Meteor & asteroid on the news – it’s like Doctor Who when they have the fake news bulletins
Over the past 24 hours, seeing the stories of the asteroid close-call and the meteor falling in Russia, it’s been a bit like those scenes in Doctor Who where they have a news bulletin about the latest alien invasion.
My super-talented sister excels herself again
This creation by my super-talented sister, for Isaac’s birthday.
My blabbering in the TARDIS
Deep within the bowels of the ABC studios at Southbank…
…there is a Triple J studio called “TARDIS”.
Well, recording booths. I discovered that they’re not bigger on the inside.
I was there the other day at lunchtime. My blabbering has shown up as part of a Triple J “Hack” story on the costs of public transport vs cars.
- Turns out it’s possible to tour the ABC Southbank studios
The Doctor catches V/Line
Spotted on Saturday after the Doctor Who/Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Symphonic Spectacular:
Reports from the UK suggest Doctor Who has prompted more people to wear bow ties. I don’t know if that’s rubbed off in Australia, but there were certainly more bow ties and fezzes than I’ve ever seen around Melbourne yesterday, both at the venue (the Plenary at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre) and on the way to and from there.
I was impressed that they sold out such a huge venue — twice. (As far as I can see, in the configuration we saw, the Plenary seats over five thousand people.)
And the fact that it was a balanced demographic (male and female, family groups and individuals — not just nerds) attending shows the programme reaches a much wider audience now than it did when I was growing up.
Indeed, at a barbecue on Saturday night, the laughter that I might have once faced when describing the event I’d been to was instead replaced by envy from some who’d tried and failed to get tickets.
Can I just say the event was excellent, by the way. Some great music, bringing memories from the past few years of the show flooding back, as well as some nods to the “classic” episodes of my youth. Host Mark Sheppard was good, and to my surprise, composer of all of the music (bar the theme tune) Murray Gold was also in attendance. Tony has a good write-up of the concert.
- Doctor Who News: Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular this weekend — includes a publicity shot from the MCG.
- Herald Sun: The Daleks arrive for symphonic showdown
- The Australian: Who fan exterminates boyhood fear and composes himself for the Doc — interview with Murray Gold
- BBC: History in the Making: Music in Melbourne (before the event)
- BBC: Music, Monsters and Magic: The Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular (reviews)
Spotted at Minotaur
I’ve shopped at Minotaur Books for decades. I first found it in the early 80s when it was at the top end of Swanston Street. Then it moved to a multi-level shop in Bourke Street. Then to its current home in Elizabeth Street.
It’s always had way more cool stuff than I could afford to buy, though for some time in the mid-80s I was buying Doctor Who Monthly regularly.
Nowadays my kids love going there. Spotted last week…
Doctor Who “Lego” (compatible bricks):
…and, who would like a Doctor Who Myki holder?
(Sanctuary Base 6, for those who don’t remember it, was the base from the David Tennant story The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit.)
Doctor Who boxer shorts? Seriously?
Now I’ve seen everything.
(Spotted in Target Bourke Street. There were also some 4th Doctor designs.)
RIP Sarah Jane Smith
Right from the very beginning, the companions in Doctor Who were our (the viewers’) representatives on the voyage.
For me growing up, the archetype for this character was Sarah Jane Smith, played by Elisabeth Sladen. She was there just as I got into the show. The innumerable repeats of 70s episodes in Australia during the 80s and 90s, as well as her repeat visits (right up to David Tennant’s final scenes in 2009) just cemented her position.
As Doctor Who Executive Producer Steven Moffat said:
I once showed my son Joshua an old episode of Doctor Who, in which Lis appeared. “But that’s Sarah Jane,” he said, confused “In old Doctor Who. From years ago. How come she always look exactly the same?”
Overnight it’s been announced that Elisabeth Sladen passed away from cancer.
A couple of months ago we lost Nicholas Courtney, The Brigadier. So this is the second childhood icon of mine to go this year.
Sarah Jane returned in her own TV show, Sarah Jane Adventures. In this clip from last year, just after farewelling Jo Grant, she name-checks other Doctor Who companions who are apparently still fighting the good fight.
RIP Elisabeth Sladen, 1948-2011.
The Late Show’s Doctor Who parody
I was looking for something else on Youtube, and as sometimes happens, got distracted by this instead: a Doctor Who parody from The (D-Gen) Late Show from 1993.
For those who don’t follow such things, the real Brigadier, Nicholas Courtney, passed away last week.
