@scaryb — I didn’t know McGrath had written for Z-Cars. That show had quite a pedigree when it came to writers….

@thatoneguy — as @scaryb says, it was referenced in the episode. It does beg the question though if the Doc Amy and Rory didn’t actually go to the Orient Express then, where did they go?

@wordmuse — I think it’s just a case that this particular arc is just not doing it for you. And that’s fine. I never really found myself on board with Martha’s…[Read more]

@Pedant

What a great link, thanks for posting. And completely agree with @Blenkinsopthebrave – there’s some great TV in there (and don’t you dare knock Dixon of Dock Green!! (though I jumped ship when I discovered Z Cars)).  Sadly I was mostly packed off to bed before TW3.  Though I remember seeing some of them so I must have sneaked back up a…[Read more]

@thommck

I hope you enjoy it. I remember you were a child of Seven and Ace, and you may find things you remember from other serials being referenced in it. It has a big reveal concerning Ace.

It’s really unusual to find a version that’s spliced together on the DVDs (some of the earliest VHS releases you won’t remember – but they tried to make…[Read more]

@FatManInABox    Thank you!  🙂  We had punk for engineers, and now we have some for poets. Brilliant.
@TheKrynoidMan    Thanks for DMR. I had entirely forgotten that song, but it came back instantly!
@ScaryB    “The Men Who…” and Brunel have been passed on to some others, who are also planning to share. Maybe they will become a thing (ass…[Read more]

@soundworld   The next of my notes was to say how very much I enjoyed your little essay on myth, metaphor, and reality. My reality is always a lot more interesting with a bit of the other two mixed in! And then I looked, and you are off again, this time about the Cyberiad. Very well played.  🙂

@Mudlark   I completely agree about the Doct…[Read more]

@ScaryB. You said just what I was about  to. I am getting really tired of the misuse of the term “soap opera” to apply to any form of human centric drama. Adding a little human complexity to the script does not turn a story into a soap opera and as @JimTheFish pointed out, there can be good soap opera. It is not a term of abuse just a form of…[Read more]

ooh – well there’s so much good stuff here!

Nice to hear some Clash, but @ScaryB – bloody Brunelling brilliant! The Men That Will not be Blamed for Nothing are new to me (which is a shame)!

@Arbutus – Band and Butterfield – luvverly!

As far as this episode I had a quick trawl through my iTunes and even after dismissing loads of songs that…[Read more]

@XAD4   Thanks for that lovely bit of Tom Waits!
@TheKrynoidMan, The Bangles, brilliant.  Always enjoy the Blues Brothers, and Soul Man in any version is great.
@idiotsavon    What a lovely surprise in the midst of the undead! Love HB.
@Whisht   Enjoyed Moonlight in Glory. Perfect title for the theme, and I was I the only one last week during…[Read more]

The Greatest Sylvester McCoy Episode Vote in the Galaxy – Result!
OK – Collating and reflecting on the votes received, I think we have a clear winner for our choice of Story containing The First Scottish Doctor.

It’s actually pretty apt to reveal it after we’ve seen Mummy on the Orient Express as well. The first victim terrorised by the Mum…[Read more]

Thanks @ScaryB!

Just to post something that’s the total opposite of Tom Waits (and because I just happened to listen to it when I read your post), here’s another song that asks “Should I stay / should I go”.

Oh, and look, I’ve chosen the incredibly cheesy version with three Doctor Who actors in it, from BBC’s marvellous Blackpool. 😀

http://you…[Read more]

@ScaryB Here’s a story about The Clash. I was at College (I study media there) one day, and we were filming a couple of bands from the music course. Anyway, one of the bands preformed several songs by the Clash. When it was over I was talking to a couple of my fellow students and pointed this out to them. One of them then said “you look like…[Read more]

My first thought was: What was Gus’s plan? If he was after the Mummy’s tech, why conceal everything. Why hide the lab equipment? Why bother with all the experts and then not use them. Fortunately I was rescued by:

@PhileasF b) It’s the people on the train who are being tested. Someone wants to find very clever people who are good at dealing with d…

[Read more]

@ScaryB – I appreciate you’re not disagreeing with me re the new darker shade of Doctor. Also, your point about The Beast Below is a good example of what I was looking for actually, and one I’d forgotten, so thanks for that. I respect the Doctor (and more importantly the show itself) because in that one he was willing to commit a terrible act,…[Read more]

Not so mello after all, what a shame …

Anyway, I have my bucket of exclamtion/question marks at the ready so hear we go.

Despite the later showing we got to watch this one live! What a fun episode. We had the lights off and my 10y/o was clinging on to me from the start 🙂 It was almost Scooby Doo!

@Oblique: “Mummy on the Orient Express, the…

[Read more]

@geoffers—

 i think he stopped travelling the universe, in that case, simply because of the threat of the time war breaking out again

I’m with @bluesqueakpip on this one. It doesn’t really matter why the Doctor stopped travelling but the fact is that he did (and therefore could). It’s Clara that has the addiction because it’s now been shown that…[Read more]

@ScaryB

Don’t really see why people generally find it easier to suspend disbelief for a teleporting mummy on the Orient Express (IN SPACE!!) than for the moon’s an egg scenario, but happy people are generally on board for this epi 🙂

Given the way human nature works, an “Orient Express (IN SPACE!!)” is not just plausible but practically ine…[Read more]

@ScaryB – Yeah it’s true that the Doctor was more morally complex in Hartnell’s day, but I think most of the examples you give (though I’ve not seen the St Bartholomew’s Eve Massacre one) are about allowing Time to follow its proper/pre-ordained course, particularly in the Tenth Doctor examples. So you’re right in that these are morally d…[Read more]

@ScaryB No probs at all. Better to be safe than sorry. I would’ve deleted the post instantly if it had really been a spolier.

@ScaryB I’m with you. I thought both stories were great. Had a conversation at work and we decided, basically, if last week’s episode had been set on an alien planet with 3 moons and one, or even all, had turned out to be an egg no one would have batted an eyelid. There was a bit of a problem with it being closer to home because of “known” science…[Read more]