So my wishlist for series 8 of Doctor Who

I summed this up with this tweet.

Ok Moff can we have a female doctor please? And some writers who are women too, while you're at it? Ta!
— Dalek Jane (@pipsytip) June 1, 2013

Let me break things down further.

1. A female Doctor would be a nice change.  There is now a precedent thanks to Neil Gaiman's Episode the Doctor's Wife.  And if Moff is up to the challenge of writing the Doctor as a woman then I have a list of women who would make awesome Doctors.  Sophie Okonedo, Julia Davis, Olivia Coleman. I don't think it will happen because I don't think anyone is brave enough to do this.  When I mentioned the possibility of a female Doctor for the first time ever, I got a bit of abuse.
2. Writers who are women writing Who.  Since 2005 there has only been one writer who was also a woman. Helen Raynor wrote the two parter Daleks in Manhattan and since then there has been no other women writers.  I would love someone like Sarah Pinborough to tackle an episode.

I don't think that Doctor Who is intentionally a boys club with a young pretty female companion but it really is beginning to look that way.  

Would love to see some changes for the future.

In Moff I trust - yes still.

I'm writing this because I'm really uncomfortable with the level of hate being slung at Doctor Who at the moment.  I'm seeing a lot of negative stuff surrounding Eleven, Clara and indeed the writers. Especially towards Steven Moffat.

So here is my theory behind series 7b of Doctor Who.

I saw a lot of people complain about how Clara felt repetitive.  We had seen her ilk before, more than once. Not least I suppose because we met Clara twice before we meet her properly.  In addition to this in her first outing we find out that the Doctor stalked her as a child which echoed strongly of young Amelia Pond.

Ok I can see what that seems uninspired and a little bit dull but what if this was deliberate? What do I mean? Well This year is the 50th anniversary of the show and maybe all these nods which are being dismissed as being done before or lazy writing are in fact deliberately harking back to earlier stories and familiar tropes to culminate in the 50th anniversary special.

And why do I think this? I agree that this series has felt lacklustre but lest we forget, when Russell T Davies was show runner we were subject to a number of below par episodes.  I am still believing in Steven Moffat delivering an exciting 50th special because I still think he's one of the best writers working in British TV at the moment.

In series 5 many people picked up on inconsistencies and 'plot holes' which were finally resolved in The Big Bang.  I think we might all be underestimating The Moff and his command of all things TImey Wimey and he's going to blow us all away with something brilliant.

If I'm wrong I will eat my dalek dress.

Making a Dalek dress for the craftily impaired.

I've made a dalek dress, not from scratch you understand because that is beyond my skillset but I have made one and here is how I did it.

What you need:

1. A jersey dress - I got one similar to this though you can play around with styles that suit.
2. Ribbon  - to decorate the bust area I used 5 metres of silver and just over one of black satin ribbons
3. A sink plunger
4. Polystyrene spheres cut into halves
5. acrylic paint in black and silver
6. a wide plastic alice band
7. two sound to light kits from Maplin http://www.maplin.co.uk/sound-to-light-led-22545
8. a whisk
9. glue gun
10. all of the pins
11. elastic stretchy belt
12. leggings
13. knee high boots
14. A friend to help with fittings

I decided I wanted to be a black and silver dalek because the materials were slightly easier to source and I was running short on time. 

Unless you have a you shaped mannequin it is impossible to set the ribbons on your own.  My friend used me as the dummy and we pinned the ribbons in place to look like the venty mid section on the dalek in a grid pattern.  I decided to have three horizontal silver lines and three black uprights. On the front and back and pinned the ribbons in place so I would know where to sew.

So this took a while and because my bust is on the large size, we had to shape the ribbons over the top.

Due to the nature of the jersey being a stretchy material and the ribbon being non-stretchy, I've only sewn in strategic places so that there is still give in the jersey.  On the sleeves I've stitched three piece of silver ribbon but again only in certain spots to keep the flexibility.

Next the balls.

