Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor Adventures
1.1 Ravagers 2: Cataclysm
I believe most of the Ninth Doctor Big Finish box sets are made up of three self-contained episodes, with maybe the odd two-parter — just like the TV season they’re spun off from, of course. But this first set is actually a three-parter (not even "technically" one, it just is one — this is the "running around treading water" middle part), which does make it a more fitting choice for my marathon than I’d been expecting (every other Doctor got one story, but I was prepared to let the Ninth have three just for the sake of neatly completing the set. Turns out, if I’d planned to just listen to the first episode, it would’ve been a mistake!)
Monday, 30 October 2023
Sunday, 29 October 2023
Audio Drama
Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor Adventures
1.1 Ravagers 1: Sphere of Freedom
My Doctor Who 60th anniversary celebratory marathon now officially moves into the nuWho era — although the War Doctor is an entirely nuWho concept, so, y’know — but here is where nuWho actually began: with the Ninth Doctor.
Finding “things I’d never experienced” for some of the Modern Who Doctors was a challenge — having lived through those eras, I saw all the main stuff as it happened. Therefore, it has to be tie-in media for them; but that’s still tricky when it comes to the Ninth Doctor, because his era was so short-lived. Not only did I see all of his TV episodes, I read several of the tie-in novels (perhaps all of them; I forget — it was almost 20 years ago!) and DWM comic strips (again, I definitely read some, perhaps all). Fortunately, the last couple of years have seen Christopher Eccleston give in and start recording new adventures for Big Finish — and, somehow, I’ve made it all this way into my 60th celebrations without listening to a single Big Finish production! Perfect timing, then. (In fairness, I probably would’ve listened to one for the Eighth Doctor if it weren’t for them being almost my only option for the Ninth Doctor. I didn’t decide on these texts in chronological order, y’know. Wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey.)
Somewhat as an aside to the actual listening, this choice brings up the issue of how I number Big Finish releases on here — by which I mean the "1x01" bit before the episode title. I'm often unsure how to go about that with Big Finish titles, in part because they seem to provoke the confusion themselves. I mean, when they announced Eccleston would be back for a second series with them, a lot of people were confused, because hadn't they just released a second box set and a third was on the way? But no, you see, because box sets 1 to 4 were his first series, and now he was doing four more, which would be a second series. Okay? Except each of those first four sets has its own title, as well as individual titles for the episodes in the set — so what makes them a series split into four sets, rather than just four sets? What makes the fifth box the start of a "new series" and not just a fifth set in a run of at least eight sets? And bearing all this in mind, does that mean that (for example) the first episode in the second box is actually episode 1x04, not 2x01? Or is it neither — is it Respond to All Calls 1x01? But, hold on, isn't it just part of series one...?
In short: argh! I don't know if they do this deliberately and revel in it, because there's definitely a part of Who fandom that seems to delight in how messy the canon is — you know, how something like Trial of a Time Lord can simultaneously be one story and four stories. Or perhaps they just don't think about it, and are happy to write whatever they think sounds best in any given press release. Who knows. I've gone with the slightly messy layout that I've gone with, because it's actually clearer than some others I tried, and it broadly reflects the numbering on the boxes themselves (the first four are just number 1 to 4, but "series two" are labelled 2.1 to 2.4. I've not bought any "series three" yet).
1.1 Ravagers 1: Sphere of Freedom
My Doctor Who 60th anniversary celebratory marathon now officially moves into the nuWho era — although the War Doctor is an entirely nuWho concept, so, y’know — but here is where nuWho actually began: with the Ninth Doctor.
