Doctor Who, State of Decay (1980)
The idea of the race of great Vampires as the ancient enemies of the Time Lords is, in my mind a great addition to the vampire lore. Something that I even added to my games at the time, though obviously from a more fantasy and horror elements.
The episode is 100% Hammer Horror. I would not have been surprised to hear that the crew stole items from sets of the various BBC horror films and TV shows, in particular, the late 70s Dracula. We get everything though here. The "Hammer Hamlet" with the scared villagers, the castle with the evil Lords (and Lady), even the warnings "not to go to the castle".
Of course, watching the special effects 40 years later have not aged well, but it is Doctor Who and you can't expect a lot.
The great vampire reminds me a bit of the Beast from the 10th Doctor's "The Satan Pit" so that is nice bit of continuity. The Great Vampires come from the "early times" from "even when Rassilon was young." Easy to see a connection.
The horror elements are light, but still good for Doctor Who episode.
The behind the scenes features of the Blu-Ray are also great. I guess at the time it caused quite a stir.
The year is 2491 and Capt. William "Buck" Rogers is back at Earth from 1987, battling a...well...space vampire. Ok, so I watched this one when it was new and enjoyed it. But I was 10. BTW did you know all the episodes of Buck Rogers are free to watch? The plot is thin really. Buck and Col. Dearing are going on vacation and they stop off at a space station to get Twiki repaired. I do like the idea of a vampire on a space station sadly the vampire here leaves a little to be desired.
The story borrows heavily from Dracula, with the ship crashing into the station named "Demeter" and one of the passengers is named "Helson" as opposed to "Helsing".
One of the things that bugged about BR:25C is how Col. Dearing went from being a strong character in the pilot movie to such a weak one in later episodes.
The vampire going after Wilma makes a lot of sense really, even if it is also a little clichéd. Though it did give Erin Gray a chance to stretch her acting muscles a bit, which is good.
Watching both of these from the same time period is interesting. BR:25C had better effects, but the story in Doctor Who was better. I will even go on a limb here and say the acting was better in Who as well.
The real question is not who did the better vampires (Doctor Who) but which sidekick was more annoying, Adric or Twiki?
Watched: 25
New: 15
NIGHT SHIFT and BlackStar Content.
Ever since Doctor Who, Buck Rogers, and Lifeforce I have wanted to do a "Space Vampire."
Even in a later Doctor Who novel they had a vampire couple leave the earth by hitching a ride on a satellite bound for deep space. So I guess it is possible to have any half-crazed idea work.
Not 100% sure how I would do a Space Vampire in NIGHT SHIFT, but I think I owe it to my 10-year-old self to give it a try in BlackStar.
4 comments:
Sci fi horror should be easy to do with Night Shift. Since all attacks deal 1d6 you're covered for weapons. The vehicle rules should translate seamlessly to starship combat. Most other stuff in space is set dressing.
The idea of the Time Lords building "bowships" to stake giant space vampires always appealed to me. Perhaps that could be cribbed for use in a Spelljammer or Starfinder campaign, with custom weaponry and ships designed to deal with an assault of ship-sized gargantua who've been turned undead by an overzealous vampire lord.
@Jason, yes! Also all the more reason to get "Vollig" and "12P" out there.
@Dick McGee, or take out those Astral Dreadnaughts.
That Buck Rogers episode made a strong impression on me. Erin Gray's purple outfit caught my eye and she is the first lady I had a crush on.
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