I am not to be trusted with sharp implements so I enlisted the help of my father to cut them into half.  I ordered 25 60mm diameter balls and ended with 50 half spheres.  I have hand painted them all silver.

I recommend acrylic paint for this because yes aerosols would have been quicker.  But I didn't want the polystyrene reacting with the paint and thought that the water based paint would be less likely to react.  The down side is that it has taken three coats of paint to get near the shade of silver and the coverage I wanted. Dull work but someone's got to do it.

To attach the half spheres to the dress I use a hot glue gun and stick them on in columns.

And the finished article: 

I got a little over excited when my Dad finished my headset...

I bought a wide plastic alice band and two sound to light kits.  My dad is an engineer so it was his job to do the electronics and mount the kits on it. I'm thrilled with the results.

In which I attempt to start blogging again

What can I say, I've had a busy few months and it has taken rather a long time to be able to write. I'll say this for nothing, getting evicted, moving house, rehearsing for a full scale musical plus working full time takes a toll on the brain.  It was a bit worse for my partner because he also changed job at the same time.  I summed it up rather succinctly, if I do say so myself, as ALL. OF. THE. CHANGE.

And a couple of months later things have calmed down, the new house is a haven and things are where they should be, all is well.

The other problem was that I lost my mojo and it has taken ages and many drafts for me to a) find it again b) write something suitably entertaining that I wanted to share.

This places me in a bit of a dilemma. What on earth do I want to say these days.  I'm still living most of my life on Twitter and that suits me, I can be mildly humorous or vitriolic or occasionally self pitying as the mood takes. But I need to write more, need to get into practice at laying down words and making them do tricks. The more I practise the better I should get and I need to work on my over excitable comma use.

So to ease me back into this  blogging malarkey I'm listing some things because we all love a list.

My Top  TV theme Tunes

5. BattleStar Galactica

BSG Original 

New BSG

I'm cheating here because I like the theme music to both versions and I'm sticking them side by side.  I love the classic version it's all brass and fanfares and whilst erring on the side of cheesy, it has something, it certainly stuck in my head.  The Ron Moore re-imagining is a completely different beast all taiko drums and a sense of desperation.  Incidentally Bear McCreary's score for this show killed me, repeatedly so much so I had to get hold of the music and listen to it to death. Admiral and Commander, plus Battlestar Sonatica just need to be listened to often. 

4. True Blood - Bad Things

True Blood

This theme tune, like the show is a complete guilty pleasure. It just sounds kind of depraved and kind of dirty, just like the show and I have been known to break this one out on the Karaoke despite it being all wrong for me to sing.

3. Doctor Who - Tennant Era

Doctor Who

I know, I know an obvious choice but it should surely be on everyone's list, not least because it's that well known.  I love this music in all it's reincarnations. But for me Tennant's version with all the strings  is the ultimate.  I really didn't like Eleven's but then that too has grown on me.   Murray Gold is inspired in the way he takes things and reinvents. Plus his scores for the series have been utterly beautiful, Doomsday, Madame de Pompadour and Face of Boe all threaten to make me cry plus his arrangement of Abide with Me on Gridlocked makes me cry every time, but then we sang it at my Granddad's funeral.

2. Big Bang Theory

Big Bang Theory

Because it's clever and it get's in your head and every time it  gets to pyramids you have to join in and when we get to Bang we yell bang just because we have to.  What do you mean you don't? How can you not?

1. Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones

Just because it's so clever and I could watch the clockwork map forever. Plus added bonus Simpsons version.

http://io9.com/5890410/watch-the-simpsons-game-of-thrones-intro

What I've been reading

Sherlock Holmes, all of it. In one go.  That's a lot of Sherlock Holmes and they do get a little repetitive.  However, I've now done it I can go and read something else instead now and I'm reading Let's Pretend this Never Happened by Jenny Lawson also known as the Bloggess.  She is a very special lady and reading her book is like having her talk to you digressions and all.  After that there are many options and I'm not sure where to go, I've got the SFXWeekender shelf which has all the novels I picked up there to read.  There are the Urban Fantasy novels that by friend @Boneist gave me I have lots to chose from overwhelmed.