Finding “things I’d never experienced” for some of the Modern Who Doctors was a challenge — having lived through those eras, I saw all the main stuff as it happened. Therefore, it has to be tie-in media for them; but that’s still tricky when it comes to the Ninth Doctor, because his era was so short-lived. Not only did I see all of his TV episodes, I read several of the tie-in novels (perhaps all of them; I forget — it was almost 20 years ago!) and DWM comic strips (again, I definitely read some, perhaps all). Fortunately, the last couple of years have seen Christopher Eccleston give in and start recording new adventures for Big Finish — and, somehow, I’ve made it all this way into my 60th celebrations without listening to a single Big Finish production! Perfect timing, then. (In fairness, I probably would’ve listened to one for the Eighth Doctor if it weren’t for them being almost my only option for the Ninth Doctor. I didn’t decide on these texts in chronological order, y’know. Wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey.)
Somewhat as an aside to the actual listening, this choice brings up the issue of how I number Big Finish releases on here — by which I mean the "1x01" bit before the episode title. I'm often unsure how to go about that with Big Finish titles, in part because they seem to provoke the confusion themselves. I mean, when they announced Eccleston would be back for a second series with them, a lot of people were confused, because hadn't they just released a second box set and a third was on the way? But no, you see, because box sets 1 to 4 were his first series, and now he was doing four more, which would be a second series. Okay? Except each of those first four sets has its own title, as well as individual titles for the episodes in the set — so what makes them a series split into four sets, rather than just four sets? What makes the fifth box the start of a "new series" and not just a fifth set in a run of at least eight sets? And bearing all this in mind, does that mean that (for example) the first episode in the second box is actually episode 1x04, not 2x01? Or is it neither — is it Respond to All Calls 1x01? But, hold on, isn't it just part of series one...?
In short: argh! I don't know if they do this deliberately and revel in it, because there's definitely a part of Who fandom that seems to delight in how messy the canon is — you know, how something like Trial of a Time Lord can simultaneously be one story and four stories. Or perhaps they just don't think about it, and are happy to write whatever they think sounds best in any given press release. Who knows. I've gone with the slightly messy layout that I've gone with, because it's actually clearer than some others I tried, and it broadly reflects the numbering on the boxes themselves (the first four are just number 1 to 4, but "series two" are labelled 2.1 to 2.4. I've not bought any "series three" yet).
Saturday, 28 October 2023
Films
Alien Love Triangle (2008)
A Life Less Ordinary (1997)
A Danny Boyle double-bill courtesy of FilmBath Festival — one short, one feature. Normally you'd assume the latter was the main draw. It was Boyle's follow-up to Shallow Grave and Trainspotting, and though it's not as well remembered as either, it's one of his I'd never seen, so it was fun to get the chance to see it on the big screen. It's pretty good.
But the real attraction was the short that screened before it. Filmed in 1999 for a project that was never completed, this is only its third-ever public screening — and the other two were over 15 years ago, both on very limited and special occasions; and this is another of those (it's not just beginning a wide tour or something, as far as I know). Quite how FilmBath scored that coup, I don't know. Frankly, it does make me wonder if it's being prepped to pop up somewhere more significant. The fact Criterion are about to release Trainspotting on 4K, with the extras not yet fully revealed, makes me wonder if it'll be on that disc. Well, I hope it does become more widely available at some point, because it's fun and I'd like to see it again.
A Life Less Ordinary (1997)
A Danny Boyle double-bill courtesy of FilmBath Festival — one short, one feature. Normally you'd assume the latter was the main draw. It was Boyle's follow-up to Shallow Grave and Trainspotting, and though it's not as well remembered as either, it's one of his I'd never seen, so it was fun to get the chance to see it on the big screen. It's pretty good.
But the real attraction was the short that screened before it. Filmed in 1999 for a project that was never completed, this is only its third-ever public screening — and the other two were over 15 years ago, both on very limited and special occasions; and this is another of those (it's not just beginning a wide tour or something, as far as I know). Quite how FilmBath scored that coup, I don't know. Frankly, it does make me wonder if it's being prepped to pop up somewhere more significant. The fact Criterion are about to release Trainspotting on 4K, with the extras not yet fully revealed, makes me wonder if it'll be on that disc. Well, I hope it does become more widely available at some point, because it's fun and I'd like to see it again.
