@winston    Yes, we’re lucky with the climate (once we get used to the vagaries of Auckland weather).   We hardly ever have frosts, I’ve only once seen ice on the puddles,  so the dahlias just stay in the ground, though Mrs D occasionally digs a few up and plants a few more just, I think, for the sake of doing something.

We have a mint bush (grow…[Read more]

@winston   Your garden sounds glorious.

Ours tends to be dominated by Mrs D’s dahlias, which run rampant.   A glorious display they make, too.   The Auckland climate tends to be all over the shop on any given day, but it averages out at warm and wet, so stuff grows extremely well whether we want it to or not (e.g. weeds).    I must confess…[Read more]

@winston   Great to hear from you, and delighted you liked the interviews.   The credit for those clips must lie with the mysterious Youtube algorithm that served them up to me.   (And of course the organisers and the Youtube channel that posted them and Billie Piper and Chris Eccleston and I’m starting to sound like one of those award winne…[Read more]

Hi @oochillyo    Um, favourite authors.    Well, I like authors that have an interesting style of writing and a nice turn of phrase.   Doesn’t really matter what the subject is, if the writer is good at his craft.

In fantasy / sci fi, I guess I’d include Terry Pratchett, Doug Adams, Arthur C Clarke (whose short stories usually had a twist at the…[Read more]

@oochillyo

Hi Declan    Reading is a good habit to have.   I was a late starter reading but when I found I could actually do it, there was no stopping me.   I became a compulsive reader – books, notices on packaging, ingredients, instruction leaflets – I eventually had to make a rule that if I had time to read the stuff on the backs of cereal…[Read more]

By the way, I love trains too.   I managed one item on my ‘bucket list’ 5 years ago – the Trans-Siberian.   I’d wanted to do it for many years but all the travel agents were advertising $5000 for an all-inclusive tour – too much for me.   Then I found one can book direct on RzD’s website, a second-class ticket on Train 001 (the ‘Rossiya’ – it wo…[Read more]

And here goes, further comments 2 years later. (Has it taken me that long?)
The pre-credits sequence is almost whimsical.
For someone who is a bit of a control freak, Clara seems to be quite ready to acknowledge Missy’s command of the situation. Which is actually being realistic, I guess. Particularly since Missy just took the trouble to save her…[Read more]

Labyrinth?   Was that the Henson one with David Bowie?    I thought that was pretty good.   Very watchable.  And Bowie was good in it too.   I’ve got it in my DVD collection.   Must give it a re-watch.

Of course Henson also did a hard sci-fi – Farscape.   Anyone who thought Muppets were always warm and fuzzy would have got a rude shock on enco…[Read more]

@janetteb Apologies for disrupting your day. My life seems to be a succession of Youtube rabbit holes. Or, as a tagline (remember them?) I once saw said, ‘A life? Where can I download that?’

Back to Rose, er Billie. I notice she was quite enthusiastic about a possible reappearance of Rose (RTD permitting). And she could certainly still play the…[Read more]

Just a heads-up,  The Algorithm has just offered me two con interviews with Billie Piper and Chris Eccleston

at Awesome Con 2023

Billie now has dark hair but still looks exactly like Rose (to me anyway)

Sorry to hear that.   Wish I could suggest something other than, just put on something you like watching and relax.   Sometimes works for me.

I did a review before, but there’s so much delightful goodness in this ep I can’t resist babbling about it again.

The prologue, on Karn – memorable for the exchange between Ohila and the Doctor. “Why do you always lie?” “Why do you always assume I’m lying?” “It saves time.” Ooh, brutal (as Wolf would say).

These prequels are just so much more…[Read more]

@janetteb   You’re probably right about ‘the woman in the shop’.    Speculating (isn’t that what this site is for?) – it may have just been a convenient way to introduce a new Companion and get the Doctor to connect with her.

What I probably forgot to mention about Last Christmas is, even if you forget about the logic of the story and just go w…[Read more]

Afterthought – reading back through comments, I’m reminded that Santa appeared briefly to the Doc at the end of Death in Heaven – which implies that the Doc was already possessed by a Crab.   Now it could just be that it was put in as a ‘teaser’ without any great significance, but I don’t think the Moff is usually that sloppy.   The imp…[Read more]

Re-watching again after 18 months – this time through (about the 4th time I’ve watched it) I’m finally familiar enough to be able to follow the plot and the dream levels without getting confused. And the role of Santa as a dream construct is now clearer. As is his sarcasm – drawing attention to the absurdity of his existence. It was all explained…[Read more]

And now I’m on to Last Christmas.   There are five classic Moffat episodes in a row – Dark Water, Death in Heaven, Last Christmas, Magician’s Apprentice, Witch’s Familiar – maybe the best run of Who episodes ever.   I think Season 9 must be my favourite – Last Christmas (it’s in the S9 boxset anyway), Magician’s Apprentice, Witch’s Familiar, the…[Read more]

Hi @janetteb     That is uncanny.   If someone changed the name on your post to mine, and I came across it in a month or two, I would unhesitatingly accept that I’d written it, you’ve summarised exactly what I feel about this episode!  Though rather better written than I would manage.

The only tiny difference I would make is that the golden…[Read more]

Just watched Dark Water / Death in Heaven.   What a marvellous double-episode series finale.   I didn’t bother writing my impressions because they pretty much reflect what I put down 18 months ago.   It was full of surprises – Danny’s death, Clara’s attempt to blackmail the Doctor (and his neutralisation  of it), Missy the ‘welcome droid’, the Cy…[Read more]

Hi @rule1    You’ll find it pretty quiet when episodes aren’t actually going on, then (judging from existing forums – or should that be ‘fora’) it will explode into activity.    I’m looking forward to seeing RTD back, but I hope he keeps it light (by that I don’t mean trivial like some of OldWho) – I hope he doesn’t go doom-and-gloom like Torch…[Read more]

I was always impressed by Glenda Jackson, though I haven’t seen her in as many  things as blenkinsopthebrave.   As he says, Vale, Glenda.

I have just re-watched In the Forest of the Night, which impels me to move on to Dark Water pretty quickly.

I’ve also just finished watching ‘Allo ‘Allo (all 86 episodes!), I have to say I was unexpectedly sl…[Read more]