Giant G.P.O. Tower Airlift (short story)
Giant G.P.O. Tower Airlift was a Dateline 2066 short story printed in TV Century 21 that contained elements from the Doctor Who universe.
Notably, Unity City, a location introduced in The Daleks comic story Duel of the Daleks, reappeared here. The DWU character of World President Nikita Bandranaik was also briefly featured.
Summary
At 10AM in London, the order to "lift off" is given in one of the most dramatic operations ever to take place in the ancient city. The G.P.O. Tower, a familiar sight on the skyline for more than a hundred years, is carefully lifted to a site in the Crystal Palace Culture and Exhibitions Gardens by four giant helijets. The Ministry of Works and Ancient Monuments assist to ensure the Tower will stand thereafter as a monument and museum to Great Britain's advances in radio and telecommunication. With modification work progressing, the Prime Minister plans to officially open the museum later in the year.
Elsewhere, the Video-Phone Controller Brun Pilon announces the Universal Satellite Communications System is in full operation, meaning it is possible to talk and and see a person from anywhere across the Universe for just five shillings or less. Pilon confirms that service begins immediately.
In Paris, the movie star Tolon Vike attracts a mob of waiting fans as he arrives at the Hotel Jupiter. When he pulls up in his new pink Stellastar sports car, the fans surge forward, forcing hoverbike police to restore order and rescue Vike.
In Unity City, angry South American farmers march on the World Weather Control building in response to the worst crop failure on the continent for fifty years. Armed with banners and streamers, the farmers fill the square facing the building and demand an interview with the World Weather Control Chief. Their request is refused, however, causing the farmers' anger to turn to violence. They smash windows and doors and destroy the gates leading to the forecourt with a tractor. Although units from the Unity City Riot Squad are called to disperse the mob, the promise of compensation talks is the reason why peace is eventually restored. TV 21's Unity City correspondent talks to several rioters who claim they were not given the weather they ordered, something an official blames on a faulty computer.
Also in Unity City, an international committee select London's Hyde Park as the venue for the proposed 2067 Space Fair. The committee decrees that the necessary work to build pavilions and expand the automobile and jetmobile parking lot under the park shall begin almost immediately. Meanwhile, it is announced that the moving pavements on People's Parade will be out of action for two months from September to allow engineers the opportunity to install modernised heating and de-icers under its surfacing.
At the same time, Arabian tracking stations report that Fireflash Flight 362, travelling from London with Sydney with six hundred passengers, has crash-landed in the region's desert. World Airline search and rescue planes are promptly launched to investigate.
In other news, planets from across the Solar System make simultaneous technological advancements. Mars develops clothing with built-in heating systems which are powered by a battery pack in the shoe heel, Venus invents a wrist watch video-phone with a miniature tape recorder and two-way radio, and Earth develops a shirt button transistor radio which can be attatched to any shirt as well as a fully-automatic kitchen. The Moon releases a high-speed cultivator, while Uranus brings out a mini-jetmobile capable of 150 miles per hour which packs into a 2ft. x 18″ carrying case, and Pluto invents a mobile school for transporting a maximum of two hundred students anywhere in the Solar System under study.
Meanwhile, several celebrities reach their intended destinations: Galt Dortuf, at Rome from Pangad, to join talks on architectural design; Stella Zingort, at Unity City from Mars, to lead sales delegation and bring the latest home labour-saving devices for a trade fair; Professor Zelt Maltre, at Space City from Saturn, as part of a joint plan to exchange ideas and co-operate in space research; and Syro Jeefix, at London from Lunar City, on a five-day official visit and to participate in talks about potentially establishing two-way tourist programme. Elsewhere, other celebrities begin their journeys: World President Nikita Bandranaik, from Unity City for Jupiter City, for a state visit; film producer Galdo C. Galdor, from Hollywood for Pluto, to select locations for his upcoming film Beyond the Universe; singer Miltro Mortux, from Earth Station 6 to Mars, to perform in the Uranus charity concerts; and society hostess Doria Dingleby-Brook, from Earth for Venus, to begin a month's holiday.
Characters
- Tolon Vike
- Nikita Bandranaik
- Brun Pilon
- Galt Dortuf
- Stella Zingort
- Zelt Maltre
- Syro Jeefix
- Galdo C. Galdor
- Miltro Mortux
- Doria Dingleby-Brook
- Prime Minister
- Unity City correspondent
- World Weather Control official
Worldbuilding
- The proposal to demolish the G.P.O. Tower was met with many protests and a petition launched by the Preservation of Ancient Buildings Society. The petition got eighteen million signatures and raised a fund to save the building.
- A video-phone caller in Unity City can dial Jupiter City without waiting and talk to a party for up to fifteen minutes without any extra charge.
- Weather order forms sent to World Weather Control in autumn 2065 show that the farmers requested sunshine during summer but they were given heavy rain and hail instead.
- The 2067 Space Fair will display spaceships and the latest space developments from across the Solar System as well as famous machines and relics from the past one hundred years.
- The Space Fair is expected to attract more than ten million tourists to London.
- People's Parade is Unity City's most fashionable shopping street.
- There are no reports of casualties on Fireflash Flight 362.
- In Earth's automatic kitchen, all the user is required to do is select a meal of their choice and press the correct buttons. The autocook passes food from cold store to the infra-cooker which is then served at the table by a programmed robot waiter.
- The Moon's high-speed cultivator works by passing concentrated solar rays through magnifier tubes to produce full-grown plants from seeds within three hours.
Story notes
- This story marked the final appearance of Nikita Bandranaik in Dateline 2066, though he was later mentioned in Roman Citadel Mystery Solved.
Continuity
- It was announced earlier in 2066 that the G.P.O. Tower was to undergo extensive redevelopment. However, developers' reports revealed the building to be too old to accomodate the subsequent advances made to technology, resulting in a decision to pull it down instead. (PROSE: Miro Gilfor Sensation!)
- A precursor of the Universal Satellite Communications System, World President Nikita Bandranaik had previously launched a phone system which linked the nine planets of the Solar System. (PROSE: Scoop of the Year)
- Tolon Vike is recovering following an accident while filming The Brink of Disaster. (PROSE: Scoop of the Year)
- World Weather Control has malfunctioned once again. (PROSE: World Weather Chaos!, Thieves Steal Million Dollars)
- Galt Dortuf comes from Pangad, Venus to join talks on architectural design and city development. Pangad was destroyed by earthquakes earlier in the year. (PROSE: Admiral Beatty Arrest Sensation)
- Miltro Mortux is participating in Uranus disaster charity concerts. Many buildings were destroyed after Uranus experienced the most severe meteorite storms of its history. (PROSE: Miro Gilfor Sensation!)
