R.I.P. Kevin Conroy - the late, great Batman

This is hardly the only piece you're going to read about Kevin Conroy this week.

The actor died on 10^th November from a short, intense battle with cancer, aged only 66, and in the couple of days since the news broke, tributes to him have flooded the internet. Conroy was one of those rare performers who seemed universally admired, and it seems that no one has a bad word to say about him. Fellow performers, notably Mark Hamill (the Joker to his Batman) and other noted voice actors such as Tara Strong and Matthew Mercer, industry creatives such as James Gunn (new DC screen head honcho) and Paul Dini (the creator of Batman: The Animated Series) have been outspoken in their admiration. But it's the outpouring of love from the fans that says it all.

Conroy wasn't just Batman, of course. He appeared in front of the camera in shows ranging from Cheers to Kennedy, and in voice roles as various characters across his career, his last work being on the revived Masters of the Universe. None of these roles, however, will ever come close to being as fondly remembered as his time as Bruce Wayne.

I was six when Batman: The Animated Series began, exactly the right age for the seminal series. It is rightly regarded as one of the greatest animated series of all time, and certainly the greatest superhero cartoon. Heavily influenced by the dark fairytales of the Tim Burton films and the almost art deco style of the Fleischer Superman cartoons of the 1940s, Batman: TAS had a haunting, timeless art and music style that immediately captured the imagination. Combined with remarkably mature but accessible writing and some truly great voice performances, Batman: TAS is the definitive version of Batman for a generation.

This was, in no small part, down to Conroy's note perfect performance in the lead role. His gravelly voice was reassuring as Bruce-about-town, commanding as Bruce when on-mission, and powerful as Batman when facing his enemies. He gave the role a subtlety that many actors would not have bothered with for a children's series. Such was his acclaim and popularity in the role that he continued to be the primary voice for animated Batman productions and video games almost through to his death, from the follow-ups Superman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures, the elder Bruce Wayne in Batman Beyond, cinematic and home video movies from the great Mask of the Phantasm to the dark, adult-oriented The Killing Joke, and the acclaimed Arkham Asylum game series. There have been other great Batman voice actors, but none have ever really approached Conroy's stature. It was beyond time when he finally got to play the character in live action, portraying the elderly Bruce of Earth-99 on Batwoman as part of 2019's Crisis on Infinite Earths event.

It's no accident that when James and Scott created their World's Greatest Detective audio series it was hugely influenced by Batman: TAS, with Terry Cooper often sounding uncannily like Conroy in his performance as Batman.

Conroy came out as gay in 2016, after facing years of hostility within the industry in his early career. He wrote the comic story “Finding Batman,” an acclaimed piece in which he explored his own years behind a metaphorical mask, in this year's DC Pride Anthology. DC have made the strip available for free on their website (you'll need to sign up for a free account to read it).

It may seem odd to take to heart the loss of an actor whose face I hadn't even seen until a few years ago, but to me and many others of my generation, Conroy was Batman, the most iconic incarnation of the most iconic superhero.

WHO REVIEW: The Power of the Doctor

 

SPOILERS throughout!

A real life update

Afternoon all. It's been a while since I posted anything, so I thought it was about time I checked in and gave an explanation.

To start with, in August my laptop gave up the ghost completely, and since I can't really afford a new one right now I've been slumming it with an old lend and using phone or tablet, none of which is terribly suitable. I've also been tremendously busy, not least of which was preparing for the birth of my first child.

Suz gave birth to our daughter Astrid on 9th September and since then pretty much everything has revolved around her. However, I do plan to get back to some writing in the near future so keep an eye open. As has been the case lately, the bulk of my work will be for Television Heaven (with some potential new developments to the site) but I'll keep updating here with new material too. 

Right, with that I'm back to feed my beautiful one-month-old girl.

(And yes, she's at least partly named after the Fringe character, and we have not missed the fact that her name is an anagram of TARDIS).

RIP Nichelle Nichols

 

After only days, we've lost another one of the greats. Nichelle Nicholas has died, aged 89.

Nichols will always be best known for her role as Uhura on the original Star Trek series, which she returned to for the animated follow-up, the first six Trek movies and fan productions including First Frontier and Of Gods and Men. While Uhura's role in most episodes was fairly small, her position on the bridge of the Starfleet ship as communications officer was groundbreaking for American television at the time. With her understated performance and captivating singing voice, Nichols made Uhura a fan favourite, as well as inspiring a generation of black women. Whoopi Goldberg has spoken frequently about how she was inspired by Uhura's presence on the bridge as a black woman on TV “who ain't no maid!” Dr. Martin Luther King famously encouraged Nichols to stay on the series when she was considering leaving, aware of the positive effect her presence was having on the image of black people in an inclusive future.

Dr. Mae Jemison, the first black woman to travel to space, cited Uhura as an inspiration for her choice of career. Indeed, Nichols was recruited by NASA as a spokesperson to help bring women and BAME people into the agency, which remained almost entirely white and male in the 1970s. Among her recruits were Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, and Charles Bolden, later the NASA Administrator.

