDIS to enter TimeSpace. The TARDIS instantaneously transfers The Doctor, Fanger, Susan, Barbara and Ian into the late 22nd Century!Upon arrival, they witness the apocalyptic wasteland of Houston, were every known building and structure has been mysteriously destroyed in some fashion. The Doctor suspects their destination must be after the Third World War, but Fanger rebukes this claim, pointing out the Anti-Hiroshima campaign of 1996 had forbidden the use of nuclear weapons--especially after the Corpus Christi Crisis of 1984. Ian, however, notices one structure completely intact, is the one before them--the Astrodome. Cautiously, the group ventures into the famous Houston stadium.
After some inspection, Fanger and The Doctor theorize the Astrodome has now been converted into an underground city for the last remaining Humans on Earth (or at least, futuristic Texans). The group learns about 2067, the Dalek Wars had occurred, in which these inhuman invaders had decimated almost every major city and metropolis on Earth. Luckily, the Houstonians' ancestors had prevented their deaths by immediately using the Astrodome as a survival shelter for the remaining inhabitants from the wars.
Unfortunately, unknown to the Houstonians, the Earth is now populated by Dalek dome-shaped bases. To make matters worse, the Astrodome itself is mistaken for one of their arsenal bases by The Daleks. In order to save the Houstonians' existence, the intruders are cleverly repelled by The Doctor, and thwarted by Fanger's magic. After destroying the threat, Fanger shrewdly sends a falsified message to the Dalek Leader, claiming the Earth has become highly uninhabitable, and the irradiated atmosphere is lethal to their armor. Surprisingly, the Dalek Leader pulls out the remaining Daleks, deciding on not to destroy the Earth, for it might prove useful to them at a later date. Consequently, Fanger and The Doctor save the future city of Houstontropolis and the Earth from another Dalek Invasion.
Despite its first stupendous popularity, I've always considered this version was always personally considered as a poor one. One major reason was when I had conjured up this tale, it had concentrated more upon The Doctor, Fanger & The Daleks rather than Susan, Ian, Barbara or the Houstonians. Not to mention the blatant overusage of Fanger's mystical abilities for constantly saving the day. Due to this, I've always denoted this version as the Bewitched Dr. Who when referring to it.
The one good thing about this tale, however, it was these flaws educating me on what not to make Fanger: a Universal Problem-Solver.
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