University Challenge
2023/24 UEA v Open University
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Monday, 13 November 2023
Sunday, 12 November 2023
Radio
My Sounds
Russell T Davies
Radio 2 and 4 and 4 Extra — and, by extension, BBC Sounds — are airing a bunch of stuff around Doctor Who's 60th anniversary; a mixture of documentaries and drama and music; much of it repeats, but new stuff too. I don't know which of those this is — it says on the app that it was released on 5th September, which could just be a repeat date, but I suspect it's that new. Anyway, it's an hour of RTD choosing music that he listens to and talking about it and stuff. Hardly essential listening, but interesting enough to have on in the background, especially if you share in the person's musical taste.
Russell T Davies
Radio 2 and 4 and 4 Extra — and, by extension, BBC Sounds — are airing a bunch of stuff around Doctor Who's 60th anniversary; a mixture of documentaries and drama and music; much of it repeats, but new stuff too. I don't know which of those this is — it says on the app that it was released on 5th September, which could just be a repeat date, but I suspect it's that new. Anyway, it's an hour of RTD choosing music that he listens to and talking about it and stuff. Hardly essential listening, but interesting enough to have on in the background, especially if you share in the person's musical taste.
Saturday, 11 November 2023
Films
Hammer A.D. 2023 (2023)
[Watch it (again) on YouTube.]
Quiz Lady (2023)
[#81 in The All-New 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2023]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube.]
Quiz Lady (2023)
[#81 in The All-New 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2023]
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
A grand total of seven new purchases this week, although two of them were BD-to-4K upgrades and so don't register in the headline stats (they did add some discs and short films, though). All-in, my 4K UHD collection swells by four titles and six films this week, landing on 310 titles. How many of those have I watched? Or, more accurately, how few? I dread to think...
Number of titles in collection: 3,195 [up 5]
Of which DVDs: 1,022 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,173 [up 5]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 310 [up 4]
Number of discs in collection: 7,784 [up 12]
Number of films: 3,929 [up 7]
Number of additional cuts: 347 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 9,621 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,101 [up 13]
See you next week, faithful reader.
A grand total of seven new purchases this week, although two of them were BD-to-4K upgrades and so don't register in the headline stats (they did add some discs and short films, though). All-in, my 4K UHD collection swells by four titles and six films this week, landing on 310 titles. How many of those have I watched? Or, more accurately, how few? I dread to think...
Number of titles in collection: 3,195 [up 5]
Of which DVDs: 1,022 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,173 [up 5]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 310 [up 4]
Number of discs in collection: 7,784 [up 12]
Number of films: 3,929 [up 7]
Number of additional cuts: 347 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 9,621 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,101 [up 13]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 10 November 2023
Fiction
Doctor Who: The Wonderful Doctor of Oz by Jacqueline Rayner
Chapters 1–6
My Doctor Who 60th anniversary celebratory marathon reaches the final (numbered) Doctor now. For the Thirteenth Doctor, I've chosen something that's actually quite atypical for her era (not that "typical" has been my guiding motive for any other Doctor): a novel. Tie-in novels were published regularly since the TV series came back in 2005 until the end of the Twelfth Doctor era — presumably a legacy of the BBC taking over the Doctor Who fiction mini-empire Virgin had kickstarted with the New Adventures. Personally, I stopped buying them towards the end of the Tenth Doctor's time (because I wasn't actually reading them), and the number published seemed to thin out during Capaldi's era (I believe there was only one novel starring the full Series 10 TARDIS team of the Doctor, Bill and Nardole). Original fiction was published for the Thirteenth Doctor, but I think they abandoned the familiar cover style they'd been using for a decade, and seemed to get more experimental with target audience and visual identity — although, as I say, I wasn't following it closely anymore by that point, so maybe I missed something.
One range that did start during her era, and is still going (at least, they published a new one recently, but I don't think more have been announced yet), is a series that sees various Doctors encounter characters and scenarios from classics of children's literature. The Wonderful Doctor of Oz was one of the first books in the range (the other debut title featured the ever-popular Tenth Doctor, since when they've done ones starring the Fourth, Third, and Eleventh. Wouldn't it be lovely if they kept going and included all the Doctors?) Anyway, as my marathon pick for the Thirteenth Doctor presented the perennial nuWho problem of no unseen TV episodes, and as it's far too early for her to have joined Big Finish, this one novel I'd already bought was... well, virtually the only choice, to be honest (certainly without buying anything new, or digging up old DWMs for the comic strip. I have heard the Titan comics were quite good for the Thirteenth Doctor, but I haven't sorted out buying any yet).
