The Lord President can do Whatever he Damn Well Pleases

Andy Bell, Lord President of Gallifrey

I was quite startled this week to discover that Erasure’s synthpop classic about Timelord on Dæmon violence in a Chinese garden – Always – was not recorded as I assumed in about 1983, but over a decade later in 1994 when I was apparently so confounded by my first year at university that it completely passed me by.

I could make some snide comments about being behind the times, but when you consider some of the other music being released in the early to mid 90s, determinedly clinging to the styles of the 80s seems quite sensible. Also they threw a bar of 5/4 time in there which is the kind of tricksy musical tomfoolery I’ll always support.

Temperatures plummet when the giant Dæmon appears. This makes perfect sense if you’ve watched episodes 21 to 26 of Season 8 of the original Doctor Who
The Lord President of Gallifrey can’t fly? The Lord President of Gallifrey can do whatever he damn well pleases!

Foretold

Got a lot of stuff going on at work at the moment which is sending my anxiety levels higher than Ozzy Osbourne at the Alamo, thus not a lot has been happening here at the Wyrmlog as I’m generally finding myself with only enough energy to play Minecraft, listlessly surf the web, troll people on Reddit and sleep.

But I thought I’d pop up briefly to say how much I enjoyed Mummy on the Orient Express. I honestly think it’s the best episode since Capaldi took over. I’ve been a bit uncertain of him as the Doctor – I like him, and he’s certainly been trying hard but it wasn’t until The Caretaker that I felt that he started to fit into the character – a delay that I’m pretty sure is down to a combination of scripts and direction more than any intrinsic unsuitability for the role. But last night he was every bit the Doctor, and the story was a cracker as well.

Also, well, it shames me slightly to admit this – the modern sensitive man that I so obviously am – but that dress! I’ve never found Jenna Coleman any more or less attractive than any other pretty young woman, but that flapper outfit – wowee I believe is the word.

OK, that’s more enough of that I think we can all agree.

Miscellany

Got my hair cut over the weekend. I decided that when random youths on the street start shouting “Wolverine!” at you it’s probably time to get your sideburns trimmed at the very least.

I quite liked Peter Capaldi as the new Doctor. A post-regeneration episode is never going to give you a proper look at the new version, but I approve so far. I must note however that they should have included some kind of explanation as to why the dinosaur was almost as tall as the Elizabeth Tower – I’m fairly certain that theropods never got that big.

I also really like the latest single from Bertie Blackman, Run For Your Life. It has a ominous, mysterious sound to it that puts me in mind in equal parts of the Cure and Halogen’s On a Bridge, with a comparatively triumphant, soaring chorus that resolves some of the tension from the verses. For some reason it also reminds me of Terry Dowling’s Blue Tyson novels – if they ever turned them into a movie (a prospect in equal parts fantastic, terrifying and unlikely) I’d lobby for it to be on the soundtrack. Have a listen!

That is all.

Musical Tuesdays – Soundtracks

I bought a new TV.

This isn’t as much of a sybaritic indulgence as it may seem, as my old TV was on it’s last legs. And when I say ‘last legs’ I mean that if I wanted to watch something I had to subject myself to the following baroque procedure…

1: Turn on the TV.
2: Wait for around 12 minutes as the screen changes via almost imperceptible stages from black to bright white.
3: Enjoy 15 minutes of an image appearing on the screen for half a second, followed by a loud ‘crack!‘ sound, and the screen going to black for ten seconds before the cycle repeats.
4: Once the cracking has stopped and the picture stabilised, turn the TV off, because there’s no sound.
5: Turn the TV back on, which will hopefully restore sound.
6: Actually watch any TV.

While I’m not the most demanding guy when it comes to creature comforts, having to turn my TV on a good half hour before I want to watch something was getting kind of wearing, so I splashed out and bought a brand new unit. A 40 incher would you believe, which is mostly because I screwed up the maths and thought it was somewhat smaller than it actually turned out to be.

Such a large screen has taken a bit of getting used to – more than once I’ve caught it out of the corner of my eye of an evening and been momentarily shocked into thinking that Adam Hills was actually in my apartment. But now that it’s settled in and gathering a fine patina of dust, it’s all good.

As I was making such a large purchase I decided to spoil myself with an add on and bought the box set of Misfits as well. Misfits has been one of my favourite shows for ages, but I’d only ever seen the first two seasons. I knew of course that the subsequent seasons aren’t meant to be as good – in no small part due to the absence of Nathan – but decided to give them a go anyway. To date I’ve watched all of season three, and will shortly move on to season four.

So, what did I think?

Season three, in my considered opinion, was OK. It’s definitely not the same show. It suffers for the lack of Nathan and the new powers everyone ends up with are really rather naff. There’s nothing that can be described as a story arc across the season and the whole thing lurches around from episode to episode with a complete lack of point or drive.

There’s also lots and lots of death. In the first two seasons someone getting killed was a big deal – much of both seasons revolved around concealing the bodies of the characters’ inadvertent victims. But this season people are dropping like flies and no one really seems to care. I suspect it’s actually deliberate self-parody, but even if that’s the case it’s a big change from the serious drama of the first two.

That being said, there’s a lot of entertainment to be had. Newcomer Rudy is both a terrible, terrible human being and a riot. The elements of self parody, although jarring, are fun. I was also surprised at how moving I found the conclusion of the Simon/Alisha/Super-Hoodie story arc in the final ten minutes of the season – it was like a sudden return to the tone of the original show, and was really rather epic.

So, what has this to do with Musical Tuesdays? Well, soundtracks my friends! Soundtracks!

Here’s to my mind the best bit of music from Misfits

Not bad eh? When I first heard it I wondered if it was by Murray Gold, but it’s actually by Vince Pope.

On the subject of Murray Gold, here’s one of his best pieces, from the soundtrack of Doctor Who.

For my money the best bit is 1:40 to 2:37, but frankly the whole thing is pretty wonderful.

Well that’s it for this week. I have Titans to build and lightbulbs to change!

The Day of the Doctor

Now that I’ve had a couple of hours’ sleep I’d just like to reiterate just how much I enjoyed The Day of the Doctor

I have no doubt the internet will be alight with people moaning about how Steven Moffet has ruined everything and should be put up against a wall and exterminated, but I thought he did a fantastic job. The plot made sense (more than can be said for some of his efforts), the interaction between the three Doctors was spot on, Billie Piper looks like she’s had a decent meal since her last appearance, there was a throwaway line referencing the UNIT dating controversy, the cameo from Peter Capaldi was perfect, and the ‘Curator’ – well, normally silliness like that would be totally out order, but, c’mon, it was wonderful!

And the setup at the very end! I hope like hell that’s going to be the story arc for the next season, not just something they deal with in the Christmas Special.

Finally if you’re a fan of the classic series and have half an hour to spare, The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot is well worth a watch. Not only is it fun, it features literally dozens of cameos. You can poke around online to find the full thing, but here’s the trailer…

On with tonight’s repeat, and An Adventure in Time and Space

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