Doctor Who Convention - Cardiff 24th March 2012

Well I'm back home after an incredible whirlwind weekend down in Cardiff at the first official Doctor Who convention.

This was the first convention arranged by the BBC for the show and from end to end one of the best and most slick conventions I've ever attended and this is why.  At the time you bought your tickets you had to choose your programme for the day Ood or Silurian.  Each programme was exactly the same all that was different was the timings of certain events.  This meant that queues were short, no one was ever too far away and it ran like a well oiled machine. Detractors were that you had to follow the plan.  The plan was all but I found it gave time to everything I wanted and a fab lunch at wagamamas. 

The big exciting panels were Meet the stars: Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill with Steven Moffat and Caro Skinner answering questions and they did get through a lot.  The second panel was Creators and Directors which was Gary Russell, Marcus Wilson, Nick Hurran, Tom McCrae and Neil Gorton.  The final panel was Doctor Who Uncut which was hosted by Barnaby Edwards - Everyone's favourite DALEK with Steven Moffat and Caro Skinner again with some other people who I can't remember and the series 7 trailer. ZOMG squee



I got to meet Matt Smith briefly for an autograph and told him I had adored Christopher and his Kind which I hope came out of the Blue with all the screaming whogasms going on.  I also got to meet Arthur and he's utterly lovely.

Gossip wise, it's all out there, the Daleks are coming back, as are the weeping angels and the Ponds final adventures are happening in New York.  Steven Moffat says a Dr Who Sherlock xover wouldn't work because they wouldn't get anything done.  However, I think a sketch for comic relief or Children in Need would allow the two to meet.  

Steven Moffat was asked about whether he thought Doctor who was too complicated, he answered with no aren't we supposed to not be dumbing down TV - I started the applause for that ;)

We also saw make up/prosthetics/sfx demos which were amazing and well worth going to see.

I have a smile on my face several days later and I needed a little lie down afterwards. 

The convention was very family friendly and a lot of questions were asked by children so nothing big was asked.  I can't wait for November now.

Fandom Twitter and writers...

I would hate to be a TV writer.

That's not true, I would love to be a TV writer but there is a huge element that would put me off and I'm sorry to say it's the part of fandom that disappears up its own ding dong, because it makes me uncomfortable.

Vast majority of fan out there are lovely, insane, enthusiastic, creative and have cracking sense of humour. This is  the good part, this has value. But there's a dark side, those who seem to revel in complaining and have no compunction in using twitter to harangue the writer.

I follow a number of writers on twitter and they have all felt the force of an irate corner of fandom. Curiously enough, the writer only has to be one of a team for the vitriol to flow in their direction and that makes me sad.  For one thing, if you call yourself a fan, then really you should know who is writing what and adjust your views accordingly.

For instance, Torchwood Children of Earth, was written by three people Russell T Davies, John Fay and James Moran. RTD wrote eps 1 and 5, James Fay 2 and 4, and James Moran co-wrote ep 3 with RTD.  Now episode 4, was a game changer for Torchwood as a beloved character was killed off in the most incredible way.  In my opinion a good death utterly compelling as part of the arc of Children of earth and afterwards a sizable section of the fandom went off the deep end.  James Moran was the only writer of the three and he got bombarded with abuse, how dare he kill off said character, so much so he had to leave twitter for a week.  But can you spot the deliberate mistake? James Moran didn't write the episode. On twitter he wrote about the process of writing COE to be a team effort so in a way all three were responsible in a way, but he didn't pull the trigger. But it is not right to ever harass anyone to the point of leaving a social networking site.

 Likewise, Steven Moffat can't seem to say anything without offending some corner of either  the Doctor Who or Sherlock fandoms. I've read a number of articles and blog posts which all seem to be picking up on things he's said in interviews that I just don't see.  There are those who seem determined to paint him as a  misogynist, which I've written about before and still don't get.

