Hilary Booth... of course!

Sorta update: I talk a little over here about what I'm reading/watching/etc lately. I also talk about how I'm not writing. I'm trying to nudge it into life with some goals. I honestly don't know why my writing urge has been so quiet lately. I've been reading a lot, so maybe I'm just priming the pump trying to figure out what I want to really write. It's frustrating as hell.

I'm trying (and failing) to keep up with some of my podcasts. Um, Radio Downloader was shut down by the BBC, so anyone I recced that to earlier may need to find another source, which is really a shame. I liked the way it'd grab the episode whenever it aired for later. I do have a massive backlog of "In Our Time" to get through. I've also been listening to Verity Podcast, a Doctor Who podcast compromised of a bunch of women. What's eerie is listening to Deb Stanish who basically sounds very similiar to neadods. And maybe I've watched entirely too much BBC if I can make out Scottish Liz's accent without subtitles. (And now I've challenged her -- she's suggesting doing one in broad Scots -- I'm fully expecting to go "The Doctor did what now?")

I bought but haven't listened to the new box set of "Counter Measures" and subscribed to the "Confessions of Dorian Gray" that I inexplicably fell in love with over Christmas. Big Finish is also twigging my Emma Peel by giving us audio versions of the David Keel-John Steed era The Avengers, starring Milner from foyleswar as Keel. I wonder if they'll bother adapting the two that survived -- "Frighteners" and "Girl on a Trapeze".

I noticed a license plate when I was walking to lunch today: BOYK9S

So there are girl K9s somewhere?

Of course, I had Willow's "Was it a boy demon?" in my head, too.

bigfinishlove has posted the masterlist for the Big Finish Audio Ficathon along with the unused prompts. I received "Neither Enemies Nor Allies" showcasing two of my favorite characters from the "Gallifrey" spin-off Brax and Narwin. It also nicely integrates bits of other canon. So many audios to listen to, not nearly enough time.

So I've been listening to a bunch of Big Finish audios recently. Most of them are Eight's continuing adventures with Charley, but there are a few oddball ones in there too.

I do always find it ironic whenever someone says how popular Tom Baker was in America as the Doctor, because he was certainly never my Doctor. If I saw the series on PBS, it was always Colin Baker or later Sylvester McCoy. Likewise, I knew Peter Davison mostly for his role in the Campion series, not for the Doctor or the "All Creatures Great and Small". (This will be relevant, really.)

( Companion Chronicles: Beautiful People )

( Other Lives )

( Neverland (revisited) )

( Seasons of Fear )

( Zagreus )

( Scherzo )

( Winter for the Adept )

I'll wait to cover the Gallifrey series after I get through the first series.

Having a "late game" on Sunday has some good side effects. I duped the last two Boston Blackie movies off the dvr onto tape. I'll have to keep a weather eye on TCM to see if they ever reair "Alias Boston Blackie". I didn't find this batch as interesting as the "Watching the Detectives" group, but mostly these were from the later years of the Columbia series. I still haven't duped off "Dirigible", a 1931 Frank Capra movie with pre-King Kong Fay Wray.

As a fan of the Big Finish audios, it's nice to see the bigfinishlove community. They're running an Big Finish DW audio ficathon. I'm debating whether to sign up for that. I'm leaning in favor of it now, but we'll see.

I've mentioned that 1980 era "Another World" is on AOL Video. In a weird surprise, I've discovered Kevin Conroy (better known as the animated voice of Batman) playing on two of the Proctor & Gamble soaps, "AW" and "Search for Tomorrow" in diametrically opposite roles. If you're a soap fan (or even play the spot the star game), SFT is a trippy trippy experience. I've only watched two episodes from 1984 or thereabouts, and besides Kevin, I've seen Jane Krakowski, Malachy McCourt, Lisa Peluso and Matthew Ashford. If you've watched AW, you'll also recognize long time regular Larry Haines. He briefly played Ada's 1940s era sweetheart & master chef Sidney Sugarman.

azarsuerte has started a Charley Pollard fanlisting called Edwardian Adventuress. She also reports after some question of what category to put her in, the category heads still put her in Characters:TV, because Doctor Who is primarily a tv fandom. So if you want to do fls for other audio/book companions and presumably pairings, you should apply under the TV section. Silly multimedia spanning fandoms...

If you happen to buy the Sonic Screwdriver Flashlight, don't panic when it doesn't work straight out of the box. I opened mine yesterday and discovered this. After everything that happened at MWC, I was prepared for the worst case scenario. I felt like a silly kid with my own new Christmas toy and worried I'd broken it already. Nowhere is it mentioned on the packaging or instructions, but there's a tab inside that blocks the flashlight from working. Once you've removed that, it lights up with an ominous blue light. I solemnly promise I won't try to open my door with it. I might search for missing keys though.

I'm on a Big Finish roll. The last two MWC have left me diving back into the Whoverse. I listened to "The Blue Tooth" Companion Chronicle featuring Caroline John reprising her role as the divine Liz Shaw. ( Blue Tooth review )

Oh, and suzy_queue, I've ahemed the first season of "Torchwood" for a weekend marathon. I know who to blame for this. *stern glare*

Can I say how much I'm looking forward to the Big Finish's Companion Chronicles, especially Blue Tooth? No, no, I really couldn't say.

I finished listening to my first Big Finish Doctor Who audio "Storm Warning". Considering the memories I have of that horrible tv movie, I found myself quite liking Paul McGann as the 8th Doctor. Here was the idiosyncratic and otherworldly soul we've come to love. On the other hand, I'm well known for my love of British accents, so maybe it isn't that surprising.

Charley reminded me of SAJV's Rebecca Fogg in her delightful first appearance. That's an amusing observation since India Fisher is Francesca Hunt's sister, so clearly they keep adventuring in the family.

Overall I enjoyed the story. I do agree with some reviews that say the last two parts are the weaker half of the storyline. Too much trying to set up and explain their alien world building.

As I mentioned, though, I'm an airship geek, so I know a little more than most about R-101 and her history. Mostly they got it right, except for a few things, one minor and one massive. I've pulled a good deal of information from Airship Heritage Trust website with information on all British airships, including the R-100 and R-101. Also a chapter from the Hindenburg: An Illustrated History with some lovely photos.

( More on the R-101 w/ spoilers for Storm Warning )