Doctor Who (1996)
[6th watch]
[#83 in The All-New 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2023]
aka The TV Movie. I didn’t actually intend to watch this this evening — I just put it on because I like the opening, and I was going to leave it playing because I like the idea of it notching up views on the iPlayer charts; but then I got sucked in because I genuinely love it. Also, does it count as a film? Well, that's the kind of thing I've debated on and off down the years on my other blog. But I've counted TV movies there before, so why shouldn't it?
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Taskmaster
4x08 Tony Three Pies [season finale]
Completely forgot that I never finished this series of Taskmaster, which I started exactly six months ago and last watched four months ago. Oops! Normally that would be a revealing insight into what I actually think of it, but I do enjoy Taskmaster, I just kinda forgot that I’d never finished this run.
[Watch it (again) on Channel 4.]
Thursday, 16 November 2023
Fiction
Doctor Who: Time Lapse by Naomi Alderman
So, as you may or may not remember, the project that began as 11 Doctors 11 Stories in 2013 was extended to 12 Doctors 12 Stories in 2014 after the Twelfth Doctor came along. Five years later, there was a Thirteenth Doctor too, and so they took the chance torepublish the whole thing yet again be sure to cover all the Doctors, even the newest (except for the War Doctor, anyway) — and so now we have 13 Doctors, 13 Stories. Maybe they'll expand it again in 2024 for the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Doctors. If they do, it would be nice if they went back and plugged the gaps of the War and Fugitive Doctors, wouldn't it? Though I guess 15 Doctors, 17 Stories sounds a bit weird; as does 17 Doctors, 17 Stories when we're only up to the Fifteenth Doctor.
Anyway, as this is the final story in the series for now, that makes it the end of my celebratory 60th anniversary marathon! ...right? Well, actually, I've got a couple of other things to cover first...
So, as you may or may not remember, the project that began as 11 Doctors 11 Stories in 2013 was extended to 12 Doctors 12 Stories in 2014 after the Twelfth Doctor came along. Five years later, there was a Thirteenth Doctor too, and so they took the chance to
Anyway, as this is the final story in the series for now, that makes it the end of my celebratory 60th anniversary marathon! ...right? Well, actually, I've got a couple of other things to cover first...
Wednesday, 15 November 2023
Tuesday, 14 November 2023
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
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