The other thing I fail to understand is why Steven Moffat is picked out for the Sherlock vitriol? Mark Gatiss as co-creator doesn't seem to get the same amount of flack and Steve Thompson who adapted the Blind Banker as well as The Reichenbach Fall is not attacked in the same way. Is it because Moffat is more visible? He get's interviewed more often and is therefore more open to being misrepresented by the press in the first instance and then misinterpreted by people reading the interview in the first place.

I also struggle to get my head round is the idea that some people in fandom seem to think that they can produce better work than the people writing and making the show in the first place.  Deep breath is required here.  Really, fandom? Take a look at yourself here and answer honestly, could you really write something better than an experienced writer has already done? For the vast majority it's a definite no. There is a lot of terrible fic out there, where plots are hackneyed and writing is cliché ridden.  There is also good fic, but I'd argue there is a huge canyon between decent fic and writing for tv.

It is arrogant for anyone to suppose they could do a better job than a particular writer who is getting paid to do the job, because it kind of begs the question: then why aren't they?

It's also not a question of just accepting, I criticise a lot of writing, there are many things which don't quite work for me, but I don't make an assumption that I can write something better than a paid writer of a TV series.

So to sum up. Fandom is good, fandom wank bad. Be nice to writers on twitter or they will pack up and leave. I love interacting with writers on twitter, they can be funny, engaging and you can pick up tips about their craft. Don't chase them off...

Great Expectations

I've just finished watching episode one of the new BBC adaptation of Great Expectations.

It's faithful to the novel and wonderful. I've never really got on with reading Charles Dickens but one thing is for certain it works fantastically on the TV.  Casting is pitched perfectly, Gillian Anderson, I thought was still too young and glamorous for Miss Havisham but it works, she steals all her scenes.

I'm looking forward to watching more.

I had a busy Christmas day, my chap and I were cooking a Christmas day feast for eleven and so missed out on watching the Doctor Who Christmas Day special.  I watched it this afternoon and it reduced me to tears. Well done Steven Moffatt, that doesn't happen all that often.

Other things I'm looking forward to is the return of Sherlock, I shall be squeeing like the insane woman I am come New Years Day.

More about me

I thought I'd give you a little catch up. This year has been a big year for me to take on new things, I went on a personal development course in the spring which put into a motion a desire within me to do something creative and see where it got me.  Well in true fashion I signed up for an Open University course called Start Writing Fiction

I'm now in my second week of block one and I am loving it.  The course is posing me a number of challenges to write in ways I haven't thought of before and giving me an insight into what established authors do.

It's early days and I've worked through the first block and I'm waiting to publish some of the thoughts on the block website so my fellow tutor group members can read what I've put and see if they like what I've done or not.

I'm looking forward to writing the assignments, which must mean I'm a bit of a sick puppy.

I'll let you know how I'm getting on.

In other news I've been laughing myself to death over this video.  Sheer genius.

TV round up

I have to squee at you dear reader, please take a seat. I have to squee because I've got a new show which ticks my boxes and that doesn't happen as often as it should do.

Forbrydelsen.

Or The Killing if you prefer. How did I miss this first time round? Dear old BBC Four didn't really trail it and I'd heard the hype but didn't want to come into something half way through and was going to rent it from love film but Auntie saw fit to give this show a repeat showing. 20 tense episodes over four weeks.  I currently am one episode behind as its hard to make time enough to sit down and watch on a daily basis but its so good my chap and I caught up at the weekend and we can happily watch two episodes when we get behind.

So what's so good about this show? I know a lot of people get put off something if they have to watch it with subtitles, but not this puppy. Denmark seems familiar but different; we've had a lot of rain recently and the colouring of the show matches it perfectly. A lot of US shows are very colourful and sunny, this is bleak looking but there's beauty in the bleakness.

