Greetings reader, and thank you for coming back to my blog after all this time. I’ve been away from blogging for a couple of months due to having far too much time to do it. If I’m in a rush I can churn out an entry (oo-err) no problem at all. If I have too much time on my hands I think too much, change my mind, change it back, and then think ‘sod it’ before flicking on the PS3 and shooting people in the face.
We’re now two weeks away from the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary, and it’s all starting to take off a little. The last few weeks have been awash with rumours of trailers and sex scenes and all sorts, but we’re now officially due a trailer on Saturday night (9 November, for those counting) and although I am looking forward to it, the fact that this has dragged on so long has less whetted my appetite than it has just got on my tits.
Although ‘trailergate’ at the SDCC did annoy me at the time, I do appreciate that what was shown there was a pre post-production snippet of footage from the episode. I’m sure this looked nothing like the finished product, and to be honest, I’m a relatively patient man. What’s bothered me more is the lack of screen time afforded to the show in general on the BBC. I’m a huge fan of the Beeb – most of my favourite TV programmes over the last 30-odd years have been made by them – but I’m disappointed that they haven’t set aside a few hours a month to show a few of the older episodes for the fans who might never have seen them. Maybe one story for each Doctor perhaps.
I generally despair at the amount of reality (and sub-reality) shows made nowadays. I do understand that the Beeb has a duty to the licence fee payer to produce a wide ranging programming schedule to cater for all audiences, and that reality TV is part of that. One man’s gold is another man’s garbage, I get it. But even though it seems that Joe Public generally tends to be a little bit dim, and spends half his life watching other people watching other people watching other people piss about trying to sing on stage, I don’t appreciate the gulf in the amount of screen time afforded to all that guff.
Doctor Who is presently given around 13 episodes a year, give or take, with a Christmas special. That’s OK – I’d like a little more, but as long as the standard remains high and the budget is respectable then leave it as it is. Fine. What I don’t understand is why something like Doctor Who Confidential (a low-budget companion BBC Three show) is axed when the Beeb insist on giving us alternative low budget companion shows like Strictly Confidential, or whatever it’s called. They’re dancing. What is there to talk about? Why not use that budget for something else? I’m not saying it has to be DWC but at least that’s a show about something creative. Again, though, each to their own. If I’d spent my life working toward becoming the BBC Director General then I could have had a say.
Anyway, I am of course looking forward to the episode itself, mainly because it’s a new episode of my favourite show, but in all honesty I’m looking forward to the 50th Celebration convention even more. I bought my ticket for the event months ago, and I’ve been waiting…….and waiting…….and waiting for some events, goings-on and guests to be announced for the weekend itself. Now they’ve started releasing a bit of info about it all I think I can safely say I’m going to have a good time. Sophie Aldred will be there for a start. She was the first girl I ever had a crush on (I was 7) and she was lovely last time I met her.
I hope that the Celebration itself really pulls out all the stops in a couple of weeks. What I don’t want is a huge room of desks to get autographs at, and some half-arsed talks. There needs to be something spectacular for the fans to really get stuck into, especially at £50 a ticket. We’ll see how it goes. In the meantime, I will most certainly #SaveTheDay.
BEWARE OF THE DORG 