Gawd bless the internet and the people I have met from it, especially Twitter and the way it leads to various separate friends ending up knowing each other and getting on due to shared supergeek levels of fandom for things (usually involving Doctor Who) … my pal Bert (from the days of MySpace, bloody hell) ended up becoming mates with my ‘follower ‘ Michael (I am the new Jesus or something) and the three of us all went out to the South Bank last night for some food and drinks. Not been round there for a long time and had lots of time to kill so I wandered about and admired the concreteyness of it all. Weird how it has been modernised yet the old fashioned greyness still shines through , looking uncannily like the future Earth in Frontier In Space…

To kill a bit of time and read a bit of book I went for a coffee in a leading chain which is not bloody Starbucks and found the man serving me to be a rather excited geek, staring at my True Blood t-shirt. He asked where I got it so I told him it was off Amazon and then he grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down ‘Amazon’ on it… sweet. I don’t know if he knew that it was a website and he had not  heard of Forbidden Planet  when I pointed out it was also available there so I hope he finds one. He insisted that I not pay for my drink because of this so finally being a massive nerd pays off. Oh those crazy vampire fans, but not Twilight. Never Twilight. True Blood season three is coming along nicely and is basically Twin Peaks with more accents and a bucket of gore every week, which is not a bad thing at all. I should do a TV round-up blog while I think of it but not right now.

While waiting outside the BFI bar I listened to the next chapter of my Daleks: Mission to the Unknown audio book which is the first one I have actually bought in the ‘Target Books Read In An Interesting Way By Actors Plus Music and Sound Effects’ series. From the sleeve notes I learnt that The Actor Peter Purves has directed over twenty five pantomimes which sounds like something the delightful Matrix Data Bank (follow on Twitter if you are Who Geek) would make up. Then I spotted Margaret from The Aprentice (sorry new lady Apprentice boss with the nice hair but you are no Mountford) walking like a normal human being and then I noticed that the new hipster beard is in fact a hipster moustache and vowed never to be a hipster. We eventually went for a food and drink extravaganza in  the BFI bar and learnt about guest ales:

” A pint of the guest ale please. What is it?”

“I don’t know. But it never changes.”

“So it’s always the same guest but you don’t know what it is?”

“Yes.”

The mysterious guest ale was very nice and I may have had too many of them and stayed out bloody late, meaning I took forever to get home (at gone midnight) which was careless as Jamie had to get up for work in the morning. Oops. We had a lovely time and ended up reappraising Delta and the Bannermen (it’s The Doctor Who Summer Special), listening to unrepeatable tales about Doctor Who actors and impresionable teenage fans (but not me. Never me), made “played a Voord but in a non-speaking role” one of my favourite phrases, and agreed that I had to write a proper review of the forthcoming DVD of Time and the Rani. Hmm…

That’ll be a challenge.

This week on  the internet we learnt a new word: sodcasting. The Guardian article here. Rather good: Sodcast [noun]: Music, on a crowded bus, coming from the speaker on a mobile phone. Sodcasters are terrified of not being noticed, so they spray their audio wee around the place like tomcats.

Also in that Guardian was an amusing article about pop stars coming out of the closet.  I wish some had stayed in, wonder if George Michael can have his next tour sponsored by Snappy Snaps? : The Moment I Realised can come in many forms. For Joe, for example, the “penny dropped” after an internet whispering campaign (see: Internet Whispering Campaign). However, The Moment I Realised must never, ever involve looking at a man and thinking, “Phwooarr, I wouldn’t mind a bit of that.”

Bryan Ferry has some good new music coming out soon but the Daily Mail was more concerned about the famous 65 year old man looking a bit paunchy: Love used to be Bryan Ferry’s drug. But by the look of his portly body, his addiction these days is extra helpings. Weirdly, my comment on that article was the highest rated:

I can’t bear to watch Eastenders because it’s an inconsistent wobblyset shambles and I prefer the freaky multi-tone oddness of Emmerdale these days but was amused that top comedy character Karen from Pulling has apparently turned up and is now calling herself Rainie. She has already managed to get Phil Mitchell hooked on crack and cause outrage on the Mail site:

Pulling is out on DVD (except for the final ‘special’) and is almost as more-ish as crack.

