Vampires by Charles Butler

the second Doctor Who (1966-1969) frustratingly for fans of the series ; many of his episodes were wiped by the BBC. He would go on to star in big screen movies, The Omen (1976) and the Ray Harryhausen spectacular , Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977) as the mysterious Warlock Melanthius alongside Damien Thomas of Twins of Evil . Reportedly, he kept a photograph of Dracula and Klove hanging on the wall in his lavatory. Troughton suffered two heart attacks brought on by overwork and stress; a third attack killed him instantly on the morning of 28 th March 1987 at the age of 67. Two of his eight children, David and Michael are actors as are his grandsons, Sam Troughton and Harry Melling. Warwickshire cricketer Jim Troughton is another grandson.
    New Zealand born Anoushka (Anouska) Hempel is memorable in her largest role as Tania, Dracula’s captured bride. She arrived in London in 1962 with just Ten pounds in her pocket and had appeared in a small role in Kiss of the Vampire (1963). She also had a credit in the James Bond movie, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969). In 1973 she starred in the movie Zodiac based on the comic strip, Tales of Tiffany Jones and Russ Meyer’s soft porn film, Black Snake. In 1998 she bought up all UK rights to these films effectively blocking the chances of ever having them screened. Married three times, she was widowed when her first husband, journalist and property developer, Constantine Hempel, died in a tragic car accident. Husband number 2 was producer Bill Kenwright and this ended in divorce after two years in 1980. Her third and present husband is Sir Mark Weinberg and she becoming Lady Weinberg. She has two children, a son and a daughter, and is now a renowned hotelier, owning a series of Hotels and restaurants. In 2002, she was ranked by Archeological Digest as one of the top 100 Interior Designers and architects in the world.
    Scars of Dracula met with mixed to positive reviews in 1970, but Hammer was quickly losing its hold on the imagination. A look at other horror movies released that same year by other British studios; Incense for the Damned and The Blood on Satan’s Claw , also hints that they weren’t keeping score to the change in public tastes. The Vampire Happening had turned Dracula (Ferdy Mayne) into a bumbling straight man confused by the new sexual revolution that was happening in the movies. The House That Dripped Blood had Jon Pertwee as a horror star being turned into a vampire by his buxom co-star Ingrid Pitt. In fact, vampires had been openly parodied for the last three years after the release of Roman Polanski’s Dance of the Vampires (1967) that had borrowed its plot from Hammer’s greatest vampire movies, The Brides of Dracula and Kiss of the Vampire . Roy Ward Baker’s movie made with all sincerity by Hammer is unintentionally funnier than them all.
     
     
     
     
     
     

     
     
     
    Dracula AD1972 (1972)
Christopher Lee as Count Dracula. Peter Cushing as Lorimar Van Helsing/Lawrence Van Helsing. Stephanie Beacham as Jessica Van Helsing. Christopher Neame as Johnny Alucard. Michael Coles as Inspector Murray. Caroline Munro as Laura Bellows . Marsha Hunt as Gaynor Keating. Janet Key as Anna Bryant. Philip Miller as Bob. Introducing Stoneground as Themselves . Screenplay; Don Houghton. Director; Alan Gibson.
    Synopsis
    London’s Hyde Park: 1872. An out of control coach is pulled by two terrified horses as its occupant’s battle on top. They are Count Dracula and his eternal nemesis, Lawrence Van Helsing. The coach crashes into a nearby tree and shatters as the two are thrown clear. When Van Helsing focuses, he realizes that Dracula has been impaled on the spoke of the wheel. He breaks the wheel leaving the spoke embedded in Dracula’s heart. Both men die on the spot and Dracula is reduced to dust. A lone rider makes his way to the carnage and scoops up Dracula’s powdery dust in a vial. At the funeral of Lawrence Van Helsing, he places the powder