@BarbaraLefty    I think they were going for aubergines!    🙂

As to what I write, I have a blog which is mostly about travel and always sadly out of date, as the balance between being the primary homemaker and chauffeur/cheerleader for a teenage son, and my own artistic endeavours is a constant challenge for me. As my son would say, the strug…[Read more]

@BarbaraLefty    Agreed. There are an awful lot of readers out there, and its probably fair to say that if you care about the story you are telling, then someone else probably will as well. The trick is getting to them!

I see we’ve gone all C&W around here. Apparently I have a lot of listening to catch up on!

Ward Swingle, the founder of the fabulous Swingle Singers, died this week. Rather than the usual Bach arrangements (which are wonderful), I give you this:

@BarbaraLefty       I write as well. There are definitely others here who do. Bring it on, I say.  🙂

I take it you mean in the context of a story, ideas are expressed that might offend someone? I’m not sure that you can avoid it, if you want to express anything valid or interesting. Certainly fiction doesn’t have to be respectful of everyo…[Read more]

Well, I’ve had my laugh of the day now.

https://twitter.com/NicFildes/status/558298910465466368/photo/1

@purofilion     Confusion of writers.    Is that anything like a flock of seagulls?   🙂

I’m enjoying all the activity on this thread. Although I haven’t seen most of the shows in question myself, I know enough from others that I can follow people’s thoughts a bit. The conversation would be instruction for certain people on other forums who do…[Read more]

@JanetteB   You have hit on exactly what was in my mind throughout this story. There’s no way that anyone who had ever seen this could make some of the claims that we frequently see about the way they feel the show has “changed”. This story is not pure science fiction in any sense that I am accustomed to. The science/tech is completely invente…[Read more]

@Spider  @cubefox

I too felt during Series 7b that I had preferred the “Claricles” (particularly Victorian Clara) to the real Clara. I didn’t mind her, but at the same time I only really warmed up to her in Day of the Doctor (post-Impossible Girl, I guess). Although I haven’t always liked her behaviour in Series 8, I actually found her arc more…[Read more]

Yes, well, I thought about trying to be funny. But in the end, I knew that @pedant and @PhaseShift would do much better job of it than I could, so I settled for earnest and slightly sarcastic. Well done, y’all, as always!

@Havoc     You don’t get to make derogatory statements about The. Best. Doctor’s debut.  Or Buffy. Not while you’re someone who was 11 quite recently. And ESPECIALLY Not when you quote Revenge Of The Clones or whichever rubbish film Lucas Put Out (pun intended) in your short and entitled life.

Actually, I’m pretty sure we are allowed to hold wh…[Read more]

@purofilion    Well, sadly, not all medievalists are as cool as I am!   🙂   But you are cooler still. You have spoken with Ziggy Stardust.

@ichabod  @Barnable  You have hit on something that I have wondered about as well. How much of the dream do any of the dreamers remember? They are all slightly disoriented upon first waking. “Sexy” seems startled to find herself in a wheelchair; Shona reaches for her to-do list and immediately checks off “Forgive Dave”. The Doctor awakens o…[Read more]

@spider     Regarding the trailer, I don’t remember seeing those visuals, but the spoken lines come from Into the Dalek.

@ichabod   Spending time on this forum will definitely change your day. Witness the following:

@Barnable   Mostly Santa dreams he is as cool as the Doctor.  and    I can understand not wanting to think about Santa being i…[Read more]

@lisa   You can count me in with those who find Capaldi’s Doctor seriously attractive!  🙂  And @ichabod and @mudlark, I hope I am never too old to enjoy a bit of a crush (see above remarks about inner self vs. outer self).

Thanks @purofilion (and @pedant elsewhere) for the mention of the Brian Cox series. We have “Science Sunday” in our house…[Read more]

@purofilion   I think most of us probably have an inner version of ourselves, and sadly, as we get older, that version differs from reality more and more! In my mind’s eye, I am about twenty years younger and thirty pounds lighter (and maybe a wee bit taller!). Less grey in the hair, as well.  🙂

@ichabod   Love your point about Method acting…[Read more]

@ichabod    Thanks for taking us back to the beginning of the season… I really do want to watch the whole thing through over the next few months! I’m just getting caught up on the conversation here and it’s lovely.

It’s a very interesting speculation that a rejection of the new Doctor by Clara could have led to a Valeyardification. I wonder if…[Read more]

@purofilion    That little number is in Dorian, but proper Dorian with B naturals. So lovely and ancient-sounding. A lot of that stuff is sadly unavailable in transcription, outside of a few big mid-century collections in university libraries.

As it is Twelfth Night (according to my reckoning, anyway), here is a little “Twelfth Night” party tu…[Read more]

@pedant    Agh. Of course, that’s it. That’s why it didn’t seem obvious in the first place. That’s what I get for waiting almost two weeks to watch again. I forget what I thought the first time through!

@BarbaraLefty   I also believe that the Doctor has, for better or worse, come to terms with his past and present, and will be inhabiting his new incarnation with less angst going into Series 9. I had that sense already throughout Last Christmas, that we had really left the “Am I a good man” debate behind. Missy really did give him that gift, he k…[Read more]

I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to get in a proper second viewing of this episode. I have to say that I loved it even more the second time through. Fundamentally, the complicated plot full of dream layers serves as a base for a lot of fabulous moments… great dialogue, characterizations, emotions, and Santa!

Christmas trash talk betwe…[Read more]