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@blenkinsopthebrave Thank you so much! Some evacuation orders have been lifted, allowing those folks to return home, which is good. Needless to say, we felt relief that we have not had to evacuate (though it’s hard not to feel guilty about that). We were saying the other day how we are living our lives almost as normal, when so many people are…[Read more]

@nerys Very glad indeed that the fires appear to have finally been contained. We have been following the news from the other side of the county. And very glad that you have both escaped the prospect of having to flee the house. The reality of having to have the bags packed in the car just in case is not one anybody should have to face.

Take care.

Thank you, everyone, for your care and concern! I’m sorry to be so late in posting. We were without Internet for a while, which limited my ability to communicate.

The Barrington Lake fire (whose billowing smoke plumes are visible from across our harbor) is a massive wildfire, the largest ever in Nova Scotia. The Lake Road fire was a smaller…[Read more]

@janetteb   Further thought – of course the Moff really lampshaded that in ‘The Lie of the Land’ where the History Monks erased themselves from history when they left.   That was a very ‘1984’ episode.    But surely someone would wonder about the big square of waste land in the middle of London where their pyramid was.

@janetteb   I have a much more positive view of Churchill than you do.   But my reservations about Victory of the Daleks are, partly because it does mess with history (I think you share that) and also, like you, Spitfires in Space?   How much effect does anyone think 20mm Hispano cannons would have on a Dalek ship?

Personally, whether I appro…[Read more]

@blenkinsopthebrave   I’m not very familiar with JNT.   I did just read about the Cartmel ‘Master Plan’ (on Tardis.fandom.com) which sounds as if it could have been very much more interesting.   Of course whether it would have worked that way in realisation is one of those things we’ll never know.

I agree about the importance of show runne…[Read more]

@dentarthurdent One of the quibbles i have with the Moffat era is the depiction of Churchill as being a kindly leader. I don’t share that view of Churchill. My mother certainly did, having gone through the war being drip fed pro British propaganda. She did not even see him as the person who was willing to sell out Australia, not allowing the …[Read more]

@janetteb    Obviously I entirely agree with you about the heavy-handed bit.   For example, the ‘plastics pollution’ episode (‘Praxeus’ was it?) turned me off – and I’m a greenie and a leftie!    Actually I’m a cynic when it comes to a Message – any time I’m ‘explaining’ things to a meeting the sceptical streak in my mind is thinking ‘are these p…[Read more]

@dentarthurdent Ah, Danger Man, now that was a great show. I have all of it on dvd and we watch it regularly. Returning to the importance of show runners, it was devised and largely written by Ralph Smart, an Australian film maker, who was part of the intellectual and artistic emigration of Australians to Britain such as Clive James, Robert Hughes…[Read more]

@dentarthurdent Yes. The problem with heavy handed moralising is that you loose the people you won over with the message in the story even if they are totally “on board” they will be offended because they feel as though they are being patronised and if they don’t agree they might have been influenced but the moment they realise that they will turn…[Read more]

@janetteb   Yes, I did like Rigsy as a character.   This greatly helps in Face the Raven to justify Clara taking such a risk to save him – I would have been much more impatient with that if he had been unlikeable.   (I know that feeling is morally unjustifiable but I think it’s natural).    And it made for even more pathos in the final scene wi…[Read more]

Well, McGoohan’s ‘Danger Man’ (Secret Agent in the US) was a spy series that occasionally featured technological gadgetry (this was just before the James Bond movies went all-out in that direction).   The other thing about DM was that, just sometimes, there would be a plot where the ‘villains’ weren’t really villains at all but innocent c…[Read more]

@dentarthurdent I actually quite enjoyed the wobbly sets in old Who, and The Avengers with Diana Rigg and The Prisoner with Patrick McGoohan, both when I watched them as a teenager and now. Why? Because the writing and the “vision” of them was miles ahead of American TV at the time. The problem with Who during the JNT years, was that the writing…[Read more]

@dentarthurdent Great reviews, both of them. I must have read the review a year ago but really enjoyed reading it again. It is an excellent episode, great characters, great story, great dialogue. The concept of the Doctor being trapped in a tiny Tardis is unique as are the 2d “monsters.” Lots of original ideas. Rigsy is a well written character…[Read more]

Random thoughts on re-watching ‘Flatline’ – I see the last post was also by me, so I’ve edited out most of the repetition.

The Doctor hacking into Clara’s optic nerve and giving her an earpiece is a really clever way to keep him involved, and a fount of many witty moments. I absolutely *love* the way Clara uses the mirror on the wall to give the…[Read more]

@nerys    Can I add my hopes that you are safe.   This year the climate seems to have gone berserk – here, it’s floods.

@blenkinsopthebrave    I have to admit, I find many older TV episodes somewhat lacking in conviction.   I think it’s partly due to better production values these days.   I emphatically don’t think heaps of over-the-top whizz-bang is a substitute for a good story and acting, but I have to admit that insufficient or inadequate props (like some o…[Read more]

Sorry to hear about the fires. So terrible, heartbreaking and infuriating because this should not be happening, not like this. I hope that you are OK @nerys.

cheers

Janette

@nerys  The fires in your province are horrible and it saddens me to see so many people losing their homes. Being evacuated on short notice and then not knowing whether your house will be there when you get back must be so stressful and upsetting. I hope you are OK and safe and that the fires can be controlled before they cause more…[Read more]