History in the Making

Doctor Who – Tooth and Claw 7.15pm BBC1

[WARNING - MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS]

The episode had been described by Russell T Davies during last week's commentary as 'Queen Victoria, a Werewolf and Kung-Fu Monks'. And he wasn't wrong. They were all there, although it would have been good to see a little more of the monks. The pre-credit opener saw them doing a Crouching Tiger style fight scene (also described as the new BBC ident – due to them all wearing red outfits). The Doctor and Rose were aiming for the Top Rank in Sheffield in 1979 to see Ian Dury and the Blockheads, but ended up in 1879 Scotland. It's good to know the Tardis still doesn't go where it's told! The meeting between the Doctor and the soldiers gave the opportunity for he Doctor to introduce himself as 'JamesMcCrimmon', the first nod to a former companion for this series. (Jamie travelled with the second Doctor).There were the expected chases and confrontations with the werewolf. I really liked the comment in the library where the Doctor pointed out that they had all the weapons they needed in the books. This was the point in the commentary that David Tennant explained how he wanted the Doctor to wear glasses 'for all the specky kids'. I cheered at that.

Overall I enjoyed the episode, apart from the over emphasis on Torchwood in the final speech by Queen Victoria. It was far too unsubtle as either a reminder for the spin-off series, or as a mention of something re-occurring later in the series. Unless it's just to throw us all off the scent of what the real story arc is!?

Thank you BBC!

Well, having tried to avoid spoilers for the new series of Doctor Who, the BBC then go and put on a huge trailer just before the early evening news on BBC1 last night. I thought at first it was the one for Tooth and Claw that I've seen a few times already, but then it went on to show clips from other episodes – clips I hadn't seen before. Yes, I know I shouldn't have watched, I should have switched over or gone out of the room, but it was addictive. The more I saw the more I wanted to watch. But now I feel really bad – have I spoiled the rest of the series for myself? If I have I'm laying the blame firmly at the BBC for putting the trailer on without warning!!

Who’s back

Doctor Who – New Earth 7.15pm BBC1

[WARNING - MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS]

The first proper adventure for the tenth Doctor, not including saving the Earth with a satsuma at Christmas. The Doctor and Rose travelled to a future re-creation of Earth to visit a hospital patient (The Face of Boe – the most amazing, if slightly underused model from last year). Rose gets separated from the Doctor and runs into Cassandra (again from last year' The End of the World), who possesses her body. The more I watch Billie Piper, the more impressed I am with her skills as an actor. She gave a very credible performance of Cassandra/Rose, picking up on many of Zoe Wannamaker's inflections, and using the possession concept to great comic effect, especially when looking in the mirror and trying to attempt a cockney accent. David Tennent also did a similar changes when possessed, but only for brief moments. The real joy were the disinfection lifts; being a crazy, but humourous invention which turned out to be crucial to the plot (I worked out what needed to be done to save the world, but not how)

Overall, an enjoyable start to the series. I'm never overkeen on the far future stories, but next week's is historic Earth set, so that should be more to my taste.

The accompanying Confidential on BBC3 focused on both the Christmas and this episode. The usual stuff, apart from the teasers for the rest of the series – giving far too much away. How's a girl supposed to avoid spoilers if they put them on without warning?

Only 24 Hours to go!

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Time for Tea

I had time to do some baking yesterday, which is something I've never seemed to have time to do recently. I made a batch of muffins using a new recipe I found. Everyone said how good they tasted, so that's a bonus! I really enjoyed the baking and I must make time to do it more often.

Holidays are here

I finished the term at university yesterday – just one more to go!

Well, I say just one more term. I should graduate in June, but owing to the industrial action by NATFHE this could be delayed. All of my lecturers are involved in the "action short of strike action", which means a boycott of marking assessments. Some have said that they are only marking during their employed hours, so our work should be marked eventually, but it could still delay graduation. We wait in hope of a resolution.

I said holidays, but I still have lots of work to keep me busy (apart from the type which pays money). Having the wisdom of a mature student, I chose to write my dissertation last semester, so I don't have that to stress about, unlike most of my fellow students. I do have plenty of essays and research to do, so (in theory) I won't be sitting around over Easter. We'll see how long that lasts!

Now Podcasting

The Now Show is back!

Despite the lack of Hugh Dennis, the first show in the series was up to the usual standard. I was a bit concerned when the subject of the Great Southern Water Shortage came up (since when has the failing of a regional water company been news anyway?), but I needn't have been. The topic was made to be of great hilarity to Northerners – as it should be!

And Mitch Benn came up with a much better World Cup song parodying the band that have been chosen, the name of which has entirely passed me by. (Or was that the point?)

Probably the best news is that the Now Show is now available to download as a podcast after each show. This is part of the BBC's trial to offer downloadable radio, and is a huge improvement on The Best Bits of the Today programme.

Trailer Watch

I finally saw a trailer for the new series of Doctor Who last night. I keep missing them, but then I've been trying to stay spoiler free since the series returned last year, so maybe it's not a bad thing.

Roll on the 15th April! 

Armchair Archaeology

Time Team 6pm Channel 4

Last night the team were in North Wales searching for a Roman bathhouse which archaeologists had discovered in the 1960s. So if it's been dug before, why go? Well it turns out that it was a good job they did. Some of the walls were re-excavated and turned out not to be Roman, so the bathhouse disappeared, to be replaced by a Roman ditch and some field walls. Various trenches across the village revealed nothing, and only the final re-excavation trench tuned up any Roman walls. This final trench also came up with a large, broken tessera, suggesting a building of some status with a tessellated floor. (Does one tile make a whole floor?)
There was a great mid-dig argument between Tony Robinson, Guy de la Bedoyere and some other expert about whether there still could be a bathhouse there; Tony saying there wasn't and Guy pointing out that just because they hadn't found it didn't mean it wasn't there, to which Tony replied that he was falling into the same trap as the 60s archaeologists. It's always good to see healthy debate! Guy will be missed from future Time Teams.

Watching the Detectives

Mayo 8pm BBC1
This series is definitely growing on me. I like good crime drama, but this has a good slice of humour too which puts a lot less emphasis on whodunnit and more on the characterisation of the main and supporting cast. According to last night's opening credits, the series is based on books by Marjorie Eccles. I must try and read some of them. I've also become a little obsessed by watching Jessica Oyelowo's hair styles. She seems to change in almost ever scene. Last night I counted four different styles over the episode. I wonder if this says something about the plot (or lack of it)?