The protagonist is Sarah Lund, she wears chunky jumpers and in that respect alone, she's a woman after my own heart.  She's dedicated to her job so much so, she can't leave even though she has a young teenaged son and a Swedish boyfriend who looks like Richard Gere.  She's also very good at her job, she has principles and she isn't an alcoholic and she doesn't have any of the more usual foibles which detectives all seem to have in modern mysteries.  Her grumpy replacement Meyer is irked by Lund's continued presence and her boss doesn't want her to leave.  Meyer and Lund don't really get on, he's somewhat slap dash but his heart is in the right place even when he goes for the easy option.

Add to the mix the family of the murdered girl the Birk Larsen's their reaction to their daughter's death played beautifully and truthfully. 

There's also a political Layer Troels Hartmann campaigning to become mayor, he has his advisor and lover Rie and Morten his campaign manager.  His party are backstabbing and his opponents seem to be capable of stooping to ever more scary depths.

The story is utterly compelling, littered with red herrings and twists, just when you think you've got a handle on things and a working theory, new information comes to light and your prime suspect is now innocent.

I'm loving the tenseness of the show its operating on so many levels and seemingly effortless while it does so.

I can't wait to see how it does.

I'm also rejoicing because Doctor Who is back.

Let's Kill Hitler was a romp wasn't it? Many questions answered, and a fair few more asked. Thank you Steven Moffat, this was excellent when a Good Man Goes to War felt to me to be all set up with not enough satisfaction.  I love that the title was a joke and Rory Williams is a complete BAMF.

I can't really discuss much about the show without spoilers but I will say, "you are authorised;  your existence will continue" made us guffaw along with "you may experienc a tingling feeling then death."

The Borgia is my current catnip.  Its sumptuously shot and Jeremy Irons is second only to Alan Rickman in voice and making me go kind of gooey.  He is quite simply acting the socks off anyone else in shot with an extreme close up and an eyebrow quirk.  The show itself is ridiculous in the way that the Tudors is and in that respect most enjoyable but I'm not expecting nor even wanting historical accuracy. And what's more I don't care I'm having fun watching it and that's all that matters.

I'm also watching the third season of Warehouse 13 which is now being shown in the UK on SyFy.  The show goes from strength to strength, I love the quirkiness of it and the steam punk elements which make this show great for family viewing.  The cast is a great ensemble and its always reasonable viewing.  Its never going to change the world but who said every tv show had to?

Tellygasms

I'm in telly heaven at the moment.

Let me squee at you.

Doctor Who returned with one hell of a bang on Saturday night and I've watched it twice so far and I may have to watch it again to try and make sense of it.

I geeked off the scale with this episode and had to hug a cushion in the first few minutes and there was some shouting at the TV.

I squeed loudly because Mark Sheppard in this episode really made me smile. Secondly my heart breaks for River Song, she's kind of tragic and we already know how she ends but what we don’t know is how she begins. 

Favourite line: " The legs, the nose and Mrs Robinson."

"I hate you."

The monsters are frightening and the complicatedness of wibblywobblytimeywimey means that I had a theory about the astronaut but then who is the little girl and no Amy no!

What does all of that mean? I'm not sure. I was pretty shell shocked and next week looks like hell in a hand basket.

CAN.NOT.WAIT!!!

Apologies for the multiple exclamation marks but dear me I can't take much more tension. I wanted the next episode immediately.

The other thing in my life is so shiny and new I couldn't quite believe it.

Game of Thrones.

Is epic on a level I'm not sure I can comprehend yet. I have so much love for the house of Stark already. Ned is epic all northern and stoic with a huge brood including an illegitimate son who seems rather interesting. I'm rubbish with names so we have Boromir/Sean Bean/Ned head of the family and so far we see he's just and upright and noble. The elder sons are all interchangeable at the moment. The son from the wrong side of the bed sheets I believe is called Jon and there is youngish son Bran - you can't miss what happens to him in the first episode and elder daughter and girlie girl and younger daughter Ayra(?) who is rather good with a sword and a girl after my own heart.  I'm still pining for my own dire wolf.  There's the king his second wife the queen and her brothers one is good looking and apparently evol and has quite a thing for his own sister. There is the dwarf brother who gets all the best lines. They are all Lannisters

Across the water are the creepy blonde siblings. I love them rather a lot because clearly bonkers in another dodgy brother sister relationship.  There are also horse people who are very klingony in culture and my my their leader is rather fine.