Zoe Salana and Celia Rose Gooding, who play Uhura in the Kelvin Timeline Star Trek movies and the new Strange New Worlds series respectively, and Sonequa Martin-Green, Burnham on Discovery, have spoken about how they would be unlikely to have the careers they have without Nichols and her example. They continue to promote the inclusion of BAME women not only in film and television, but also in STEM careers as their characters continue to show this as a desirable career path for women and people of colour.

Beyond Star Trek, Nichols appeared in such series as Heroes, Gargoyles, and Batman: The Animated Series, and films such as Lady Magdalene's and Snow Dogs.

RIP David Warner and Bernard Cribbins

 

It's been a crushingly sad week for generations of viewers of film and television, as two of our most beloved actors have gone.

David Warner

died on the 24^th of July, five days shy of his 81^st birthday. One of my very favourite actors, possessed of one of the most distinctive and classy voices in the business, Warner was one of the most identifiable and prolific actors of the late twentieth century.

Sci-fi and fantasy fans will recognise him most. Iconic roles in The Omen (where he famously lost his head), 1984's A Christmas Carol (as Bob Cratchit), Tron, The Man with Two Brains, Time Bandits and The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse. He appeared in Star Trek three times: rather wasted as disgraced diplomat St. John Talbot in Star Trek V, before he was brought back as the noble Klingon chancellor Gorkon for its sequel. He then starred as the sadistic Gul Madred in an electrifying two-hander performance opposite Patrick Stewart in “Chain of Command,” a two-part story for The Next Generation.

He was disproportionately cast in villainous roles, ironically considering that no one seems to have a bad word to say against him. He was none other than Jack the Ripper in Time After Time (in spite of the obvious fact that he would have made an excellent H.G. Wells), and had memorable appearances in horror films from The Company of Wolves, In the Mouth of Madness and the lead villain in Waxwork.

Warner was never shy of taking on voice work that other actors would consider beneath them. He was an everpresent voice of my childhood, lending his ever-so-English voice to villains in Batman: The Animated Series (as Ra's al Ghul), Mighty Max (as Talon), Men in Black: The Series (as the evil Agent Alpha) andd Freakazoid! (as the Lobe). He was a recurring voice in the 90s Spider-Man, Gargoyles (with many Trek alumni) animated series and even voiced a magical tree spirit in Jim Henson's Dinosaurs.

His best vocal work, though, was with Big Finish, for whom he played many, many roles, from Mycroft Holmes to Isaac Newton to the Doctor himself, portraying alternative Third Doctor in the Doctor Who Unbound series. One of my favourite portrayals of the Doctor, he was so popular he got a sequel and eventually was brought back to star opposite Lisa Bowerman in the latest Bernice Summerfield series, with the two of them, I was surprised and delighted to just learn, becoming an item. Warner didn't appear onscreen in Doctor Who until 2013's “Cold War” as a Soviet scientist opposite Matt Smith, but he has already recorded BF's 60^th anniversary release with Christopher Eccleston, who has professed himself a huge admirer of Warner's. I hope this is one last turn as the Unbound Doctor. He was even Merlin in a wonderful BBC radio series, playing him pretty much exactly as he played the Doctor – and, well, you know they're one and the same.

There are still plenty of his appearances I have yet to see, such as Van Helsing on Penny Dreadful to the Monster in 1984's Frankenstein TV movie. Sadly, I never got to see him in any of his many stage performances, for he was also one of the classic Shakespearean actors. I never met him, but I am fortunate to be only a couple of steps away from him: my mother knew him a little, back in the day, describing him as a very nice, very shy man. A great loss.

Sir Bernard Cribbins

died this week at the remarkable age of 93. An even more recognisable face than Warner's and television's most comforting presence, Cribbins was acting, singing and performing for eighty years. Bringing himself out of a background of considerable poverty, he went on to become one of the most beloved actors for generation after generation of children, a love that never left anyone as they sadly had to grow up.

He'll always be best known as the voice of The Wombles and the greatest, most prolific reader Jackanory ever had, but he was a face in so many more screen roles. The Railway Children, multiple Carry Ons, a bit of Corry and as the fake hotel inspector in one of the very best episodes of Fawlty Towers, all these showed a great and versatile acting talent.

Of course, he was also a familiar face for Doctor Who fans, appearing as two entirely separate companions. Firstly, as policeman Tom Campbell with Peter Cushing in Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 AD on the big screen, and almost four decades later as Donna's grandad Wilfred Mott opposite David Tennant on the TV. Like Warner, he was working till the end, and will appear opposite Tennant and Catherine Tate again in the BBC's 60^th anniversary special (how wonderful both actors got to appear specials for the anniversary, and how sad that they won't get to experience them).

Still, my most beloved bit of Bernard is his two hit singles, “Hole in the Ground” and the truly spectacular “Right Said Fred.” For these alone he shall never be forgotten.