The Battle of Bunkum Bay
by John Ryan (The Bodley Head, 1984), reprinted Puffin Books, 1996
Pugwash is well suited to the comic-book format. Ryan devises an uncommonly clever plan for the captain then has it come a cropper at the fiendish hands of Cut-Throat Jake, before fate turns the tables. Tom for once doesn’t save the day.
The Crazy Chase (An Adventure of Dogmatix, the mascot of Asterix and Obelix)
by Goscinny & Uderzo, trans. Frances Vanner (Hodder Causton, 1974)
12-page picture book aimed at very young children. Goscinny’s text is in prose form and lacks the punch of his speech-based narratives. The format affords space for Uderzo’s art but the story is lamentably slight, of interest primarily for naming Mrs Geriatrix.
Sauce: Cheeky Pictures, Jocular Jests and Racy Rhymes of Days Gone By
by Ronnie Barker (Coronet, 1978)
At best an historical curiosity. Barker curates a book of so-called ‘saucy’ illustrations, alongside suggestive verse and black-and-white soft-core pornography dating mostly from the early 20th century. Much of this must have felt a bit off even at the date of publication.
Survival Course
by Philip E. High, New Worlds Science Fiction, No. 11, Vol. 38 (December 1961), 41-58.
A rare foray into first-personal narrative for High. This short story reads more naturally than much of his writing, and the SF idea is as imaginative as ever—albeit with little on show beyond the portrayal of concept (a uniquely hostile lifeform).
Yes Minister: Party Games
by Antony Jay & Jonathan Lynn (BBC 2, 1984)
Broadcast two years after Series 3 concluded, this Christmas special served first and foremost as a nostalgic coda, but also to test the waters for Yes, Prime Minister. Not as punchy as a regular episode, but suggestive of the programme’s ongoing appeal.
Captain Kremmen and the Krells
by Chris Browne; ill. Roger Wade Walker (Corgi, 1977)
More comic than graphic novel, and not very good. Kenny Everett’s zany irreverence and fast-moving, throwaway delivery doesn’t lend itself to being pinned down. The story is slight—as expected!—but in visual form sags under a preponderance of (eye dialect-heavy) dialogue.
Inspector Montalbano, Season 1
(Rai 2, 1999) [Italian, subtitled]
![TV poster: “Inspector Montalbano, Season 1” (Rai 2, 1999) [Italian, subtitled]](https://www.derelictspacesheep.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Montalbano-01.jpg)
Two feature-length investigations. The first wobbles a bit in establishing tone—the early characters are hammed-up, Franco Piersanti’s soundtrack bludgeons the viewer with comedic overtures before allowing for more serious developments—but Montalbano is well established by the end of the second.
Flash Gordon
by Arthur Byron Cover (New English Library, 1980), from the screenplay by Lorenzo Semple, Jr
The prose is less than ordinary, the plot decidedly front-loaded (dawdling to Mongo, ending in a mad babble). While Cover does flesh out characters and events from the film, he mostly just shades/saddles them with a base sexual overlay (his idée fixe?).
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
by Roald Dahl (George Allen & Unwin, 1964)
audiobook read by David Tennant (Penguin Audio, 2023)
Gleeful and deranged, yet Dahl’s most famous novel is actually a bit of a mess, narrative-wise, establishing Charlie then elbowing him aside to revel in smudgelumptious flights of comeuppance and misopedic wish-fulfilment. David Tennant gives us one of the great Willy Wonkas.
Urn Burial
by Kerry Greenwood (Penguin, 1996)
audiobook read by Stephanie Daniel (Bolinda, 2011)
Greenwood’s take on Golden Age manor-house murder mysteries plays merry with tropes. Phryne, while inscrutably piecing together the various puzzles, does very little with the revelations thus garnered, instead being swept along towards the denouement. Miss Mary Mead is a nice touch.