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
Another slew of new additions this week, including a bumper lot of 4K — among them, Criterion's first UK release on the format (hooray!) Also an upgrade from BD to 4K, for a BD I bought a few months ago and hadn't even opened. I suppose it's not the first time that's more-or-less happened, but it feels like one of my shortest repurchase windows ever. I'm not happy about it... and yet, at the same time, I did it.
That's not the most uncommon addition of the week though, an honour which goes to a true rarity: an entire release for just a short film. That would be Pedro Almodóvar's Strange Way of Life, which is exclusive to HMV on Blu-ray and comes out on Monday. It's streaming in 4K on MUBI, mind, so I'll probably watch it there. Yeah, maybe I am a fool...
Number of titles in collection: 3,187 [up 9]
Of which DVDs: 1,022 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,165 [up 9]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 306 [up 5]
Number of discs in collection: 7,764 [up 13]
Number of films: 3,912 [up 10]
Number of additional cuts: 347 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 9,621 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,087 [up 1]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Another slew of new additions this week, including a bumper lot of 4K — among them, Criterion's first UK release on the format (hooray!) Also an upgrade from BD to 4K, for a BD I bought a few months ago and hadn't even opened. I suppose it's not the first time that's more-or-less happened, but it feels like one of my shortest repurchase windows ever. I'm not happy about it... and yet, at the same time, I did it.
That's not the most uncommon addition of the week though, an honour which goes to a true rarity: an entire release for just a short film. That would be Pedro Almodóvar's Strange Way of Life, which is exclusive to HMV on Blu-ray and comes out on Monday. It's streaming in 4K on MUBI, mind, so I'll probably watch it there. Yeah, maybe I am a fool...
Number of titles in collection: 3,187 [up 9]
Of which DVDs: 1,022 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,165 [up 9]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 306 [up 5]
Number of discs in collection: 7,764 [up 13]
Number of films: 3,912 [up 10]
Number of additional cuts: 347 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 9,621 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,087 [up 1]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 27 October 2023
TV
Doctor Who
33x15 The Day of the Doctor [3D; 3rd watch]
Resuming my Doctor Who 60th celebration marathon now, although with somewhat less urgency — I'd been pacing it under the assumption the 60th anniversary specials would begin on 11th November, but (as recently announced) they're actually starting on the 25th. So my new goal is to be done by the anniversary itself, 23rd November, which gives me more wriggle room. I might even throw in a few extra bits and bobs.
For now, it's back to progressing through the Doctors in order... which, in this case, means a sidestep from the common/real-world numbering so as to place the War Doctor in his in-universe context. And, as with The Five Doctors the other week, this one’s a bit of a fudge: of course I’ve seen it before, and there’s other War Doctor content I could’ve chosen, including a novel (though I don't own it) and multiple Big Finish box sets (which I do own). However, I’ve covered both those forms of media elsewhere, and (as I believe I’ve mentioned) I was loathe to include too many novels for fear they’d take me too long to read and delay the whole project. That’s also why I didn’t plump for the novelisation of this story as some kind of happy medium (it’s meant to be great, mind, so I really do want to read it. Seriously considering reading it during those two weeks I've gained).
So, the only way I can justify this as unseen is because I’ve never watched it in (true) 3D before, despite owning the Blu-ray and a 3D TV for a number of years. But (also like The Five Doctors) it just also feels right to make space for such a big, brilliant, 50th anniversary episode in my 60th celebrations. (And this is the last time I’ve so egregiously cheated, I promise.) Also, it's just really bloody good.
I also watched all of the special features on the 3D Blu-ray, which include an "Early Trailer" (90 seconds of clips, with text referring to "This Fall", so I guess it originated at ComicCon or something), the specially-created "Save the Day" trailer (still awesome), a short making-of called Behind the Lens (it's only 13 minutes and makes you long for the full hour-long Confidential we'll never have for this), plus the following programmes (in the order I watched them)...
