A book launch for “Things are not always what they seem” by Michael Herbert, a new biography of Malcolm Hulke, will take place next month in Hampstead, close to where The Avengers and Doctor Who script writer, and author, once lived.
Taking place at the Magdala Tavern, Hampstead, on Wednesday 9th April at 2.00pm, around the corner from where Malcolm lived between 1955 and 1979, Michael Herbert will talk about his research on Malcolm Hulke at the event. He’ll also outline his contribution he made to series such as Pathfinders in Space, The Avengers, Danger Man and Doctor Who, and discuss his fiction and non-fiction.
The event is free and not ticketed.
Universally known as “Mac” to comrades, colleagues and friends, Malcolm Hulke was a successful writer for radio, television and the cinema from the 1950s to the late 1970s. His first TV success work was This Day in Fear, written with Eric Paice, broadcast in July 1958, starring Patrick McGoohan. His work also included episodes for Armchair Theatre and The Avengers, and 54 episodes for Doctor Who, broadcast between 1967 and 1974, for which he is best remembered.
Along with Terrance Dicks, he co-created the concept of the Time Lords and offered viewers their first glimpse of Gallifrey in The War Games, and created the reptilian Silurians, their cousins the Sea Devils, and the Draconians. He wrote the novelisations of every story he had written solo, and several he had worked on with other writers for Target Books.
Hulke also wrote a Doctor Who radio pilot, Journey into Time, starring Peter Cushing, which was recorded, but never broadcast; a fondly-remembered guide for television viewers on The Making of Doctor Who (with Terrance Dicks), and edited a Writers Guide in 1969 and 1970 on writing for television, produced for the The Television and Screen Writers’ Guild.
He was also a socialist, belonging for a time to the Communist Party of Great Britain, and his political views fed into his work.
Described by Terrance Dicks as “a very kind and generous man,” Hulke firmly believed writing was a craft, and should be respected, and paid properly, but that it was a craft that with imagination and hard work could be learned and that there was an onus on those who had been successful to help others onto the first rung of the ladder.
Michael Herbert, who has been watching Doctor Who since 1963, is a socialist historian whose work includes books on the history of radical women in 19th and 20th century. He teaches history to adults at Aquinas College, Stockport and Chetham’s Library, Manchester.
His published work includes Never Counted Out: the story of Len Johnson, Manchester’s Black Boxing Hero and Communist; The Wearing of the Green: a political history of the Irish in Manchester and Up Then Brave Women: Manchester’s Radical Women 1819–1918.
He is also a Trustee of the Working Class Movement Library in Salford and a committee member of the Mary Quaile Club.
• Things are not always what they seem Book Launch with Michael Herbert 2.00pm Wednesday 9th April 2025, The Magdala Tavern, 2a South Hill Park, Hampstead NW3 2SB. The event is free and not ticketed.
• Michael Herbert is online at redflagwalks.wordpress.com and also has an online SF blog, Fantasies of Possibility | Follow MJ Herbert on BlueSky
• Books and more by Malcolm Hulke (AmazonUK Affiliate Link)
• The Morning Star: Doctor Who and the scourge of capitalism
Thursday 13th March 2025: John Grreen surveys the remarkable career of screenwriter Malcolm Hulke and the essential part played by his membership of the Communist Party
• Forgotten Television Drama: Doctor Who and the Communist : the work and politics of Malcolm Hulke – article by John Hill
- About the Author
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: Books, Doctor Who, downthetubes News, Events, Other Worlds, Science Fiction, Television
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