News Roundup: Colin Baker stuff, Sooty latest!

Please, Lord, don't ever let me moan about my job. It's an absolute pleasure and a dream! I realised this at the weekend, when I get a text message from Richard Cadell, talking 'Sooty' stuff. And the next day, I received an email from Colin Baker, (the sixth Doctor Who), talking 'Menston Green' stuff! I let these events pass by unnoticed, because my brain was in Work Mode. But looking back, it's just pure science fiction - it's craziness! I never thought I'd ever get to meet these heroes of mine, let alone work with them! I am living in a dream world. I am blessed, and eternally grateful.

So, hello again! Just a small preface... I write these blogs partly for myself, to help me process my bizarre life. They're partly for Skerratt Media fans, (both of you!) And they're partly shameless self-publicity, because if I don't ramble on about my business, nobody will know it exists! So please forgive the occasional wanderings into PR speak.

Menston Green... out now!

What's been happening at Skerratt Media HQ? Well - I released my first radio comedy on the 25th February. That's 'Menston Green,' and it's about a strange TV soap that gets rebooted and transformed into a sci-fi nightmare! You can hear the trailer, (and buy the thing!), here. Go on, you know you want to... ;)

Promoting a project such as this is always difficult. When you don't have a PR budget, how do you reach out to people and let them know you exist?! So a big thank you to the websites and blogs that have mentioned us so far. And if you, dear reader, feel the urge to tell the world about it, please do, and I'll love you forever! I can't do this job without the support of people like you.

Also, a big wave to our first international listeners! That was exciting...

Interestingly, 'Menston Green' also stars Wink Taylor, (with whom I write 'Sooty'), and Wendy Abrahams, (Sooty's make-up artist!) Which brings me onto the next topic... Sooty series 2!

For those of you who don't know me, I write 'Sooty' for CITV alongside Richard Cadell, (the presenter), and the aforementioned Wink. The series relaunched in 2011 to reviews I could have written myself, and the show was subsequently renewed for another run of 26 episodes. Aaaaaargh - 26?! We all had a bit of a wobble, but leaned heavily on each other, breathed deeply, and drank some tea. Then we cracked on. We've been chipping away at the scripts since last October, and I'm pleased to tell you that my contribution is officially over! Unless something goes drastically wrong and Richard disapproves of the episode I penned for Matt Smith! (That's a joke by the way...)

The new Sooty DVD! It's also got Paul Daniels in it,
(no pizzas though!) 

It's going to be an amazing series, though, and nobody pays me to say that. Seriously - I am excited. Because the great thing is, me and Richard are both huge fans of the programme, and now we actually get to write the thing! And some of the episodes, (so stupidly over-ambitious!), are lifted straight from my fanboy wishlist. I can't wait. I'm just grateful I don't have to film them!

As far as I know, series 2 will be hitting the small screen later in the year, but if you can't wait until then, I hear tell that a new DVD is coming your way! From Abbey Home Media, the disc is entitled 'Sooty - The Magic Show' and will be available nationwide, (in shops and everything!), as of Monday 4th March. It comprises titles from the 2011 series, namely The Magic Show, (no surprises there!), Sooty of the Seven Seas, (written by Wink Taylor, with some awesome visuals), Poorly Soo, The Alarm System, (guest starring John Shuttleworth!), The Sports Day, and A Drive in the Country, (which has a very catchy song... oh, and the Stig!) Find it on Amazon, or combine with your weekly shop at Asda or similar. Or maybe even get it at HMV, because I really don't want them to go out of business. I love HMV!

So there you are, chums, I think that's everything. I've got to crack on with a book now, and should it ever make onto the Blogosphere, you'll be the first to know.

Onwards!

Menston Green Release Date - UPDATED

It's official! Menston Green will arrive on Monday 25th February 2013. The 50 minute radio comedy, starring former Doctor Who and I'm a Celebrity... contestant Colin Baker, will be available as an MP3 download at www.skerratt-media.co.uk .

The production also stars Wink Taylor from Sooty, as well as Wendy Abrahams (Theo the Mouse), Warwick St. John and Vicki Glover.

The Menston Green cover art.

Here's the synopsis:

'Menston Green' has been running since 1951. Families have been gathering around their television sets every night for almost sixty-two years to catch up with the residents of IBC1′s most famous village.

But since the death of the show’s most enduring cast member, the ratings have taken a dive. As a result, Mr Cutler (the producer) has no choice but to end his tenure and hand over the reins to the next generation – a last chance saloon to breathe new life into television’s oldest soap opera.

