@mudlark
I think the modern writer basically has two choices with Dracula.
1/ Go for Bram Stoker’s evil monster.
2/ Go the ‘Saberhagen’ route and base Dracula on (to some extent) the real Vlad Tepes.

That’s a very short teaser, but it has hints that Moffat and Gatis are basing this one on the novel’s ‘evil monster’ to at least some extent. It…[Read more]

@blenkinsopthebrave

That looks promising.

@thane16

I don’t think I started it, either. 😀

Okay, a bit of background to where I’m coming from. When Buffy was first broadcast I was – variously – either rehearsing or performing during drama training, rehearsing and performing in fringe or doing the exciting tours of old people’s homes and sports halls that the average young actor does.

I…[Read more]

@JanetteB

Aha! Yes, I had heard of the Eureka Rebellion, but hadn’t realised Eureka was part of Ballarat.

Amazing how often democracy starts with ‘we aren’t paying this @*$! tax!’ 🙂

@pedant

The time limit’s gone and it’ll need a mod, I’m afraid.

I did think about it, but BTVS Series 6 has been out in the wild for eighteen years (counting from the premiere). Also, @winston said she was working from a DVD box set, and the big picture of Sarah Michelle Gellar on the DVD is a teeny bit of a hint. Not to mention the truly…[Read more]

@Winston

In the UK, Buffy is being streamed on Amazon Prime right now. Might be worth having a look if they’re also streaming it on Amazon. Ca.

Series 6 has everyone acting in very different ways from Series 1-5, but that’s the reaction they all have to to Buffy coming back. I’m not entirely sure I agree with @thane16 that you have to watch 1-5…[Read more]

@JanetteB

I’m afraid my knowledge of Ballarat comes almost entirely from Sherlock Holmes and Wikipedia. Sorry.

But what I gather from both those is that it was extremely rich as long as the mining held out, so has got loads of very fine examples of Victorian architecture. Was there a lot of filming while you were there, or was The Getting of…[Read more]

@Blenkinsopthebrave

Agreed about John Arnatt. On one of the DVD commentaries (currently unavailable to me, grrrr) Louise Jameson was making very complimentary noises about his performance. She also thought he was a perfect ‘Prime Minister’ Chancellor.

@JanetteB

but both times not got a chance to post my comments because of R.L.

Cursed, I tell…[Read more]

Anyway, I need a new Blu-ray player, the version up on You Tube has been taken down for copyright violations, and this story is not available on BBC iPlayer. Cursed, I tell you!

Having finally located a copy that can be streamed, it’s not a bad little episode. There’s a certain amount of running very slowly down corridors, running very slowly up…[Read more]

@JanetteB and @Craig

I think The Invasion of Time has some weird ‘Don’t watch this story’ curse upon it. The latest is that I need a new Blu Ray Player. 🙁

Do you think we’ll get to the end of this story before the new series starts?

SPOILER, SPOILER, SPOILER...

@JanetteB Yes, this episode has a strong air of ‘quick, find some more filler!’

Andred seems to be suffering from a certain reluctance to kill his Head of State. Not to mention suffering from an episode where he’s largely acting as an excuse to explain the plot or have the plot explained to him. I’d imagine the long process of teaching him to…[Read more]

@JannetteB – yes, I agree that this story, hurriedly written as it was, plays to the leading actors strengths. It takes advantage of Baker’s unpredictability, and Louise Jameson has a good, strong role to play as Leela – who, as you say, shows off how she’s grown while she was with the Doctor.

Rodan does indeed have an inner strength. She has her…[Read more]

This is a much better paced, more ‘fun’ episode than last week. Probably because they now have a lot of plot to get through – get Leela and Rodan outside, bring Borusa in on the plot, develop a resistance movement through Andred.
And room for some terrible puns. ‘A matter of time,’ indeed.

The weakness of the Time Lords; they’re utilitarian…[Read more]

@JanetteB

I didn’t mean to be so detailed I stopped anyone saying anything!

Yes, the Time Lords have terrible taste in hats – though I did rather like the more ‘working class’ headgear used in The Day of The Doctor. The purple, embroidered taqiyahs managed to be both practical and recognisably ‘Gallifreyan’.

The guards are completely useless,…[Read more]

Inside this episode is a perfectly good plot, screaming to get out.

Unfortunately, that perfectly good plot would only take up about twelve minutes of screen time. Given that the two writers – Anthony Read and Graham Williams – were struggling with both the after effects of a production strike and having to write a replacement script in…[Read more]

@craig

Yippee! Will watch this tomorrow – which is kind of appropriate, given the Sunday slot for the Whittaker Doctor.

Glad you’re back, even if you did have to take a year-long detour to get here. 🙂

@thane16 and @pedant

Wot pedant says. 🙂

Diabetes Type 1 is complicated in that it appears to be a combination of both genetics and environment, and the honest answer is that we don’t currently know why people get Type 1. Genetic risk factors can be identified: they don’t mean you’re going to get Type 1.

Similarly with Type 2. But again,…[Read more]

@craig @blenkinsopthebrave @mudlark @devilishrobby @miapatrick

Apparently, Elizabeth thinks we’re a dating site. Are we a dating site? I didn’t know we were a dating site.

I’ve been doing this all wrong….

😉

So: we in the UK are possibly days away from a Prime Minister nobody’s ever heard of. David Lidington.

Nobody’s noticed any hypnotic drum beats on their phones, have they?