Plagiarism of the SavageMen (short story): Difference between revisions

* The [[burlap sack]] running gag makes its reappearance, having been last seen in [[PROSE]]: ''[[The Crew of the Copper-Colored Cupids in Oz (short story)|The Crew of the Copper-Colored Cupids in Oz]]''. [[Larrikin-1029]]'s casual possession of one on an evening out at the [[Cupid Theatre|Theatre]] is consistent with his statement in [[PROSE]]: ''[[Acquaintanceship-982 and the Missing Mail Mystery (short story)|Acquaintanceship-982 and the Missing Mail Mystery]]'' that he always carried one with him.

The story was created as a topical satire of a [https://old.reddit.com/r/doctorwho/comments/f4g9qv/this_2016_concept_art_by_matthew_savage_looks/ then-ongoing controversy] in the ''[[Doctor Who (series)|Doctor Who]]'' surrounding the perceived resemblance between a piece of 2016 armchair concept art by artist Matthew Savage for a new design of [[w:c:tardis:Cyberman|Cybermen]], and the design used for the helmet of [[w:c:tardis:The Lone Cyberman|Ashad]] as seen in the 2019 trailer for Series 12 of the TV series, which did not credit Savage. The dispute would eventually be settled amicably between the artist and the BBC along terms not disclosed to the public.  

As such, despite obviously having a very different storyline and main characters, ''[[The Rainbow Adventures]]'' is presented as a sort of spoof of ''Doctor Who''. Not only do the conspicuously-named SavageMen correspond to the Cybermen, with the pivotal cranial light-bulb matching the head-lamp which was one of the main smoking guns between the Savage and Series 12 Cybermen designs, but ''[[The Death? Planned It!]]'' references the title of ''[[w:c:tardis:The Tenth Planet (TV story)|The Tenth Planet]]'', the first TV Cyberman story, while ''[[The Moonbeams]]'' references ''[[w:c:tardis:The Moonbase (TV story)|The Moonbase]]'', the second such story. In ''The Moonbase'', the Cybermen confusingly claimed to have previously met the Doctor on "[[w:c:tardis:Planet 14|Planet 14]]" rather than the previous "Tenth Planet" in an apparent retcon of the Cybermen's origin which caused considerable tangles in later continuity; this is referenced in ''Plagiarism of the SavageMen'' with the SavageMen being retconned in ''The Moonbeams'' to have originated in the [[14th Cosmos]].  

The references extend beyond Cyberman-related elements: the retconned invention of “a ranting mad scientist who was eventually destroyed by his own creations” as the SavageMen's inventor recalls [[w:c:tardis:Davros|Davros]], the retconned creator of the [[w:c:tardis:Dalek|Daleks]], and ''[[The Walkies]]'' appears to be a counterpart to the original 1963 ''[[w:c:tardis:The Daleks (TV story)|The Daleks]]'' serial, with “[[Little Billy]]” being named in reference to [[w:c:tardis:William Hartnell|William Hartnell]] who portraied [[the Doctor]]; the cliffhanger throwing a rising thermometre evoking the ''Who'' cliffhanger of a rising radiation counter at the end of the previous serial; and “[[Mr Raymond]]” being named in reference to Dalek designer [[w:c:tardis:Raymond Cusick|Raymond Cusick]].