Doctor Who

An archive of blog entries about British science-fiction programme Doctor Who.

Events

A Doctor Who weekend for two

30 April 2006 Rob Buckley Post a comment

David Tennant in some good clothes for onceSpend a weekend in a hotel in Cardiff? Not a totally attractive offer, but not awful: I spent Christmas last year in a hotel in Cardiff and it was actually very nice. All the same, how could a couple of days in a plush hotel in Wales’ capital be made even more attractive?

I know. How about if there was a leaflet available that told you where Doctor Who had been filmed in the city? Grabs you now, doesn’t it?

No?

Okay. How about if there was a blow-up Dalek as well?

Whoops. Disturbing now, isn’t it? It makes the claim, “We’re now seen as a sexy city to visit,” take on a whole new upsetting dimension.

Oh dear. I suspect the Park Plaza hotel is going to have to try harder for this particular cashing-in scheme to work. Perhaps they should talk to Travelodge about innovative ways to drum up trade?

Events

A Doctor Who weekend for two

30 April 2006 Rob Buckley 3 Comments

David Tennant in some good clothes for onceSpend a weekend in a hotel in Cardiff? Not a totally attractive offer, but not awful: I spent Christmas last year in a hotel in Cardiff and it was actually very nice. All the same, how could a couple of days in a plush hotel in Wales’ capital be made even more attractive?

I know. How about if there was a leaflet available that told you where Doctor Who had been filmed in the city? Grabs you now, doesn’t it?

No?

Okay. How about if there was a blow-up Dalek as well?

Whoops. Disturbing now, isn’t it? It makes the claim, “We’re now seen as a sexy city to visit,” take on a whole new upsetting dimension.

Oh dear. I suspect the Park Plaza hotel is going to have to try harder for this particular cashing-in scheme to work. Perhaps they should talk to Travelodge about innovative ways to drum up trade?

Sunny side down

30 April 2006 Rob Buckley 3 Comments

I made it. Remarkable efficiency plus the help of my lovely wife on Monday meant I was able to buy The Sun for six days in a row. So that’s £2.10 + £2.99 postage and package for six episodes of Doctor Who, due to arrive some time in the next six weeks. I can’t believe I managed it, or that the slow, creeping hand of fanboy obsession has gripped me again, 15 years after I first shed it, but there you go. I will fight it. I will.

Curious that you only get one episode from each story, making Rose the only complete adventure; curiouser still that they thought two episodes from incomplete stories (The Dalek Masterplan and The Faceless Ones) were a good idea, since no one can actually go out and buy the DVDs for the complete stories. But they’re all good episodes; I don’t think I’ll be rushing out to buy full-on BBC Doctor Who DVDs, lest my wife leave me, but it’ll be nice to watch those early stories in DVD quality, rather than 17th generation VHS.

The Sun, though. Odd, isn’t it? It’s not my normal paper of choice. Thought I’d give reading it a try, because occasionally the tabloids can be surprising: The Star was actually pretty good until Richard Desmond got his hands on it. Plus there’s something odd about only buying a paper that supports your own particular beliefs – challenges are good.

However, The Sun wasn’t particularly offensive, unlike the Daily Mail, which leaves any right-thinking sentient human being spluttering with indignation and disbelief that such flagrant evil is published every day. The Sun was just dull; I couldn’t even be bothered to read it after Tuesday: I just snipped my vouchers and recycled it. Shows you how far it’s fallen since Kelvin MacKenzie’s day. It wasn’t dull then. Offensive, yes. Dull, no.

News

Sounds, erm, magnificent?

24 April 2006 Rob Buckley 2 Comments

The new K9We’ve railed against Winnie the Pooh getting the CGI treatment. We’ve railed against a whole lot of things in fact. But now, the Independent is reporting, K9 is to make a comeback as a CGI hero of his own Fox Kids show.

Step 1: Place memories on pavement

Step 2: Stamp all over them

Step 3: Stamp over them some more.

At the very least, I hope they get John Leeson back. The question, though, is why Fox Kids instead of CBeebies or some other BBC-owned channel? Maybe it’s all been made up. Or it’s a bad dream or something.

UPDATE: The Times explains all. And there’s a picture. Sob