Doctor Who Explained
A 45-minute special created for US TV in the style of the Doctors Revisited series (presumably made at the same time by the same team). Not bad as a primer for neophytes.
The Last Day
[2nd watch]
A short prequel to Day. I never much cared for this short — it always felt like something they made because they had the money to do so, not because there was an extra bit of story worth telling or universe worth expanding on. Oh well. (You can still watch this on YouTube, if you want.)
The Night of the Doctor
[2nd watch]
This, on the other hand, is fantastic. The 8th Doctor's last hurrah! What a surprise this was when it was released, but so welcome. That it didn’t lead to a full 8th Doctor spin-off series is possibly my biggest disappointment in Who history. McGann is brilliant in the role and he and we deserved so much more. At least there’s the audios. (You can also watch this on YouTube, or — befitting its important status — on iPlayer.)
Sadly, the cinema intros and whatnot weren't included on this release. I think they're on the box set copy? Maybe I'll get that out and give it a spin someday. Though why I'd choose to watch the special in 2D when I have it in 3D... Well, there is one argument in 2D's favour: for compatibility, the 3D versions runs at 24fps (i.e. it's slightly longer), whereas the 2D version runs at the original 25fps.
A final observation, relevant to my 60th marathon: no one knew about the War Doctor when the 11 Doctors, 11 Stories series began, so he doesn’t have an instalment in that series, meaning today will be my only encounter with the fella. As I said, there’s other War Doctor content I could have chosen instead that would have taken longer — as well as being more truly original, and truly War Doctor focused — so maybe I should have... but I didn’t, so it is what it is. (Maybe I’ll take some of that in post-60th — like I’m planning to do with the rest of Timewyrm — as some kind of recompense.)
33x15 The Day of the Doctor [3D; 3rd watch]
Resuming my Doctor Who 60th celebration marathon now, although with somewhat less urgency — I'd been pacing it under the assumption the 60th anniversary specials would begin on 11th November, but (as recently announced) they're actually starting on the 25th. So my new goal is to be done by the anniversary itself, 23rd November, which gives me more wriggle room. I might even throw in a few extra bits and bobs.
For now, it's back to progressing through the Doctors in order... which, in this case, means a sidestep from the common/real-world numbering so as to place the War Doctor in his in-universe context. And, as with The Five Doctors the other week, this one’s a bit of a fudge: of course I’ve seen it before, and there’s other War Doctor content I could’ve chosen, including a novel (though I don't own it) and multiple Big Finish box sets (which I do own). However, I’ve covered both those forms of media elsewhere, and (as I believe I’ve mentioned) I was loathe to include too many novels for fear they’d take me too long to read and delay the whole project. That’s also why I didn’t plump for the novelisation of this story as some kind of happy medium (it’s meant to be great, mind, so I really do want to read it. Seriously considering reading it during those two weeks I've gained).
So, the only way I can justify this as unseen is because I’ve never watched it in (true) 3D before, despite owning the Blu-ray and a 3D TV for a number of years. But (also like The Five Doctors) it just also feels right to make space for such a big, brilliant, 50th anniversary episode in my 60th celebrations. (And this is the last time I’ve so egregiously cheated, I promise.) Also, it's just really bloody good.
I also watched all of the special features on the 3D Blu-ray, which include an "Early Trailer" (90 seconds of clips, with text referring to "This Fall", so I guess it originated at ComicCon or something), the specially-created "Save the Day" trailer (still awesome), a short making-of called Behind the Lens (it's only 13 minutes and makes you long for the full hour-long Confidential we'll never have for this), plus the following programmes (in the order I watched them)...
Doctor Who Explained
A 45-minute special created for US TV in the style of the Doctors Revisited series (presumably made at the same time by the same team). Not bad as a primer for neophytes.
The Last Day
[2nd watch]
A short prequel to Day. I never much cared for this short — it always felt like something they made because they had the money to do so, not because there was an extra bit of story worth telling or universe worth expanding on. Oh well. (You can still watch this on YouTube, if you want.)