I finished watching my Revenge of the Cybermen DVD and it was neither dreadful or excellent (no pun intended) enough for a full review. Good human characters in this one but the Cybermen start their journey to rottenness with the wrong kind of dialogue, acting and voices. They’re still quite creepy and not anywhere near the stompy stompy noisy marchy style of recent times and bring the (oddly redesigned) Cybermats  with them to attack humans in scenes with lots of acting involved. The familiar messy back story with major rewrites and a disgruntled writer made it interesting to hear about and I would have to agree that yes those emotionless Cybermen really should not be so angry all the damn time. Jolly good fun though even though I found myself unable to follow the plot but that may have been because I was doing Wii aerobics for most of it. Definitely worth a go though, and the person who wrote the production notes subtitles deserves at least a biscuit.

*shakes fist* Excellent. There is a rather lovely documentary about the VHS piracy market in the bad old days before the BBC released everything, if that can tempt you a little bit more. I must warn you that it contains images of an Ian Levine nature.

Just watched Silver Nemesis on DVD, from the new Cybermen box set which is not really a box set and more like two stories in normal packaging stuck together in a cardboard sleeve actually… and it’s still a horrible mess. The basic plot is beyond all over the place: It’s 25 years since Doctor Who started so Producer JNT decides they need to commemorate this in a special story but he has no ideas but luckily this man called Kevin wants to do one and pretends he has a wicked storyline but then realises when JNT decides to meet him that he has not thought of anything yet. Kevin makes something up about The Doctor being God and JNT says oh wow yes skill but we can’t actually say God in case it upsets the religions so change all that plase so Kevin does. Then JNT writes a list which includes The Queen, some Cybermen, a load of nazis (but we can’t call them nazis because real nazis might get upset) and also some Jacobean over-acting characters and that famous American lady from the musicals who JNT is a massive fan of with a wig and a massive car please. So Kevin starts to write the story and decides he wants to add jazz to the list and asks Courtney Pine to come for tea, making the story not a big complicated mess at all. There’s no time to show how all these things that happened off camera actually happened so they just use bucketloads of expositionary dialogue as that is just as good as showing stuff innit, but then the main cast have no time to do any rehearsals or reading or nothing so it’s all improvisationy and fresh or something and not all chaotic.

The story is about an olden days lady who is the nemesis of The Doctor but we have never heard of her ever before and she is after a statue that looks like her that flies about in a plastic rock in space which is coming to Earth in 1988 (which is when it is on the telly) and she finds this out with a bit of magic then makes a drink which lets her and her friend travel to Windsor in the 80s (not actually in Windsor though), as you do. At the same time some 80s nazis in South America also discover that the statue in the plastic rock is coming to Earth and get in their racist van which takes them to Windsor very quickly in time for it to land. But oh shit then a space craft arrives in Windsor as well and it has some ‘excellent’ Cybermen who also found out the statue in the plastic rock is landing so it’ a right kerfuffle (and also now in Greenwich before they built that Dome)! What are the chances?

Anyway, The Doctor and Ace (yes they are in it too) use Ace’s tape player and some jazz to stop something bad happening, the Cybermen are even more ineffectual than usual (gold… GOLD!), the nazis do an evil face and are bad at shooting and then it gets even more complicated and I still don’t quite get it.

The DVD extras are quite fun, with lots of deleted scenes showing how it could have made more sense if it hadn’t been cut to shreds and how some scenes in the transmitted edition were in the wrong order which hardly helped matters. Kevin Clarke’s interview about writing it is very amusing and there are some fun behind the scenes photographs that are well worth a look. Al in all, a horrible mess of a story with some interesting background material but still a damn mess with far too many ingredients for it to end up as a fulfilling story. I need to watch Revenge of the Cybermen next, not seen that one since the early VHS era.

There was a Making Of documentary on the VHS of Silver Nemesis which is sadly not present here so you will not find out more information on  how the incidental music was made. Here is a picture to help you imagine what you are missing:

Fezes are cool in Silver Nemesis (as are mops):

And finally…

It’s Video Monday! Mostly because I found some clips I like and it is the first day of the week.