So far, this reads just like a real Thirteenth Doctor episode. I can’t tell if it's being a (straight-faced) parody of Chibnall-era storytelling, or if it simply emulates their style so well that it feels like a parody because that style is inherently laughable. It's accuracy is a mixed blessing, then.
Chapters 1–6
My Doctor Who 60th anniversary celebratory marathon reaches the final (numbered) Doctor now. For the Thirteenth Doctor, I've chosen something that's actually quite atypical for her era (not that "typical" has been my guiding motive for any other Doctor): a novel. Tie-in novels were published regularly since the TV series came back in 2005 until the end of the Twelfth Doctor era — presumably a legacy of the BBC taking over the Doctor Who fiction mini-empire Virgin had kickstarted with the New Adventures. Personally, I stopped buying them towards the end of the Tenth Doctor's time (because I wasn't actually reading them), and the number published seemed to thin out during Capaldi's era (I believe there was only one novel starring the full Series 10 TARDIS team of the Doctor, Bill and Nardole). Original fiction was published for the Thirteenth Doctor, but I think they abandoned the familiar cover style they'd been using for a decade, and seemed to get more experimental with target audience and visual identity — although, as I say, I wasn't following it closely anymore by that point, so maybe I missed something.
One range that did start during her era, and is still going (at least, they published a new one recently, but I don't think more have been announced yet), is a series that sees various Doctors encounter characters and scenarios from classics of children's literature. The Wonderful Doctor of Oz was one of the first books in the range (the other debut title featured the ever-popular Tenth Doctor, since when they've done ones starring the Fourth, Third, and Eleventh. Wouldn't it be lovely if they kept going and included all the Doctors?) Anyway, as my marathon pick for the Thirteenth Doctor presented the perennial nuWho problem of no unseen TV episodes, and as it's far too early for her to have joined Big Finish, this one novel I'd already bought was... well, virtually the only choice, to be honest (certainly without buying anything new, or digging up old DWMs for the comic strip. I have heard the Titan comics were quite good for the Thirteenth Doctor, but I haven't sorted out buying any yet).
So far, this reads just like a real Thirteenth Doctor episode. I can’t tell if it's being a (straight-faced) parody of Chibnall-era storytelling, or if it simply emulates their style so well that it feels like a parody because that style is inherently laughable. It's accuracy is a mixed blessing, then.
Thursday, 9 November 2023
Fiction
Doctor Who: Lights Out by Holly Black
Chapters 1–5 [the end]
Getting back into my Doctor Who marathon after a couple of accidental days off. So, as you may or may not remember, the 11 Doctors 11 Stories series of novellas/ebooks was originally published throughout 2013 to mark Doctor Who's 50th anniversary. But then, almost straight away, a new Doctor turned up! (Two, in fact, but they obviously decided not to worry about the War Doctor.) So, a year later, another story was added so they couldrepublish the entire thing be sure to cover all the Doctors. Here's that 12th story, then; starring the Twelfth Doctor, obv. It's not bad, but perhaps suffers from this Doctor being so new at the time — the Twelfth is a very interesting incarnation, but primarily when viewed in totality. There are also certain similarities to previous stories in the range, which is possibly an inevitable side effect of going 12th.
Chapters 1–5 [the end]
Getting back into my Doctor Who marathon after a couple of accidental days off. So, as you may or may not remember, the 11 Doctors 11 Stories series of novellas/ebooks was originally published throughout 2013 to mark Doctor Who's 50th anniversary. But then, almost straight away, a new Doctor turned up! (Two, in fact, but they obviously decided not to worry about the War Doctor.) So, a year later, another story was added so they could
Wednesday, 8 November 2023
Games
The Dragon Staff of Maladoria
27 July – 1 August 2021
Having not played yesterday, I was going to use today to catch up... but literally nothing happens on the first three days (it's a catalogue of people you can hire, but I don't have enough gold to hire anyone even if I wanted to), and then the fourth day was a shop too — so saying I "played" these is a bit of a stretch. So, I played to the end of the month (where I would've been today, which is ahead of where I should be overall anyway) and called it a day.