This show is going to own my soul because guh men in chainmail and violence and intrigue and rawr.

Jason Momoa = hawtness personified as far as this fangirl is concerned

as you were people :)

In which I bemoan life a little

I've been neglectful of late, rehearsals for a show are eating up so much time and whilst I've been watching TV I'm not really feeling moved to write about it.  I'm sure that's because none of my tv loves are on at the moment. Unless you count True Blood but as I've already seen it, I'm not really feeling the need to watch it again.

Right, so where does that leave me? I'm counting down the days to Easter and a return of my favourite Time Lord. I need the Doctor in my life more than ever at the moment. I cannot wait to see where Steven Moffat takes us this year and with an episode by Neil Gaiman, I might spontaneously combust with the potential for squeeage.  I'm spoiler avoidant too, I want to experience the magic of this series without any preknowledge, I've seen the trailer and that's all I want to know.

Because what a hell of a trailer it is.

A mini Squee

Look it teh cute!

Tell me you don't want these little characters....

BBC world wide press release.

TV anticipation

Is it me or are the new Year's tv schedules taking their sweet time into getting going?

I am excited for the return of the third series of Being Human, it is one of my favourite shows and I really love the britishness of the show and the way that the characters interact.



Secondly I'm really excited for the new BBC sci fi show Outcasts.  I've got high hopes for this, it could be a uk vision of the future.  I don't think it's going to be as epic as BSG, hell I don't think it'll make it to the epicness of Bab5 but its british and its sci fi and it has Jamie Bamber in it so I'm going to be watching.



Of course series 6 of new who is coming up at easter and that in itself is a huge event.  I predict good things. An episode penned by Neil Gaiman, questions asked in series 5 to be answered and moar River Song. What could be finer than that?

Upgrading.

My Blokey and I have been debating recently about upgrading to a flatscreen HD telly and last weekend we decided to make a go of it.  We ordered a Toshiba from Amazon and a Phillips Blu Ray player and they both arrived today.

I am currently testing the system by watching Doctor Who Series 5 and earlier casino Royale.

Me likey, me likey a lot.

Just think, come easter When Who returns for a sixth series, I'll be able to watch in HD and swoon.  The other thing I'm  squeeful about is the fact my charm bracelet has been a little lonely, mainly because I only had two charms, The TARDIS that work got me and the stopwatch that my blokey got me.  In the sale I bought a pistol charm and a little red converse boot just like what the tenth doctor used to wear :D

My Doctor?

Not an easy question really is it? Well it used to be. I'd have said David Tennant without a second thought.  But now we've lived with a series of Matt Smith's Doctor with Steven Moffat at the helm I'm a little more conflicted. Towards the end of Russell T Davies' tenure I found myself more than a little frustrated with the way he finished things.  Not to say I could do any better, I couldn't but I felt there was an over reliance on things he's touched on before. I was ready for something new.

Matt Smith was mostly something new. He shared enough traits with David Tennant's Doctor for it not to feel quite so jarring but he was the new Doctor and like the hussy I am I loved him straight away.

Ten was amazing because a lot of the time with the coat and the energy he felt more like a superhero. Eleven, well he's kind of geeky all thinky and much more awkward. This doctor seems that little bit less human and more prone to disengage.

So when eleven turned up in the Sarah Jane Adventures I was joyful, because it was lovely to see him interact with the scooby gang.  I'm not old enough to remember Sarah Jane from the first time around, so I'm really not old enough to remember Jo Grant. I thought their interactions were very sweet, there was a very big sense of Mallory Towers between the two of them, they were altogether dotty but marvellous.

I loved the episode but I have some reservations to do with the idea that RTD was treading on an already well trodden path. I know SJA is a kids show. But in the past RTD has written some incredible things for children's TV. Century Falls anyone? This felt a little derivative for me. I  liked it but it felt like I'd eaten too many sweets after it was over.