There’s a new Doctor in the TARDIS
I’m currently watching the classic series of Doctor Who on Britbox, attempting to watch all 26 series in 26 weeks. For my take on previous seasons: Season 1, season 2, and season 3. I’m collecting my thoughts as I go in a Twitter thread.
As I’m writing this, Jodie Whittaker is filming her last episode as the Doctor. Her departure from the role had been rumoured for a while and officially announced a couple of months ago. It’ll likely be a year before her final episode airs as part of the BBC’s centenary celebrations, and while we still don’t know…
Time to say farewell to William Hartnell
I’m currently watching the classic series of Doctor Who on Britbox, attempting to watch all 26 series in 26 weeks. You can find my take on Season 1 here and season 2 here, and I’m collecting my thoughts as I go in a Twitter thread.
The end of William Hartnell’s time as the Doctor has been particularly damaged by the loss of so many of the episodes within it. Between The Time Meddler and his final episode in The Tenth Planet, only three complete stories survive, along with a handful of episodes from the remaining stories. …
A time of changes and experimentation
I’m currently watching the classic series of Doctor Who on Britbox, attempting to watch all 26 series in 26 weeks. You can find my take on Season 1 here and I’m collecting my thoughts as I go in a Twitter thread.
There’s a process of transformation that takes place throughout the second season of Doctor Who, as a series that started as something that might be running for just thirteen weeks understands that it’s been a hit and is going to be carrying on for a while. …
From Coal Hill School to the Sense-Sphere
Thanks to a new phone, I recently acquired a free six-month subscription to Britbox. Six months is 26 weeks, and there are 26 seasons in the original run of Doctor Who, so I decided to set myself the challenge of seeing if I can speedrun the entire classic series in that six months. I’m collecting some of my thoughts as I watch in a Twitter thread, but thought writing up each season as I reach the end of it would either motivate me to get through this. …
There’s unexpected similarities between the fictional fish-out-of-water manager and the legendary Old Big ‘Ead
Ted Lasso (Apple TV+) is a comedy series about the titular character, an American college (gridiron) football coach who’s brought in as the new manager of English Premier League (association) football team AFC Richmond. While it’s set in a football club, it’s not a sports comedy with football merely the milieu in which the characters exist. I watched it recently, based on how many positive comments I’d seen about it, really enjoyed it, and definitely recommend giving it a try. …
Sometimes, things just end. Here’s why I’m moving on from the party.
Just to be clear, the headline isn’t clickbait, I am no longer a member of the Liberal Democrats. This hasn’t been caused by the Chesham and Amersham by-election or any other recent developments— my membership expired back in April — but it feels like a good time to write about why.
If you’re here for a stream of denunciations as I work through a list of everyone in the party whoever wronged me, or a detailed explanation of why every part of the party is terrible, then I’m sorry but you’re in the wrong place. Yes, there are lots of…
Two lakes and four mountain tops in the Brecon Beacons (though none of them are called Black Mountain)
There’s an image of walkers being lonely types, striding out alone across the countryside, standing alone on a hilltop as they take in the views around them. While a lot of walkers might be seeking that ideal, it’s not something you encounter too often as on all but the bleakest winter days you can be sure that several other people will have had a similar idea to you. Summits become social clubs, with everyone doing their best to stay out of everyone else’s lenses as they take their pictures that give the illusion they’re alone up there. …
Electoral pacts shouldn’t be the sole focus of a progressive alliance
It’s all very simple, really. By the time the next election comes around in 2023 or 2024, a range of parties will have agreed to bury years worth of grudges and disagreements to agree an electoral alliance. That alliance will ensure that only a single candidate stands against the Tories in each constituency, they’ll all romp to victory on the united votes of the progressive majority of voters, and we’ll have a new government that will be able to pass the Make The Bad Things Stop Bill in its first few days in office.
It’s a simple vision, and one…
This new series is bold with some big ideas, but lacks focus and space for the characters to breathe
When I first read the plot description for Sky’s new SF series Intergalactic, it sounded a bit familiar. On a repressed and dystopian future Earth, someone is framed for a crime and sentenced to an off-world prison. However, en route to prison, they end up working with a group of actual criminals who have stolen a ship and then have to work together to stay out of the clutches of the authorities on Earth. It read very much like it was a remake of Blake’s 7, but with a cast that was much more female and diverse.
Intergalactic’s central character…
Pandemics, timequakes, free will, and what comes next
Timequake, Kurt Vonnegut’s final novel, is a tricky beast. His work had always trampled over the borders between fiction and non-fiction (“That was I. That was me. That was the author of this book.”) and Timequake lives almost solely in those borderlands. It’s a combination of the shattered remnants of his first attempt to write the book and Vonnegut’s musings on the problems of writing, his life, his family and other matters. …