HURTS started out bloody ages ago with their rather good single-but-not-actually-a-proper-single Wonderful Life. Now it’s back and has another video which cost more than the old one which was quite nice anyway but never mind:

It’s all very 80s in a stylish way.

The Divine Comedy have chosen I Like as the second single from the new album. Not a bad choice, quite commercial:

Odd but good.

I thought Architecture In Helsinki released That Beep as single ages ago but apparently not. I love it and the video is suitably weird:

Robyn’s first single from her second Body Language not-an-LP-but-more-than-an-EP is a more produced version of a track from the first Body Language. Diffferent I guess:

Robyn – Hang With Me official video from Robyn on Vimeo.

Nice simple video, works for me.

Bonus clip for the geeks! It’s Arthur ‘Rory from Doctor Who’ Darvill in Sooty, made at some point during the two thousand years where he waited for Amy, probably:

How the heck were they going to get out of that one? Well…

The season finales using recurring themes have always slightly niggled me in the past: that whole ‘Bad Wolf was a message sent by Rose who ate the vortex’ nonsense, the repeated awareness of Torchwood leading to them going there for a visit, that one with the pantomime Master/Saxon/Prime Minister bollocks that ended up with a reset button, the missing planets and the Earth being dragged through space on a pieces of special time string by the TARDIS… but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed Steven Moffat’s masterplan this year. I will certainly actually rewatch them all after Christmas when I acquire the usual box set (but maybe skip that Dalek toy advert episode). Some of it was rather mad but it fitted the tone of things and the elements came together in a way that almost answered most of the questions. Some are left over for next year, which is either good planning or a shortage of time.

The many deaths of Rory Williams (and Amy Pond, come to think of it) aka Mister Pond (bless) seem to have been erased now by some OTT season arc plotting. Even the lone stone Dalek did not annoy me, which made a pleasant change. I would have been happy with Auton Rory joining the crew on a permanent basis, what with his handy attachment and inevitable unintentional conflicting loyalties to be revisited but the fancy way the pieces were demolished then put back together hardly made me shout at the telly so bravo and all that. I love a good wedding and it was nice to see everything turn out ok and then have the TARDIS trio go off for more adventures together,  especially as the Doctor or companion usually changes or leaves at the end of the series and I have loved this year’s cast very much. It’s going to be a long six months until the next episode.

More from The Secret Origin of River Song next year (some people will go boo to this but she entertains me) and more on the ominous ‘Silence’ too. Ooh. And will the Christmas Special actually be set on the Orient Express… in space? I doubt it but am hoping.

I feel like wearing my fez as they are indeed cool. Maybe I will… soon. Not had a bow tie since the days of the early 90s clip-on Little Chef one. Shame.

What a convoluted way to get a message to the Doctor but the slightly self-indulgent character recap chain letter was rather fun. Other great bits this week included a genuinely scary Cyberman for the first time since at least 30-odd years ago (damn creepy little bugger), more of the Amy’s broken memories affecting her emotions (is she going to end up in pieces by the end of this series?), another return of River Song (well I like her anyway), and Moffat going all Joss Whedon with his whole ‘everything is important’ finale-isms. Not so keen on The Doctor’s “hello Stonehengeberlee” speech/rant in the spotlight at all the alien ships, it was all rather Tennanty and over dramatic for my tastes. Next week’s slightly longer episode has a lot of expectations to live up to.

Even “There’s one thing you don’t put into a trap – and that’s me!” from the first trailer and The Time of Angels has been given extra significance now. Bugger.

Next week should see some of the following questions answered (maybe):

Why is Amy’s house so big?
What was Amelia doing there all on her own?
What’s going on  with that ruddy crack?
Was Amy killed by Auton Rory? (doubtful)
What the heck is the photo of Rory doing in Amy’s house when River visited it? (leftovers from his erasure?)
Has River been made all explodey in the TARDIS? (timey wimey)
Did Rory really die when he died? (probably)
Are all those monster costumes from  the stock cupboard really all there in a gang?
Aren’t the Judoon actually meant to be goodies?
Is the Doctor stuck in the box forever (of course not)?
Will they resolve the ‘jacketgate’ issue from during the Angels episode and the Amelia time gap? (hmmm… undoubtedly)

Oh like you didn’t already know!