Enter new employee Dale Delaney, a warm-hearted but dim-witted young dreamer with some unique ideas on TV drama. Together with his new recruits – Apple the first-time script writer and Clifford Bowfinger (creator of IBC1′s other smash hit, 'Blake’s Rebels') – the scene is set for a reboot of truly galactic proportions. But not everyone will survive his vivid reimagining…

UPDATE 18.02.13 - NEW MENSTON GREEN TRAILER GOES LIVE!

Check it out below...

On the Shoulders of Giants has Landed! - UPDATED

A brand new retro SF feature from Water on the Rock Ltd. finally had its world premiere last Saturday 8 December in Leeds, West Yorkshire. 'On the Shoulders of Giants' was filmed in 2010 on a micro-budget, and I had the honour of playing Astro Navigator Alex Hyatt, an ambitious young crew member with a lasar gun, jetpack, and a love interest called Clarissa, (okay, she was a plant.)




The lovely Clarissa meets Navigator Hyatt, as Dr. Levenson
looks on...

Here's the synopsis:

In the 23rd century mankind had finally travelled beyond the confines of Earth's solar system and made contact with intelligent extraterrestrials. New forms of atomic propulsion has made exploration to distant worlds possible.

During the Andromeda’s maiden voyage its Einstein-Rosen (ER) drive is successfully tested. A vessel equipped with an ER drive is capable of crossing interstellar distances by travelling through self-generated wormholes. The ER drive was designed by the child science genius N'tron Zepethar.


Zed, one of the coolest robots ever, takes control...

Fifteen years earlier the starship Leviathan (with Zepethar aboard and propelled by his first version of an ER drive) disappeared on its maiden voyage. As the only other vessel equipped with an operational ER drive the Andromeda is reassigned to the Leviathan's rescue mission.

The Andromeda’s crew locates the crashed Leviathan on Theta-25L, a desolate planet 50 million light years from Earth. Whilst attempting to contact the Leviathan tragedy befalls the Andromeda's crew.

After fifteen years on Theta-25L, Zepethar is the sole survivor of the Leviathan's crew. When the Andromeda’s crew begin searching for answers to the Leviathan’s demise it soon becomes apparent both Zepethar and Theta-25L harbour terrifying secrets…


As a massive SF fan, being a part of this project was a dream come true. Directed by Kenneth D. Barker and also starring Sarah Wood, Warwick St. John, Adam Lee, Wayne Ewart and Carl Isherwood, 'On the Shoulders of Giants' is now available to watch here.

UPDATE - 02/03/13: New Clip from 'On the Shoulders of Giants'...
Check out Doctor Levenson and Alex Hyatt discussing life and the universe in this riveting clip:

Filming 'Theo the Mouse'

"How's Hollywood?" That's what my former colleagues ask me every time I return to a Certain Retail Outlet to pick up a carton of milk. I left my former employer in October of this year so that I could film Theo the Mouse's first DVD. Not to rub shoulders with James Cameron. So I politely tell them I don't know anybody named Holly...

In any case, I think Hollywood would be pretty horrific, don't you? Theo the Mouse doesn't live anywhere near there. Nor do his friends Wink and Wendy. And it's because of this able trio that I had the courage to take a gamble and walk away from Regular Income, because the reality was I couldn't work in a shop and produce a miniseries. Any DVD is an enormous undertaking, and Theo was no exception. Filmed in 3 days, edited in 12. Myself, Theo, Wink and Wendy have one thing in common: we're all slightly insane!


Theo the Mouse - forgetting a line!

For example, on the first day we canned 156 takes, which took about 12 hours. Edited down, this amounts to about 10 minutes - 1 complete episode. And we repeated the process over the course of the weekend. Going at this break-neck pace, it's crucial that everyone is 100% behind the project, or the whole thing will come tumbling down like a house of cards.

Fortunately, Theo T. Mouse had amassed a reliable army of recruits. Wink (and his brother Ween) and Wendy hit the ground running at 9am and continued to groove until the 9pm wrap. Props, costumes, lamps - all there, all being monitored, with every problem having a solution. All I had to do was point the camera! They made my life very easy.

Of course, there are some issues you can never predict. Theo was one of them. His eyes are, erm, quite different to human eyes...! Getting them to look down the barrel of the lense proved very time-consuming, and ate through takes like a toddler in a sweetshop. Then there was the infamous towel scene, (or Towelgate, as it shall henceforth be known.) Theo had to throw towels onto Wendy's head, but we just couldn't shoot it without catching the shadow of Theo's assistant in frame. After 45 minutes, some bright spark suggested moving the camera. (It had been a long day.)

