Camera Obscura - Troublemaker video

I don't often post music videos on Blogtor Who but I though I'd share this delightful science-fiction fueled fare from popular beat combo, Camera Obscura. The promo for their latest single, Troublemaker, is brimming with various references to British sci-fi shows such as Blake's 7, The Tomorrow People and of course, Doctor Who - watch it in the player above.

Camera Obscura bass player, Gavin Dunbar, often writes reviews for Blogtor Who so I asked him for some info and breakdown of the fantastic video, check out what he has to say below:


We tend to make videos on a bit of a tight budget, and when it came to making a new video for our new single Troublemaker, I was thinking about what summed up the sound of the song - futuristic in an Eighties way.

Then I thought about what would make a video that looked futuristic in an Eighties way, on a tight budget and British sci-fi jumped out at me.

Some great programmes I grew up watching, all tended to be made on tight budgets, never as glossy as their US cousins, they settled for a more down to earth (or stuck on earth) look. Doctor Who had its hero trapped on earth to save on space travel for much of the Seventies.

For the far future, the crew of Blake's 7 spent an awful lot of time in contemporary power stations. Day of the Triffids desolate London streets and deadly plants seemed far creepier than Star Trek ever could. The Tomorrow People and Sapphire and Steel were earthbound and concerned themselves with telepathy and time rather than space.

So Troublemaker, then, is a tribute to the British sci-fi of yesteryear; low budget and futuristic in an Eighties way. It's also a postcard from Glasgow. It occurred to me that cult sci-fi classic Death Watch (1980) being filmed in our fair city, gave us an opportunity to re-visit some of the shots from there 33 years on.

An excuse to dress up in 'futuristic' retro fashions and get teleported about, meet some Autons (or "Not-ons", for copyright issues), use some “state of the art” special effects and generally have fun paying tribute to these shows.