27 July – 1 August 2021
Having not played yesterday, I was going to use today to catch up... but literally nothing happens on the first three days (it's a catalogue of people you can hire, but I don't have enough gold to hire anyone even if I wanted to), and then the fourth day was a shop too — so saying I "played" these is a bit of a stretch. So, I played to the end of the month (where I would've been today, which is ahead of where I should be overall anyway) and called it a day.
Monday, 6 November 2023
TV
Doctor Who: Dark Water / Death in Heaven 3D
A bonus bit of content for my Doctor Who 60th anniversary celebratory marathon, here (the main Twelfth Doctor entry is also today, under Audio Drama). Of course I've seen these episodes before (although not since they first aired in 2014), but I've never seen them... in 3D!
They weren't shot in 3D, of course, but post-converted for a theatrical release off the back of what a hit Day of the Doctor was theatrically. Said theatrical release never reached the UK, for some reason, instead taking place in the US, Canada, Russia and Denmark, of all places. But it was released on disc (again, only in the US), so a while ago I imported it, and enjoying Day in 3D the other day this has finally spurred me to watch it.
So, because this edits the two episodes together, and was primarily released theatrically in this form... does that make it a film? Oh, I can't be bothered to ponder that one too much! Although, as you can see, I've listed it in a more film-like fashion here, because... well, like I said, it's edited together so it's not "two episodes", it's a movie... sort of.
Also watched the 40-minute-ish interview with Peter and Jenna that's included as a special feature. It was ok, but has the disadvantage of taking place in the run-up to series 9, so that's what interviewer Wil Wheaton mainly wants to ask about, but of course the two stars can't actually say very much about it. (In the UK, the same interview was included on the Series 9 box set.)
[Watch Dark Water and Death in Heaven (again) — as individual episodes, in 2D — on iPlayer.]
A bonus bit of content for my Doctor Who 60th anniversary celebratory marathon, here (the main Twelfth Doctor entry is also today, under Audio Drama). Of course I've seen these episodes before (although not since they first aired in 2014), but I've never seen them... in 3D!
They weren't shot in 3D, of course, but post-converted for a theatrical release off the back of what a hit Day of the Doctor was theatrically. Said theatrical release never reached the UK, for some reason, instead taking place in the US, Canada, Russia and Denmark, of all places. But it was released on disc (again, only in the US), so a while ago I imported it, and enjoying Day in 3D the other day this has finally spurred me to watch it.
So, because this edits the two episodes together, and was primarily released theatrically in this form... does that make it a film? Oh, I can't be bothered to ponder that one too much! Although, as you can see, I've listed it in a more film-like fashion here, because... well, like I said, it's edited together so it's not "two episodes", it's a movie... sort of.
Also watched the 40-minute-ish interview with Peter and Jenna that's included as a special feature. It was ok, but has the disadvantage of taking place in the run-up to series 9, so that's what interviewer Wil Wheaton mainly wants to ask about, but of course the two stars can't actually say very much about it. (In the UK, the same interview was included on the Series 9 box set.)
[Watch Dark Water and Death in Heaven (again) — as individual episodes, in 2D — on iPlayer.]
Audio Drama
Doctor Who: Short Trips
10x05 Regeneration Impossible
I'm blurring lines all over the place at the minute when it comes to my Doctor Who 60th anniversary celebratory marathon, first because I've been accidentally mixing together different Doctors on the same days (when my original intention was to keep each era cordoned off), and now somewhat deliberately, because my pick for the Twelfth Doctor also stars the Eleventh Doctor. Well, my War Doctor pick technically primarily starred the Eleventh, and also the Tenth, so I guess there's precedent.
