@XAD4 — @scaryb is probably the one to ask. It’s her manor and she probably knows the decent hotels and suchlike….

@scaryb — OK, that’s me in.

@scaryb—

No obvious Who faces in the festival line-up but it’s still a pretty stellar collection of faces for all that….

@scaryb — welcome back, o purple one…. Good to see you back (and you too, @wolfweed). You’ve both been much missed.

ooo, seeing the Magician’s Apprentice three weeks early. That might be kinda cool. Will try and get tickets tomorrow. Would it be something that our esteemed emperor @Craig might want to make the trip back to the mother country…[Read more]

Not sure Faith, myth and Reason would have enough ongoing momentum to be a thread on its own but I think it’s definitely crying out for a blog

@ichabod — I believe it was ACD’S then wife who made him change the name. I believe the original name for Watson was something equally risible — Ormond Sacker.

@bluesqueakpip — I believe the new name might have been chosen after the violinist Alfred Sherlock or it might have been after a couple of cricketers of the time.

Quite a nice page…[Read more]

@bluesqueakpip — I suppose we should be grateful that ACD was talked out of his original name for Holmes — Sherrinford Hope. God knows, what he would have called Mycroft.

@XtremeZ — forgot to say, best of luck on the Masters. I’m sure you’ll find it immensely rewarding and a lot of fun to boot….

@bluesqueakpip — are you saying there’s something funny about that venerable name, that’s synonymous with a fine tradition of slave trading? 😉 I was just trying to spare old Ben’s blushes…

@XTremeZ—

Alright, let’s do this…

1- Is the doctor considered an atheist ?

Atheist to what exactly? To Rassilon? I’m presuming you’re meaning to Christian belief? But if he were truly religious it would surely be to the beliefs of his own people. Why would he be remotely invested in the set of creation myths of one daft wee subset (among…[Read more]

Luckily I must have taken the Doctor’s advice, said “I deny this reality!” and then played with some Lego

@whisht — I find that still works even today. Especially when I’m working.

I’ve gone on record before about the excellent AL Kennedy being on my wishlist for Doctor Who writers. After last year’s short story/novella thingy The Death Pit, she’s extended it to a novel, reviewed here and extensively on the web. I haven’t read it yet, although am currently reading her latest batch of short stories, many of which are sublime.…[Read more]

@Xtremez — Yes, I think that line is definitely open to interpretation. Just not sure it’s enough to sustain a ‘does that mean the Doc has found religion’ angle.

@phaseshift, @purofilion and @XTremeZ

That’s interesting and funny about Trek — and I suppose it’s a show that’s probably killed more ‘Gods’ than other. It also struck me that one of the interesting things about Firefly was that it was a SF show that directly engaged with religion and is set in a universe where Faith and superstition is still…[Read more]

@XtremeZ

I’ve taken the rogue html out of your post. It usually creeps in when you cut and paste from another website or occasionally application.

@purofilion—

I actually think the likes of MIT are probably a lot more relaxed and easy-going than the Academy on Gallifrey. I think Time Lords have been shown to be obsessed with pomp and ritual,…[Read more]

@bluesqueakpip and @ XtremeZ (welcome btw) — I think Pip pretty much has it spot on. The first three or four Doctors at least are arch-rationalists — probably reaching its most direct manifestations with Pertwee vs Ms Hawthrone in the Daemons. The Doctor is initially a scientist and a kind of pseudo-academic and my impression of Gallifrey is…[Read more]

@bluesqueakpip — your words are more true than you know. Everyone (except me 🙁 ) does seem to be buggering off to Greece on ‘a great idea for a colour piece’ type things while my life is full of ‘haircuts’ and ‘defaults’, shock referenda and evil Troika at the moment…