[Sticks]

Notes on Episode 10

Episode title of the 1988 version
In the original 1988 version, only one episode was devoted to the journey back into the past, as opposed to three in the 1993 rewrite. This episode was called “Forward to the Past and Paradoxes anonymous”. This was a nod to the 1985 film, Back to the Future.

Travelling back in time
For the part where Steve Gryson travels back in time, I thought of the sequence in 2001 A Space Odyssey, where the astronaut goes through the wormhole at the end

Jennifer Bruce (Character)
This character is not based on anyone, and was solely an invention of the 1993 rewrite. I am not sure if any female student would be stupid enough to come to lectures wearing only a strapless bikini top, that turned out to be on it’s way out as it were, without some back up. Mind you having said that, when I was visiting a coffee shop in Basingstoke I did see an employee turn up for work wearing a bra top with a bare midriff, not quite the same and more substantial and she did have as a back up, the T-shirt that was part of the uniform of that coffee shop.

Arrival in the past
The effect of electrical arcs you may recognise from the various Terminator movies

Scottish Pound Coins
Those who live north of the border will be aware that Scottish banks can issue their own notes, and do so. These notes did include, at the time this was originally done in 1988, Scottish pound notes. By this time the English pound note was no longer in existence, having been replaced on cost grounds by the pound coin. I am not sure if Scottish pound notes still exist, maybe those living north of the border can verify if they do, but because of their existence in 1988 and 1993, the idea of a specially minted Scottish pound coin did seem like a good futuristic idea at the time. Incidentally, Scottish pound notes are not lawful tender in England, where as Scottish five pound notes technically are, but some shops in England refuse to accept them

North Sound
In the 1980’s Radio North Sound was a very popular commercial radio station in Aberdeen and the surrounding area. I used to listen to a programme on Sunday called Sunday best. The plot device of the serial rapist was added in the 1993 rewrite as it was not in the 1988 original.

Earthquake in Tokyo
In the 1980’s there was a programme on the BBC, may have been Horizon, their flagship science series, which looked at what would happen if the big one, as in Earthquakes hit Japan. This was shortly after the quake in Kobe. It suggested that because of how communications systems and financial systems are so interconnected, that it would cause a world wide global melt down. It is interesting to note that a year earlier than the original version of this story; in 1987 a major storm hit London and the South East of England, which corresponded to the 1987 stock market crash.

Abandoning of Cities
In the bleak vision of the future the Lone Stranger stories are set in, we have towns abandoned totally because of the economic gloom and environmental factors. It seems bizarre that in 2008, somebody did actually propose abandoning several cities for economic reasons (See here) Yet again, one of the few forecasts from back then of a possible future almost coming true – Yikes!

Clothes shopping on £20
The Jennifer Bruce characters buys some clothes for £20 in the Bon Accord shopping centre in this episode, which may seem to some unbelievable, especially as shops in shopping centres pay high rents. Bear in mind this part was done in 1993 when prices were not as high as they are today

Timothy and Brad and a former adventure
Two characters, a student union president and a deputy president make reference to an earlier adventure in which the younger Steve Gryson took part. In 1989, during my post graduate time I wrote two further stories connected with this genre. The first one had an adventure told in flash back of a time before the bombing of the St Andrew Street building, and as I was trying to keep continuity in the 1993 rewrite, I felt I had to make reference to this earlier adventure. Had this novel taken off therefore, the actual adventure would have been referenced in the forth book. Confused? Well time travel can be like that.

Also a word about sabbatical positions as they were at RGIT at that time. There were two positions, president and deputy president, which were sabbatical, this meant that the elected office holder took a year out from their course to hold office and for that year were paid employees of the RGIT Student Association. I believe this is similar in other universities.

Microfiche viewer
In this age of the internet we have access to online archived files. In the 1990’s that did not exist, and documents were put onto what was called microfilm to save space, and you needed a special reader to view the celluloid film. Sometimes the film was on a role and sometimes in a rectangular piece of film.

Staying at Jennifer’s
In the 1988 version, while the Lone Stranger was visiting the past he was sleeping rough near the beach. Like the character of Jennifer, staying at her place was introduced as part of the 1993 rewrite.

Gateway
This was a supermarket that had previously taken over the local Fine Faire store. Gateway in turn were taken over by Safeway in some parts of the country, only to be taken over by Morrisons.

plus cha change
This is a French saying, “The more things change, the more they stay the same”