In terms of including as much different media as possible, this is a Big Finish production — but wait! I already did them! Ah, but this represents their non-full-cast, non-original-actor output, something I personally consider quite distinct to when they have the original cast reprising their TV roles in a fully dramatised production. Even within that style, they do several different things (including, nowadays, full cast plays with impressionists/recasts where original actors can't or won't appear). So, Short Trips are shorter tales (this only runs 30 minutes), and usually (I believe) dramatised readings — i.e. it's a prose story, not a play, read... dramatically. Would that make it an audio drama or an audiobook? (I never had that distinction before the Eighth Doctor one last month, so this is the first time I've had to consider it.) Normally I'd say the latter, because of the narration, but this one doesn't actually have narration, and is instead performed as if it were a full-cast drama, albeit with one actor doing all the roles.
That's because the peformer in question is Jacob Dudman, renowned for his amazingly accurate impressions of the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors (only the latter in this particular tale), and here has a crack at the Twelfth too. I've... heard worse. It'd pass muster in an audiobook (like how Dan Starkey does a solid-but-not-exact Eighth Doctor in that one I just mentioned, for example), but I'm not sure it's good enough to be a fullblown stand-in. Still, it's good enough that you get used to it as the play goes on. It's never as much fun as a real meeting between two Doctors (i.e. between the two actors) would be, but it has its moments.
This was going to be it for the Twelfth Doctor in my marathon (other than his novella, of course), but the extra time afforded by my incorrectly guessing the broadcast date of The Star Beast got me thinking — see today's TV post for what happened next...
10x05 Regeneration Impossible
I'm blurring lines all over the place at the minute when it comes to my Doctor Who 60th anniversary celebratory marathon, first because I've been accidentally mixing together different Doctors on the same days (when my original intention was to keep each era cordoned off), and now somewhat deliberately, because my pick for the Twelfth Doctor also stars the Eleventh Doctor. Well, my War Doctor pick technically primarily starred the Eleventh, and also the Tenth, so I guess there's precedent.
In terms of including as much different media as possible, this is a Big Finish production — but wait! I already did them! Ah, but this represents their non-full-cast, non-original-actor output, something I personally consider quite distinct to when they have the original cast reprising their TV roles in a fully dramatised production. Even within that style, they do several different things (including, nowadays, full cast plays with impressionists/recasts where original actors can't or won't appear). So, Short Trips are shorter tales (this only runs 30 minutes), and usually (I believe) dramatised readings — i.e. it's a prose story, not a play, read... dramatically. Would that make it an audio drama or an audiobook? (I never had that distinction before the Eighth Doctor one last month, so this is the first time I've had to consider it.) Normally I'd say the latter, because of the narration, but this one doesn't actually have narration, and is instead performed as if it were a full-cast drama, albeit with one actor doing all the roles.
That's because the peformer in question is Jacob Dudman, renowned for his amazingly accurate impressions of the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors (only the latter in this particular tale), and here has a crack at the Twelfth too. I've... heard worse. It'd pass muster in an audiobook (like how Dan Starkey does a solid-but-not-exact Eighth Doctor in that one I just mentioned, for example), but I'm not sure it's good enough to be a fullblown stand-in. Still, it's good enough that you get used to it as the play goes on. It's never as much fun as a real meeting between two Doctors (i.e. between the two actors) would be, but it has its moments.
This was going to be it for the Twelfth Doctor in my marathon (other than his novella, of course), but the extra time afforded by my incorrectly guessing the broadcast date of The Star Beast got me thinking — see today's TV post for what happened next...
Sunday, 5 November 2023
TV
Talking Shakespeare
BBC Four have been showing a lot of Shakespeare stuff recently, to mark the 400th anniversary of... something or other. Anyway, I keep meaning to watch bits of it, but keep not actually doing so. Tonight had one of the most interesting schedules thus far — this was the only part I watched live (and it was good, even if I'd already seen a surprisingly large number of the featured interviews, a couple very recently), but I intend to catch up on more later. We'll see if I actually do. I do like Shakespeare sometimes, but sometimes it can feel hard going.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
BBC Four have been showing a lot of Shakespeare stuff recently, to mark the 400th anniversary of... something or other. Anyway, I keep meaning to watch bits of it, but keep not actually doing so. Tonight had one of the most interesting schedules thus far — this was the only part I watched live (and it was good, even if I'd already seen a surprisingly large number of the featured interviews, a couple very recently), but I intend to catch up on more later. We'll see if I actually do. I do like Shakespeare sometimes, but sometimes it can feel hard going.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
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