Robot Overlords Hag talks to Co-Writer Mark Stay (Questions by Hag age 10)
What did you want to be when you were a Kid?
A fireman (not a firefighter, as it was the seventies and even the titles of jobs were horribly sexist). I remember a fire engine came to our school, and I sat in the driving seat with a fireman’s hat on my head and I decided that rescuing people from burning buildings and cats from trees was the life for me. This ambition didn’t last very long, however…
What was your favourite Sci-Fi as a kid and why?
Star Wars changed my life. For a start, I didn’t want to be a fireman anymore, I wanted to be whatever that was up on the big screen; to go that place where there were robots and heroes with laser swords and space pirates with giant, hairy co-pilots, and princesses who blasted the enemy with ray guns. I wanted to do that now, please.
It’s difficult to explain what an incredible impact it had, especially when we’re now living in an age where barely a month goes by without at least one spectacular sci-fi film appearing on our screens, but there really had been nothing like it before. And for a boy living on a fairly grim housing estate in North London it was a magical place to escape to. Just catching a glimpse of photos of the film in comics, magazines and newspapers would be an escapist thrill.
Photo Credit: Charlie Gray
You’re writing the next big Sci-Fi franchise – but out of Star Wars and Star Trek, which one do you think is best and why?
Don’t make me choose! That’s like asking me to pick my favourite child…
My heart says Star Wars, my head says Star Trek. They both exemplify two very different kinds of science fiction: Star Wars’ mythological world of heroes and magic and monsters, contrasting with Trek’s exploration of human nature. There’s a reason so many of the Trek aliens are humanoid with bumpy foreheads: they’re distorted reflections of our own selves and Trek was always excellent at examining our human foibles.
I fell in love with Star Trek when I worked in a video rental store. That trilogy of Wrath of Khan, Search for Spock and Voyage Home is the peak of Trek for me.
But if you put a ray gun to my head and made me choose, I would go for Star Wars. I have an emotional attachment to it that’s as strong as anything else in my life, and that’s a slightly worrying thing to confess.
Is there anything you would add to the original book and if yes what would it be?
You mean Robot Overlords? Ah, well I did it the other way round: I wrote the film with the director Jon Wright and then I wrote the novelisation. It’s a rarity now, but when I was growing-up almost every big sci-fi film had a tie-in novelisation. It was often the only way you could experience the film until it came out on VHS, which could be years – yes, years! – after the original release…
To sort-of answer your question, I got to add all sorts of things in the book that we couldn’t put in the film, like exploding heads. There are more action scenes, more robots, and I could also get inside the characters’ minds in a way that film cannot, and when you’re dealing with a warped villain like Mr Smythe, that’s great fun. You get to find out why he’s so messed-up.
What’s the best thing about seeing your book come to life on the big screen?
I’m going to replace the word “book” with “script” here… One of the biggest joys of production is seeing those characters come to life. You try to write characters that are unique with their own peculiar quirks, and then the actors will add their own layers of idiosyncrasies and suddenly you have something completely new. There’s nothing like it, and we were blessed with an amazing cast who are so compelling to watch.
If Robots from another planet set one rule for the human race – what rule would you hate the most?
I hate being told what to think. So anyone – robot or human – who tries to ban ideas, books, music or film, makes me very angry. Oppression of thought, even stuff I might really disagree with, only ever leads to to misery and I would fight to preserve that.
Robot Overlords Movie novelisation by Mark Stay Available from all good retailers!!!
Robot Overlords out on DVD, Blu-Ray and Digital Download Now – REVIEW CLICK HERE!!!