The Night of the Doctor
[2nd watch]
This, on the other hand, is fantastic. The 8th Doctor's last hurrah! What a surprise this was when it was released, but so welcome. That it didn’t lead to a full 8th Doctor spin-off series is possibly my biggest disappointment in Who history. McGann is brilliant in the role and he and we deserved so much more. At least there’s the audios. (You can also watch this on YouTube, or — befitting its important status — on iPlayer.)
Sadly, the cinema intros and whatnot weren't included on this release. I think they're on the box set copy? Maybe I'll get that out and give it a spin someday. Though why I'd choose to watch the special in 2D when I have it in 3D... Well, there is one argument in 2D's favour: for compatibility, the 3D versions runs at 24fps (i.e. it's slightly longer), whereas the 2D version runs at the original 25fps.
A final observation, relevant to my 60th marathon: no one knew about the War Doctor when the 11 Doctors, 11 Stories series began, so he doesn’t have an instalment in that series, meaning today will be my only encounter with the fella. As I said, there’s other War Doctor content I could have chosen instead that would have taken longer — as well as being more truly original, and truly War Doctor focused — so maybe I should have... but I didn’t, so it is what it is. (Maybe I’ll take some of that in post-60th — like I’m planning to do with the rest of Timewyrm — as some kind of recompense.)
Articles
Hollywood Can Reap the Rewards of Physical Media Again, But Only If…
by Bill Hunt (from The Digital Bits)
An excellent piece on the current state and potential future of film & TV physical media (i.e. DVD and Blu-ray).
by Bill Hunt (from The Digital Bits)
An excellent piece on the current state and potential future of film & TV physical media (i.e. DVD and Blu-ray).
Thursday, 26 October 2023
Wednesday, 25 October 2023
Games
The Dragon Staff of Maladoria
8–13 June 2021
I've not been keeping up with this too well the past week for various reasons, so the never-ending "catchup" continues today and tomorrow. Considering I'm playing it at a special accelerated pace anyway, it kind of doesn't matter. Also a good indicator that, next year, when I'm playing 2024's calendar in real time, if I miss a day (or two, or more) catching up shouldn't be a problem.
8–13 June 2021
I've not been keeping up with this too well the past week for various reasons, so the never-ending "catchup" continues today and tomorrow. Considering I'm playing it at a special accelerated pace anyway, it kind of doesn't matter. Also a good indicator that, next year, when I'm playing 2024's calendar in real time, if I miss a day (or two, or more) catching up shouldn't be a problem.
Tuesday, 24 October 2023
TV
Never Mind the Buzzcocks
31x06 Episode 6
Richard Osman's House of Games
7x12 Week 3: Tuesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
31x06 Episode 6
Richard Osman's House of Games
7x12 Week 3: Tuesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Monday, 23 October 2023
TV
Blankety Blank
3x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Leverage
5x14 The Toy Job
This is the third Christmassy thing I've accidentally watched in as many weeks! It's not even Halloween yet, never mind December! Might just have to give in to it at this point, though...
Never Mind the Buzzcocks
31x05 Episode 5
Richard Osman's House of Games
7x11 Week 3: Monday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
3x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Leverage
5x14 The Toy Job
This is the third Christmassy thing I've accidentally watched in as many weeks! It's not even Halloween yet, never mind December! Might just have to give in to it at this point, though...
Never Mind the Buzzcocks
31x05 Episode 5
Richard Osman's House of Games
7x11 Week 3: Monday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Games
The Dragon Staff of Maladoria
1–7 June 2021
Missed yesterday (again), so more catching up to done. I was only meant to go as far as the 6th, but accidentally did the 7th too. Oh well.
1–7 June 2021
Missed yesterday (again), so more catching up to done. I was only meant to go as far as the 6th, but accidentally did the 7th too. Oh well.
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