vivdunstan

Hoping to get out in the garden one late afternoon / evening later this week. Every other day it's been hot enough this year (we are much cooler than in southern England, or even south Scotland) it's not been a good day, or I've had yet another cancer-related medical appointment! I'm thinking of having a chilled Aperol Spritz cocktail when I'm out there. Plans!

We've been rewatching David Tennant's first series of Doctor Who 20 years on, one episode a week. Last week it was the turn of "Army of Ghosts", but we ended up following straight on to the second part of the story "Doomsday". So no waiting for that this coming week! I jotted down some quick notes.

( mild spoilers )

We'll probably continue on to the Christmas 2006 episode, but I wouldn't be surprised if it takes us a while. We are currently planning to rewatch the 2007 series next year, 20 years on again.

Continuing our 20 years on rewatch we watched this episode again last week. Which I did not remember fondly. But it was better than I remembered.

A big problem that I realised this time is that the core child character is very unlikeable, at least initially. This makes the viewer making a connection and empathising almost impossible, at least early on.

More problematically there is a huge amount of tell not show, in particular re an alien's lengthy back story. This breaks all the standard rules of good TV storytelling, and is painful to watch. Problems here are further compounded by the director's choice to make the child actress whisper her way through this. It's excruciating.

But the main child actress is otherwise fine, as, unsurprisingly, is Nina Sosanya as her mum.

At the heart it’s an incredibly dark story, and not nearly as child friendly as might be assumed.

But there are lighter moments as well. Kel and the pick axe scene on the street is hilarious.

The singing resolution is rather painful. I don't get on well with singing in episodes ...

But yes, better than I remembered. And, to be fair, it has been undertaken in my rankings by a couple of stories in the Thirteenth and Fifteenth Doctor eras. But I'm doubtful I'll watch it again.

Another rewatch for us, 20 years on. And this two parter is still superb.

It's a fresh twist on a base under siege story, with big ideas, a superb guest cast (especially Claire Rushbrook and Danny Webb), and an innovative new monster/creature in the Ood. As an agnostic I find some of the religious angles harder to relate to, but it still works on many levels, and is so ambitious. And the music at times is breathtaking.

If it was in any other year it would be a contender for the best story of the season. But this is such a strong year with some stellar stories. But it's really, really good.

And I've just remembered there's a new Target novelisation that I still have to read. That will be fun. It's novelised by the original scriptwriter Matt Jones. Who, sadly, we didn't get any more Doctor Who TV stories from. Though he did write a Torchwood episode. As well as some other Wilderness Years books and short stories.

Our front garden grass is now getting its second cut of the year so far. At this rate it won't be cut again before August, and that might be the third and last cut of this year for us.

It does look lovely a bit longer, and with clover and some wildflowers. But given the rainy weather due soon it's probably best Martin grabs the chance today, on a day off work too.

We're rewatching (or for Martin for many stories first time watching) the Peter Davison era of Doctor Who. Starting up with Castrovalva, which we watched last Sunday night and tonight, fitting in a couple of episodes at a time. We are watching on the remastered Blu-ray release, albeit opting for the original special effects.

I remembered enjoying this on original TV watch, and a couple of decades later. But this time I found it really dragged in the opening two episodes. Way too much wandering around the TARDIS, and Tegan and Nyssa repeatedly climbing up rocks. I've never worn high heels, but I felt huge sympathy for both actresses re the climbing, especially Janet Fielding. I don't blame the director so much for the poor pacing, I just don't think there was enough content in the written scripts for these episodes to make sufficiently satisfying episodes.

Things pick up once they reach the city, and there are some fantastic ideas in here. I've long loved Escher's art. But even here there are too many not fully shown scenes, e.g. Shardovan swings into the web, then there's a cut, then we see an aftermath (again note I'm watching the original SFX).

I wasn't sad to see Adric sidelined. And his “wardrobe malfunction” was, erm, far too noticeable ...

Things get so much better when the Doctor takes a more active part, though I suppose that’s the intention.

Watching the the making of documentary (nearly 40 minutes long!), which is steered by Mark Strickson (Turlough), for much of his life a television producer, I was amused that Mark is refreshingly frank on how boring he found watching the opening two episodes! Also in the "making of" documentary I was frustrated that the BBC clearly didn’t get permission to show the relevant inspiring Escher art prints on screen, so they could only be talked about instead.

We plan to watch a couple more of the mini documentaries included in the Blu-ray's bonus special features - the one with Tom Baker discussing the large TARDIS crew back then, and also Peter Davison explaining how he tackled his new Doctor. But we'll fit those in sometime over the coming week, ready to swap discs and carry on to the next story next Sunday.

Crossing fingers that I'm approved fit for surgery. Whatever the case I'm trying to get fitter - within my neurological illness's limitations - before any surgery. Which primarily involves eating better, to lose some weight. Since Monday, by better eating, I've lost 0.6kg - over a pound in old money. I don't need to eat too much because I'm so asleep now, but I can eat unhealthily, and it all adds up. So have a new strategy for a little smackerel around breakfast, then slowly eat 10-15 grapes with a cup of tea around lunchtime, then a filling but not too big dinner. And cutting down on biscuits, chocolates etc. Wish me luck! At the moment I'm not feeling unreasonably hungry. Hoping to sustain it. Sadly hot flushes from having to suddenly stop HRT won't burn any calories. Mega drat!

Our local Oxfam's volunteers have been listing more items that we donated recently. 12 more items were listed on their web store today, including 6 Big Finish Doctor Who (or Doctor Who spinoff) audio adventure boxsets. Within just a couple of hours 4 of those newly listed Big Finish boxsets had already sold. Which is very good news for the charity, bringing in almost £60 of revenue. I don't think even if I'd sold these myself I'd have sold them for that much. And there would have been all the practical hassle, which I really don't need, especially right now.

Today I backed the second in the Sir Sherlock series of Sherlock Holmes audios starring Tom Baker and John Leeson as Holmes and Watson. I greatly enjoyed the first audio. Note the series is CD release only, so you'll need a CD player. Tom Baker is on fine form.

The first CD can be picked up as an add on to the second Kickstarter. I expect in due course it will also be available to buy direct from AUK's web store.

Starting our Peter Davison / Fifth Doctor era rewatch of Doctor Who with Castrovalva. It’ll take us a couple of goes to get through the story, and we also plan to watch some of the special features on the remastered season Blu-Ray box.

Technically it’s a rewatch for me only. Martin, who didn’t grow up with a telly at home, has only seen a few bits of this era before.