Wendy gives us some on-set dancing!

Despite these moments of minor infuriation, I can honestly say that no part of the filming was stressful. Yes, it was tiring - very much so - but it was manageable. The levels of multi-tasking were reasonable, and the levels of adrenalin were reasonable, and the whole team were reasonable, (actually, that's an understatement - they were lovely.) I have learnt that hard work only punishes you when you try to do too much. Theo knew what we could realistically expect to achieve, and we did!

Looking at the DVD now, I can't quite believe that we went from nothing to a finished disc - packaging, menus and special features - in just 3 and a half weeks. It just goes to show, if you have the right people on it, who know what they're doing, and actually want to be there, then the sky is truly the limit. Thank you Theo!

Have a gander at our incredibly catchy theme tune and title sequence, and order your copies now!

Sooty Christmas DVD from Abbey Home Media

Merry... November, everybody! Another DVD already, huh. I won't plead poverty in this one, I promise; talking about my personal life bores me silly. Good thing I don't keep a blog.

The DVD in question is the Sooty Christmas Special, available from all good stockists! (They don't pay me to say this.) It's another fine selection of episodes from 2011's TV series what I co-wrote with Richard C and Winkleton T, but this disc has a twist; it also features a series of links adapted from last year's West End seasonal show, so for those who missed it, this is a good chance to catch up!

But onto the episodes! Do I have a favourite? The Great Race is certainly high on the list. It went through a lot of drafts, and just kept getting better, in my opinion. I tackled the first draft, which started with everyone at the starting line in their vehicles, each eager to win the annual race! "But why are they having a race?" Richard asked, curiously. "Oh they just are! I think that's funny!" I said. Since which time, I have come to learn that Explaining the Plot is actually a positive thing! ("Oh well - if we must!") Professor Fuel became Fred Flywheel, then finally Fred Firewheel, and the stupidly elaborate race course that we devised  - taking them round the park, through Brean, and onto the beach! - became a much tidier go-karting circuit. And why not!

Squeaky Clean pleasantly surprised me, because I rattled off a rushed draft, sent it, and then forgot all about it until I saw a rough cut during filming. My first reaction, (which was one of surprise, not arrogance), was "Did I write this?!" I am my own worst critic and I must say I was pleased at what the production team had achieved. As an ep, it also highlights my lifelong battle with vacuum cleaners, ("hoovering sucks"), and provides nifty tips for dealing with stains, cutlery, and tsunamis.

Watch The Farm for a splendid appearance from Keith Chegwin! Yep! The Keith Chegwin! Cheggers! I felt a complete div when I found out he was going to be in this episode, because I had no idea who he was! But I live in a world populated by retro SF and general nerdiness, so if the Cheggmeister didn't appear in an episode of vintage Doctor Who, there's little chance he'd ever flash up on my radar. But he gives a sterling performance in this ep and there are some very moo-ving moments...! Particularly the sweet montage of the puppets with the animals, and Wink Taylor's egg routine. One of the last to be written, and some solid stuff.

The Souvenir Stall features some lovely 'old school' goodness for Harry Corbett fans. Look out for the pottery-making routine in Sooty's tool shed, which was very faithfully, and comically, re-enacted for this series. (Harry's original ep is on The Lost Episodes volume 2 DVD, if anyone's interested!)

Finally, The Great Outdoors! Another (semi) re-working of a Harry Corbett episode from the 1970s. In Harry's original routine, he was trying to follow one of Sooty's maps, (which turned out to be a circuit diagram!), desperately searching for somewhere to camp. When he, Sooty and Sweep finally found the perfect spot, they woke up to discover they'd pitched the tent in the centre of a roundabout! It's good stuff, and you'll be able to spot the influences when you see it. The first draft featured a Hollywood-style lightning strike, which was sensibly downgraded as the writing process advanced!

So there you are! Should you buy this DVD? Most definitely! Even if you don't celebrate Christmas! This particular disc might even be worth something in a few years, for a very good reason. Trust me! But you'll have to buy it to find out why! How's that for a sales pitch?!

Wishing a you a merry November and a happy new Advent!

Introducing Menston Green

Menston Green has been running since 1951. Families have been gathering around their television sets every night for almost sixty-two years to catch up with the residents of IBC1's most famous village.

But since the death of the show's most enduring cast member, the ratings have taken a dive. As a result, Mr Cutler (the producer) has no choice but to end his tenure and hand over the reins to the next generation - a last chance saloon to breathe new life into television's oldest soap opera.