People (myself maybe included) were ready to hate this week’s Doctor Who, mostly because everyone hates James Corden (that could be his next project) but it was alright really. I enjoyed it as I can watch Matt Smith doing his slightly retarded Doctor trying to be normal by human standards and failing all day. I might have a sleep after a few hours though.

The ‘tying up several plot strands with one idea and aren’t humans great awww love and that’ ending was rather schmaltzy and I thought the ghost of RTD (not actually dead) had snuck in and changed a few pages of the script. Apart from that I have no complaints and I am a grumpy old man as you might already know. Next week is Back To Crack (part one) i.e. the thing that we’ve been wanting to get on with instead of these ‘filler’ episodes aka The One With All The Things What Done Fell In The Crack.

Shameless re-showing of my CyberMan Boyband photo montage from today’s Facebook:

In this photo: Space Accordian Cyberman, Beat Box Cyberman, Autotune Cyberman, Jazz Hands Cyberman, Excellent Cyberman, Stomp Cyberman, The Other One. They are so going to win Mondas Got Talent.

Richard Curtis loves his schmaltz which usually puts me off his work but it worked in this, his pet project episode which was a great use of the Doctor Who format. It reminded me of a Big Finish play / short story which is a massive compliment of course. I liked how French accents sound like Bristolian and Dutch ones are Scottish via the TARDIS telepathic circuits, I wonder what German  accents sound like? I hope it is Essex.

In all seriousness, what a lovely episode that was. The first one to have a help line advert afterwards and make lots of fans (on Twitter anyway) shed a tear or two. This is turning out to be a heartbreaking series (which is the other non-crack theme). I got the old Sunflowers framed print out of the cupboard afterwards and it’s now back on the wall for a bit although slightly disappointed that it doesn’t have Vincent’s dedication to Miss Pond on it. Next week’s is the Gareth Roberts comic strip re-write one and I have no idea what happens there which is nice.

Bloody hell, it’s currently doing very well on the forum vote which doesn’t usually have so many 10/10 scores. The usual contrary gits saying things like “worst episode ever” are also posting so it’s not like I wandered into a parallel universe.

If you’re wondering what the song in tonight’s episode was:

It was Chances by Athlete. mp3 link here so you can make your own sad montages in an art gallery of your choice.

I really should go and play the new Who game but it’s too hot upstairs in the house so it’s blog and cool off for me.

Well that was a bit of a let down in the end. Bah! It had some good ideas (mostly taken from 1970) but the execution was messy and erratic. The inevitable ending was nice but kind of predictable owing to the task at hand and the method of the recurring theme. I am being vague on purpose so as not to do that spoilers thing but it was the only way to move the main characters on without lots of drawn-out emotional teeth-gnashing.

7/10 for this one, with its Pertweesque plot mixed with a dollop of Davisonness.

I fell asleep during Confidential, naughty me.

New toys are coming. Or rather new toys are probably already sold out in pre-order land:

The new Fat Dalek has a massive arse, doesn’t it?

So… there’s a hole in the ground? In my weirdo mind I had Dale Winton shouting an adapted version of his wall & hole related catchphase but it luckily stayed there. Another good episode again and the TARDIS trio are all excellent so I am finding it hard to say / type new things. Bit of a remakey sequel feel this time round and the two parter pacing made it feel all old series but with added new style elements. Loved it and considering it was a Chibnall script that was a surprise.

I can see why the Silurians now have human faces (technology to do this these days and a more emotive look) so I can forgive that but I miss the third eye, damnit! I want the silly noise, juddery Silurian head movement and “aaarrggh!” from the puny apes. Nice use of string vest-esque elements in their outfits to compensate the non-return of the Sea Devils. Now where’s the Myrkha? Eh? CGI nasty tongue was as bad as when the X-Men film gave the Toad one but then I am an old CGI-hating git.

Doctor Who Confidential was rather good this week, and in fact this whole series has been better apart from the continued use of that annoying ‘literal’ music soundtrack. Nice deleted scene this time and good illustration of the production process. More please!

Is The Brigadier going to return next week and blow them all up?

No.