Thursday 2 November 2023

TV

This Cultural Life
1x01 Kenneth Branagh
Accidentally caught tonight's repeat of this on BBC Four and watched most of it.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Audio Drama

Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor Adventures
1.1 Ravagers 3: Food Fight
+ the full CD's worth of behind-the-scenes interviews

The end of the Ninth Doctor's first Big Finish box set, and thus the end of my time with this incarnation for my 60th anniversary marathon (except for the short story, of course). The Ninth Doctor audio series is another one (like the Timewyrm novels) that I've commenced but not finished as part of this anniversary marathon, and so will have to endeavour to return to later to complete. I'm not sure how I feel about them choosing to kick it off with a three-part adventure — on the one hand, it gives the box set a unified feel; on the other, I'm not wholly convinced there was enough going on to justify it; and there's an argument to be made that three standalone adventures would've better showcased the potential to new listeners; but, to loop back round, if you're pitching it to new listeners, maybe they'd expect something released as a set to be one big story?

Whatever. The main draw is undoubtedly Christopher Eccleston, and he slips back into the role as if he'd never been away. He had the least time of all the new series Doctors to make his mark on the role, and yet he absolutely did — this isn't "any old Doctor" as voiced by Eccleston, but unmistakeably and specifically the Ninth. In that respect, at least, Ravagers nails it.

Games

The Dragon Staff of Maladoria
8–11 July 2021
I accidentally played a bit ahead of my intended rate a few days ago, since when I've been continuing ahead of time. I figure I'll naturally 'fall behind' again at some point for some external reason, so I may as well wait for that to knock me back on track rather than force it now and end up on catchup again later!