The Disadvantages of Growing Up an SF Fan in the 70s and 80s.
1. I had the two best Doctors of all time in the Doctor Who I watched (fourth and fifth) and yet lived to see the 6th (insane and stupid), 7th (refusing to take anything seriously), 8th (loose canon and americanised) and 9th (bigot and murderer with an unhelathy interest in a young girl).
2. I saw Space 1999 and bits of Buck Rogers. Still suffer occasional flashbacks.
3. I saw the only reasonable version of Battlestar Galactica and so could take no pleasure in Galactica 1980 or in the newest version, in which everyone seems to have turned into bimboids, including Starbuck.
4. Blake's 7 set the standard for SF in my mind and has never been equalled. When someone told me Babylon 5 was as good as Blake's 7 I was foolish enough to hope, but I watched it and it was utter drivel. Where is all the wit and humour in modern SF? Where is the depth? The special effects may have improved, but nothing else has.
5. I saw the first Star Wars trilogy and loved it for many years, until George Lucas, a man I thought I could trust, turned everything on its head by making a new trilogy that made no sense and destroyed the whole thing.
6. I saw and liked Star Trek before it turned into Eastenders in Space.
Well, you can't go back, except in fanfic, and with the DVDs. So actually, you can go back. If anyone wants me, I'll be in 1979.
2. I saw Space 1999 and bits of Buck Rogers. Still suffer occasional flashbacks.
3. I saw the only reasonable version of Battlestar Galactica and so could take no pleasure in Galactica 1980 or in the newest version, in which everyone seems to have turned into bimboids, including Starbuck.
4. Blake's 7 set the standard for SF in my mind and has never been equalled. When someone told me Babylon 5 was as good as Blake's 7 I was foolish enough to hope, but I watched it and it was utter drivel. Where is all the wit and humour in modern SF? Where is the depth? The special effects may have improved, but nothing else has.
5. I saw the first Star Wars trilogy and loved it for many years, until George Lucas, a man I thought I could trust, turned everything on its head by making a new trilogy that made no sense and destroyed the whole thing.
6. I saw and liked Star Trek before it turned into Eastenders in Space.
Well, you can't go back, except in fanfic, and with the DVDs. So actually, you can go back. If anyone wants me, I'll be in 1979.