The Parting Of The Ways
So that's it. It's all over, and didn't it go out with a bang?
No more Doctor Who until Christmas, but at least there's another twenty seven episodes, minimum, to come after that.
That was a very solid episode, with some truly great moments. Christopher Eccleston was at his absolute best, and gave The Doctor some real Doctorish highlights, especially his 'rather be a coward than a killer' moment, and the spine-tingling moment when his recording turned and looked directly at Rose for the end of his message.
I could nit-pick details, but it would be churlish in light of the absolutely staggering achievement of the whole series. The recreation of family viewing, a concept that every 'expert' thought was long-dead by itself is worth applauding, but to do so in such a way as to have created one of the most-watched TV series on British TV and still stayed true to a format originally conceived in the 1960s?
Who on earth could have thought it?
The Verdict
"Best episode of Doctor Who ever" said both the rather hard-to-please (dare I say jaded) Doctor Who fans who rolled up at home late last night.
Roll on Saturday.
Advance Screening
See, tonight I'm going to be torn.
David's going to the press screening of The Parting Of The Ways, the last episode of this series of Doctor Who, this evening.
So will I force all the spoilers out of him, or will I save myself for the broadcast on Saturday?
It's a tricky one - really seriously tricky. I'm *very* excited about the episode - last Saturday's was my favourite of the series so far, and so it's set up a huge expectation. But will I enjoy it as much going into it blind sitting alongside the man who's already seen it?
Once the finale's been broadcast, by the way, I'll do a full overview of the series.
“A Triumph Of Good Over Evil”
At least, that's how one of the lunatics outside the courthouse referred to the Michael Jackson verdict. I can't decide who's freakier, Jackson or the nutters who worship him.
In A Good Cause
At virtually no notice, as I didn't know if I was going to be in the country for it or not, I've registered for Crusaid's annual Walk For Life this coming Sunday.
I've set myself the slightly ambitious goal of raising £400 in a week, so any and all support will obviously be appreciated.
If you're feeling generous you can donate here, or if you feel like doing the Walk yourself (with even less time to fundraise), you can do so at the Walk For Life site.
Thanks.
Oh my lord…..
Big, big, BIG night out with a crowd from work tonight. Several bars, many drinks, no food to speak of until after midnight, and just as we were arriving at a Karaoke bar, my better sense kicked in and a little voice in my head says "You really need to eat". So I veered off and headed down the road, ate a huge amount of junk food, and then the voice said "Now go home". So I'm back at the hotel, leaving most of the others to their all-singing, all-dancing fate. I'm too old to be doing this kind of thing too often.
I Left My Heart….
.... in the place I was before San Francisco.
I miss my man. And my cat.
In-Flight Entertainment
Gotta love Virgin's video on demand system. During my flight today I (re)watched the first episode of the new series of Doctor Who, saw two episodes of The Catherine Tate Show, the first two episodes of Lost, and the Robert DeNiro film Hide and Seek.
Kind of exciting that Doctor Who has been picked up for this kind of thing - given that other TV on there includes Friends, Little Britain and the like, it feels like it's all gone a bit mainstream.
The guy sitting next to me saw the Doctor Who title sequence and went "Doctor Who? How come they're showing that? Oh my god, is that *new* Doctor Who?"
So he ended up watching it too and thoroughly enjoying it. He's going
to buy the DVDs when he gets back to the UK.
Lost, by the way, and with pun intended, looks like a bit of a find. I'm looking forward to seeing it on Channel 4 when it starts.
“High… Choreography…. Praise!”
I haven't mentioned it during its run, but following the final last night I thought I'd pay tribute to Strictly Dance Fever.
Seriously, how on earth does a series like that work at all, let alone as well as it did? A mix of Fame-school wannabes, slightly past their prime amateur hoofers and people who work in chip vans, all held together with spandex and sequins and Graham Norton should have been a disaster. But it wasn't. I'd go so far as to call it a triumph.
And honestly, I think a lot of the credit goes to Norton, who pitched it exactly right at every point, and clearly got emotionally involved in the whole thing. He placed himself very much on the side of the contestants against the capricious whims of the judges, but always managed to pull it back from the brink when one of the contestants took exception to a comment and looked like they were going to get carried away.
And a few words on the judges, who were lined up like a row of stereotypes more than human beings: There was Vile Plastic-Looking Australian Man, Vivacious Black Woman, Italian Smoothy, and Arlene Philipps, who fulfils no role except being the Arlene Philipps character. The whole way through, they veered from love to loathe regarding the same dancers within individual programmes, and each clearly had favourites from very early on.
It was a programme which made it easy to root for the underdogs, all the while recognising that the people who had to win had to be capable of being professional dancers. So by the final, James and Claire were clearly the couple you wanted to win, while Joseph and Sadie were the couple you knew should.
Classic TV, and worth every minute I spent watching it.
I’m *NOT* Getting Sucked Into Big Brother
Really and truly, I don't intend to get involved in the horror that is those thirteen people, but David clearly does, so I'm equally clearly going to be aware of it. This whole 'Makosi has to make herself unpopular' thing had a very definite shelf life, and I'm glad that the producers seem to have recognised the fact.
Giving her the option to nominate the two people who will definitely be up for eviction was, I'll admit, an interesting twist, but her selection, at least in part, was an odd one.
And while we're on the subject, did anyone see High Spirits with Shirley Ghostman on BBC 3 recently? Because we realised almost as soon as we saw him that Craig from BB *is* Shirley Ghostman...