Enter new employee Dale Delaney, a warm-hearted but dim-witted young dreamer with some unique ideas about TV drama. Together with his new recruits - Apple the first-time script writer and Clifford Bowfinger (creator of IBC1's other smash hit, Blake's Rebels) - the scene is set for a reboot of truly galactic proportions. But not everyone will survive his vivid reimagining...

Menston Green is a one-off radio comedy starring the renowned British actor Colin Baker (Doctor Who, Jonathan Creek, I'm a Celebrity Get me out of Here), and is due for release in early 2013 at skerratt-media.co.uk.

Have a listen to our exclusive interview with Colin here:

News Roundup: Sooty, Menston Green, Theo

I must apologise for the formality of this blog's title. But what else to call it? This is going to be a very 'bitty' post and I could think of no better word than "roundup", a new word for me given that I rarely have much to "roundup" besides cats and stubborn croissants, (notice my personification of the PASTRY and not the feline - that's how my brain works.)

I'll start off with my latest "commission" - the Theo the Mouse DVD for Wink Taylor and Wendy Abrahams. What a joy this has been so far! Pre-production bores me to tears - the phone calls, the emails, the schedules, it's a snooze, and yet it still stops me sleeping, an infuriating irony that bores me in itself. But I've not had to do any of that this time, because the show isn't my baby. Wink and Wendy are on it all: the sets, the props, the costumes, the scripts. All I have to do, when we start filming next Wednesday, is turn up and point the camera! Okay, admittedly I have to edit the thing, and conjure up some visual effects, but I really enjoy that stuff! So this is shaping up to be an ideal job, focusing on the things I love with very solid, professional people, (who also bring me food and toy Daleks - perfect.) The timescale's shifted slightly, so the finished DVD is more likely to be available in the new year than late 2012, but I'll keep you updated.

But before that, Sky TV will be running a promotional feature(!) which is recording on October 31, (not sure if it's a live broadcast or not, or indeed which Sky channel it's on! I have been told, but unless this information comes to me in the Written Word, it's most likely to disappear through the colander in my brain. Yikes. No doubt I'll bombard Facebook and Twitter with shameless self-publicity when the time arrives.) But Wink Taylor fans can rejoice: he'll be there operating and voicing the eponymous Theo, ably 'assisted' by his chum Wendy.

Menston Green, starring Colin Baker

Next: Menston Green, (my surreal sci-fi supermarket comedy starring Colin Baker!) We recorded it in July and it's shaping up very nicely. Tim at Visionary Sound did me an initial dialogue edit in September, which I sent back with notes, ("make it tighter, make it quicker!") And he did just that. Edit #2 was both tight and quick, in-keeping with the Official Motto of the Alex Skerratt School of Pacing: "If it's not moving at 900mph, it's not fast enough." (It's true!) So, terminal velocity now achieved, he's onto recording sound effects and music. The finished product will probably be available in early 2013, in a format to be confirmed.

Finally, Sooty. Me and Winkleton met up with Mr C last Friday to start planning the second series, and it was a blast. Oh those two make me laugh, (it's a tough thing to do, seriously; I'm as dead-pan as they come.) Nothing is set in stone for the 2013 series, (as these things never are), so we're just writing blind, but with immense enthusiasm. We've planned out 12, with Wink drafting 6, and me drafting 6, which we'll go through and tweak the next time we 'confab' in (hopefully) November.

Mr C was kind enough to take us for a very tasty carvery where we continued to plan ideas over meat and veg, gesticulating passionately about custard pies, magic wands and water pistols, whilst apparently piquing the interest of the senior gentleman at the next table:

"So!" he said, keenly. "How are you boys finding the job market?"

Richard turned to him and answered politely, "Yeah, it's okay."

The gentleman frowned. "Oh, you're all employed then?!"

"Yep, very much so," Richard replied.

I chuckled inside. "Very much" employed(!)... Richard owns a theme park!! He's very humble about it. I wondered what had prompted the man to ask this, and the only conclusion I can draw is that we must have looked like a set of graduates, desperate to break out into the Working World with our magic wands and custard pies, (okay, this is actually true in my case.) But what a compliment to Richard and Wink, who are a few years older than me.

So that's what's been happening. I decided to write this blog because I'm aware I've left some of the 'Menston Green' folks completely out of the loop, and they deserve to know what's going on. So that's my excuse for Skerratt Media's first official news, erm, "roundup." Now, where's that pastry...