The Who Brothers?

 "The Doctor is a legend woven throughout history, when disaster comes, he's there.  He brings a storm in his wake.  And he has one, constant companion..."
"Who's that?"
"Death."

"Rose", Doctor Who

"The Campbell Brothers are lushes weaving throughout history, when disaster comes, they're responsible.  They bring the steins to a wake. And they have one, constant companion..."
"What's that?"
"Booze. Okay, two companions - alcohol, and there's this funny smell..."

The Campbell Brothers Adventures

This is the 200th posting on The Infinite Revolution, and I thought it only appropriate to pay tribute to the gentlemen (and I use the term loosely) who inspired me:  Colin and Ralph, the Campbell Brothers.

But their appearance here is not only because of that initial blogging impetus.  In some awful fashion (in many awful fashions, actually, as you can see from the pictures) the Campbell Brothers are Canada's answer to Doctor Who.  (Yes, Doctor Who is a question - the character calls himself the Doctor, but never offers a name, so the question is: "Doctor who?"*)

Like the Doctor, the Campbell Brothers have explored the distant depths of time, and the far reaches of space.  (Admittedly, it's a bit odd that their time/space vehicle looks like a tree spade, but we have no tradition of police boxes here. It's probably far more odd that Ralph has a squirrel on his head.)  They have been seen in ancient Greece, in medieval England, in 1920s Chicago, London's psychedelic Sixties, and several times in Port Perry during the winter of 2006.  They have solved crimes in the Victorian era, committed them in the modern era, performed acts of piracy in the Caribbean, and acts of lunacy in Toronto.

They are masters of disguise - a necessity of survival forced on them by the various explosive catastrophes which seem to follow them everywhere like a bad smell.  (Just for the record, an actual bad smell also follows them everywhere.)

So, once again, thanks to the Campbell Brothers for their inspiration. Long may they continue their mad dash (or inebriated wobble, more accurately) through past, present, and future.  We leave you with one final image of the Brothers, seen here suddenly realizing why that nice fellow in the uniform offered them blindfolds along with the free cigarettes.

- Sid

Sidebar:  the first time I met Ralph Campbell, seen screaming like a little girl to the right in the above photo, Colin was working on the Death of Socrates image, and I was asked to photograph the two brothers.  As a result, Ralph was clad in an attractive floral bedsheet for the entirety of our initial encounter - my relief at discovering that this was not his standard weekend garb can only be imagined.

*Sorry, Doctor Smith is NOT the correct answer, Laurie, but you're very close - the Doctor does sometime use John Smith as a nom de guerre.